The Six-Month Remodel: An Airy Flat in Nice Gets a New Lease on Life - Remodelista

The Six-Month Remodel: An Airy Flat in Nice Gets a New Lease on Life - Remodelista
Photography by Helen Cathcart.
Our London-based friend Helen Cathcart sent us photos recently of her newly renovated flat in Nice, which she restored in six short months and now rents out on Airbnb (follow her Instagram feed at @25RuePaganini). It was held up at the end by various delivery mistakes.
WehadstayedinsomanymediocreAirbnbsinNiceduringtherenovationthatIwasdeterminedourswouldbeacompletelydifferentexperience,withhigher-endfinishesandthelittlethingslikenicecrockery,bedlinen,andlovelysoap.Notthosehorriblefloatinglaminates.
The kitchen cabinets and the tap are from Ikea; the handles are from Superfront. It needed to be completely gutted, as it hadn’t been renovated since the 1980s and was very dated and tired. My boyfriend and I planned to renovate it and go there as much as we could.
The farmhouse kitchen sink is from Darty and the white extractor hood is from La Peyre.
The blue velvet sofa is from La Redoubt.
The chandelier is from Grimaud Brocante in Nice.
“My brother, who has renovated a few properties, advised that we remove the breakfast bar and open the room up, as he noticed there was so much lovely light coming through the window.”
The dining table and chairs are from Open Troc in Nice. My brother agreed to do this as he has renovated a lot of properties himself, and my boyfriend helped haul the refuse out with two other men, which was back-breaking work but saved us a lot of money.”
The beds are from Ikea and the linens are from Zara.
The bedside tables are from the Antibes brocante market and the sconces are from Cours Saleya in Nice.
“The apartment had an electric toilet when we bought it,” Helen says, “and we were told the floor was going to be too shallow to put in a proper plumbed toilet, but the plumber we had was brilliant and managed to do it.” The tiles are from Casaoikos. For more idyllic French properties, see.
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