Home Tour // An Expat Family's Home in France

Last summer, Eileen, Luke, and their three daughters boarded a plane from South Carolina to France on one-way tickets. Engineer Luke had been offered an expat assignment in France, and the family jumped at the opportunity to live abroad. One year later, their incredibly beautiful home is decorated with French antiques, IKEA curtains, and oh so thoughtful rental-friendly decor. Have a look....

When I asked Eileen what drew her to the home, she said the house checked so many boxes: “centuries old herringbone wood floors, a 4 story curved staircase in volcanic rock that winds from basement to attic, 12” moldings and high ceilings, original hardware and so much more!”

The home dates back to the 1800’s, at least that’s when Eileen’s landlord’s family bought the house. But it’s likely much older. “I’m dying to know more about the history of the house,” Eileen says. “On weekends you can find me poking around in various corners of the basement and attic trying to date the structure I can see and checking what additions have happened over the years.”

The home is about 3,500sf, which is almost double the size of Eileen’s previous home in South Carolina. And though it’s a rental, Eileen is passionate about making it feel like a place of their own.

On the design…

To combat large empty walls (the ceilings in here are 13’!!!), Eileen went huge with the art. She used Juniper Print Shop for two giant pieces in the living and dining room.

She hung curtains high and wide on almost every window to coziness and interest. “I almost always do Ikea white linen looking curtains with two panels on each side of a window. The fullness is so good!”

For the floors, “large rugs can help ground a rented space so I made sure I brought rugs that fit the scale of the rooms we were moving into. I love the Rugsusa off-white jute rugs - they are affordable and soft. We have them in a lot of rooms and they work so well as a base to add cozy layers to.”

The stunning home is, like all good homes, full of quirky bits too. “Our bedrooms are on the 2nd and 3rd floor and the only toilet for all the bedrooms is tucked in a tiny closet on a landing between the 1st and 2nd floors! After you use the toilet room, you then have to climb halfway up a flight of stairs and wind around corners through a closet to get to the nearest sink!”

Eileen is a master thrifter - she worked as a vintage dealer for 3 years and with a talented interior designer before that - so she left a lot of their furniture at home, knowing she’d be shopping Europe for special pieces.

And how is the thrifting scene in France? “Honestly, it has been even better than I even imagined, and I had very high hopes!” Eileen says. “It’s been the greatest joy to ransack our local thrift store every week (and I absolutely love bringing my insta community along for #thriftingthursday!). I’m pretty sure the sweet ladies working at the thrift store are like “oh the excited American is back again.” They are so kind to me! They have given me little paintings and pieces I’ve loved “c’est un cadeau” (It’s a gift) and just helped us a lot as we arrange for delivery of yet another piece of furniture.”

Eileen estimates that 80% of her home’s decor and furniture is vintage.

“I credit thrifting with helping me to learn my own design style,” Eileen says. “When I was working for a design firm, I couldn’t afford the high end pieces we were sourcing for clients but I could go to my thrift store and see what I could find like it.” It was an inexpensive way to experiment. “I tried a LOT of different styles over the years and I think being patient with myself and giving myself permission to buy something even if I didn’t have the “perfect” spot for it was so important. Trying to make a piece I loved fit into my house taught me to look at my space differently.!”

I asked Eileen for some thrifting tips. “In America, I would say my best thrifting tip is just to go A LOT, go straight for the furniture section and then work to the housewares. Sometimes going through the aisles twice is a good way to make sure you don’t miss anything. I find that even my favorite spots are super hit and miss and the important thing is just to keep going back. I had a little loop and sometimes I walked out empty handed but it was worth it when I found that unicorn piece I was looking for!”

Highly recommend checking Eileen out on Instagram! She takes wanderlust to a whole new level! “We are spending a month in the UK this summer (praise be for the French vacation schedule!) and I can’t wait to thrift my way through England and Scotland as well! We are driving our car there so hopefully we have room for our clothes and my thrifted finds, although if one has to go, you know imma be wearing the same outfit for a week to get a special piece home :)”