Our Kitchen Before and After Renovation
If you’re interested in the full Before and After of our house renovation here in Provence; voila! The kitchen, when we first bought the house, was entirely brown. We were desperate to give it a complete makeover. We decided to add tiling in order to comply with the rustic feel we hoped to create. The last time the house had been renovated was in the 70s. The ceiling was styrofoam made to look like wood, behind that, there was asbestos. The ceiling leaked and there was a hole in the floor to access the water meter. There were layers upon layers of unnecessary wood and tile. It was dark, moldy and awful! The only thing that remains of the kitchen now, is a rather odd triangular shape.
We raised the kitchen roof, insulated all the walls and basically replaced everything!
The following pictures are taken from about the same angle to show the real before and after of our DIY renovation in Provence. I have to admit, I’m really pleased with how the kitchen has turned out. There are still a couple of things that need tweaking but overall, I’m really happy with everything!
The less clutter the better!
Before and After sink
The original front doors before the garden was converted into the kitchen!
We knocked the wall down between the kitchen and living room. This makes the space feel much larger. Originally, we wanted to put a small counter for bar stools between the two rooms. Maybe…
We tried to make everything as light as possible to make the space feel bigger. We spoke to a lot of window companies about the best windows to have to allow as much natural light in as possible and I think the ones we picked are brilliant, so thanks to those companies. Everyone kept telling us to keep at least one tile or plank of wood to remind us of how it looked beforehand. I think I’m happy with just the photos! It has been such a long process but so rewarding to see the results now. We had a lot of issues to begin with, from the mould to the strange fridge noises so we had to get support from a few companies to help us combat these issues, but once they were sorted, and the room was ready to decorate, it finally seemed worth it.
Before and after- after ist after a hard work so very beautiful super
What a difference!! So light and bright. Love sink!!
Just stumbled upon your blog and so enjoyed the renovation tales! (And the rest, but particularly that.) I’ve never read home improvement blogs…this just appealed. Looks so lovely!
So glad you enjoyed reading!
The transformation between these two kitchens is amazing, I can’t even believe that this is the same space. Thanks for sharing your gorgeous kitchen!
Wow! I’m just seeing this now, don’t know if you still post stuff here, this is an impressive restoration job. You gotta be passionate about the project & have vision to be able to see it through. Congrats on a real great results. Hope you enjoy living there!
Living here in Provence is of course wonderful! We are passionate but it can be difficult to have enough patience for such projects. Last year we bought another house, again a renovation project. It’s going to take a long time though as it’s big and there’s a lot to do. If you’re curious, find out more here: https://curiousprovence.com/our-new-home-in-provence/ Bonne Journée ! -Ashley
You did a fantastic job of transforming the old space. I love it. Enjoy!!
So much space. Lovely work
Bonjour!!
j’adore le changement que tu as fais dans toute la maison mais surtout le salon e t la cuisine.
Je une petite maison de ville à Salon de Provence et j’aimerais bien aussi changer un peu. J’ai une question, où tu as acheté le meuble avec tiroirs pour le plan de travail? Merci beaucoup pour ta réponse. 🙂
Bonjour! Merci!
On a acheté tous nos meubles sur le bon coin. On a même conduit jusqu’à Grasse pour les trouver! Mais, le meuble avec les tiroirs est originalement un meuble de Maisons de Monde. C’est cher, mais on le trouve souvent sur leboncoin.
http://www.maisonsdumonde.com/FR/fr/produits/fiche/meuble-bas-de-cuisine-en-bois-recycle-l-50-cm-copenhague-121779.htm
Hi Ashley,
Found your blog on Flytographer and I love what you have done with your house, absolutely incredible!
I am originally from Germany and have been hiking around Provence when I was younger. I have many happy memories from there and your blog brought some back. We live in Australia now, so I can’t visit easily. How wonderful that you moved there and actually bought a house! Was it complicated buying there as a foreigner or is your partner French? Enjoy your beautiful new space. xx Tina
Hi Tina, thank you for the kind words. It is quite tricky to buy a house in France as a foreigner. Getting a mortgage is difficult. Our house was such a ruin that we didn’t need one!
Thank you for sharing the HGTV video and your results here. You both did a phenomenal job. It is light and bright and warm and cozy. Well done! You are living me dream.
Thank you Tami!
Hi there. So nice to see your renovation and read all the comments and realize I am not alone 🙂 We are also renovating an old farm house here in Vaucluse and I feel like I might have a thousand questions for you hehe. Starting wit the colimacon stairwell I see it e background. We need one as well and I am between buying already made or having it made by a ferronier.. Could you tell me where u bought yours? It is simple and lovely! Thanx in advance and love the design style
Hi Tatiana! We commissioned our local ferronnier to make the stairwell. There are many in the area. It’s best to get a few quotes because prices can vary.