katrin & uli

#berlin #interior @stocubo

meet my friends katrin & uli in their flat in berlin xberg. as you can see i got breakfast again, I love my job! they have a cool way to mix their modern furniture (stocubo) with some vintage elements.

Where are you from?
Katrin is originally from Rostock. She considers herself as “Fischkopp” and is proud to be from the North. She often relates this to not talking a lot. This is something really characteristic about her which I really love. I was born in Frankfurt and left after graduating from school.

what do you love the most about berlin?
Uli: Being free, being myself, feeling home. Having my friends and love.
Every role in my character has it’s place. I love the international people in Bergmannstraße. I even love the tons of tourists when they come here and think it’s a big carnival as I know they feel the spirit too. From the beginning I came, I felt home.

your favourite place here?
Uli: My appartement in Kreuzberg and my garden which is close to (the?) river Havel. I love the urban lifestyle and hard garden work instead of going to the gym.
Katrin: The list is too long to write. I like Tempelhofer Feld the most.

i made a shooting for stocubo with you, how important is good quality for
you?
Uli: My mom sometimes said: “I buy  expensive stuff because I don’t have much money.” When you look for good quality you can keep your stuff for a long time if it’s treated well. I  like my things and I like to keep them. I am said when  they break and good quality is timeless. You don’t want to exchange things after a while because you have overlooked them.
Katrin: Quality is for me not only about the material. It’s more about the process. W(h)ere the material comes from, how people get payed etc.

Green is for hope and red for love, why (these both) both these colours?
Uli: I thought they’d look great in the room. I assume for Katrin it was a statement for the German elections :-).
Katrin: No statement for German elections ;)

I love the table / chair combination in your living room is that part of
your style, combining old and new?
Uli: Yes, definately. But it’s much harder to combine than I thought. I found that table in my mom’s cellar and knew from the beginning, it would fit perfectly in the flat. It’s more than 100 years old and was given ing to my grandfather to make fire wood out of it. But he kept it. Lucky me. I really love to shop for new furniture and think how it fits together. But the old furniture has it’s history and gives a soul to the room and roots to the people who live there. I think this is even more important as the appartement is modern and new.
Katrin: The combination of styles happened by accident :-). The old furnitures belonged to my or Uli’s grandma and grandpa. When I sit there sundays to have breakfast, sometimes memories of my childhood come into my mind. I like those moments a lot.

You love to travel and are a passionate diver, what is your next travel
destination?
Uli: In November we will be travelling to Sulawesi which is an Indonesian island.
Katrin: … and dive dive dive

How important is a cozy and comfortable flat for you?
Uli: For me, it’s very important. An appartment is like a second skin which protects you from the world, gives you security and is a place to relax and recover. I always lived in very cheap and basic appartments and  would not have needed that high level of comfort. Having it is great as it eases your life. What I really love about this flat is that I know why everything is there. We decided on every wall, every plug socket and every detail. This was a lot of work but it felt like building (y)our castle and I am so lucky we had the chance to do that.
Katrin: For me it’s more a feeling of being on my own island with it’s own little harbour.