The house has benefitted hugely from its first dry year in possibly decades. Today the sun was out and proud, and – though I couldn’t feel my fingers or toes – the house basked. Even the water in the cellar is drying out, thanks to the new roof
This house never complains. It doesn’t threaten or stamp its feet. There’s no drama, it is just chilled and calm and forgiving. I love this house
We had talked of moving the kitchen into part of the cave/garage to allow more space, but now we have decided to keep it where it is. We can keep the floor tiles, the floor to ceiling two-metre wide larder, the chimney breast with its bottle shelf and the cute sink/drainer in the corner. What we will have to lose is the quaint old coke-fuelled range, the horrid Formica cupboards and the frill (Sorry, I just cannot live with that frill)
A simple kitchen, but enough for us. And enough for the house
When I told our builder yesterday that I had changed my mind again, he said it was good that we’d taken time to decide how the house will work best for us. And that’s true, because the mind can run riot in a house like this – all the possibilities – but the ‘feel good’ factor is important too
And this feels right. For us and for the house
Poshbird with Passion 
I so relate to what you are saying. An old house has such a presence- and it’s takes a lot of thought to implement changes. I can’t wait to see how it all progresses. Ten years into our project and there is still one room that is a building site. It was my grandfather’s shoe making shop – due to become a bedroom with loft for my oldest. I have found that patience is a virtue…
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His shoe-making shop sounds fascinating. It’s hard to impose new ideas and if I could possibly not change anything, I would! It would be easier, quicker and cheaper if I didn’t want to preserve everything, but then it would just be a dull box like so many others.
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I have friends who bought a house on the south coast (modern, not my bag) and immediately set about doing everything to it. I have tried to put the brakes on them because I truly believe, like your builder, that taking the time to FEEL a place, to see it in all seasons is essential to the process of deciding what the best way forward is. Bravo for your kitchen – it will be divine because you have style and taste and you understand what the house wants and needs.
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Thank you. Working with the house means everything to me
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I understand that completely.
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Not the greatest of frills, it must be said, but that sink is a dream!
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Yes, the sink’s a beauty. The frill is only still there because it makes me laugh!
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laughs are worth it.
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I suspect that if the kitchen was there before, it was for a reason. Your larder sounds wonderful.
Our house changed radically from the original plan. Luckily we didn’t have a budget to do it all at once, and so the changes evolved according to how we really lived inside the house and got done when we could afford them.
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I’m sure that a tight budget makes a much better house you are forced to be practical. No-one else can really know what you need from your house, however experienced they are. It’s very personal, isn’t it
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Definitely no to the frill! When we bought our house we too had grand plans of turning part of the attached barn into a huge kitchen, imagining the big double barn doors would be glass windows, the light we thought, the wow factor we thought, but then we thought again! Instead we turned what was the dining room into the kitchen, a far more modest sized room, still with plenty of light and doors to the terrace and now every day, every year, we are extremely pleased that we saw sense and kept things simple, it would have cost a fortune, it would have been away from the rest of the house, in hindsight we would have just had a much much larger house to have to heat and clean!
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It sounds like you made some very good choices. It was lovely to see your kitchen in the post the other day too
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What a lovely post. Your comment about stopping to think about what suits, is so appropriate. I always enjoy reading what you write.
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Thank you so much. Glad it resonates with you too
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I know just how you feel – I’m a ‘no-frills’ kinda gal myself! 😉 Definitely good you took the time to figure out what works best. When we built our new house 4 years ago, we rushed through a few decisions that we would have done differently if we’d had to wait.
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Nothing major, I hope. I’m used to the restrictions that buildings set and wouldn’t cope well with a new build
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So glad you aren’t in love with that frill… I did worry…
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Hahaha! No, the frill is a step too far, even for me!
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I suspected it would be. And JM is quite used to mad Brits changing their minds and procrastinating for ages , poor man has plenty of practice with me!
Good job he understands that taking one’s time is sensible .
That frill epitomises a certain type of French style that I don’t love unquestionably…
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I think it’s safe to say that we will have a ‘no-frills’ kitchen. I love the tiles for their kitsch quality. The frill, however, is just not for me x
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Yes, a little kitsch here and there is in the right spirit I think, but those frills always amuse me, the idea of havng them to waft smoke and flames up the chimney from the stove can literally backfire!
Bet you are so happy to be Chez Vous again
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I feel recharged. You know how it is x
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Yes, it’s tempting to jump in and do something that’s too much of a statement, isn’t it. Though who could ever top that frill!
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Sometimes this sort of thing becomes clearer after you’ve had time to think about it so It’s good that you didn’t rush in and do anything too drastic straight away- you even gave the frill a chance but I fear it might have had its day!
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