Before/After: Pantry to Sauna

We had dilemma with the pantry of our 17th century apartments. As in, what are we going to do with this space?

During. The tomettes had been covered with linoleum.

It was too big to ignore. But a vacation rental, especially one with plenty of kitchen cupboards, doesn’t need a pantry, called a cellier in French.

Before: a dark hole.

The municipal and national landmarks experts suggested making it a bathroom, because it was in the former service hallway that we’re allowed to change as we like. But the low ceiling and lack of a window would have been unpleasant as a bathroom.

Horrors

So we put in a sauna.

Perfect for two.

Why not, right? It was just the right size. An ugly, awkward hole became a little spa. We tried it out on our most recent stay. It heats up in just a few minutes. There’s a timer so it automatically shuts off–a nice safety feature. We don’t want somebody passing out and getting cooked (you’re supposed to drink a lot of water before and after). The lights are cool blue. There are even speakers and a jack to plug in your phone for music (see the cord, below on the left?).

It’s right next to the bathroom, for a cold shower afterward. A before/after coming on that soon–we finally found the right light fixture.