Perpearing the Maison du Soleil

We are now almost in to our second month here in France and wow how time has flown. Most of the boxes are now unpacked and my husband is getting on well with the installation of the kitchen in the Pigioneer that will be the first gite to open in June. We originally hoped to be open for the end of May, but as usual time scales always have to lenghthen. The situation has not been helped by the fact that we had to wait for so long for our furniture and all my husbands tools to arrive in order for him to start work. Most of the house was in a really good state of repair when we bought it but there are pockets that need attention and modernising. The Bed and Breakfast room (Chambre d'hote) Chambre du Jardin has already been used and I just need some extra furniture that I have ordered, so by the end of May we will have one room up and fully running.

We have received approval from the Marie to change the shutter colour from Dunhill Red, to a more subtle grey that will not fade as quickly and is more common in the area. The next stage is to get permission to change a window to a double door in the Pigioneer, giving access to the new terrace area. We have to butter up the mayor and keep him on side if we want to be part of the community and obtain the permission needed to do the changes here at Le farat.

The pigioneer was almost complete, with bathrooms installed, just needing separate showers and the main kitchen and sitting area needing fixtures and fittings. There was a staircase in one corner of the main room giving access to the pigeon loft, which has now been removed. We are now installing the plumbing and sorting the electrics ready for the kitchen installation and need to get on and order the Kitchen asap so it is here and installed in time for our opening.

I have the nice bit to do which is buying the furniture for the bedrooms and lounge areas. I have already bought a georgious Louis Armoire which is nearly 8ft tall and two antique headboards, and am off to an antiques shop tomorrow to look at some bedside tables, mirrors, chairs and pictures for the walls. I also need headboards for the Kingsize ziplock bed for the other bedroom. I have decided as it is so difficult to find nice single bed headboards that fit together to make a large superkingsized headboard, I need to find a complete bed that has a matching head and footboard and use both ends.

The carpet currently is seagrass throughout but I will need to change the flooring particularly in the kitchen and sitting area to tiles as the carpet is not practical.

The stone walls have been coated in a clear PVA to cut out dust problems and plenty of white paint is need for the walls in the bedrooms. More updates and pics to follow.