Hello, everyone, and welcome to Stuttgart, Germany! We’ve lived over here for just over a year now, so I’m sharing our sixth home in five years, which if nothing else guarantees that I get to see how our furniture looks in a variety of settings!
Many thanks to Marty at A Stroll Thru Life for organizing this thirty-blog tour–it’s a lot of work! Be sure to take a look at this week’s lineup at the end of the post and check everyone’s homes out. If you’re visiting from Julia over at Cuckoo4Design, welcome. I don’t think Marty intended to put the German girl right before the girl living in Germany, but it worked out well, didn’t it?
We live in a 200 square meter (around 2000sf) apartment in downtown Stuttgart Süd (South). We’re lucky to have an elevator which opens right into our entrance hallway:
It’s just me and my husband now–plus our dog and cat–since our youngest started college in the States last month. The house is so quiet now!
I love vintage and thrifted pieces, and this repurposed sewing cabinet sits right by the elevator. The basket hides the dog’s collar and leashes.
We’re lucky to have a fenced garden space for him to take bathroom breaks, and then I take him for a longer walk around our neighborhood in the evenings. My rain boots stay out year round because the rainy season seems to be year round, too!
The three bedrooms are off the hallway on the right; they all face the street. The kitchen, living room, and dining room have a fabulous view of the city that I’ll show you in a minute.
One thing I’ve had a hard time getting used to is that there are no closets in German homes! We have to use armoires for everything, from cleaning supplies to linens. I believe they’re taxed on every room in their home, and closets count as rooms. So we had to make several IKEA runs when we first arrived to buy their PAX systems for our clothes.
This little armoire holds our bathroom towels and bed linens.
The beautiful artwork is courtesy of my downstairs neighbor, who is a talented artist. You can see more of her work in this post and this post.
This little drop zone is to the left of the elevator; it opens onto the kitchen, powder room, and dining room.
Again, we don’t have a coat closet, so I had to find a coat rack as soon as we arrived! The straw tote goes to the market with me as you have to buy paper bags here if you forget yours.
I only brought one bin of fall decorations over with me; the rest are in storage back in the States. We do have a small storage area in our kellar (cellar) which is where all the seasonal/holiday decorations live when they’re not in use. I’d rather leave room for all the wine we’re collecting, though!
Here’s our dining room/living room. One of my goals for this next year is to find several antique chandeliers in the flohmarkts and brocantes; we didn’t get to do much shopping last year because we were locked down hard over here and they were all closed. I do like the dining room chandelier that came with the house; it’s not my usual style but fits the Bauhaus design aesthetic of this property.
I love the view from this side of the apartment. Rain, shine, or snow, it never disappoints.
I found this tiny silver cup in Luxembourg a couple of weekends ago; isn’t it darling?
I’ve seen people use their riddling racks more creatively, but we just use ours for its intended purpose–storing wine. The wine is so good and so inexpensive over here!
Right after I took these photos, we got rid of my husband’s recliner and the couch…both had seen better days and the move overseas didn’t help. So next time I share a tour things will look completely different.
Our terrace is basically an extra living room during the warm months. We just leave the doors open all day long (German homes don’t have air conditioning). If you look at the top of the tree line you can see the Stuttgart TV tower that is one of the best-known city landmarks.
We eat out here every chance we get, and I’ll usually sit at the table while working away on my computer.
If you’d like to see more of our apartment, I’ll be sharing photos of the bedrooms next week. I also write a monthly Germany vs. the US post about the differences between the two cultures.
Now, be sure to head over to Decor to Adore to see Laura’s tour to see how she’s decorated Storybook Cottage.
Thanks for visiting–tschüss!
A Stroll Thru Life – Inspiration for Moms – Worthing Court
Pink Peppermint Design – Clean and Scentsible – LeCultivateur
Southern State of Mind – This is Our Bliss – Cuckoo4Design
11 Magnolia Lane – Decor to Adore – Noting Grace
Grace In My Space – Remodelando la Casa – Whispering Pines Homestead
Up To Date Interiors – The Stonybrook House – Thrifty and Chic
CitrineLiving – Our Southern Home – Southern Hospitality
Hymns and Verses – A Pretty Life in the Suburbs – DIY Beautify
Golden Boys & Me – StoneGable – Quarters One
The Woodgrain Cottage – White Arrows Home – Chalking Up Success
Ok now I’m homesick! My brother lived in Stuttgart for a couple of years too and is now back in our hometown of Lohr. What a beautiful balcony and view you have. Your place looks fabulous! Really enjoyed the tour!
Thanks, Julia! I haven’t been to Lohr yet but I have been in a few cities around it. One of my favorite things about Germany is that every region is so unique.
Wow! What a gorgeous home you have! That outdoor terrace is absolutely breathtaking! I love how you sprinkled touches of fall throughout your home. It’s so very welcoming
Thanks so much, Jen. It was a pleasure touring with you!
