Chateau rigaud somewhere near Bordeaux – inspo indeed

Quick post to highlight some places I go to when I need inspiration for my own French home – property porn basically. The first is www.chateaurigaud.co.uk a truly gorgeous house you can rent in its entirety or by the room. Click on the link and I promise you will spend at least twenty minutes flicking through all their rooms.

If only they said on the site WHICH colour this is?

I love the way they’ve used bold dark colours in the bedrooms. One of the joys of having a large house is being able to really make a statement with colour. I want our house to have this same feeling of rich colour throughout. We’ve discovered a paint firm called Earthborn paints which are not only more environmentally sound than normal paints but they also let our ancient old walls breathe (like Geox shoes – my kids always question their ‘shoes that breathe’ claims – “how? How can shoes breathe mummy’)

chateau lartigolle – some nights I dream of this place

My second favourite room inspo site is a chateau not too far from us called Chateau De Lartigolle. So obsessed am I with this building that I’ve been tempted to pop over and say hello. But I fear it’s a little stalkerish! How would they react when I tell them I have studied every inch of the Cole and Son wallpaper in their ‘Brook’ bedroom. Or that sometimes in the evenings I sit down with a glass of wine and idly flick through pics of their children’s sitting room?

Maybe they’d be thrilled. Flattered. Or it might end up being like the time I interviewed Olivia Newton John and quoted the first ten minutes of Grease to her ‘I’m going back to Australia, I might never see you again. Don’t talk that way Sandy… But it’s true I’ve just had the best summer of my life and now I have to go away. It isn’t fair…..’ She kept looking at her agent in a slightly scared way. Its why I can never meet George Michael. They’d have to restrain me to stop me singing all of Careless Whisper to him ver-batim!

Would Jimi fit in my handbag?

Anyway, Lartigolle is my go-to site for wallpaper ideas. From rooms totally covered in heavy patterned wallpaper, to feature walls and panels, I love what the owners of this chateau have done with pattern. I also love their sitting rooms. In fact, I love all of it. I am OBSESSED. That’s it I’m driving over there right now to steal their Jimi Hendrix print.