The sitting room: before

Hi everybody! Hope you had a great weekend and have the sweets ready for the little scary visitors around tonight.... ;)

Here is continuing the journey relating our house makeover, with today the sitting room and its pastel look before! Some pictures of the work in progress... I won't tell you more ... but I love this room now ... see you tomorrow then...

The office/studio: work in progress

This room is still changing: I moved the desks already 3 times, would like more shelves, still have to paint the plinths and give to the floor its final color... so not finish yet but I enjoy that space, my one ;)... I couldn't wait, I had to start to put and display my little tools around, setting my universe, with the sewing lady working next to me, calmly... I feel well here.

 

 

And right now, I am just there on the little green chair wishing you a great weekend!
Thank you all for your 'happy' comments :)

The office/studio: before

It's a good size room with a large window, south facing, looking at the tree and the back garden. I like it, it has a nice feel...

As the rest of the house, we did have some work to get more "a blank canvas" than too much patterns... And yes, another "beauty" was hiding there too: a larger original fireplace, it definitely makes the room... for me :)

Let's see tomorrow what it looks like now... see you then...

 

 

Le mystère du croissant.

Between two drawings, today I had a break, another passion: baking!

I had a challenge in my mind for a couple years... When I was around 10, friends offered me a baking cookbook. I heard so many times that the French speciality "les croissants" were difficult to make at home and to look like the gorgeous ones from the baker... so, I tried... and well... no really what I was expecting... So alright, perhaps it was true, only the baker could bake them!

A few days ago, I was browsing recipes and was again in front of that mysterious "croissant".
Why not to try again almost 20 years after?
Carefully, I followed the steps, looked at them rising slowly... and tadaa!!! My little success of the day: my home-made "croissants"! They are big, light and fluffy... and they taste.... hummmm..... yummy

I had to tell you  ;)

I come back tomorrow with my office/studio makeover! Have a great cosy evening.

The white wing: the bathroom

And there, the door on the right is our new bathroom... all white and bright, with a big window! so pleasant :)

If you look at the room originally, the bathroom is exactly fitting where was the double bed before! The tricky point was to find a 150cm bath, not common, but we got it! Then, white-white-white for the feeling of space and the amazing sink cabinet from Ikea, I love drawers: the answer to a clutter-free house!

I choose to have the grout of the tiles in charcoal color, I like the graphics created by the lines, they remind me a Mondrian painting without the colour... I keep them in my head. Also, the charcoal color match well with the chrome, and for a practical point of view, I know that white grouts are turning yellow by the time...

And finally, our poster: for a good start of the day, just remind yourself how wonderful you are ;)
yes, you are...

 

"The white wing": after

"The white wing" is how we call it with B. as it's an extension of the house and I was dreaming of a  white total look from the floor to ceiling.
Previously a 3rd bedroom, we managed to fit a new bathroom and keep a guest room... and yes, it is possible to create a bathroom the size of a double bed!!! I will show you tomorrow ;).

So today, here is the guest bedroom, which I would like cosy, peaceful and practical. And Ikea helped us again with that brilliant 'sofa/single bed/king-size bed/storage' all in one!
Also, I went for a pure and simple design as I didn't want to distract the main feature: the original fireplace. I almost cried for it (almost...)  I couldn’t wait for it: on the first day we moved in, we ripped off the wooden panel hiding it! When we visited the house, we didn't know what would be behind or not... just wishing... and what a great surprise! We were jumping around of happiness...  i know ...we're a bit mad there... okay... it's just a fireplace... :)

 

Today is a sweet day...

Last night, my childhood friend M.L gave birth to a little girl, Inès. She is their first baby. I feel so happy for them, such a strange feeling to see friends becoming parents...
I am looking forward to meet her next time I will be in France :).
You are welcome Inès!
Today has a sweet taste...

The guest bedroom and bathroom(?): before

I am so happy about the comments I receive this week about the renovation of the house. They are so kind and encouraging... thank you all for your visit :)

So, here I am continuing the journey through the house. When we moved in, the house had a shower room downstairs, next to the kitchen. As proper British, we were looking to have a bathroom preferably upstairs for a more practical point of view. So lucky enough, the third bedroom was big enough -after a lot of measuring- to fit a bathroom and still keep a bedroom for our guests ;)

I have to say, we spend couple days balancing with the choice to do only a big bathroom in the whole room, spoiling ourselves with a lot of space and a free standing bath in the middle…. With candles and all that…. dream… well, in the next house perhaps…

So here is the start, the completion will on Monday!

I wish you all a good weekend… not too cold please…

 

 

 

 

The bureau makeover

From the Oxfam charity shop to our dining room, this little bureau had a good relooking. I painted it in Black satin in spray for a smooth finish, orange inside, then added a porcelain button found last summer in a French flea market - so sweet little cherries - then 4 dotty ceramic knobs bought in a local shop and that it! The bureau is so useful to empty the pockets and hide everything. It's also keeping well all our table linen. I didn't customized any furniture for ages, it's really great fun, a good creative challenge :)

 

 

 

 

I would like to welcome my new followers and thank you for the encouraging recent comments.
They give me a smile... merci.

The dining room: after

Our dining room is a multi-functional room: We need to go through it to go to the kitchen and I didn’t want it to end up as a corridor, the table against a wall with a lot of coats and stuff left on the chairs when we would come back from outside!

However, the entrance hall is too narrow to have any cabinet for the coats and shoes, so thanks again Ikea, we now have a huge storage space in the white glossy wardrobe…. And the re-looked “secretaire”/ desk is the perfect place where to hide keys, phones and chargers :) clever...

Following our rule, the furniture is the result of some luck on ebay :) I fell in love for the table, then we had to compromise between the B.’s classical tastes and my eclectic touch with the chairs in funky green, the big gold mirror and the lampshade on my wish list…

 

 

 

 

 

The light is a pure pleasure today…

The dining room: before

I have to say that the colours were definitely matching together! see the first picture... but sorry, it was probably a bit too much going on for me there ;)

And another side of that renovation projevt, was to find a few pieces of furniture to feel more homely.

One rule: not expensive but with potential. Then, Ebay and the local charity shops became my best friends...

edit: i can't believe how nice and sunny is october this year... start to be a bit cold but the light shinning through the leaves is beautiful and warm... enjoy it.

 

 

 

The tourist week

Last week my cousin A. came to visit us from France. We had a great time of course: chatting, tasting different food, visiting, shopping and cooking. I really enjoyed to be his guide around London, planning the activities and visits :)

Monday today, a new week is starting. In fact, I haven't managed to get a routine yet since we moved here. I wish to have a bit more time in the next couple weeks to paint and draw again. But I'm definitely coming back tomorrow to continue our house's renovation story with the dining room ...

Happy week everyone!

 

 

 

 

 

 

The unique wedding present... l'amitié

We are coming back from a dream: a magical escape down to Cannes in South-East France organized secretly by our incredible friends ;) It was magical: they took us to discover beautiful landscapes and sea sides, challenging a few waves and rocks, with breathtaking surroundings for tasty picnics and musical evening to celebrate an unique friendship.

A&J, you are simply WONDERFUL en encore plus grand! :)  merci merci et merci et encore merci...

My cousin A. is with us this week to share a bit the English life...  Have a great week too!