“Industrial meets Old-World Charm” – Inside Lisa & Florian’s Dream Home
With love and a clear vision, Lisa & Florian renovate their family legacy – with a Nolte kitchen that’s both stylish and smart.
Lisa & Florian (altstadthaus1818) have achieved something many dream of: lovingly renovating a historic townhouse from 1818 and blending the charm of the past with a modern sense of living. The kitchen? It's the heart of their home – designed with clean lines, natural materials, and a strong sense for both functionality and design. Black Green instead of black or white, an open beam ceiling, oak flooring underfoot, and a Quooker that’s deeply loved. This is a home where a family lives with clear values, lots of heart, and an eye for what truly matters.
We are Lisa & Florian, and we live here with our two children, Rosa & Bruno.
Tell us more about your townhouse. What led you to renovate a house from 1818?
Lisa’s grandfather bought the house in 1957, and she grew up in it. Even back then, it was a multi-generational home with grandparents and parents, and one floor was rented out. At some point, we had the idea to continue the tradition. Lisa’s parents had already moved from the third to the first floor to accommodate more age-appropriate living, and now we are renovating the third floor and attic for ourselves.
Were there any particular challenges during the renovation, or did everything go according to plan?
As is often the case with old buildings, not everything went according to plan. In a timber-framed house like ours, there are typically no load-bearing interior walls, so we carefully removed one. It turned out that the original supporting beams had been replaced with stones at some point. Since we had torn those out, we had to install a 3.5-meter-long steel beam at great effort.
The bathroom renovation also turned out to be much more extensive than we expected. When Florian tried to remove the floor tiles, we realized that the screed underneath crumbled away like sand and could be lifted out by hand. So we had to completely remove the old fill, install a new subfloor between the beams, and lay new screed.
We’ve completed the renovation of the third floor and are now living in it. The attic still needs a full renovation. That means the bathroom will be completely redone, all the floors replaced, walls replastered or wallpapered, the former kitchen will be turned into a guest room, and two small windows must be replaced with one large window, as required by the city's fire safety officer. We also want to open the ceiling in the current living room up to the gable. So, it remains exciting, and there is still a lot of work ahead of us.
Was there a special moment or challenge during the planning or renovation that you still remember today?
There were several moments. Installing the steel beam was one of them, as well as our decision to expose the timber ceiling in the kitchen and remove the old intermediate floor.
Where do you find inspiration for your home design? Are there particular styles or personalities that influence you?
Lisa enjoys browsing Instagram and Pinterest or flipping through interior design magazines. We both love spending time in the mountains and are drawn to Alpine-style architecture. We like combining wooden elements with black or steel for a modern touch.
How would you describe your home and interior style?
Industrial meets old-building charm – *laughs. We’d say minimalist meets cozy vintage charm.
Does your personality reflect in your interior design?
Definitely. We’re both very straightforward. You won’t find any unnecessary clutter in our home.
Right now, it feels like you mostly see either black or white kitchens. But black was too dark for us, and white felt too harsh next to our soft wooden tones. When we came across "Black Green" in a kitchen showroom, we immediately knew: “That’s the one!”
Did you design your kitchen yourselves or have it planned professionally?
A bit of both. We went to the kitchen studio with very specific ideas and developed the final plan together over several consultation sessions.
What convinced you most about the handleless kitchen design? Was there a specific reason?
The clean, sleek look and the fact that the fronts are much easier to clean.
The illuminated recessed handles are real eye-catchers – how important is lighting in your kitchen?
Proper lighting is absolutely essential in the kitchen. There’s nothing worse than not being able to see what you’re cooking. The illuminated recessed handles also offer a wonderful indirect light source, which we especially love to use in the evenings.
Is there a feature in your kitchen that you couldn’t live without?
The Quooker is absolutely adored here.
What were three must-haves that had to go into your kitchen?
Drawers! A flush-mounted, large cooktop and plenty of workspace.
When planning your kitchen, was design or functionality more important – or did you find a good balance?
Functionality was our top priority, but always paired with visual appeal. For example, we knew we only wanted drawers, and from a design perspective, we chose to make them all the same size to create a harmonious overall look.
Is the interior organization just as important as the external appearance?
Absolutely, especially to keep things tidy. There’s no point in having a clean exterior if everything inside is chaotic. A proper cutlery insert, for example, helps a lot here.
Carefully consider where you need things and how your workflow in the kitchen goes. Even within drawers or cabinets, use boxes or similar organizers to keep small items grouped together.
What are your top three household tips that make everyday life easier?
EVERYTHING has its designated place in the house. That way, after using something, it can go right back without having to think about where it belongs. That leads to the next tip: put things away immediately. It saves time and keeps you from facing a huge mess that feels overwhelming. And we often follow the motto “Never walk empty-handed” – meaning when you walk from the kitchen to the kids’ room, you take something along that needs to go there anyway.
How important is the kitchen to you, and what does “life in the kitchen” mean for you?
A large part of our daily life takes place in the kitchen, since that’s where our big dining table is. We both love cooking and eating together, so designing this space was really important to us.
What is your favorite spot in your home, and why?
Right now, it’s definitely the kitchen – the exposed timber ceiling, the oak flooring, the cozy dining area, and the beautiful kitchen make it a wonderful place to linger. But of course, our little wellness room with the sauna is also one of our favorite spots because it’s pure relaxation.
If you could change one thing about your kitchen or house, what would it be?
We would add two more spotlights in the kitchen, and we would have loved to combine the two floors into one living unit – unfortunately, that wasn’t allowed due to fire safety regulations.
What is your ultimate tip for anyone planning a kitchen or renovating a house?
Take your time with planning and visualizing. Talk to others who are currently building or renovating, and look around for inspiration. You don’t have to make all the mistakes yourself ;-)
Also, think about what’s most important to you and plan your budget around that. For example, if you really want solid oak flooring, maybe more affordable lamps will do. See where compromises are possible without losing what matters most to you.
If you had to describe your home in three words – what would they be?
Cozy, spacious, harmonious
