A French Style Home Tour - Inspired By Provence!

What could be better than a French way dwelling tour (and hobby farm) inspired by the cute countryside of Provence! Today we are sharing a mid-century home and farm that is set in rural Illinois still with all of the trappings of a French lifestyle. Let's get right into this fabled and interesting dwelling house tour and be sure to ringlet down for some dramatic before and after shots!

Amy is a budding entrepreneur and former accounting professional. Inspired by the timeless elegance of Provence, Amy strives to bring a scrap of France to her rural country life. Established in 2016, Maison de Mings is a lifestyle brand founded by Mat and Amy Mings from Raleigh, Illinois. "Maison" is French for business firm, then the proper name of their blog ways the "Firm of Mings." Visit the web log Here. You lot'll also detect Amy over on Instagram hither – Maison de Mings.

They love traveling away to Provence and collecting French antiques.

A French Style Dwelling house Tour

Over the concluding few years, they have been renovating their mid-century Bedford stone home and continually strive to bring a chip of France to their country life!

This husband and wife squad loves all things DIY and believes in hard piece of work. Their objective is to combine their passion for the timeless elegance of the Côte d'Azure with the rugged simplicity of rural America. Amy is the designer and creative strength and Mat brings many of her ideas to life.

In 2019, they expanded into hobby farming: Olde English "Babydoll" Southdown sheep, ducks, chickens and a llama are now part of the bustling activity of Maison de Mings.

About The Home

"We purchased our 1970'due south Bedford stone abode in 2022 when we moved back to Southern Illinois. My husband and I both grew upward in the aforementioned surface area (we met at church camp in 6th grade), just both left for college and to pursue our careers. We've lived in a number of big cities due to Mat'due south career. Once our girls were built-in (fourteen months apart), we knew at some point we would get out city life and move "dwelling house." Nosotros wanted our girls to grow up on the subcontract (like we did) and exist able to see their grandparents anytime they wanted."

"It was a large change and took a few years to make it happen, but life in Southern Illinois is simpler and you tin't beat a modest town community! We are thankful our girls only live a few minutes from all their grandparents and swell-grandparents."

"When we commencement started searching for a home, we were in a chip of a time crunch. We knew we wanted more than than an acre and the housing marketplace was express. Taxes in our area are crazy high (especially for new construction) and building wasn't an option. Mat is very handy and with my design ideas, nosotros knew if we plant an older habitation that needed piece of work on a holding nosotros liked we could transform information technology."

This French style home tour is special, as the work was done by the couple themselves!

"We settled on a home that had been on the marketplace nearly two years which was for auction by owner. Honestly, it wasn't ideal and needed a ton of corrective work, just information technology was on 5 acres and in a location we liked."

"Within a month (since we were on such a time crisis), nosotros had completed demolition and ripped up all the floor and painted every inch of the home (walls, trim, ceilings – EVERYTHING). We were trying to do as much as possible before we had to movement in."

"With two little ones under 3, we knew information technology would be much more difficult to renovate while living in the abode. My husband was working total fourth dimension and worked every additional second on our home tardily into the evenings. Many nights after he would come in around midnight (or later) I would leave to go to the house and paint so we could continue moving forrard the next twenty-four hour period."

"It was a whirlwind, but we did have assist from our family unit too. In the cease, our hard work paid off. When we moved in, nosotros had all new flooring and freshly painted walls. Many of the spaces remained "in process" and have seen multiple picayune makeovers every bit our budget allows."

"Our kitchen was one of the biggest makeover projects and we lived without countertops for a few weeks while we waited for them to exist installed. I besides painted our cabinets with the help of my dad. We used a finishing sprayer and they look like they came from a factory. I was so pleased with how they transformed our kitchen."

Kitchen Before –

Kitchen After –

A few more earlier and afters in this French fashion home bout…

Pantry Before (Closet)-

Pantry After –

Dining Room Before –

Dining Room After –

Full Bath Before –

Total Bathroom Later on –

Half Bathroom Before –

Half Bathroom Afterwards –

Subcontract Shed Before –

Farm Shed After –

Christmas In The Farm Shed –

"Over the concluding 2 years, we have tried to be intentional with our design decisions and make timeless upgrades. We are inspired by all things French and slowly have tried to incorporate our honey for Provence into our domicile besides."

