Our Germany House

Last August when we moved here, I promised that I would post pictures of our Germany house once we were all moved in.  Well, it's been almost 6 months, and I guess we are moved in.  So here are some pictures of our house here.

Here is the front of our house.  We've had a very snowy winter, which is unusual for Berlin.  Personally, I am just tired of trying to keep the snow off the front porch.  When it ices over, the front porch is SO slippery, and I am nervous every time we leave the house that somebody is going to fall and crack their head open.

When you come in the front door, there is this little coat room to the left.  It is kind of like a mud-room in the States, except that it is right off the front door rather than off the back door or garage.  This makes sense because here in Germany, most people don't have a garage, so the front door is the main entrance for the family.

I've noticed that most German houses have a little bathroom like this next to the front door.  Well, not just like this.  This one is uglier than most.  There has been an improvement to this bathroom since we moved here.  When we came in August, the sink and toilet were a brownish-bronzy color, and the sink had a funky scalloped edge.  Truly atrocious.  In October, the old toilet tank sprung a leak, and sadly (happily!) another brownish-bronzy toilet could not be found to replace it.  So, our landlady was forced to redo all the fixtures in white.  Now if we could just find a way to get the tile walls replaced...

If you go straight from the front door, you will end up here in this entrance/hallway.  It is kind of a big wasted space in my opinion, but whatever. The bar on the right is pretty fancy, and there are cupboards and a built-in fridge behind it.  Too bad we don't drink wine, because this would be the perfect spot to do it.  The kitchen is back on the right, and on the left are the living room and office/dining room.

Here is our kitchen.  We were lucky to find a house with a kitchen big enough for our table to fit.  Germans have different kitchen priorities - most houses have very small kitchens and large dining rooms, rather than the big, eat-in kitchens we are used to in the U.S. You can see that our kitchen is a good size.  We bought the island from an American family that was leaving Germany just as we were coming, and it has been perfect in this kitchen.  It's nice to be able to face the table while I prepare food , since everyone is usually sitting around the table in the evenings.

Here is the living room.  I love the big windows that look out into the back yard. I have loved having this space for the kids to play.  It feels so private with all the trees around it, so I imagine this house and the yard are my little America in the middle of Berlin.The chair in the right corner has been my Happy Place this winter.  It is right by the radiators (they are under the windows), so it is a warm and comfy place for me to read my books.  Thank heavens Amazon.de has English books!

I'm not really sure what to call this room.  I think it was designed to be a dining room, but it's not very convenient to the kitchen.  We use it as more of a home office. The computer is in the cabinet on the right, and the table is a very handy space to work on projects/homework/puzzles. This and the kitchen are where I spend almost all of my time. The doors on the left lead to a Winter Garden, which is an enclosed porch that we never use.  From there, you can go outside to the backyard.