Countdown to completion

The task for this month was to drive the car down through France to leave at my house. Car hire is so expensive from Nice that it makes sense to have a car at the house and get a train/taxi from the airport. It will only take a couple of years for the cost of the car to work out cheaper than car hire during that time! It was a long drive down but worth it.

At the house, there’s been a lot of progress internally. The wall separating the kitchen and utility room is now up so the whole space has really taken shape. Now I’ve seen it, I’m happy with the decision I made to remove the skylight and lower the ceilings in that area. While we were there, Damien from the kitchen company came to take final measurements so the kitchen can be ordered next week. The installation is scheduled for the beginning of May and should only take a couple of weeks to complete. I'm really looking forward to seeing the kitchen in!

Two large cupboards either side of the front door (creating an entrance space) and the guest toilet next to the kitchen have been built. The only internal wall left to complete is the one with the fireplace on. I changed my mind about the design of the fireplace after the wall had already been constructed so it had to be taken down and now needs to be put back up again! I’ve really tried not to change my mind on things as the build has developed but this was an exception as I felt that the fireplace would look better centralised rather than on the right. This new design also means there’s space for a TV above the fireplace, which wasn’t possible before.

The plumber and electrician have both been at the house for the last few weeks and have almost completed the first phase of work. There was a complication with the pipes in the crawl space underneath the house which took some extra work, but luckily this is all sorted now. There have been a few other minor issues with the suspended toilets and location of some light switches but Anthony has resolved these. Next week the builders will screed the floor in bedrooms 2, 3 & 4 which means the floor tiles will be laid very soon!

While the plumber and electrician have been working inside the house, work has continued outside on the terrace and around the pool. The margelle (edging) was placed around the pool a few weeks ago and we saw the tiler laying the first of the travertine tiles while we were there, which was great timing! The stairs from the house to the pool are currently being repaired and the whole outside space looks so much better.

Anthony and Christopher cut down some dead trees by the terrace which opens up the view to the right of the house and work continued on the garden with everything getting a good cut and tidy.

I am now starting to think about furniture for the house, which I have been waiting years for! I have kept all the old furniture in the garage so I’ll likely put this all back in when the house is finished and take my time choosing what I want in the house. The completion date is still scheduled for May, however I will be staying at an air bnb up the road when my friends visit at the beginning of May as we don’t want to chance not being able to have a shower!

I’m very happy with how everything is looking and still feel very grateful every time I sit on the terrace and look at the view.