~ Your Questions, Answered ~
Setting up your French home with The Soft Landing
What do you do exactly?
I help English-speaking homeowners in France bridge the gap between owning a house and truly feeling at home in it.
My work begins once the big decisions are made — the furniture is in, but the home still feels unfinished, unfamiliar or incomplete. I focus on the practical needs of everyday life : tableware, kitchen essentials, textiles, lighting, scent and decorative pieces. These are the details that shape how comfortable and at ease you feel in a space.
Each project is personal. Some clients arrive knowing exactly what they want and just need help navigating French retail. Others need more guidance from the start. Either way, the result is the same — a personalised shopping list delivered in a beautifully designed document with images, prices and direct links to purchase :everything chosen for you, in English, ready to buy.
The Soft Landing is especially useful if you feel overwhelmed by options, are frustrated by the language barrier, or simply don’t have the hours to spend searching.
As I work via video consultations, I can work with you wherever in the World you are currently based and wherever your home is in France.
I've just bought a second home in France and need to equip it from scratch. How do I start?
Always start with a very well thought-out list, not a shopping cart.
We always need more than we think and it’s the little things that are always forgotten - the practical things that we reach for but somehow get forgotten in the messiness of the ordering of beds and sofas.
The mistake most people make is heading straight to a retailer before they've mapped out what they actually need — and then discovering a few days later that they forgot the corkscrew, the colander, the tea towels, and the list goes on...
The essentials break down into five categories: kitchen and cooking kit, tableware and dining, bedding and bathroom, living space finishing touches, and practical utilities (cleaning, tools, spare bulbs — the things nobody puts on a list until they're missing).
Start room by room. Kitchen first (we’ve all got to eat!), then beds and bathrooms, then living space. Give yourself more time than you think you need for delivery, especially in rural France. Even if you haven’t signed for the property yet, it’s never too early to start planning.
If you'd rather hand the whole thing to someone who already has the lists ready to go and knows the French market inside out, then simply get in touch at hello@thesoftlanding.fr to book your complimentary 15-minute discovery call.
I’ve just bought an investment property in France and need to equip it for holiday rentals. Can you help?
Of course, we’d be delighted to help you kit out your rental property.
Whilst the practical lists for family homes, second homes and property rentals remain essentially the same, there are differences in the quality and durability of the pieces that you may want to provide for rentals as opposed to for your own personal use.
We are currently developing an Express Edit package which combines all the practical elements of setting up home, based on a neutral palette and more budget friendly options. Please reach out to us at hello@thesoftlanding.fr to discuss if this sounds like what you’re looking for.
Are you an interior designer?
No — and that distinction matters.
Interior designers typically work on the structure, layout and visual scheme of a space. The Soft Landing comes in at a different stage — once the room is furnished but still feels incomplete. I focus on the practical and personal details that make a house feel finished: the objects you use, the textures you touch, the scents you come home to.
My role isn’t to redesign your home. It’s to help you settle into it.