"We take chandeliers in every room – even our bathrooms and befouled. We also have a lot of custom wood pieces made by Mat which bring in the handmade amuse. My favorite DIYs  are the French-inspired baker's rack and our custom island. We are also getting ready to make some new pieces for our breezeway as we tackle that makeover in 2021. Throughout it all, we've just tried to use what we have and make our home "ameliorate than earlier."

See more about the – DIY French bakers rack – on Amy's web log!

Holidays At Dwelling –

The Hobby Farm – French way domicile tour

"When nosotros moved our family back home to Southern Illinois finding a property with room to grow was key. My husband and I both grew up on family farms and we shared a potent desire to teach our children responsibility and instill a potent work ethic."

Our Subcontract Life Why?

"In 2019, nosotros started looking at options to cut downwardly on grass and weed control and we decided to commencement a hobby farm. We felt like life amid animals would be such a wonderful way for our kids to abound up. Not but would interacting with the animals teach them communication and patience, we idea it would provide a positive model for futurity human relationships also.  For us, we really took our time researching the types of animals nosotros wanted to bring to our farm and information technology has only evolved naturally over time. We knew information technology would be of import to start modest and then we could dedicate the attending and care required."

Preparation For The Animals

"Earlier we were able to bring any animals dwelling house initially, we knew we would accept to prepare our property for farm life. Fortunately, when we purchased our home, information technology came with an outside storage barn. During our showtime yr, we gave our barn a makeover and in 2022 my married man added onto it and enclosed a new area to offering protection for our animals against the elements. We also added welded wire fencing and several gates to protect our livestock."

Brute Pick

"We quickly brutal in beloved with the Olde English "Babydoll" Southdown sheep. They met our demand for grass and weed command and nosotros loved how their modest size would exist much easier to handle than many other farm animals. We started our hobby farm with purchasing two wethers and this autumn we added twin lambs from Indiana. It has been such a joy to come across our girls interact with our sheep."

"The sheep have such a sweet temperament and will come up correct upward to our girls and swallow out of their easily. When our girls are old enough, I promise they will show sheep in 4-H like my grandmother once did."

"Since we already had a shelter for the sheep, nosotros did a little more enquiry and settled on adding two jumbo Pekin ducks to the farm. They were very messy at first, simply now that they are fully grown and exterior with the sheep they have been much more manageable. They are great layers and we typically get ii fresh eggs each forenoon. It is amazing how well the ducks get forth with our sheep!"

Predator Protection (at the French style abode tour)

"With winter approaching concluding twelvemonth, we focused on tightening up our fencing and considering options for predator command. With smaller farm animals, safety was upmost importance. My married man and I built the fencing ourselves and while nosotros felt it was secure, nosotros knew we should also consider adding a big guard dog or llama to the farm. Did you lot know that llamas tin instinctively bond with other animals and provide a high level of protection from predators similar a coyote? After talking to other sheep owners, we decided a llama would be the best option for us. We loved that they would eat the aforementioned things as our sheep and we were lucky enough to find a llama that had previously been with Southdowns."

"Once again, we worked rapidly to expand our debate to arrange the new llama and give our sheep more room to graze. Our animals mostly feed on fresh grass, merely throughout the wintertime they take more hay. Nosotros also supplement with grains and offer minerals. The grain is mostly used as a special treat to assistance them bond with us and experience comfortable effectually us."

French style domicile tour – Family Hobby Farm

"Last spring we added 9 hens and a rooster to our hobby subcontract. They all free range and go along great with our other animals. We transformed one of the bays in our barn to a craven coop which as worked perfect. Having multiple fresh chicken eggs daily has been a game changer!"

"I hope this gives you a glimpse into our "why" for starting a hobby farm and how nosotros've prepared for them along the mode. In our area it is definitely not common to raise babydoll sheep, ducks or own a llama, but nosotros wouldn't have it whatever other way. Our firm truly feels like a home and our new animals accept brought our entire family unit so much joy!! It seems like our favorite days are ones spent outside watching the animals interact or our girls helping treat them. Nosotros are always learning something new and I dearest that we get to exercise it together as a family unit."

Amy is delightful and I know that y'all'll want to follow her on Instagram for more than inspiration at Maison de Mings!

Want more French style habitation tour inspiration? Caput over to these posts below!

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