A while back we visited Nora Eisermann and Laura Muthesius at their DIY Ikea country kitchen outside Berlin. Today we’re dropping in on them at their city studio, a 1,830-square-foot Berlin loft complete with a kitchen by Frama of Copenhagen.
Nora is a food stylist and Laura is a food photographer; when they’re not shooting for others, they together produce the exceptionally beautiful vegetarian/gluten-free blog Our Food Stories. The two are as interested in design as they are in what’s for dinner and specialize in combining the rustic and the industrial. At their hub of operations, they have plenty of room to experiment.
Above: Nora (shown here) and Laura spotted their building’s tall steel-framed windows from afar, and when they inquired, discovered the entire first floor was awaiting renovation and available for rent (scroll down to see it as it initially looked).
Their landlords kitted out the space to their specs, with, among other things, newly shored-up walls and a polished concrete floor. And they, in turn, supplied the kitchen, which is entirely freestanding, so they can take it with them should they ever move. Longstanding fans of Frama’s simple, soulful designs, the two are currently at work on a book project with the firm.
The kitchen components aren’t attached to the wall or floor, except some of the appliances. Made in Denmark, the design, Frama says, is an antidote to “today’s complex, built-to-fit kitchens” and is intended to look like furniture.
Above: Frama kitchens incorporate top-of-the-line appliances, while, as the company puts it, “retaining a low-tech and analogue expression.” The range is a Smeg. Above: The counters are made of white Portuguese marble and the matte black faucet is Dornbracht’s Tara Single-Hole Basin Mixer (go to 10 Easy Pieces: Architects’ Go-To Modern Faucets to see more options.) The wall-hung Bracket Shelves are Frama’s reinterpretation of a classic Scandinavian fifties design. In the US, they’re available for $130 each from Qlty-Life in Brooklyn, which reps the full Frama line, kitchen included: See Shopper’s Diary: A Copenhagen Design Star Comes to Brooklyn. Above: For their kitchen island, Nora and Laura selected a large, old workbench that, like most of the vintage pieces in the loft, came from J & V, their favorite Berlin salvage shop.
The fridge and freezer are housed in the tall four-door cupboard next to the sink. The standing shelf serves as an open pantry for flours, grains, and spices in Weck Jars.
Above: The studio has several dining setups, including this farmhouse table surrounded by vintage Thonet chairs. The mottled gray walls were created using a colored plaster from Kabe of Denmark (here in Concrete). Above: Alongside the kitchen stands Laura’s towering tripod and a living area with a sofa and Black Marble Coffee Table, both by Gubi. Note that the island is on wheels for easy mobility. Above; A vintage factory light hangs next to a table for two with a pair of old Windsors. Above: In the back of the room, an industrial dining table stands against a wall of Kabe plaster in a color called Chalk Board. Kabe says its tinted plaster is easy to apply and dirt repellent. Above: A smaller room off the kitchen houses Laura and Nora’s office. The table, old wood with a new steel frame, is from J & V in Berlin.
Before
Above: The space was completely raw. The women hoped to preserve the original ceiling—it was 26-feet tall—but say, “Our landlords were against it; they told us our heating costs would explode with such a high ceiling, so they had to lower it a bit.” The brick was preserved. Above: Laura and Nora signed their lease almost immediately after seeing the space, and then moved in after six months of construction.
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