29 December 2009

The Gorgeous Reclaimed Floors of Chic Provence


If you are building a new home, or remodeling one, you have the perfect opportunity to create authentic Provencal ambience from the ground up (lucky you!). No, you do not have to settle for wood floors that merely look old and distressed, or tiles that try to capture the patina of hundreds of years of life.

You will be doing your part to go green, too, by using reclaimed flooring instead of wasting energy creating new. And the charm and elegance of these venerable old floors is undisputed.



antique French oak floorboards imprinted with
character from hundreds of years of use
reclaimed planks 6" 11" wide and 98" long





antique parquet de Versailles unfinished,
reclaimed from chateaux and farm houses
in Europe





antique French terra cotta floor tiles reclaimed
from Provence, each reflecting the color of
the region where made






18th & 19th C. reclaimed tomettes, or hexagonal tiles, named in honor of l'Hexe
(France herself looks like a hexagon on a map)



cut limestone floors



antique handmade terra cotta tiles are
charming and utterly practical


these very rustic antique handmade tiles are the perfect foil for
the elegant furniture and draperies




reclaimed flooring and
other architectural material at:

logo






.........................................


in the new year, it's:


Kit Golson Design

for elegant, sustainable and pragmatic

Chic Provence Interior Design


19 comments:

  1. Your last two posts are fantastic! So many good ideas and the photos are excellent. I want every one of those doors! But it might be a bit much for my one-bedroom apartment. Happy New Year! Stan

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  2. Just found your blog.....it is very nice! I love the reclaimed parquet. The photos are incredible!

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  3. Hi, Kit I LOVE this post (and your blog of course) I owned a 1645 house in the Ardeche in France 5 years ago, (before "they" managed to build a huge supermarket/mall at the end of my drive/road and I "par miracle" sold it. I made the huge mistake of asking to see the house a year later only to find the reclaimed tomettes that we had installed all over the house ( a light variation of terra cotta/pink/salmony luscious tones, some of them original to the house) had been painted over with SHINY floor lacquer to make them look "cleaner" and "easier to maintain"! I had a hard time keeping the tears from flowing down my cheeks, because of that, and the reminder that the house was definitely and sadly not mine at all any more... so this post rings very true for me and warms my heart ... Merci beaucoup.

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  4. I love the doors and floors... what do you have in your home?
    Lee

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  5. Good morning Stan, thanks for the visit and comments. I know I love all the doors. I would die for the mirrored cabinet door somewhere in my (smallish-after-all-its-california!) home. Yes these call out to our thrifter's souls!

    all the best for the New Year!

    Kit

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  6. Bonjour Jeanne-Aelia, thanks so much for visiting, I LOVE your blog too, it is inspiring to me. I can only imagine the grief at seeing your gorgeous tommettes painted over, I guess I too would have a choked up throat and tears stinging my eyes...do you have pictures of the 1645 house in the Ardeche? I am sure it was gorgeous with your taste.

    All the best in the New Year! Kit

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  7. Good morning Lee of Comblogulation!

    Thanks for visiting and yes I love the old floors and doors. My home here in California is hardwood flooring throughout which I love (after all these years it's beginning to look like the reclaimed floors!).

    My dream home in Provence .. a bastide in the countryside in the Var :), like Jeanne-Aelia's would undoubtedly have the tommettes...they are so practical in the climate there and lovely to look at and cool underfoot in the summer. I would install radiant heating under them for chilly winter mornings.

    My second choice...a maison de ville in, say, St. Remy for example, can handle the elegance of the lovely parquet de Versailles.

    Here's to a fabulous New Year and lovely floors and doors for you!

    Kit

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  8. Good morning Theresa,

    Thanks for finding me and for stopping by, and for following! I just visited your beautiful blog and love it....the Chinoiserie Christmas is gorgeous and I can see I will enjoy visiting!

    Happy New Year! Kit

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  9. Darling, I thank you for visiting me and leaving kind wishes behind, much appreciated. Enjoy the last day of the year and have a marvelous 2010 full of good health, happiness, prosperity, love and blessings.

    Love & Hugs
    Duchess

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  10. Dear Duchess

    Always such a pleasure to have you visit! All the very best to you in our new year and enjoy the festivities!

    bisous,

    Kit

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  11. I have a door for you...I recently painted an old door...lovely patina of blue and cream. On it I painted "welcome" in French. I will have to post a picture as right now sits in my shop. Love all your inspiring pictures. thanks for visiting my site.

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  12. Hi Molly thanks for stopping by and following...the door sounds lovely! All best to you in 2010!

    Kit

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  13. Hi Kit, this is a wonderful post ~ I adore the cut limestone flooring. I would love to have this installed in my home!

    xoxo, B

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  14. Bonjour Belle, yes I adore that flooring too...*someday*

    all best for wonderful 2010! Many thanks for stopping by

    xxx
    Kit

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  15. I'm loving the floor in the first photo. The lighter the floor the more it resembles Swedish style decor which I just can't get enough of. At closer thought, as an artist maybe I'm trying to grab all the light and keep it going for as long as I can. White walls, floors and furnishings . . .

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  16. good morning Bridechic! and happy new year this early new day, year and decade! I really enjoy your blog, there is something so wonderful about helping brides with their special look on their special day....!

    Yes I love the lightness of that floor....and I too love the Swedish look...it's actually very similar to the Chic Provence look in that both styles are simple and elegant.

    Many thanks for visiting, see you again soon!

    Kit

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  17. Gorgeous flooring, all of it, but my favorite is the hexagonal tiles. Happy New Year, Kit!

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  18. Hi Anne, thanks for visiting and a very happy new year to you!

    xxx

    Kit

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  19. Oh, we are doing renovations in our house in Tampa. The flooring is third on our list of things we wanna change. Parquet pattern is absolutely my choice. I think the green vintage color would be lovely as well.

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I would love to hear what you think! merci!

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