| HOMESTORIES | At home with Anne Peter

Special statement pieces between unplastered brick walls. This is Anne Peter's home. Here a lot revolves around trying things out and letting your creativity run wild, because it finds its way it's boring when apartments look exactly alike. I'm much happier when I get stuck in a feed because a color or a piece of furniture surprises me. That's why I'm for more courage and creativity in your own home."
We are very happy that she was willing to give us a few insights into her wonderful home for our home story segment. For example, she tells us about the story of her favorite piece of furniture, how her taste for interiors has changed in recent years, why her outdoor area is so important to her and how she integrates sustainability into her apartment.

What makes your home your home? And what characteristics does your home have to have to make you feel comfortable? That's a very difficult question. Whilst I love our home very much and probably have visual and spatial aspirations for where I live long term, I believe I could live in many different ways. Ultimately, what I primarily need is Jens by my side to make me feel at home and a few personal things like the kitchen table which is an heirloom from my grandparents, pictures we bought on trips, a lambswool blanket for coziness and mine Coffee machine (because coffee makes me feel so incredibly at home). I think you can make yourself beautiful in almost any place. Finds or heirlooms that share memories make an apartment my home. The only thing I couldn't do without in relation to the property itself is an outdoor area. A balcony, terrace or garden. Being outdoors is just so much my nature.
How would you describe your furnishing style/your home?
I like the mix of new and old, wood and metal, stone and wool. Natural materials are as important to me as colors. I like it bright, lived and not too decorated.
What is your favorite piece of furniture?
my kitchen table He talks about his past as my great-grandparents' slaughter table, my dad's workbench, who built loudspeakers on it, as a table in my first flat share - how many Korn Ahoi were drunk at it. He could tell something!
What role does sustainability play in the interior for you? What are your hacks for a more sustainable home?
I generally consume very consciously – including my interior. When we make a new purchase, we think about it for a long time. It can also take several months until we are 100% sure that we have found the right piece of furniture, because we want it to stay with us forever. Therefore, my hack for a sustainable home is: No impulse decisions! Still sleep on it one night. Better to wait for the right lamp or save up instead of buying an interim solution. When you have finally decided, it is worth checking whether you can find the interior piece in classified ads. Second hand is not only more sustainable, but also easy on the wallet!
Perhaps the most striking thing about your beautiful home is the large areas of exposed brickwork. How do you manage the balancing act between this rough industrial look and the playful side of your room? Do you have a tip?
Oh yes, when we visited the apartment it was all over us! We love the rough look of the bricks. In general, we have always liked the industrial look and we also had a lot of old industrial lights in the old apartment, which Jens bought at auction and refurbished. With the move to our current apartment, however, we had to learn that some lamps are a bit too much with the bricks . That's why we swapped them out bit by bit for more filigree lights that go much better with the open bricks. Ultimately, my tip is always: try it out! Of course, since you can't just buy new furniture on suspicion, I always make a collage beforehand and see which piece of furniture or which color fits. For me, this is relatively easy to implement in Indesign, I give others the tip to simply print out photos and collage with them. This gives you a direct feeling for whether the ideas fit.
Where does your enthusiasm for interior design come from and where do you get inspiration from?
In my opinion, being an esthete is something holistic and always transfers to all areas of life. Even though I'm an art director, I love design not only printed on paper, but also as objects in my home, as plants in my garden, as the feel of my clothes and as food on my plate. It is therefore quite natural for me to want my surroundings to be beautiful. What’s more, Jens is just as enthusiastic about design – it’s a lot more fun to dress up at home when you’re a couple! I get my biggest inspiration from our travels. Actually (unless a pandemic is teaching us that the home garden can also be beautiful as a holiday destination) we really like to be on the road. Whether it's cities in Europe that we're discovering or distant destinations and foreign cultures: Broadening your horizon brings the best ideas!
Are there no-gos? Colours, materials, styles that you keep your hands off in your home?
I am for diversity - also at home! I find it boring that so many apartments on social media look exactly the same. I'm much happier when I get stuck in my feed because a color or a piece of furniture surprises me. That's why I'm for more courage and creativity in your own home. Just dare. And if you don't like the wall color afterwards, you can paint it again! Everything that pleases should be allowed.
Do you feel your interior style has changed a lot over the years? How is that reflected in your home?
When I look at photos of our first apartment together when I was in my early 20s, I have to smile. We had a great weakness for flea markets and lots of mid-century lamps and furniture, which we gradually got fed up with. With the first money we earned, however, we started investing in furniture that should stay in the long term and that I hope will still be in our apartment when we are old and grey.
What role does the outside of your home play in your personal sense of “home”?
I'm an outdoors girl. When I wake up and the sun is shining, I have bumblebees up my ass and I need to get some fresh air. Of course, we have the absolute luxury of outdoor possibilities: our small balcony, on which we often sit in the summer evenings, an inner courtyard where we like to have a barbecue with friends or to relax with my sister and her husband in the porch swing, and the allotment garden in where we spend our weekends. My home would not be complete without an outdoor area.
What convinced you to integrate a WYE piece into your home? Is there a product that you feel is missing from the WYE collection?
I got to know WYE at the IMM in Cologne and immediately fell in love with the products. I'm a big fan of little designers with good ideas! WYE manages to combine great design with sustainable raw materials. I love the high quality of the furniture and the special color selection. This makes the furniture an absolute eye-catcher in the apartment. For me, the bench and the stool regularly wander through the apartment because they can be used so flexibly. In the summer, the bench will again find a place on the balcony. I'm really excited to see what products will follow

THANK YOU DEAR ANNE for your detailed and inspiring answers! We love your openness to stylistic diversity and if your kitchen table would tell a story, then we would actually like to play mouse!