Kitchen and Bathroom Renovation in Provence
A kitchen or a bathroom is where every trade meets in a few square metres: plumber, electrician, tiler, plasterer, joiner and often a mason. For an owner who lives in London or New York, or only spends the summer here, getting those trades on site in the right order is the hardest part. ACR Provence takes the whole room on as a single job, from the first site visit to the final clean, across Provence and the French Riviera (Côte d'Azur).
Thick stone walls, hard water, holiday-let calendars and apartment-building rules all change the way a kitchen or bathroom should be rebuilt here. This page explains what we check, what a complete project covers and what moves the budget, so you can brief us with confidence even if you have never renovated a home in France.
You deal with one contact and one written quote. Once the layout and finishes are agreed, a single site manager coordinates every trade and keeps you informed while you are away.
Three kinds of Provençal home, three different starting points
The same walk-in shower or kitchen island is not built the same way in a village house as in a 1980s villa. Before we price anything, we look at the building around the room.
Walls are often half a metre thick, floors are rarely level and the original building had no bathroom at all: many were added decades later in a corner, a former stable or under the stairs. Waste pipes can run a long way with too little fall, and cement renders applied in the past tend to trap damp inside the old stone.
Concrete-block walls, tiled floors throughout and a bathroom that has not been touched since the house was built. The structure is usually straightforward, which makes these villas ideal for moving walls, opening the kitchen onto the living room or replacing a bath with a walk-in shower. Removing a load-bearing wall needs a structural calculation and a steel or concrete beam, and we organise both.
Here the building sets the rules. Working hours, use of the lift, protection of the common areas and any change to shared pipes are governed by the co-ownership rules (règlement de copropriété) and the managing agent (syndic). If you are buying on the coast, our page on apartment renovation in Nice covers the building side in more detail.
What a complete project covers
Whether you want a new kitchen, a new bathroom or both at once, the order of work is the same: strip-out, pipes and wiring, walls and floors, then fittings. Here is what is included when we take on the whole room. Once it is finished, the work is covered by the French builders' warranties, explained on our page about guarantees and after-sales service.
Kitchen renovation
From a straightforward refit to a fully open-plan space, like the apartment we restructured in the centre of Salon-de-Provence, where partitions came down to bring daylight into the new kitchen.
- Removal of old units, appliances and wall tiles
- Opening or moving partitions, including load-bearing walls with a beam
- New plumbing for the sink, dishwasher and fridge
- Dedicated circuits for the oven, hob and extractor hood
- Plastering, floor tiling, splashback and painting
- Fitting of units, worktops and appliances
Bathroom and shower room
Bathrooms built for family life as well as for guests in a holiday home, from en-suite shower rooms to full family bathrooms, including the conversion of another space, such as a former garage.
- Waterproofing membrane under every wet area
- Walk-in shower, level-access or with a low-profile tray
- Wall-hung WC and vanity units
- Tiling, including large-format and stone-effect tiles
- Extractor fan and heated towel rail
- Made-to-measure glass shower screens
Choosing materials for the Provençal climate
The south of France is dry and bright for most of the year, but the tap water is hard and second homes can stay closed for weeks at a time. A few good choices at the design stage save a great deal of maintenance later.
- Hard, limestone-rich water: limescale builds up quickly on glass, taps and shower heads. Easy-clean glass coatings and simple tap shapes help, and a water softener on the main supply is worth considering when the budget allows.
- Tiles and stone: terracotta tomettes, travertine, stone-effect porcelain and large-format tiles all suit local houses. Large formats mean fewer grout lines to clean, but they need a perfectly flat base.
- Worktops: natural stone and quartz cope well with heat, while solid wood suits a country kitchen but needs regular oiling around the sink.
- Homes left empty: an easy-to-reach main stopcock, rigid connections instead of flexible hoses where possible, and ventilation that keeps working while you are away all reduce the risk of leaks and damp.
Tiles, fittings and furniture are selected with you before work begins, so the schedule is never held up by late decisions.
What shapes the budget of a kitchen or bathroom
Two rooms of the same size can cost very different amounts. These are the factors we assess during the free site visit, before writing your quote.
| Factor | In a kitchen | In a bathroom | Effect on budget | Our advice |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Moving water and waste | Sink or island away from the wall | WC or shower moved across the room | High | Keep wet points close to existing pipes where you can |
| Structural changes | Opening onto the living room | Joining a bathroom and a separate WC | High | Structural calculation for load-bearing walls |
| State of existing networks | Old wiring, too few circuits | Old or leaking pipework | Moderate | Checked at the site visit and allowed for in the quote |
| Finishes | Worktop, units, appliances | Tiles, sanitaryware, glass screen | Your choice | Spend where you touch and see every day |
| Access to the site | Upper floor without a lift, narrow village lane, no parking nearby | Moderate | Affects labour time and debris removal | |
| Every quote is itemised after a visit. For indicative price ranges across the region, see our renovation cost guide for Provence. | ||||
Questions from overseas owners
Do I need planning permission to renovate a kitchen or bathroom in France?
Not for interior work alone. A new or enlarged window, a change to the façade or an extension needs a prior declaration (déclaration préalable) at the town hall and, in a protected area, the approval of the heritage architect (Architecte des Bâtiments de France, ABF). In an apartment, any work on shared pipes or structural walls also needs the co-owners' approval.
Can a walk-in shower be fitted upstairs or in an old stone house?
Usually, yes. The drain needs enough fall, so we either lower part of the floor, raise the shower area slightly or, where neither is possible, fit a low-profile tray. On the timber floors of old houses, we check the joists first and reinforce them where needed before any waterproofing or tiling.
Can the work go ahead while I am living abroad?
Yes. You approve the layout, the finishes and the written quote before work starts, then follow progress remotely until handover. How we organise that remote follow-up is explained in our guide to managing a renovation from abroad.
Where we renovate kitchens and bathrooms
Our four agencies send teams across the south of France, from the Bouches-du-Rhône to the Alpes-Maritimes:
Useful guides before you start
Renovation costs in Provence Managing your project from abroad Guarantees and after-sales
ACR Provence in English
All our services, areas and buyer guides for owners based abroad
Recent kitchens and bathrooms by our teams
Marseille: a worn-out bathroom stripped back and rebuilt with large-format tiles and a walk-in shower.
Aix-en-Provence: a complete bathroom renovation, from strip-out to the final fittings.
Gardanne: a former garage turned into a new bathroom, with plumbing and waste run in from scratch.
Tell us about your room, send a few photos and your ideas, and we will come back to you with a detailed quote within 48 hours.
Request a free quote