Whilst she was toying with the idea of launching a podcast, Anne Ponty realised the truth when she began renovating her home and shared the process on social media. The topic proved a hit, and she was immediately inundated with questions and messages of encouragement. The decision was made: her podcast would be dedicated to home improvements and the home. Its name? Le Chantier podcast!
Anne, can you introduce yourself?
I’m 36 and I live in Bordeaux with my husband and our two little girls. I’m passionate about interiors, building projects, decorating, houses and places that tell a story. What interests me is how we build a home. After a few years running an online second-hand marketplace, I created a podcast in which I interview people who tell me about their experiences with building projects.
How did the podcast come about?
Once my own renovation project – which took a year and a half – was finally complete, I realised I was going to really miss my weekly site meetings with my tradespeople. And that this whole business of building work had seeped into every fibre of my being! I listened to a lot of podcasts on entrepreneurship and realised there weren’t any on the subject of renovation. So I came up with Le Chantier podcast, my own take on it, telling myself it was just a fun project, simply to keep talking about building work every week.
Where does this passion for building work come from?
As a child, I grew up in two old houses that my parents had successively renovated from top to bottom. I think that inevitably leaves its mark, and it has opened doors for me. My mother is passionate about all things old, whether it’s places or objects, and she always took us with her to hunt for treasures. I also have a particular sensitivity to the aesthetics of things, everywhere, all the time. As a result of all this, I love historic places, and I find it fascinating to go through the process of enhancing them by renovating them, even though I sometimes think they are even more beautiful when they are untouched. My ultimate dream would be to renovate a ruin – but I mean a real ruin, with walls that are crumbling!
Entrepreneurship
It’s a vast subject, with its advantages, its disadvantages and its major challenges. I have a very strong attachment to and a very pronounced taste for freedom, so entrepreneurship is a way of working that suits me well. I’ve been self-employed for over ten years, and it still suits me well at the moment. We’ll see what the future holds for me!
The DIY adventure:
what does it reveal about you?
Undoubtedly, a strong desire and a willingness to do something, to achieve something, whether it’s with your own hands or simply by carrying out a project for yourself. Conceiving plans, drawing up a schedule, assembling a team, finding inspiration and materials, creating a decorative world… It’s also a journey towards creating your own home, and therefore a reflection on your identity. Who are we, and how do we really live? It also involves accepting the risk, because, as we know, a DIY project can go very well or very badly.
Best tips
- Always allow for an extra 10% to 20% of your budget, on top of what you had planned! Unforeseen issues during a renovation project (even one that goes smoothly) are almost inevitable. Between unpleasant surprises, price inflation and giving in to the temptation to choose more expensive materials than planned along the way, everyone ends up exceeding their initial budget at least a little!
- To choose the right tradespeople, get three quotes for each trade, and go on the recommendations of friends and family, but above all, of other tradespeople you know to be reliable. They say that ‘good tradespeople recommend good tradespeople’! Don’t hesitate to thoroughly check their insurance cover, their online reviews and even the financial health of their business.
- Don’t neglect the site preparation phase: it’s the most important phase! So many professionals have told me: when it comes to a building project, it’s all about preparation, preparation, preparation! For example, you should make as many choices as possible even before the work begins. This is what professionals often recommend, so that everything is finalised and orders can be placed as soon as possible. That way, there are no unpleasant surprises, such as stock shortages, price increases, or production being halted on those much-loved tiles! What’s more, if everything has been planned in advance and already approved, all that remains is to carry out the work and put the right people in the right places. A well-prepared construction project means fewer constraints and less stress to deal with later on.
Your favorite stage of the renovation process?
Every stage is very exciting for me: the preliminary design, when everything is still vague but the possibilities are endless; the crucial planning stage where you have to define your wishes and make real decisions; the choice of materials, which can be overwhelming with its infinite possibilities depending on your budget; the implementation, of course, or the moment when everything you’ve imagined comes to life. And of course, the decorating, which makes you feel at home and adds the finishing touch.
Your current obsession?
Antique greenery, the Grappe lamp in bluish blown glass from Atelier Léthé, herbariums, always, finding a beautiful floor lamp for my living room… and finalizing the decor in my kitchen. But also finishing my second daughter’s room, haha! I still need a little more decorating and some nice wallpaper, and I’m finding it really difficult to choose. Children’s bedrooms are a wonderful playground for decorating, and it’s important to me to give my daughters a room of their own that’s as beautiful and comfortable as the rest of the house. In short, I have many decorating obsessions, but I like the idea of giving them time to think them through and let them mature, while I find the budget to make them happen.
Creating a home
Creating a home is a central topic for me and one I’m passionate about. It’s my favorite question in the podcast episodes; I love asking my guests: “Do you feel at home here? And how do you build a home?”
According to me, a home is built by living in it. That’s how you make it your own, by creating memories. It’s also a place that inevitably reflects who you are. A home is an extension of who you are. We express ourselves through our interior design, just as we express ourselves through our clothing. It’s also, and above all, a refuge, a cocoon where we protect ourselves from the outside world, where we feel good and, ideally, which brings us happiness. Moreover, it’s a place we fill with things we love, objects we select one by one, each there for a reason. A home is all of that at once!
“A home is an extension of who you are. We express ourselves through our interior design, just as we express ourselves through our clothing. It’s also, and above all, a refuge.”
LMS guest
I adore Le Monde Sauvage. I first encountered the brand through the wallpapers I so often see in the homes of the podcast guests, and whose creativity and ease of installation I admire. What a wonderful idea to have designed this wallpaper in small sheets, which can be overlapped and hung however you like, and it doesn’t matter if the seams aren’t perfect! Then I discovered your beautiful linens, your Christmas decorations, and the sublime Narcisse mirrors, which are both very modern and reminiscent of antique styles. In my home, their aesthetic is both very modern and consistent with the style of my older house (brass details, echoes of the beaded friezes on my antique mirrors...).
More recently, I fell in love with the decor of Béatrice’s home when I had the opportunity to do a photo shoot at her place near Fontainebleau for her podcast episode in which she recounts her renovation. I then realized the vast possibilities of the decorative universe of Le Monde Sauvage.
LE CHANTIER PODCAST
Want to learn more about Béatrice and her passion for construction?
Listen to the episode that Anne dedicated to her !
Your dream project?
Renovating a ruin, but would I really have the courage? Perhaps, to be a bit more sensible, renovating a house in the countryside, with old terracotta tiles, a fireplace, a wisteria, and a meadow for horses.
And now, a book!
What a project this book has been! The book, Le Chantier, was just released by Flammarion this fall. They approached me about writing it, and it was a two-year process to brainstorm, write, lay out, and illustrate, thinking it through down to the smallest detail. It's a continuation of the podcast, but it also represents something entirely new, something that didn't exist in bookstores. It's a true guide to successfully completing your renovations, ensuring everything goes as smoothly as possible. I wanted podcast listeners to find new content to enjoy, and for those unfamiliar with the podcast to find the essence of what I'm passionate about sharing: practical advice for successful renovations and ideas for creating a home that reflects their personality and where they feel comfortable. It includes over 90 case studies, before-and-after comparisons, and inspirational decorating photos. This is truly the book to give to anyone embarking on construction projects!
