We’re just about ready to add the finishing touches to the Notaire’s House. It’s going to be a wonderful gite, every bit as good as Amethyst (where we now live) was.
We’ve decided to go for a French country style of decoration. But what exactly is that? Taken literally, it would be sparse, dark and chilly! Most French rural properties are old farm cottages like ours so had few and small windows (when you’ve experienced a Creuse winter, you’ll know why!), only one or two rooms (and definitely not a bathroom or toilet) and furnished with just the very basics. Now that isn’t too appealing. So we’ll go with the modern definition of the rural look. This is all about mixing fabrics, having some items of antique furniture dotted around, beams exposed, a few old knick-knacks on display and an emphasis on natural products like wood and stone. Notaire’s kitchen is already spot-on with it’s gorgeous ‘butcher’s block’ work surface (i.e. oiled wood as opposed to formica or marble) and fancy brickwork behind the oven. The stone-coloured crepi wall covering we’ve used is perfect too, and so are its ceiling beams and supporting ‘trees’. Wooden flooring mixed with ochre tiles and a beautiful rug clinch the deal!
We’ve already brightened up the house with extra windows and skylights and warmed it up considerably with insulation and double glazing. We put in extra rooms and a bathroom upstairs the year after we got here. So we’re bigger too.
There’ll be an elegant rural feel to the bedrooms. The master bedroom will have either a four-poster bed or some kind of canopy to make it extra special. We have some lovely framed pictures to go in the rooms, my sewing machine is poised to make cushions, door curtains and blinds – it’s going to look great. I’ll be posting photos to show our progress, so watch this space. Perhaps you’ll be inspired to try the French rural look at home too.