3 Inspiring German Books On My Table Right Now
Hey guys! How are ya? I had a really relaxing weekend and plan to bring a little of that serenity with me into the new week because why should a Monday be stressful, right? Oh and guess what? Our baby started crawling officially. Until now, he's been snaking around the house on his belly for the past three weeks. He'll be 7 months old tomorrow so I'm really proud of him. Did you also have a nice weekend?
Let me begin this post by first stating that I'm about to review some books but they're in the German language, which may feel a little alienating to some of you. But this is an international blog and I love showing what's new in various markets from Denmark to Australia and beyond. Try to keep an open mind is what I'm trying to say. So today I want to share three books that I'm proud of because I really like the authors and think they each lend something special, a little something for everyone. I have personally met two of the authors (Steffi + Delia), worked with one (Steffi) and was interviewed by the other (Delia). As for the third, Yvonne Bauer of Fräulein Klein fame, well I've never met her but hugely look up to her work not only on her blog but in her beautiful books which have a strong focus on baking and party hosting. I find Yvonne such an inspiration in the German market, a real breath of fresh air, so let's start by sharing a review of her book while I'm boasting about it...
BOOK 1: Fräulein Klein lädt ein Yvonne's new book, Fräulein Klein lädt ein: Backzauber und Dekolust für jeden Anlass, took seven months to write and is just beautiful and packed with inspirational imagery and recipes. Also the book cover and overall design and layout is just lovely as is the paper quality. Yum! Shot with her family and friends present (you see them in the book filling it with so much love), I can't wait to bake some of her cakes. She also writes a great blog (also in German) and what I find totally cool about this lady is that she's in Finance by day and manages to tap into her creative side when she's not at work producing recipes and photos, blog posts and books - this is her 3rd title. I LOVE that she is going for her passions no matter what plus she's so creative and her fans in Germany are super loyal and totally in love with her recipes. Buy it on Amazon here.
5 QUESTIONS WITH YVONNE What is this book about? For the most part, this is a baking book with recipes that I have developed around a season or a special occasion. Who is this book for? It is for anyone looking for ideas for decorating on certain occasions. And also for recipe ideas for all who love to bake. Who produced this book? I made everything alone - the recipes, styling, photographs - all of it. The only exception is that if you see me pictured in photos, those were shot by my husband. How did you decide on the recipes? I thought about the typical fruits for each season and then thought about recipes for them. The events were considered too - seasonal. When the celebration was a bit more festive, I made some special - like cakes for a party. For a more informal celebration like brunch, I made pancakes and cereals. How do you plan a party from start to finish? I write down all of my ideas first and from there, begin with the overall decoration and then, the recipes.
PHOTOS FROM THE BOOK
Next, it's time to review a decorating book called Wie eine Wohnung ein Zuhause wird, from a German blogger and journalist, Stefanie Luxat from the OhhhMhhh blog, who lives and works in Hamburg. This book features home tours of creative people who live mostly in Germany with two homes in Cape Town and one in Denmark. My favorite property is the one belonging to Simone Sauvigny and her family, who is the owner of Hamburg-based interiors store, LYS. I love Simone's shop (I'm a customer) and her home so I was happy to see it in this book. I also like that Steffi has her newly renovated apartment inside too, complete with a photo of her nursery + work space combo that she shares with her new baby girl. You can buy this book on Amazon here.
BOOK 2: Wie eine Wohnung ein Zuhause wird
5 QUESTIONS WITH STEFFI 1. What is this book about? Real people show their real homes and tell how they designed them. All of the ideas you see are explained so that readers can recreate it on their own and everything is linked to the shops where they bought the stuff. 2. Who is this book for? For everyone who wants to feel happy at home. For people who are looking for simple, not very expensive, creative ideas to turn their apartment or house into a home, a fun and relaxing place to be. 3. How did you decide on the homes that you would profile in the book? It was very important for me to show real homes with affordable ideas. And I wanted to show a good mixture of different styles in the book. That’s why I invited sixteen friends with very different styles to open their doors and tell me all their interior secrets. 4. What do you find about German homes that speaks to you? Germans like to mix different styles. It seems as if they pick inspirations from all over the world and mix them together at home. In my generation there isn’t just one German style. We (Germans) are much more creative than other countries. 5. You recently renovated your apartment. What got you so interested in decorating? We moved into our apartment five years ago and I wasn’t happy with different things in the beginning. I never really settled, arrived, in this apartment until last year when I was really pissed about being unhappy about the look of my home. I remembered what I learned and loved about living a creative life and chose to never accept big compromises again and so I renovated the apartment. Others asked, "Why would you spend so much money in an apartment that you don’t own?", but I decided: Every happy day counts! So... We spent a few thousand euros on the renovation. We renovated the floors in every room, painted every wall, laid bare the wooden floor in the kitchen (it was hidden under cement),sanded the wooden floors in every room, sanded every single door and painted them AND we bought new furniture - a new sofa, chairs, table and some other stuff for the living room, new desk in my office et cetera. That’s when I had the idea for this book and when I realised how happy a great home can make someone.
