Interior design when renovating your property in France

Planning the interior design for your renovation

In the first Thinking and Planning page I discussed some of the first stages to go through when planning the layout and design of the property. That was at a 'high level'.

At the 'lower level' you also need to think about specific interior design and style issues. If you have at least some kind of vision of the 'finished product' the whole project will be easier.

I recommend anyone redesigning or restoring a building to accumulate magazine pictures and books and so on. Then find pictures of exteriors or interiors that you like, and try to think why you like them. A couple of hundred pounds on magazines and books is money very well spent if the ideas can translate into adding thousands of pounds to the value of your house and, more importantly, make it a nicer place to live.

The house renovation magazines that I buy are not often immediately applicable to the work I am doing, but they come into their own when I am later planning a bathroom, a shutter colour or anything else for the building and I am looking for ideas. As with tools and materials, if you try too hard to save money you will end up with a worse result, and ultimately you will spend more trying to get it right (or be miserable every time you visit someone who has got it right).

Interior design and decoration magazines may seem a bit ahead of the project, if you are looking at different designs of curtain before the room even exists. But the more interiors that you look at, the clearer the idea you will have of what you want.

The other key reason for looking at these magazines and ideas is that they will keep you motivated during the long winter nights, or the rainy days when the mason can't work. It is possible that on a rainy day in January your enthusiasm might fade just a little bit. A few magnificent magazine interiors will soon help you get your enthusiasm back.

Of course, even better than magazines is the real thing. Whenever you get the chance, go in peoples houses and have a nosy around. Most people are happy to show off their houses, and you will get loads of good ideas for interior design. I am constantly amazed, here in Perigord, at the outstanding interiors I see in peoples houses. Invite people in for a coffee, and soon enough they will invite you back.