Holly Becker, decor8

Today we're taking you into the inspirational home of Interior and Product Designer Kerstin Reilemann of Domestic Candy, her husband Luis, and their 2-year-old son Emil. They live, work, and play in Hannover, which is a lovely, green city one hour south of Hamburg that is about the size of Boston and is known for being a trade city due to the many international fairs held there throughout the year. Would you like to meet them and see this lovely city apartment? Of course you would!

Tell us about your family.
My husband Luis is originally from Portugal and he owns a small Portuguese coffee shop very close to our home, where he also sells little self-baked pastries. This is where we first met. Emil's kindergarten is just around the corner and as I just started my own business, working from home, Linden has become our little universe. 

What do you love about living in Hannover?
We live in a district of Hannover called Linden. It's so nice to live here, because it's really inspiring. There are a lot of nice shops, galleries, coffee shops and restaurants around. Saturday is market day in Linden, a place to meet friends, have some coffee together and of course to buy fresh foods. Hannover is a really green city. There is a big forest (1,578 acres!) in the middle of the city--the Eilenriede. Hannover has some nice parks and there are several lakes for swimming, lying in the sun, renting a boat or just for walking or biking on one of the many trails. Hannover is big enough to have cultural diversity, like theaters with both classic and modern repertoire, nice museums, and such.

What do you like to do for fun with Emil in Hannover?
Emil loves animals! So we regularly visit the Hannover Zoo. In the winter months, we like to go to the "Sea Life"--a great aquarium with sharks and turtles. Sometimes we go swimming together at the local public pool or in a nearby lake. At the moment, we can't wait for the weather to brighten up because we love to go to the playground and to have a picnic in the park. Our house has a nice backyard where all tenants can have a barbecue or relax under the trees in the summertime. There is also a sandbox for Emil and his little friends who come to visit.

What is your overall approach to decor?
I like to decorate with very personal, individual, and interesting objects. Anything that tells a story about the occupants of a home or maybe a shop. For me, objects aren't static. They often change, just like our life does. Moreover, I like to create a friendly atmosphere with light colors and a good contrast between furniture, walls, floors, and decorative objects. I always try to combine neutrals like white, grey, beige, and wood with a palette of bright colors.

How would you define your style?
I love retro style furniture, textiles and objects, so I combine vintage finds with new items. My handmade goods are usually very simple, graphic and reduced. I like extraordinary design, with a "twist." This has become a central theme in my style and it is reflected in what I am wearing as well as my interior design, product, and graphic design.

What inspired the design of Emil's room?
When Emil was born, I wanted to decorate a boy's room without light blue, teddy bears, or other popular nursery themes like cars or pirates. I decided to make a nature-inspired room for Emil, bringing the outside world inside: mountains, trees, animals, and geography. I wanted to tell Emil something about the world and his environment. Where does the milk come from? Which animals live in the forest? Where is Portugal where grandma lives? Things that are part our everyday life.

Did Emil have a say in decorating his bedroom and if so, how much of the design was his idea?
Since Emil is only 2 1/2 years old, he isn't interested in decorating his own bedroom, yet. But I think he likes it! It's a great room for him to play in. He has lots of storage, that he can easily reach, so he can take his toys out whenever he wants and put them back afterwards (sometimes I have to remind him). The little shop, his table with blackboard, the little farm...all of it is interesting for him and he can play with it without asking for help.

We love his little shop. Can you tell us more about it?
I think my first motivation was that I didn't have a shop like this, when I was little. I've always been fascinated by all these small wooden vegetables, fruits, and candy. Secondly, the little shop explains so much about our daily life. Emil learns to categorize differents foods like bread, fruits, vegetables, dairy products, and such. He loves to re-enact what he watches his Dad do working at the Portuguese cafe so I bought some toy pastries and coffee cups for him. I think he likes to play in his shop, because it is just the right size for a kid. Adults would never fit behind the little counter, so they have to stay outside and be the customer. I like to go shopping there and have a little toy picnic on Emil's bedroom floor.

