French Consul

08/10/2026

Heritage renovation is my therapy ♥️🤣 Some people do yoga. I knock down walls. What’s yours? 👇

05/10/2026

How to shorten French doors | No screws, no glue…so how do these old doors come apart?

These French doors need to be shorter, and you can’t just saw the bottom off. The only way is to take them apart and put them back together 😱 Glass out first, which luckily slid out in one piece. Then we edged the bottom panels off, slowly and carefully (it took 2hrs), because old timber doesn’t forgive mistakes. One panel already had a crack, and it split in two. You’ll hear the moment it went 😭

Then we jimmied the side panel off very carefully, and we could finally see how the whole door is held together. That then allows us to reduce the height and reassemble the door. The cracked panel can be repaired, so that’s part two 😅

Have you ever pulled apart an old door? I’d love to know what you found.

28/09/2026

Rendering a concrete patio to look like an old French wall: the final top coat, done in the rain and then the dark. It was meant to take 2 hours. It took 5 🫠 what have I done??!

Render is normally a wall finish, so putting it on a floor is a gamble. It’s a low-traffic area, and before the render went on we brushed over a bonding coat made from Davco Davelastic mixed with concrete powder and water, to help it grip the slab (you can see it in the video). I’m still not sure I love how it looks, but I’ll show you how it cures once we remove the rain covers soon. Would you have done it? Controversial? Regrets? 😬

21/09/2026

Wake up in France ♥️

12/09/2026

03/09/2026

Office reno painting before and after: I painted my studio wall French blue — but I almost chickened out! When I ran a poll asking whether to paint my office wall, most of you voted to keep it white! I admit, it threw me a little. White is an easy to live with, classic option. But I wanted a fresh start for my studio more than I was scared of colour.

I could see the vision — oak furniture against a French blue wall, artwork coming very soon to finish the space ♥️

If you’re on the fence about colour, this is your sign. Do it.

Tint Helena House Furniture

20/08/2026

Paint samples, unboxed 📦 Four beautiful shades from Tint … but wait — I made a 5th one 🤫 It’s giving a little more green (chef’s kiss). Which one is YOUR favourite?? Vote below 👇 L to R: 1, 2, 3, 4, or 5?