Houzz Tour: A Touch of Scandi Style in a Hamburg Home

This period property in Hamburg, Germany, wows visitors with its elaborate stucco moldings, floorboards, folding doors and bright rooms. Interiors blogger and freelance journalist Stefanie Luxat has created this home for her family as a place to find respite from the daily grind and start the day with renewed vigor. