Lifestyle: The ongoing renovation of our Dordogne property

With regard to the renovation of our Dordogne property we really did things back to front. Even before we unpacked our bags we had ordered and put a deposit on a 10 metre by five metre swimming pool.

After all, the house was perfectly habitable. It didn't need anything more than a lick of paint. How wrong could we be.

We were adamant that we wouldn't change things with the house too quickly. It beggars belief that we were more than happy to part with 30,000 euros of hard earned cash for a swimming pool with a barn to be renovated sitting idle across the yard. As one friend said "When I got on the plane to France I left my brain at home."

Our first summer was superb. The pool was filled on the 30th of June and the hordes of friends and family arrived from the 4th of July until the end of October.
We wintered the swimming pool in November and looked forward to opening it up again the following year.

There was a nip in the air as I walked back to the house. It was then that it dawned on me that maybe we shouldn't have demolished the glass fronted porch on the front of the house.

Now that it was gone, it meant that the kitchen door, which originally led to the porch, was an external door. We tiled the porch during the summer and had to shave the bottom of the door which meant that even Peter Rabbit, having gorged himself in Mr McGregor's garden, could fit under it.

One cold December evening, sat at the kitchen table after dinner, we worried that our heating wouldn't be sufficient to keep us warm. The house is on three floors with no insulation between them.

We prioritised the work and totted up the estimates. Then we heard an enormous bang from the woodburner. The firebricks inside had disintegrated. We added another 800 euros to the estimate.

The kitchen floor tiles would have to come up. That was the only solution. The guy in the shop told me that the same tiles we used for the porch could be used in the kitchen. Atleast, that's what I thought he told me. With the wet winter weather and no porch we mashed mud from our wellies into the kitchen floor incessantly.

They were impossible to clean, even steam clean. So, we made the 1,800 euros decision to pull them up.

Having learnt the hard way, I would advise people never to rush in and buy luxury items on a whim when there are more pressing improvements or repairs to be done.

Don't buy the swimming pool when the house needs to be insulated and well heated. Take your time.

If you're moving permanently to France spend all four seasons in the house and notice the things that need the most attention before forking out.

You'll find that you fork out a lot in the beginning. You'll need a car and a ride-on mower because there's no such thing as a small garden in the Dordogne. You'll need a trailor and maybe even a tractor. Remember that in France you buy a house as seen. So, it may happen that you will need to replace a tired old boiler.

Of course, everyone will want to put their own stamp on a property they buy to make it their home so if you buy your paint in France, for example, just be aware that it costs a hell of a lot more than at home.

And learn some French to avoid ripping up the new kitchen tiles because you misunderstood the man in the shop.