If you want to breathe new life into a dilapidated, old building, it helps to have a ready supply of everything you need at your fingertips. For Sophie Thounens, an antiques dealer from Bordeaux, the constant flow into her hands of farmhouse tables, reclaimed floorboards, old shutters, country furniture and endless paintings gave her and her husband Stephane the confidence to take on a project that most would have baulked at.
The result of their hard work can be found in the peaceful
