Barn/8

Last time I did a full barn post there was snow on the ground and the woodburner was being lit after lunch. Now we have blossom, tiny wood violets and primroses everywhere.

Corrèze town from the garden

Progress has been on the three F's - floors, finishes and furniture. So floors first. When we bought the barn there were several (filthy) piles of chestnut parquet flooring left in the barn, precariously balanced on rotting joists. I've lost count of the times that we moved these but finally we got to use them. I spent days cleaning and sanding every tongue and groove, then made piles of the different widths and lengths for Andrew to lay. This wasn't an easy job, partly because we have a floor area of about 70 metres square but also this was old wood, not straight from the factory precision cut joints. It was difficult to work out exactly how much we had but as the piles got smaller we decided that it was touch and go that there would be quite enough so plan B kicked in - the kitchen area would be tiled.

Bottom left is how we found the wood! 

Can I say now, never volunteer to come shopping with us when we're choosing something for the house, you will never get that time back! Both trained designers we each have strong opinions, sometimes they're the same opinions but with the kitchen tiles it took six hours and several tile shops before the decision was made. Then there was the planning, we didn't want a square edge to the kitchen area but a random looking transition from the parquet.

Once the floor was laid I spent more hours on my knees sanding, and then oiling. But we're please with the result.

While I was upstairs finishing the floor Andrew had moved downstairs. We had chosen a slate effect tile for the bathrooms and hall floors, they work well with the dark shower trays and as they are external tiles they have a good grip. Once again Andrew's skill in planning shows and all three areas are looking good, and will be even better when I treat them so they have a slight sheen. He's now moved on to wall tiling (having finished the plumbing) and I'm on furniture duty.

Planning the tiles for bathroom 1 and kitchen, and a finished floor

We're very pleased with the new windows and I love the way that they open so flat and wide upstairs to take full advantage of the view. The pointed wall is too irregular for kitchen units so Andrew has built a faux wall - and it's perfect for hiding the cabling.

I still have the downstairs to decorate but there were a lot of dirty jobs happening, as well as tools and equipment about so I decided to turn my attention to furniture sourcing. Nearly all the furniture for La Grange still has to be purchased so I have been hitting Emmaus and Troc hard! I'm not a huge shabby chic fan but I do like to use paint to unite disparate items. This was a mirror I found, I really liked the shape and the fact that it was bevelled but it looked too new so it got painted and waxed. The knobs are from Maisons du Monde and as you can see from the one on the left, a bit glitzy. After some black wax they're looking much better (right).

Two 'befores' and a detail from an 'after'

So far I've painted two side tables for bedroom one, two bedside cabinets and a mirror for bedroom two. I've painted and nearly finished re-upholstering a bedroom chair, started stripping back an armchair, painted another large chair and bought a tub chair which needs a full restoration. But there is still a lot of furniture to source so I think the next few weeks will be busy. And did I say I have a mid-June deadline. Insert chewing nails icon!

Still to do!

So it looks like another busy week ahead. As always you can catch up with our progress as the barn progresses on the blog or feel free to follow us here on Facebook.