PHOTOS FROM THE BOOK
The last, but certainly not least (these reviews are in no certain order), is Westwing: Das grosse Buch der Wohnstile the debut interiors book by Delia Fischer who is a real power Frau as the founder of Westwing Home & Living, a "flash sale" shopping site that is online in 12 countries and has over 15 million members worldwide. In fact, I'm a customer and find many great things on her site. Before launching Westwing, Delia was the editor of both ELLE and ELLE Decor magazine. In this book, she profiles homeowners sharing their different styles - and all of them are her friends and family from Anika Decker's home in Berlin (she is the most popular German screenwriter for romantic comedies like Keinohrhasen) to her parents country home and her own apartment in the city. What I found really fresh and interesting is after all of the home tours and profiles of the owners conclude, she shows you one room several different ways - like a bedroom or entry, shown with many different themes, giving the reader tons of creative inspiration. Buy it on Amazon here.
BOOK 3: Westwing: Das grosse Buch der Wohnstile
5 QUESTIONS WITH DELIA 1. What is this book about? It is about interior styles and how to decorate according to your personality. There are 8 styles in this book - Boho, Minimalist, Country, Glamour, Girly, Classic, Scandinavian and Eccentric. 2. Who is this book for? Everyone who likes having a beautiful home that reflects your personality! My book can help you to find your look or inspire you to develop a new one. I wanted to show that redecorating doesn't mean you have to buy everything new. It's the same with a sofa as it is with a little black dress: you can change the whole look with the right accessories. In fashion it is shoes, earrings, a scarf. In interiors it is cushions, table lamps, a beautiful throw. This makes redecorating affordable and of course fun, too! We can play with different looks a lot more! 3. Did you bring props to the homes? We mostly brought flowers and sometimes some accessories to style a table setting. The fun part was that the home owners always got real inspired and excited by us being there shooting and styling. Sometimes it helps to have another persons' viewpoint and I also think that discussing your interiors and decoration with your girlfriends can be really inspiring, don't you? 4. What do you find about German interior style that speaks to you? Germans care about quality, e.g. for materials, for the craftsmanship behind a piece. And as our autumn and winters can be rainy and gray we like to have our homes cozy! I believe that coziness is essential to a home. 5. What did you find challenging about writing a decorating book? We all have a limited amount of free time, so decorating should not be too complicated and it should be somewhat effortless in my opinion! And yet the ideas have to be new, unique, surprising and just stunning! I took a lot of time to find the right balance of all of these things as I worked on this book - that was my challenge.
PHOTOS FROM THE BOOK
So, those are some of the books on my table at the moment - and yes, they are all in the German language so for those of you unable to read them, my apologies! But I'm inspired seeing Germans writing more lifestyle oriented books here as when I first visited Germany many years ago most of the books were written by authors from other countries and translated into German. I always wondered why there were not that many native Germans writing interiors and cookbooks. But things have changed (thankfully!) and with the rise of blogs, I see more and more great bloggers (like Steffi and Yvonne) authoring books as well as small business owners (like Delia) and I'm happy to see it. It was sorely needed and good for the confidence of all those living here because I think a country needs to have plenty of creative inspiration coming from its own residents to lend a sense of community, pride and a place in the world of decor and cooking as a whole.
Have a lovely day and a big thanks to my publisher, Callwey, for sending me these gorgeous books for review by my label mates. Callwey is also my publisher for Wohnen mit Blumen, Holly Beckers Wunderbare Wohnideen and Lust auf Wohnen.
(Images: With permission from Callwey Verlag, Munich, Germany)