Our Dream Kitchen in Berlin: A Work in Progress

It seems a tour of the latest progress in our Berlin kitchen is well overdue.

For those of you who don’t know, we live in a 480 square-foot apartment in Germany.  Or at least we usually do.  We’re back in the United States for a bit.  But it doesn’t mean we don’t close our eyes and think about our cute little apartment patiently waiting for our return.  Thanks to Hooked on Houses for the reminder that you and everyone from Southern Hospitality might like a peek yourselves.

The original kitchen with my yellow and brown paint going up:

kitchen before

Did you see it?  And could you possibly imagine making Pfefferrnusse Christmas cookies in there?  There were no countertops, no drawers, and no way a person could actually stand in the kitchen when she opened the oven.  So we did the best thing we could think of. 

We tore down the walls:

tearing down walls

This is the point where I usually start getting letters and notes about how crazy we are.  

  1. Americans fear we’ve torn down a structural wall.  But strangely, that is how thick and solid interior walls are in Germany.  We don’t need doorstops, and kids don’t have to worry about making holes when they jump on the bed.  Structural walls are made of concrete laced with rebar about every ten centimeters.
  2. Europeans immediately comment on how we’re making it into an American kitchen.  Germans especially love separate spaces for each function of their lives.  The kitchen and living room are never one space, which I imagine was the logic behind building the walls around our kitchen space in the first place.  When in Rome… er Germany, you can’t always think like the Germans.

Nonetheless, construction continued:

img_0735

And the latest:

doors-up

We’re far from finished–everything needs to be sanded four times, varnished, sanded, and then varnished (eh)–but we’re celebrating anyway.  We’re still fitting everything into 36 square feet.  Here’s how:

  1. Our oven is smaller than most American microwaves.  It also happens to be our microwave as well.  I told you a little about our futuristic microwave/oven combo unit here.
  2. The fridge is the size of an American dorm fridge.  It’s behind Martin on your right, covered by the wooden panel.  German fridges always blend into the cabinet fronts.
  3. Food is sold in smaller quantities than in the US.  The biggest carton of milk is one liter.  Containers of flour are good for 1 1/2 baking projects.

The kitchen is fast becoming our dream kitchen.  Think you could manage in such a small space?  Check here for a complete tour of a Czech kitchen and home we love to visit–that house is smaller than our own!  

Then tell us because we’re dying to know:  what would you have/do you have in your dream kitchen?  And gosh, just how big would yours be?  Something tells me that none of you are going to say 36 square feet…

(Image by Katie for Making This Home)