At home in France...

As the darkness outside and the unfinished house and people absolutely everywhere is making me take on a rather gloomy approach I wisk myself off and daydream of lovely summer, the soft smell of Provencal rolling hills, derelict farmhouses, red wine and sunsets... New day tomorrow... something I keep telling myself every day at the moment... Images from Taverne Agency.

Happy first advent

"From all the roofs and gables and old wooden houses in Gloucester came a thousand merry voices singing the old Christmas rhymes - all the old songs that ever I heard of, and some that I don't know, like Whittington's bells.

Under the wooden eaves the starlings and sparrows sang of Christmas pies; the jackdaws woke up in the Cathedral tower; and although it was the middle of the night the throstles and robins sang; and air was quite full of little twittering tunes".

- The tailor of Gloucester by Beatrix Potter

Happy First Sunday of Advent everyone! Even though I was about to give up yesterday when arriving back at the house to see that it was infact... NOT finished, I have been working all day at putting up Christmas decorations and disguising all missing bits and bobs and unfinished palettes. Time for supper infront of the fire!

Befores and inbetweens

The kitchen as it was... Plastic flooring attempting to look like wood, dark ceiling, dark green doors painted to look as if dirty and old - god knows why?!

Three measly lights!

Well, we're getting there... White new ceiling with 6 downlights and hole for the lamp that's arriving. New cooker from Ilve in graphite grey matt with chrome handles. Still waiting for the floor to be put in, a few cupboard doors, stone around the sink and chrome mixer.

But we're not miiiiiiiles away anymore!

So long I'll make do with setting up Christmas decorations... Have bought the wreaths, now they just need a nice satin red ribbon... and I have to find some nice lanterns...

Weather has permitted us keeping the bench outdoors still. F's father made it for us from reclaimed pieces and the wood is from his own land. The windows will have the inner frame painted grey as the doors next summer, leaving just a white border.

Changing that god awful lamp to this lovely new one which will be arriving in a few weeks:-)

Kitchen countdown...

Finally they're putting up the last shelves, doors and cupboards in the kitchen today! It looks great and I will definately share pictures with you when all the carpenters have left! This evening will be spent organising - how about these beautiful jars?

Next step; kitchen entrance (which is way smaller than this one but will make do!) - planning the same benches with liftable seats for storage. Colourwise I'm torn - grey or cream?

Stella, our dog, is also getting her first REAL bed which will be tucked in nicely underneath shelves like this picture. See, here it's all in white - which colour should I choose?

Last but not least, the laundry room is getting it's makeover too.. This simple style is exactly what I'm opting for:-)Oh dear though, this is dark grey and also lovely...

Images from Plain English & This is Glamorous

Time for Christmas decorations

With all the excitement of having our own country home for the first time I boldly stated that I would make my own wreaths this year, hmmm not sure if this was a good idea... Right... Which one should I choose? Images from Martha Stewart, This is Glamorous, Inside & House of Pictures.