Do you live in a home or apartment?
We live in an apartment in a populous urban space, but with a lovely green backyard.

How many rooms total?
We have 9 rooms including our kitchen, two bathrooms, and our hallway, which is big enough to go on a bobby car roadtrip, to learn how to ride a bike, to swing, or just play with little cars.

When it comes to decorating, where do you someday imagine having to draw the line with Emil? Say when he's 12 and wants to paint his bedroom black or something?
The day will come when I won't have a say about the look of his bedroom anymore. But that's okay. I will try to give him some nice ideas and hope that he likes them. Every child or teenager should be allowed to decorate his own room the way he wants. It's important for developing his own character and taste. When I was young, my parents let me do everything with my bedroom. When I was about 14, I decided to paint all my walls in terracotta, because I bought a book about living in France--Provencal. I was a dreamer, and this is where I discovered my big passion: playing with my surroundings and realizing the effect on your mood--interior design!

What's one decorating mistake you think people often make?
People often think that they aren’t creative enough to decorate their rooms in a personal way. They buy decorating stuff that is so characterless and put random pictures from a furniture store on their walls, just for the sake of not having any blank walls. It makes the decor so interchangeable, almost like it comes directly from a catalog. Also, some people may think "Hey, I love colors!" and then tend to overdo it: they buy a blue sofa, place it in front of an orange painted wall and put a colourful carpet on the floor.

What inspires you when it comes to home decor?
I get my inspiration from other creative people who show their work and homes in magazines, websites, and blogs. Another important influence for me is going to flea markets and thrift shops, where I find interesting clothes and especially furniture and decorating stuff. At these places, I discover things  that I never knew even existed but I instantly fall in love with them. It's so much fun to buy different things, bring them home and to figure out, where to decorate and combine them. Sometimes I buy things to store, leaving them hidden in the closet for several months until I decide to take them out, customize them, and employ them in my home.

How do you manage to keep your home looking so nice despite being a working mother?
I believe it's important to keep on decorating! I come up with new ideas for our home decoration all the time and I'm never "done" with it. We've lived in this apartment for one year now and I'm still in a decorating process. Step by step. Above all, it's my goal to make our home look special. For me it's like a showroom, an experimentation room, and a place to show a documentation of my work. In the near future, I will create more home accessories for my company Domestic Candy.

What inspired some of your color choices?
At the moment, I love fresh colors like light blue, turquoise, a sunny green, and yellow. Maybe it’s because of the long gray winter that I crave for colors that make me think of a sunny day in spring. Now is also the time to buy fresh flowers in beautiful bright colors. I like fresh clear colors and everytime I find a lovely object in a nice color I think about how to combine it.

Where do you shop for furniture and home accessories?
IKEA, thrift shops, and flea markets.

What are some of your favorite things in your apartment?
My favorite piece of furniture is the wooden vintage sofa, I bought for around $90 at a charity furniture shop. I want to put new covers on it soon! I believe this piece will stay with me all my life. Another beloved object is the small wooden tripod floor-lamp. I found it on the street in a pile of bulk garbage. I just had to buy a new lampshade! There are a lot of other things I love, but the last I will mention is that lovely rocking elephant. He escaped by the skin of his teeth from being used as someone's firewood so he's a very lucky little elephant.

What's one of your favorite memories in your house?
At the beginning of spring last year, right after we moved into our apartment, I often got up very early. The sun was shining and I stepped out on our balcony with a cup of coffee in my hand and had a look at an amazing sunrise while Emil and Luis were still sleeping. I think it's one of my personal favorite memories because, as a mother, I cherish every little moment I have on my own. Aside from that, we didn't have a balcony at our previous apartment, where you could watch such a nice sunrise over the roofs of the buildings.

What are three tips for creating a simple, happy home?
First, try to decorate with individual and personal objects that have a special meaning to you or your family. Second, use your emotion and don't take it too seriously. And finally, I'd say it's really important to create a good balance between colors and neutrals, light and dark, and detail and space within a room.

Thank you so much, Kerstin!