Photography courtesy of Les Penates Reims.
I have never been to Reims, the city in the Champagne region of France where all of the French kings were once crowned.
But, through the magic of Instagram, I’ve spent the last few weeks poring over one of the most classically, quietly lovely projects I’ve seen: a pair of guesthouses and the accompanying family house of the family renovating them, steps from the city’s famous cathedral.
The entrance to the Brun/Bérard house, remodeled.
Family House
Brun and Bérard are masters of the well-placed mirror, for bringing in light and making spaces feel bigger.
The main room, formerly part of the artists’ industrial, bare-bones studio, now with windows along one side and a kitchen tucked in back.
Fittings are frequently changing, as staging for the couple’s antiques shop.
The kitchen is separated from the main room by a vintage window.
The kitchen, in shades of white, with a hex tile backsplash and an accordion-style task light above.
Above the sink: an antique soap dish.
On the opposite wall: a mirror and a statement-making light switch.
The long main room, in shades of white, pale grey, and yellow.
Looking out at the small courtyard (and a cache of found green cafe chairs).
The “back kitchen,” with a newly laid black and white tile floor and cream-colored Smeg fridge.
In one of the bedrooms, the couple built a wardrobe and a ledge to give shape and character to a nondescript square room.
In each room: well-sourced fixtures and vintage mirrors.
The master bath, with a tri-fold, 100-year-old barber’s mirror.
Guesthouse No. 1
The first of the twin guest houses to be completed, with floors that have been sanded and left bare.
A small dining area, with a tall, narrow built-in cupboard beside.
“All of the walls are painted in a velvety white,” Brun says. The couple also created a custom paint color, a green inspired by the tiles in the entryway, with Comptoir des Peintures; the green, along with a few other colors, will be available soon for sale.
The ochre theme from the house continues in one of the guesthouse bedrooms.
The unfinished wall above the mantel adds, as Brun said of the project, “the spirit of the old;” see Trend Alert: The Excavated Look, 15 Ways for more ideas.
A vintage light and bentwood chair in one corner.
In another, a mirror propped against the wall alongside a glass objet.
In the guest house bath, the couple made use of leftover tile from the main house’s back kitchen.
The children’s bedroom in the guest house.
Hanging from a peg: another well-placed mirror.
A glimpse of Guesthouse 2, in progress, and set to open for holiday lets this spring. And for our favorite projects in the French countryside, see:
Guesthouse No. 2