When I received the keys I realised the previous owner had taken all of the beautiful chandeliers. I also had to purchase the oven from her. Apparently this is quite common in France!
Most of the furniture has been purchased from brocante markets or second hand stores. I had to decide which pieces I wanted to paint. Some may think painting beautiful wooden vintage furniture is sacrilege however a lot of the pieces were not in pristine condition and some had obvious woodworm holes (the worms had long since departed!). Aesthetically, furniture made from different kinds of wood in the same room can look mismatched and out of place and too much wood makes the room dark and gloomy. Besides the French have been painting their furniture for centuries. I can always change my mind and remove the paint later! Here are before and after pictures of some of the furniture I have painted....
This chest of drawers was painted
with white chalk paint and picked out in grey. It looks much better against the wooden table and chairs.
I removed the door, which is being used as a mirror in one of the bedrooms. The outside was painted black and the inside the same colour as the walls so it appears almost like a built-in.
The armoire in the lounge room, painted white, brightens up the corner.
In Chambre Menthe, two different bedsides are painted in a minty green and picked out in a lighter shade.
I didn't need another mirror in Chambre Menthe, as there is one over the fireplace, so I used it for Chambre Rose and painted it white. I won't be painting the drawers and will just sand and wax which will make the colour less red and more like oak.
A couple of inexpensive bedsides look so much better with a coat of white paint. I won't be painting the headboard.