France Houzz Tour: A Textile Artist's Home-Workshop
This artist decided to slow down her life — and created a home to match in the French countryside
It’s surprising to see this Nordic-style house standing at the edge of a village on the west coast of France. The owner, textile artist Julie Oili, welcomes us from one of its patios, which faces fields mown freshly that morning.
“After several renovations and building in the Nantes area, this is the first time that we can picture staying longer in a house,” she says. “I worked a lot before, but after we made a change in our life philosophy we decided to rethink everything and I opted for a more fulfilling lifestyle. That’s why I wanted to work from home in a pleasant environment.”
“After several renovations and building in the Nantes area, this is the first time that we can picture staying longer in a house,” she says. “I worked a lot before, but after we made a change in our life philosophy we decided to rethink everything and I opted for a more fulfilling lifestyle. That’s why I wanted to work from home in a pleasant environment.”
The couple took inspiration from salorges, structures for the storage of salt, which are traditionally painted black. “We made two entirely black cubes featuring patios that have different ambiances based on their use,” Oili says.
At the entrance, two stools the family brought back from Marrakech evoke memories of vacations. They are a beautiful contrast to the wall, which is painted Diego blue from Serge Bensimon’s colour collection for Ressource. One of Oili’s works is the finishing touch.
The entryway leads directly into the dining room, which features a generous table that Oili found on a classifieds site, flanked by Matteo Grassi chairs.
“I don’t hesitate to invest in beautiful pieces, like Ingo Maurer‘s Zettel’z 5 pendant light, which I’ve had for thirteen years and never get tired of,” Oili says.
The home has a classic and elegant solid-oak floor.
“I don’t hesitate to invest in beautiful pieces, like Ingo Maurer‘s Zettel’z 5 pendant light, which I’ve had for thirteen years and never get tired of,” Oili says.
The home has a classic and elegant solid-oak floor.
Elegant Tolix stools highlight the custom-made kitchen area, which is finished with recycled wood from Canadian barns. This unit contains all of the kitchen appliances and storage. The countertop is currently zinc, but it will soon be replaced by another made of Dekton, which is more resistant to acidic foods. A large skylight floods the counter with natural light.
Large glass doors open the living room up to the outside. A black wall subtly camouflages the stove in the corner of the room and provides a beautiful sense of depth. “As the house is new, the ceiling is 2.5 metres high [about 8 feet high], which compromises the perspective a little. So, I went for a huge bookcase [in order to highlight the true height of the room] of raw scaffolding wood recovered in Belgium, custom-made – as was the kitchen – by Jerome at La Grange à Bois in [La Baule-Escoublac, a nearby village]. The pellet stove heats the entire house for 30 euros [about US$33] a month,” Oili says.
Oili fell head-over-heels for her couch. “This is the iconic Vizir sofa by Caravane, which I found on Le Bon Coin [a French classifieds site]. Only two exist,” she says. “It was in terrible condition, but I restored it with vintage indigo Malian fabric that I bought in San Francisco, which is similar to the original. All the rugs are from Marrakech, where we have been going every year for the last seven years.”
Oili says that she made the raffia piece a few years ago to echo the mirror. The lamp on the suitcase is made out of a barrel hoop.
The room opens up to one of the patios, which the owners tend to use in the evening. It has a brazier for cool nights. The wooden bench and table are decorated with cushions, some from Marrakech and some bought at Caravane, where Oili also bought her sofa. Cushions with Liberty-style prints by Ondine Saglio add a delicate touch.
The master bedroom is housed in one of the black cubes. “I went for seagrass on the floor because I love natural and raw plant fibre,” Oili says. “The bedside tables were carved out of pieces of oak.”
On the wall next to the bathroom is one of OIli’s works, which features a soft mix of black wool and raffia.
On the wall next to the bathroom is one of OIli’s works, which features a soft mix of black wool and raffia.
Both the floor and walls in the bathroom are finished in waxed concrete. Charming wall-mounted faucets purchased in England are matched with a basin inspired by old-style school sinks.
The bedroom opens to another patio, which features military camp beds dating back to 1942 (pictured next to the door to the outside). It is used for rest and relaxation, reading, or spending time together, as is this corner under the pines.
The attic is reserved for Oili’s textile work. On a large Beni M’rirt Moroccan rug stands a marble table from Emmaus, a network that employs individuals excluded from work life and specialises in collecting and recycling furniture and other products.
“I used to weave in my living room, and when we considered building this house I dreamed of having a space apart from the family where I could create in peace,” Oili says. “I was able to arrange this room from the beginning of my work and of Lindigo Weaving [her e-commerce store].”
“I used to weave in my living room, and when we considered building this house I dreamed of having a space apart from the family where I could create in peace,” Oili says. “I was able to arrange this room from the beginning of my work and of Lindigo Weaving [her e-commerce store].”
Next door is the office and an area where she wraps her works for delivery.
“I wanted to create separate zones,” Oili says. “Here, upstairs, I enjoy more of a Scandinavian feel, with birch trunks installed by Benjamin and the black wall to bring out my works. The flooring is wood that’s simply been painted white. For the walls, I went for a paint by Ressources.”
A metalworker custom-made the hanging rail by passing a hemp rope through a simple aluminium tube. Next to it are a camp bed and trunks bought at yard sales.
This is Oili’s office, where she does her weaving.
Oili’s work occupies eight to ten hours of her day: “I brainstorm without drawing. I start working from an inclination, like with raffia or sequins, and I’m inspired by things I like. I prepare my linen thread on the looms and then pass the wool through it or make knots, like for rugs.”
This latest, larger-than-life work took her five weeks and contains an impressive 15 kilograms (33 pounds) of wool.
And who could resist falling in love with this “woolothèque,” made by Benjamin out of recycled scaffolding planks.
Tell us
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Tell us
What do you love about this home? Tell us in the Comments below. And don’t forget to save your favourite images, save the story, and join in the conversation.
House at a Glance
Who lives here: Textile artist Julie Oili; her husband, Benjamin, a sales representative for a residential construction company; and their two boys, Tom, 16, and Martin, 19
Location: In a hamlet near Guérande, near Nantes, on the west coast of France
Size: About 1,990 square feet (185 square metres)
“We decided to build on this plot because it’s so sunny, because of the fields that stretch as far as the eye can see and the pines I used to dream of having in my garden,” Oili says.
“Using expensive materials was out of the question,” she adds. The home is a cinder block structure finished in pine siding treated for outdoor use. “We wanted a decidedly simple and refined aesthetic within a reasonable budget. We planned the layout of the house to privilege private spaces for both teenagers and parents. The height [of the house] allowed another of my dreams to come true: to have a private workshop.”