Skipping to the Good Part

Two hares lamp from Belgium

The best part of home renovation has to be shopping for the items that fit just right once all the hard work has been done. A good deal of the hard work has been completed on our tiny house in Lonlay L'Abbaye. We have walls and floors, and doors are on the way, but the house is still not habitable. We seem to be missing a bathroom and a kitchen, for starters.

Nevertheless, when Joseph and I passed a curious shop on the street in Paris recently, we stepped inside and wound up buying a few things we could not resist. We rationalized this by telling ourselves that they will certainly be put to good use in Normandy.

First up, a table lamp with two hares (photo above). Not sure if this is vintage or a copy of an older lamp, but there was something inextricably appealing about it to both of us (at least it has new wiring!) We are enjoying it right now in the city, but nothing says "country" like a lamp with two rabbits. Please note that one of them may be wild, and one tame. I say this because the one on the left has a collar. Her nose has a bit of extra shine, as if the bronze has been rubbed for good luck.

Early 20th century wine glasses

Joseph spotted these wine glasses before I did. They are not as large as they appear in the photo, but hold about 6 oz., suitable for red, white, rosé - or even orange juice. You can have whatever you want when you come to visit. The young lady in the shop said they were likely from the early 20th century. No markings I can see, but they do not appear to have been machine made. The style reminds me of the 1920s or 1930s. 

Quatt hedgehogs

Last, and maybe least (but don't tell them), are these ceramic hedgehog salt & pepper shakers. They are new, not vintage, and have a stamped label that says "Quatt." If anyone knows where they are made, I would be interested to know, as I forgot to ask in the shop. There were several other animal pairs, but I have long had an affection for hedgehogs, so the selection was easy for me. I was surprised that Joseph liked them too. So I can put them on the table and not just hide them away in the cupboard to use on boiled eggs.

The Castorama brochure: the "Essential" sink & mirrored cabinet will fit - but not the additional side cabinet

Now back to the basics. Last month we made a quick train trip to Castorama just outside the city of Caen to meet Jim and Nicola, our builders. Castorama is one of the huge warehouse type stores that sells nearly everything you could need to renovate or remodel your home (but no hedgehogs, wine glasses or hare lamps). The "big box store" concept is very American, so one we are familiar with, as is the somewhat quirky suffix "orama" added onto anything commercial. Back in the 1950s and 1960s in the U.S., advertisers and sign makers had a field day with it. There was a "Food-o-rama," "Car-o-rama," "Skate-o-rama," and "Burger-o-rama" around every corner. At about the same time, the idea that every store should be a "carnival" took root. So there would be "Carnival of Books" next to "Drug Carnival" (a pharmacy, rather than what you were hoping for). The  carnivals and "oramas" preceded the duller spate of "(Blank) R Us," as in "Toys R Us" and "Mufflers R Us." But I digress. Castorama is a cute play on the "orama" form because Castorama has to do with building supplies and tools, and a "castor" in French is a beaver.

There is a Castorama store in Paris, but with space at a premium, you cannot view most of the selections in person. We had seen some items online that we thought might work in our very small bathroom-to-be, like the sink and mirrored cabinet combination above, but we wanted to actually see the materials and get a better feel for the dimensions. We also wanted to purchase everything for the bathroom in one fell swoop, so our builders would have everything they need to install a working toilet, shower, and sink, along with the tile for the floor and shower stall.

The "Essential" sink in real life. Ours can only be 60 cm across.

Our choices were quite limited in terms of the bathroom sink. Jim had originally told us that we could only have a sink that was no wider than 60 cm and no deeper than 40 cm! The only sinks we could find that were 40 cm or less in depth were more like shallow lavatory sinks however, and we could not picture having that as our main bathroom sink for any lengthy visits to Normandy.

The Castorama "Essential" checks in at 45 cm in depth and does come in 60 cm width. Jim allowed that we could fit in the 45 cm sink on the left wall (the extra 5 cm is only 2 inches more, but every inch counts in a tiny bathroom). The sink can still only be 60 cm wide however, as otherwise we can't fit a shower stall against the back wall. I think the sink and under cabinet pictured here is probably 70 cm. Depth is more important than width when you are splashing around washing your face!

So while we might have preferred a less modern style of sink, this one will work for us. We ordered it, along with the matching mirrored medicine cabinet, a slightly old-fashioned faucet, a generic toilet, a generic clear glass sliding shower door, light gray tile for the floor and plain white tile for the shower stall walls. Because it is so small, we'd like to keep the bathroom space simple, even if it is a bit plain vanilla. We can always paint or wallpaper the remaining wall space to bring a touch of color if it lacks personality. Or the hedgehogs can visit and sit on a shelf. I've decided that hedgehogs work wonders in every room.

We also looked at kitchens at Castorama, but will discuss that next time. Meanwhile, we are waiting with bated breath for the devis and a schedule for fitting out the bathroom!