It’s been way too long since my last post with some before and after pics from the long renovation of our French home. My last post promised more pictures, so here we go.

The stairs.

Fortunately, the old oak stairs from the ground floor were in good shape. During the renovation process, I insisted on keeping the old bits of the house intact whenever possible, and it was such a relief to be able to keep them.

Now that they are paired with the exposed stone walls, I think it all looks the way it should.

The stairs up to the attic bedroom, however, were in sad shape so they had to go. We saved the lovely old oak planks hoping we can find a use for them later.

The process of measuring the old and installing the new stairs was fascinating to watch. After numerous measurements were taken by the menuisiers (carpenters) months before, the stair components were fabricated in their shop. Once the pieces were on site, it took a couple of weeks, and a lot of head scratching, to fit them into place. None of the walls are square, so it was a real challenge for them, but I’m sure they are used to that here in rural France.

Out with the old, in with the new.

The guest bedroom.

Before, it had linoleum floors and layers of wallpaper over plastered walls. The fireplace was drafty and covered with wood. The entrance to the only full bathroom in the house was at the top of the stairs just outside this bedroom. We decided to move the bathroom doorway to be inside the bedroom, and when the plaster was removed, it was discovered there originally was an old doorway into the bathroom in the exact spot we wanted to put it. Our house was being restored in more ways than one and that made us so happy.

Now the room is beautiful and cozy, with a wonderful old crooked doorway to the new bathroom. The lovely stone walls and the carefully restored cob wall (a mixture of mud and straw) make this room a comfortable place to sleep.

A doorway revealed.

The only other room on this floor was a bedroom for the 11 children who lived here. It’s a mystery how all those children fit into this room. One of them told us a few kids sometimes slept in the living room downstairs. The room was divided by a very thin wall, probably separating boys and girls. We removed the dividing wall to make a large space to be used as a combination office, TV watching room, and exercise space. We decided it would be called the Situation Room. As the layers of plaster and drywall were removed, we uncovered what looked like a bookshelf in the back right corner (photos below show before and after it was exposed). We knew from the other side of that wall there had once been an arched doorway there so we kept going, removing the remains of the bookcase that had been there.

A gorgeous arched stone doorway was revealed. Isn’t it stunning? This photo shows the temporary beach we had during the sandblasting of the stone walls. I made a curtain to block the sight of all the stuff we now have stored in that area.

The attic space.

This was a dark and spooky place when we bought the house. We had visions of this being a luxurious guest bedroom and bath, with a spot to read and enjoy the gorgeous view of village rooftops.

I’m still waiting for inspiration to strike before completing the decor up there, but at least now the attic space is a functional guestroom and bath. All we need is guests.

A garage is created.

What was once a small storage room with a door just wide enough for a person has undergone a grand transformation. Tons of earth was excavated, walls were built, saving the old stones to be replace around the new opening, and voila, we now have a beautiful garage with an upper level for storage.

We even have a cool garage door that opens on a track sliding sideways.

The mezzanine.

Before, the space over the small storage room was used for storage of garden tools and a collection of discarded items.

Now it’s the upper level of the new garage and we have lots of storage space.

The Summer Kitchen.

This term was new to us. We would have called this a patio, but as there are now four patio spaces, we adopted the Summer Kitchen title, even though it’s not much of a kitchen. Before, it was enclosed by corrugated metal sheet walls and roof.

Now it’s a wonderful space to sit and read, entertain friends, and enjoy the view of our neighboring chateau. I love sitting out there when it rains.

This renovation journey has been so fun for us to watch. I was on site almost every day and loved seeing this beautiful house emerge. We are proud to call it our home and know the work done here has been top-notch. We have so much respect for our builder and his team.