Calm, warm, and personal best describe Friederike’s home on the outskirts of Hamburg, where she and her husband live as the third generation in the building her grandparents moved into in the 1960s. Here, Scandinavian simplicity meets natural materials, and every object is chosen with care and affection.

I work in employee relations at a med-tech company -  very far removed from the creative side I express at home, but still a place where I see myself. 

Interior design is where I feel the happiest. It's more than just furnishings; it's a way of creating atmosphere. Rooms tell stories, and I love it when you can sense that a home has been designed with love and reflects the people who live in it. I'm very fond of the Scandinavian style: calm colours, natural materials, and a certain lightness that allows everything to work together effortlessly. But there are so many more styles out there to see, and that’s what makes interior design so interesting.

We all get to create places that we feel most comfortable in and by that, ultimately turn our own four walls into a home.

Scandinavian calm, warm, and natural. I am a big fan of oak wood because it brings so much warmth and comfort to any place.

I like to combine it with a few design classics as statement pieces, but also with other materials such as travertine and textiles, and darker, earthy tones for vases or other design pieces to make the look more interesting to the eye and give it depth.

For my home, it's particularly important to me that furniture and decorations harmonize with each other—I like the calmness that everything then radiates. It may sound strange, but the world outside has become so loud that I enjoy having a home that is calm in every way.

That would definitely be our String Furniture shelf in the living room. It was one of my first design pieces, so to speak, and has been with me since I moved into this apartment. Over the past few years, it has taken on various forms, from a simple bookshelf to a desk to a lowboard. Now it has become my statement piece in the living room.

I love the versatility of it. Thanks to the open ladders, it never looks bulky despite its size, and you can add, remove, or rebuild parts as needed.

Speaking of adding, another element will definitely be added in the future, I just can’t help it. 

My last big purchase for the apartment was lamp no. 3 by Muller van Severen for our living room.

I have admired this lamp for years, and then actually got hold of it second-hand on a whim through a dear contact on social media. I love this lamp for its sculptural, minimalist design, and I think the golden brass gives it a beautiful, elegant look. 

For me, good craftsmanship means creating things that last, in terms of quality, feel, and meaning. It shows when you inherit your grandmother's armchair, but you can't tell its age because it is so well-crafted.

It shows when things are celebrated across generations because their design is timeless. It shows when form and function go hand in hand and beautiful things get to be useful at the same time, and vice versa.

Our Sætter shelf is home to all my cups, which I have gradually acquired over the last few years and which I find far too beautiful to put away in a cupboard and hide behind closed doors. Beautiful ceramics bring so much character to a home, which is why I like to display them for everyone to see.

Choosing a cup for my coffee has now become a little weekend ritual and I don’t want to miss it.