I'm Katrin, 38 years young (@katrin_wohnt_colorful), visual merchandising manager, mum of two adorable girls, married, coffee lover and deco junkie.
My great passions are colours, flowers, vintage stuff, decoration and cosy living.
My inspirations all originated in our house, which my husband Sven and I built in 2017 and in which we and our girls Marlene & Klara have found our home. Every day full of love, every day different and every day filled with colour.
In 2019 we fulfilled our dream of a caravan holiday by the Baltic Sea and since then we have been passionate glampers.
Until we can live permanently by the Baltic Sea, we will continue to embellish our home in the countryside between Hamburg and Bremen.
Today I'm going to show you our kitchen.
Come along 😊
1. What tips do you have for integrating colourful decorative elements into a room?
Always choose the elements in combination with the wall colours. I usually choose elements that fit perfectly into the room in terms of colour.
2.How can you bring more colour into the kitchen?
I love colourful accessories like vases, flowers, tea towels or ceramics. These can be easily interchanged and you can redecorate for each colour story. I am a big fan of a highlight wall and posters that can be quickly swapped.
3. Which colours do you think combine particularly well?
Yellow, yellow & yellow 😉 . Add to that a light purple and a little pink. Together, the colours appear warm and lively. I really like this mixture.
Moreover, I have always loved the combination with copper. Green is always present through plants and fresh flowers and gives naturalness & freshness.
4. You love colours, but your kitchen itself has become rather plain. Why is that?
That is a very interesting question 😉. When we were planning the interior, we initially wanted a kitchen in taupe and high-gloss. By the final planning meeting, I had already planned all the interior colours and the rest of the furnishings. Then, with regard to the overall concept and our floor, I particularly liked the light kitchen with the worktop. It has a calm effect and thus always adapts to all my colour ideas.
5. Where does your inspiration come from?
I have been decorating all my life 😊, it has always been my passion and over 20 years ago I trained as a display designer. My head is always full of new ideas and I often get additional inspiration from magazines, my girls, nature or Instagram.
6. But it's possible to make a lot of mistakes with colours, isn't it? How do you keep your decorations from looking untidy?
Absolutely. Everyone has their favourite colours or colour concept for living and they should also live by that. Nevertheless, it is important to pay attention to colour effects and not use too many different main colours. I often rely on colour nuances and pick up the same colours again and again. It looks neat and tidy in our house, as our colour concept runs through every room and the whole house.
7. What is your favourite colour and how have you integrated it into your home?
Definitely yellow. I love the warmth, the liveliness and the good mood that it creates. I have painted some highlight walls in yellow, many home accessories, such as vases, candles & pictures and home textiles, which I combine in different ways.
8. You are super creative and love to tinker. Have you already done lots of DIY in your kitchen?
I need to get back on that 😊 . So far I have only rearranged the small wardrobe. I painted it and fitted it with furniture knobs.
9. Would it also have been possible to use a coloured front?
Absolutely. There are so many insanely brilliant colours, fronts and fittings. If I could, I would conjure up a different kitchen once a month 😊.
10. Do you cook as colourfully and extraordinarily as you decorate?
We cook very consciously, with fresh ingredients from regional farms. This is far from unusual at the moment. Our two girls like "normal" dishes best, like mashed potatoes with carrots, vegetable casserole or rice pudding.
11. Do you have any tips on what to look out for when planning a kitchen?
We taped the dimensions of the kitchen island to the floor beforehand to see if we had enough space around it. I would certainly do that again.
It was very important for me to have enough light, not too many wall cabinets and a kitchen cabinet front in the utility room. We had the narrow "check out" window put in to see the sunset in the evening and to be able to look out into the garden while working in the kitchen.
12. What did you absolutely not want to do without in your kitchen?
The kitchen island with counter, assorted drawers, handmade ceramics, flowers, vases, coffee & music.
13. Do your children enjoy cooking already?
My big girl is 6 years old and likes to help with cakes, puddings and pizzas 😊 .The little one has just turned 1 and wants to try everything at the moment.
14. You have a really great flower meadow at your house! And there are also many other flowers in your feed. What do they mean to you and what role do they play in your decoration?
I just love flowers. They have a wonderful natural beauty that often looks painted. They give every room a special effect and you can do so many different things with them. The flower meadow is a dream. The municipality near us has sown these on many green spaces and it is just beautiful.
15. What is the #vasenmove about?
I started my feed in November last year. We were at home for almost half a year due to the coronavirus, and we didn't have any meetings, celebrations, etc. That's how it was for everyone at home. When I gathered all the vases and wanted to take a new picture, I thought of everyone who was now at home like me and thought it was a nice idea to show connection and invite everyone on Instagram to a "vase move".
16. What does life in the kitchen mean to you?
I spend a lot of time here and it is a centre, stomping ground & heart. We have an open living area and I'm often working in the kitchen and can keep an eye on the girls in the living room. We often eat at the counter, and tell each other about our days or drink coffee.
17. You built your house in 2017, what tips would you have liked to receive before building and would you like to pass on any to others now?
We were very well looked after and also well advised, which is certainly the best thing that can happen to you. I would always make sure you get good advice too. Specialist work should also be done by specialists. Visualising everything in advance is unlikely to help and planning is everything 😊.