Creating our gîte d’étape - step 2
As you know, if you read “step 1”, we are now at the end of 2024 and the weatherproofing of our gîte is done. We can finally take our next step and more importantly start the interior renovations of our gîte d’étape on the Chemin d’Amadour (GR81)!
Our gîte will have two bedrooms, which isn’t a lot, so to maximise the amount of people we can accommodate, we decide to convert the largest bedroom into a shared room, called “the dormitory”.
The dormitory is the room that needs the least amount of work, as there are no structural changes to be made. It only needs a little paint and a lot of love, which makes it the perfect room to get us started with the interior renovations.
We're showing our colours!
This shared room will have two bunkbeds on one side of the room.
To delineate this area we chose a dark grey colour.The rest of the room will be painted in a light warm grey instead of the traditional white. We know that only having shades of grey might make the room seem drab, but trust us, the final result will be warm and cosy.
Sleep soundly
When you’re a public accommodation, you can’t just use any bunkbed. They need to comply with specific safety regulations.
Fortunately we found an artisanal manufacturer (La chambre de Paul) based in “Les Landes” which, like us, is part of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region. They make beautiful furniture from locally sourced PEFC certified wood. The bunkbeds we bought are made of maritime pine, finished with a clear coat of lacquer to bring out the natural beauty of the wood.
After assembling the beds, the dormitory is starting to take shape. The beds bring the warmth we needed, the only thing missing is the promised cosiness.
Your own little corner
As there is a good chance that you’ll share the dormitory with strangers, we wanted to make sure that everyone had their own little space. Our own travels taught us how import it is to be able to seclude yourself from the people around you.
In order to do that, we sewed curtains for each bed. Not only do they turn each bed into a little cocoon, they make the whole room cosy.
And with this, our first room is finished and we’ve completed step 2! We hope you’ll love the dormitory as much as we do!
After ending 2024 on a high note we are ready to tackle 2025, which will be a big and challenging year for us and our little gîte. Join us, as we take another step in our journey of transforming our house into a gîte d’étape!
