Anyone who came to the Chateau ten years ago or more and who peeked behind closed doors might remember Christophe’s room when it was a scruffy, makeshift kitchen. The ugly duckling of the Chateau estate, it has undergone a slow transformation over the years from the dark and dingy kitchen to a charming ensuite bedroom with its own secluded, private balcony overlooking woods and fields.
On paper, it was a simple enough conversion but it was a drawn-out process more akin to a jigsaw than a building project. It involved the repositioning of an internal staircase, the creation of a balcony and new entrance on the north side of the building. Internal walls were erected to separate the bedroom from the apartment hallway. It was rewired, re-plumbed and a bathroom installed under the new stairs. Finally, the old entrance was blocked up and the space in front converted into the studio loos and kitchenette.
Everything was altered except for the original terracotta floor tiles which I kept. I began to regret that decision once I learned how difficult a colour terracotta is to work with. Luckily one day I found some cushions in rust, black and sage green that worked well and based the entire colour scheme around that palette. I found fabric to match and ran up some curtain, converted some handblown green glass bottles into side lamps added pictures, a throw and a few other bits and pieces. Mission accomplished.
You can see the Chateau’s other bedrooms here: chateaudumas.net/bedrooms
