Springtime means...

Since we were gone for 3 months, things with the house were necessarily at a standstill. But we got back just in time for spring cleaning and spring renovations. Our springtime visits already started last weekend, and there are more to come, so we have a lot to get done!

I kicked off the spring cleaning by decluttering the patio. We put the outdoor patio table outside, and removed all the random junk that had accumulated here during the winter. Now it looks nice enough to eat out there!

We found a light fixture for one side of the dining room at the hard-to-beat price of 10 euros at the hardware store, where they were selling the floor models. (Ceiling models?)

And this fixture, for over the dining room table, we bought back in October but hadn't had a chance to put up yet.

Frederic put it up the other day, but one of the glass parts dropped and broke while he was putting it together. He went back to Ikea to see if they could find a replacement for him even though it was long past the 3 months they allow for exchanges, and they found one with no trouble at all. Yay for good customer service! (even more rare in France than in the US!)

Now we just need a nice dining room table to go with it, and a nice new kitchen that opens onto the dining room, separated by a bar, and new tile... oh well, one thing at a time, right?

We've also made progress on the hallway - Frederic started remodeling it almost 2 years ago but things came up (like a pregnancy and then baby) so progress was slow.

Here is the before.

And now.

He moved walls and doors, and we still plan to remove the wall on the right, between the hallway and the living room.

On our outing to Compiègne, we found this little table to go between the bathroom and guest room doors.

And.... (drumroll)... as we approach our third summer in this house, we finally will be able to eat outside without getting too sunburned.