Such a gorgeous tour! Three German girls in a row. 🙂 It made me think back to when I was living in a small village near Kaiserslautern. So many wonderful memories. Enjoy Oktoberfest!
That’s right–three in a row! I pulled my dirndl out just yesterday to see if it still fit after a year of lockdown!
It all looks beautiful!! I just love the terrace what a wonderful space!
Thanks so much, Shand. Looking forward to your tour tomorrow!
Christy
Oh, what a lovely home you have! I love seeing all of your blue and whites! Your view is spectacular too! I have so enjoyed my visit. I’m popping over today from Marty’s blog.
Be a sweetie,
Shelia 😉
Thanks so much, Shelia. So glad you visited!
You never disappoint. I love seeing your wonderful home and how you add a few changes with the seasons. It’s always so nice to see that amazing view. It reminds me of my visit over 30 years ago. Like everyone else, I adore your terrace, what a fabulous bonus to have. Thanks so much for joining the tour again this season, so great to visit your home.
Thanks so much for the lovely comment, Marty, and for all of your hard work on the fall tour. What a great lineup this year!
Happy Fall,
Christy
That terrace with that wonderful view is just amazing!! I always love touring your pretty home and reading about you living there is so interesting.
Thanks so much, Cristina. We love the terrace, too. It’s a great place for a nap!
Take care–
Christy
Love your apartment. My Oma lived in Augsburg and her apartment didn’t have closets or heat.
Oh my–I’m thankful that we have heat at least! I can handle no air conditioning, but winter is too long without heat for us!
Take care–
Christy
What an exciting adventure! Your home is gorgeous, I can’t imagine getting to work on that terrace with that view every day! Love how you added fall touches but kept it simple!
Thanks, Cindy. I’ll admit it’s because I left most of my holiday decorations in the States in storage–I wanted to leave room for great European antiques! 😉
Take care,
Christy
What a gorgeous apartment Christy! And that terrace and view…I can only imagine how breathtaking it must be! Of course I love your blue and whites too! Happy Fall! xo
Thanks so much, Tam!
Christy
Absolutely beautiful! You are so creative with the small touches that just finish a space perfectly. The blue pumpkins are gorgeous! I could live with that incredible view and the amazing wine! Yes, their wines are wonderful and much less expensive than here. A relative and family lived over there for several years. He taught school at a military base.
Looking forward to seeing more soon!
xo
Pat
You’ll appreciate this: our TK Maxx (same as TJ Maxx) sells wine in the checkout line. They’re all from France, Italy, Germany, and Spain and are only about 5€ each. I bought a bottle yesterday and all I had gone in for was candles!
It was a delight to see your Stuttgart apartment Christy and to meet another mil spouse! What an amazing terrace and view you have and I love all your Fall touches and sweet vignettes.
Thanks so much, Kathy!
Love all the little fall touches in your apartment…and those views! Whoa! I would never get tired of sitting on that terrace! 🙂
We spend so much time out there–even now when it’s in the 50s and 60s and we need to wrap up in a blanket to sip our coffee (or wine). Hope you are well!
Christy
Lovely apartment!
Re closets: No. they don’t count as rooms and we are not taxed for rooms either 😉
I believe they are not common here, because one needs quite a lot of space for them – and our flats and rooms are smaller than the average American one, so closets never became a thing. We went from trunks to wardrobes in a straight line, lol.
Closets are wonderful, however, and I hope they get more common.
So, this is very good information, Angelika–thank you! Where do you live?
I agree with you on hoping that closets become more common, but I love the beautiful shrunks and armoires, especially the beautifully painted ones.
Take care–
Christy
Hi Christy!
I live in Austria, near Vienna. Here, and also in Germany, rooms in a house are counted differently to the US usus. So are the bedrooms not specified (for instance by closets). Everything except kitchen and bathrooms is considered a room here. An apartment with living room, dining room and two bedrooms constitutes a four-room apartment. It’s totally doable and actually normal to convert the dining room to an additional bedroom, for a child perhaps.
Masonry walls forbid quick changes of floorplan (much easier to do that in a drywall construction) so I guess flexible room use makes up for that.
In my four room apartment, I turned the main bedroom to my daughter’s room, the study to my son’s room and the guest room to main bedroom when the children were younger. When my daughter moved out, her former bedroom became the library and my son’s room will be turned into guest-room-cum-study when he’s left.
That makes perfect sense, Angelika. Thanks for the additional information. I can see how the floorplans are more flexible as all of our rooms have doors on them, so you can easily change their purpose as your needs change. For example, now that our kids are both at university in the States, our son’s bedroom is now a guest room/office, and our daughter’s bedroom has been taken over by the cat!
I’ve only been to Salzburg–so far–but I love your beautiful country.