Hello everyone, A new video just landed on the channel and this one is a good mix of big progress, satisfying before-and-afters and a healthy dose of spring in the garden. Go grab a cuppa and give it a watch! Now let me fill you in on a few bits in more detail… The attic is taking shape We’ve hit a pretty big milestone upstairs. Half of the attic is now fully insulated, which honestly feels massive after all the hours (weeks!) we’ve put in up there. The insulation is in, the moisture control...
20 days ago • 1 min read
Bonjour everyone, Hope you're all well! We've just dropped a new video and I'm genuinely excited about this one. You can watch it here: So, the attic insulation saga has officially begun. We're using wood fibre insulation, which we love for an old house like ours, but cutting it to fit snugly between the roof battens? That's another story. Hugo, being Hugo, spent an entire day designing and building a custom jig that lets us slice each piece to the exact size we need. Honestly, even if...
about 1 month ago • 1 min read
Bonjour everyone, After what felt like weeks of relentless rain, the clouds finally parted long enough for us to tackle a project that's been on my mind for a very long time... And honestly? It was worth the wait. I'd been holding onto our old windows for ages, quietly hoping we'd find just the right use for them rather than letting them go. The original windows we repurposed for the greenhouse As it turns out, they were destined to become a little greenhouse. It's compact and sweet, almost...
about 2 months ago • 1 min read
Bonjour everyone, Right, I'll be honest with you: this fortnight has been an absolute slog at the Chartreuse. Our latest video is now live! Fair warning though, it's less 'dreamy French renovation' and more 'why did we think this was a good idea?' But that's the reality of this journey, isn't it? Watch it now: January decided to throw everything at us: constant rain, an actual storm (thankfully we escaped with minimal damage, touch wood), and then, of course, the universe decided that nothing...
2 months ago • 1 min read
Bonjour everyone, Welcome back! In this week's video, we finally tackle a job we’ve been putting off for over two years: ripping out all the old insulation upstairs, as the first step towards our attic renovation. It’s one of those tasks that nobody wants to do, but that needed doing before anything else could move forward. Why now? The insulation that was up there had been installed back in the 1990s, and it was made of glass fibres. On paper, it should have done the job, but in practice it...
3 months ago • 1 min read
Bonjour everyone, Winter has truly arrived here in southwest France. We've had a proper cold snap this week, and would you believe it, we actually woke up to snow in Bordeaux! It's such a rare sight that half the neighbourhood was out taking photos. But the novelty wore off pretty quickly when we realised just how freezing cold the house had become. And that's what finally pushed us to tackle a job we really should have done ages ago: insulating under the floorboards in the cellar. I know, I...
3 months ago • 1 min read
Bonjour everyone, We've got a special one for you today: our bedroom transformation is finally on the channel! This room has been quite the journey. When we first got the keys to the Chartreuse, the bedroom was an absolute state: mouldy walls, plasterboards stuck to the original stone that had to come off, a hole in the wall that needed fixing, dodgy gutters, ancient plastic window... the list goes on. We had to sort the gutters, replace the windows, insulate properly, and then tackle...
4 months ago • 1 min read
Bonjour, Our latest renovation episode is now live, and we think it's a good one: packed with satisfying progress, antique treasure hunting, and a touch of Christmas magic. Watch it now👇 🛠️ Bedroom makeover continues In this episode, we’re back in the big bedroom. The end is finally in sight as we finish the drawer fronts we’ve been working on. It’s one of those jobs that looks deceptively simple but makes such a difference once it’s done. We can’t wait for you to see how the whole space is...
5 months ago • 1 min read
Bonjour everyone, We’re back with another update from the chartreuse — and this time, we’re making more progress on the bedroom renovation. It’s still far from finished (as always, these things take time!), but Hugo has started working on the doors and drawers, and I’ve been playing around with some fabric options for the door panels. If you love seeing the little details come together, you’ll enjoy this one. Meanwhile, outside... We made the most of the last of the autumn sunshine and spent...
5 months ago • 1 min read