Our modern contemporary home is screaming for some serious interior restyling. Literally. It’s like worlds colliding…the Oriental and the Occidental, all here in our home by accident or just plain luck. Our interiors are representative of our lives before and during marriage and parenthood. Ok, to clarify, our initial meeting was an accident of fate… marriage and parenthood were most definitely not accidents!
how can I best describe our main living areas? A global cacophony of mostly dark furniture from the Orient and Europe poorly merged with the playthings and current passions of a 4 year old. This post will deal specifically with our open living/dining/kitchen area, which represents over half our living areas. (Bedrooms, baths and laundry areas may become future topics)
Background Before we moved to Germany, I did some quick research, enough to learn that the typical German home lacks built-in closets. We had no idea what kind of home we would end up renting here, only that we didn’t want to have to purchase a bunch of furniture that we would have to eventually sell or move. We also did not want to leave anything in long term storage while we lived overseas. So we had a huge yard sale, donated a bunch of stuff and brought most of our bigger furniture and anticipated the purchase of wardrobes, or schranks, as they are called here.
Challenge 1: what to keep, what to cast off We kept our beloved little cottage in San Antonio while we live overseas, with the intent to return and remodel it to fit our needs. So everything in our German home has a future, either as a donation to the thrift store, as a used sale or Freecycle item, or eventually, in our San Antonio home. I admit, we brought way too much with us and I’ve spent the better part of the year trying to get organized, ridding our small home of loads of items along the way.
Challenge 2: reuse and repurpose but love what you have and keep what you love We have a few unique Asian pieces purchased at antique bazaars from our time in Japan. We also have some European wardrobes, an awesome work table made from an old Mexican pine door, wonderful antique barrister bookcases, and a couple of newer wood pieces. All but the new stuff has some kind of meaning in its purchase, whether the thrill of the hunt or the passion in the purchase or the thrill of the hunt by the vendor.
There are also the trio of large white Ikea wardrobes that we bought secondhand from an expat in Mainz who was moving to Israel. We gave 1 away to a pal who helped pick them up and rebuild them in our home. I repurposed a second one into a kitchen pantry
until I found this pine beauty at a local store, Antikum.
The third one is being used to store hanging clothes without a home and boxes intended for future packages to loved ones. I hope to get rid of that last one within the next few months.
what’s old is what’s new The pantry above is about a hundred years old and is well built. The shelves are new, stained to look old, but that guarantees their longevity as long as I own it, and much longer. The new pine kitchen schrank is both beautiful and functional and although it doesn’t quite fit the modern black, gray and white color scheme of the open layout of our rental home, it will definitely have a future in our Texas cottage.
And what of the old pantry? The Ikea hack was picked up by a young father who planned to use it for his new baby’s room. Since he and his brother had to haul it down 51 steps, and it originally only cost us 30€ for all 3 wardrobes, he got it for free if he picked it up. Reuse, recycle!
Challenge 3: make our house a livable home, keep functionality a priority while respecting the architectural design Our landlord also built our home, with the original intent to live here with his small family. After trekking up 51 steps to the front door, he’s joked “now I remember why we didn’t move in!” It is truly a beautiful home and we are blessed to have found it. However, I suffer from designers block. Heck, I’m still trying to merge my household with my husband’s after nearly a decade together and 3 countries. Oh and now a daughter and 2 dogs.
We have an entry way that opens up right into the rest of the home. Very OPEN concept. Nothing to hide. Much like our Texas cottage, we lack a proper foyer or genkan, as in our home in Japan. Recognizing that guests need a place to set their coats and take off their shoes is one factor. Antikum to the rescue again. This 1910 walnut schrank fits perfectly in the nook behind the front door.
The other concern is that the open concept means within a few feet of the front door, past the hyperactive greetings of our mongrels, Rusty and Charlie, is our kitchen. So if I have dishes in the sink when you come over unexpectedly, sorry!
Just past the kitchen is a long layout that we have decided to use as a combined living-dining-play area.
Divide and conquer? When the movers unpacked last winter, I had to make decisions on where to place the furniture, hoping that I wouldn’t want to move the pieces again. So larger pieces were used to section off the open layout. A step tansu and brightly lacquered Tibetan cabinet mark off a seating area with a view of the backyard and huge picture windows.
store it, hide it or display it we had a life before starting a family…ones that found hubby traveling around the world before we met. His photographs and other wall art found on our travels were on display in our Texas home and I hope to display them here on some of the walls. But where can we display a didgeridoo from Australia or a mini loom from Afghanistan? What of our extensive book collections and our personal collection of military memorabilia from over 40 combined years of service? And then where do we set up play areas for our daughter that includes her beloved, but large pastel play kitchen and orange table?
And where do I place the Oriental gourd table with the zodiac design that was our dining table in Japan?
Well, we make some sacrifices, decide what to display and store the ones we intend to keep for the long run. We hide them in the cellar or behind a bookcase. We will get rid of some, recycling or reusing the better frames and taking photos of those that meant something but have no place in our home now.
After keeping an eye out for a great bookcase for years, I found a wonderful mid twentieth century mahogany bookcase that holds some of our book collection. Thanks again, Antikum!
adapt and overcome Hosting get togethers can be a challenge if the rooms do not flow well. While still in the process of de cluttering and reorganizing, I refuse to stop moving forward. Having a party and houseguests forces me to look at things with an open mind and not panic that the house is not perfect yet. (It may never be!) I have wanted to share our home with some friends, old and new, and with the holiday season and Bella’s birthday, it was a good opportunity to do so. While I would rather have had it outside so we could have accommodated more guests, it was cold and rainy and I didn’t want to blamed for winter colds. The kids had a good time playing with Bella’s toys and making a mess of her room (proof of the aftermath below). What about the grownups? Adults lingered in the kitchen and living areas while the kids kept busy.
So this year, my goal is to face these 3 challenges and unify the different design elements already here. And hopefully, have fun along the way. Wish me luck! And if you have any nice ideas, please share!
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