Olive’s Room at La Cressonnière

Here’s another peak of our rental home here in France. Today, I’ve snapped some of my favorite details from Olive’s Room. It’s actually Baby June’s room too, but my pictures of the gorgeous antique crib didn’t turned out, so we’ll revisit that yummy little tidbit later.

gorgeous headboard

This headboard is my favorite one in the house. Isn’t it lovely? Here’s a detail shot:

gorgeous headboard

handpainted wall borderhandpainted wall border

At first glance, it looks like the bottom half of the walls have been papered in an ornate pattern, but on closer inspection, the whole thing is a hand-painted mural. I love the elephant.

painted ceiling

The ceilings in this house are very high and make even the smallest rooms feel grand. This one is painted in colors that match the wall mural.

giraffe mother and baby

The house is full of original art. Truly, there is artwork in literally every room and hallway. One of my very favorite pieces is this sculpture of a giraffe parent and child. It appears to be sculpted right out of the wall. Here’s a detail shot:

giraffe mother and baby

When we’re not renting this house, the room functions as one of two guest rooms. In fact, this whole area of the house is typically closed off for the winter so that it doesn’t need to be heated. This bedroom is the smallest of the five in the house, but it’s still plenty big. Nine-year-old Olive feels like a queen in her own big bed.

P.S. — For those who are curious, yes, the homeowner is an artist. He works with his brother and they have amazing pieces all over our little town. I’m working on a post about it and promise to share soon.

51 thoughts on “Olive’s Room at La Cressonnière”

  1. Aaaah, I live in Dubai and just realised that now that you are in Europe, only 4 hours behind, your posts will come earlier so I don’t have to wait till the next day to read them! Yippie for France!

  2. It may sound strange to say it, but your home in France feels so serendipitous to me – there could be no more perfect house for you all! I love the details you are sharing.

  3. I’m curious about school … will the kids just take off a year? homeschooling? how are they adjusting to the new place? Thanks for letting all of us live vicariously!

  4. I’ve just discovered your site and like what I read looking forward to read your families adventure in France!!
    Dagmar
    Iceland

  5. It is amazing. But I have a very practical question for you. Do you worry constantly about the normal wear and tear your children will inflict on everything that is so beautiful and not exactly kid friendly? Sorry to be a party pooper, just very curious!

    1. I would wonder, too–seems like my house is a built-in danger trap for my 11-month-old, or she is a danger to so much that I love out on display. Maybe this is the next Ask-Design-Mom question: How to balance beautiful items the adults love with the wear and tear of children?

  6. Lucky, lucky you…this home is just so amazingly perfect. I love that sculpture. The people who own this home are so very generous to rent it out, and leave all the art and beauty for others to discover and treasure. Thank you for sharing!

  7. Love the details! I love getting to “experience” all this as you keep us updated :)
    Since I discovered what you were up to I’ve been really thinking about doing a long term vacation in Florence. We are already living the overseas experience in Sicily and I think being able to go away for a month and experience another side of Italy would be a beautiful experience. Thank you for the inspiration!

  8. Beautiful! Not only are your children gaining an amazing experience from living abroad, they are living with art! Art is such a wonderful way to open the heart and mind to impossible possibilities. What a treasure!

  9. That sculptural plaque is quite neat. Love the subject, love the texture. I am always drawn to art that has that sculptural treatment. How fantastic to live in an artist’s house…I always seethe with some jealously when I see house upon house upon house with fantastic art and happy walls–the homeowners are interminably artists.

  10. Love the beams….
    C’mon…show us a bit more…we’re all drooling here.
    Tell us about FOOD. And the neighbors. And all your parlez-vous-ing (the sum of my french knowledge). And what each of the kids are thinking about the grand adventure so far…..

    Lissa

  11. I’d love to see a photo of Olive in her impressive, BREATH-TAKING room!
    She’d make it even more stunning! Neighbors? cows and pigs?
    So many happy discoveries! Continue to Seize the day!

  12. Beautiful rental!! We rent in Bydgoszcz, Poland, but are lucky enough to also have a US mail address here. It was quite an adjustment moving here, but we’re settling in nicely.

    Do you have a Carrefour or Auchan near you? They are great one-stop-shops for groceries, household items, etc. I took advice of neighbors and froze a few flats of strawberries over the summer so we would have them all winter. Luckily, I’ve found strawberries, blueberries and raspberries in the frozen aisle at Auchan (a French store here in Poland). Oh, and enjoy the yogurt, it’s soo much better in Europe. Good luck in your frozen fruit search. :o)

  13. France is all about the details. Your photos are great. From my trip there i brought back beautiful little knives, spoons and napkins from just one of the many kitchen shops i saw in Paris. I can use these things every day and be reminded of France.
    Can’t wait to see what you find at your local outdoor food market, we bought this divine homemade raspberry syrup that made delicious tall fizzy drinks. And look for butter from Ile de Re; it had little chunks of salt in it and is amazing with home made jam on a baguette.

  14. Oh my goodness. So incredibly lovely! I hope you share photos of ALL the rooms in this gorgeous house. It seems like it was meant to be for your family to live there this year! The treehouse! The art! The floors! Just beautiful!

  15. Over this past fall I was browsing your blog and found bedding that my daughter and I fell in-love with. The bed was hanging from the ceiling. The bedspread was black and white with a punch of pink. Do you recall this particular bedspread? If so, do you remember what company it is from?

  16. love the details of the house! it does make me a bit curious about how the entire room looks, though. i haven’t a good idea of what the place looks like. can you post zoomed out photos of the rooms and house? lovely series! enjoy your family adventure :)

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