Nathalie Jeanson and Mylène Sanscartier became friends in kindergarten in Granby. As adults, their paths diverged, but they always had an eye on what the other was doing, through Facebook.

During the pandemic, when Mylène announced that she had lost her job and that she was launching her decoration business, she piqued the curiosity of Nathalie, who had recently bought a chalet with her partner in Dunham. A first contract led to others, so that over the seasons, until February 2024, the decorator will have put her touch everywhere in the house.

“We fell in love with a house by a lake in 2018,” explains Ms. Jeanson. We knew there was work to be done, but my partner is very manual. It was the house we wanted to live in when we retired and we gave ourselves five years to make it to our liking. »

She loved the decor that her friend had set up in her condo and that she had posted on Facebook. “I have lots of ideas, but the problem is putting it all together,” she says. For once in my life, I wanted to allow myself to have a house where you would feel a “wow” when entering our home. »

Knowing that work needed to be done on the ground floor, she began by giving Mylène Sanscartier carte blanche to furnish the living room, which is in the basement. She narrowed down the styles she liked on Pinterest, then trusted it. The decorator only had to take two elements into account: the sofa, already purchased, and a hanging piece of furniture, installed along one of the walls.

“She likes textures, neutral colours, in the chalet chic style. It’s been the trend for a good five years now, so it was easy to find items that really suited her. She didn’t necessarily accept everything right away. For example, I could see what a cognac leather armchair could bring, but since the sectional sofa is very large, Nathalie was afraid, at first, that it would be cramped if we added another chair. It was the element that would make everything click together and I won the day. I must say that with her, I never had to insist for long.”

They proceeded at the pace of the progress of the work. After the fitting out of the living room, in November 2020, came the transformation of the bathroom on the ground floor, in spring 2021, then that of the kitchen, in November and December 2022. The floor covering on the ground floor The ground floor was then also replaced. The French doors were changed at the beginning of March 2023, then the decoration on the ground floor, where the dining room is located, was harmonized in April 2023.

While Mylène discussed with Nathalie the choice of materials, furniture and accessories, the latter’s partner, who was semi-retired, came during the week to carry out the work. “A kitchen designer, for example, made the kitchen cabinets, but it was my partner who installed them,” explains the owner. He did all the prep work. He moved the bathroom door, which led into the kitchen, to gain an extra wall. The door now leads to the top of the stairs. Because he did the majority of the work, that left me some budget for the decor. »

Everything was almost finished on the ground floor when his partner lost his balance and fell from a stepladder, fracturing his hip and wrist, in the spring of 2023. After a month of enforced rest, he was able to oversee the replacement of the existing roof in June 2023.

It was not initially planned to touch the exterior of the home.

“Luckily, we sold our house in Saint-Hyacinthe at the right time. This allowed us to modernize the chalet. »

The last room to personalize, saved for last, was the spacious master bedroom. Back on its feet, in the fall of 2023, Nathalie Jeanson’s partner built a small interior wall against which the bed is now leaning. Mylène Sanscartier put the finishing touches in February 2024.

“I was so excited,” she exclaims. I would have arranged the room long before! »

But Nathalie Jeanson had her action plan and didn’t deviate from it. She didn’t expect, however, to go this far. “I wanted to give Mylène a chance, then friendship invited itself into my decor. What she did to my house was like gold. She is truly in her element. »