FRENCH FANCY This restored home has a certain je ne sais quoi

This historic house has been by its owners to create sympathetically restored a warm and elegant home

LANDING

The house has four rooms on each floor, allowing each of the children to have a space of their own. ‘We did not remove any walls and we kept the original layout,’ du Sordet explains. Many of the house’s original features have also been kept, such as the oak staircases, while there is a cosy fireplace in every room. Work by contemporary artists adorns the walls.

KITCHEN

A salvaged cast-iron splashback, originally an 18th-century fireplace plate from a religious building, takes pride of place above the range cooker.

The Zellige wall tiles are from Emery & Cie, and the worktops are made from marble.

SNUG

At the end of the house is the former boiler room, which has been turned into a reading room and TV lounge. ‘We buy and bargain-hunt a lot for our e-shop,’ says du Sordet. ‘We love upcycling, but we do not just repaint or repair, we give a real second chance to these objects and they have a new use as soon as they enter our home.’

DINING ROOM

Du Sordet chose a mix of grey, khaki and taupe for the ground floor rooms, and each is furnished with pieces from different eras that work together harmoniously. Complementing the original cement floor tiles, the dining table, chairs and pendant are all bargain finds dating from the 1970s. For similar paint, try Gauze Dark and Gauze Mid from Little Greene.