It’s been a long eight months of renovation in our tiny village house here in Provence. We had a deadline. The house was going to be filmed. Ever since the mania of trying to get everything to look like it has been done by a co that does million dollar projects, we’ve been taking it easy. I think Robin is still a bit too knackered to function. He pretty much single-handedly transformed this house, that hadn’t been touched since the 70s, into the beautiful little nest it has become. We’re not entirely finished, but I thought I’d finally let you in on some of the action of the last few months! If you’re interested in the process I’ll be posting throughout the next few days images of the transformation of each of the rooms and will next week be posting pictures of what it looks like now! First up a special kitchen design and renovation: (and a large one indeed!)
The Original Kitchen
Original image of the kitchen. The kitchen was actually the last room ion the house that we tackled which meant I had to suffer 2 months without a functioning kitchen. In a culture that doesn’t even consider the concept of take-out (except pizza) it was a testing time!
First Layer Off..
notice how full of rubbish the courtyard is…
Where’s the Roof!?
Something unfortunate of what we discovered with this house was that the previous owner either had a free supply of materials, or desperately needed an excuse to keep himself busy on Sundays… There were not only one layer of tiles but TWO. There was TWO layers of wood as well! This just meant a lot more work and trips to the dechetterie (garbage dump) than what should have been necessary. In hindsight I should have contacted a Hard rubbish removals company so we didn’t have to keep going backwards and forwards!
For a week, the kitchen found itself roofless. This was worrying as we weren’t living here in these early stages. I remember laughing as we locked the door to the house with all the tools inside and the roof wide open! Thankfully, no one except the neighbour’s cat invited themselves in.
New Doors and Windows
Removing the old door to make way for a new one with more windows. We had to re-build the supporting walls as they weren’t properly insulated.
Notice here the floor has changed, the walls have been plastered and electricity installed. If you’re renovating your kitchen, you will want some cleaning supplies to keep your floors clear when you’re done, like upright vacuum cleaners from Bissell.
This stage was stressful because the new doors, and new walls had to be installed all within one day.
A New, Old Floor
The walls had to remain unfinished for a few days while we waited for the stone windowsills to be completed. Have you seen how beautiful the tile is?
Original View Entering the House
This is the original state of the kitchen taken from the moment you walk into the house. The doors are there because the kitchen is actually an extension of the house. What you’re looking at is the original outside doors that were amazingly never taken off.
Ah. That feels slightly less claustrophobic already! We had to redo the whole kitchen ceiling as it was made with asbestos. This was eventually a good thing as we were able to raise it a little.
Supporting the Wall
One of the only things Robin needed help with was properly securing this wall and knocking it down. This eventually opened up the downstairs area quite a lot and made it feel much bigger.
Making an Open Plan
Wall coming down!!
That’s all I’m going to show you for now; hopefully, you’ll be impressed when you see the result next week!
Feel free to ask any questions about any of our decisions. I’ll be writing more about the details of the French techniques versus the British/American ones and how we sourced our materials soon.
oh I have been waiting to see this! really looking forward to the continuation!
Wow! What a job! Can’t wait to seen more! Love that outside “kitchen” door too! Kitchen floor is gorgeous! Hugs!
SO much work, I love it and cannot wait to see the final reveal!
Just amazing! I don’t know if my nerves could take it. Well, maybe with enough wine at hand. But I so admire what you are doing! I am in love with the stone sink you picked out.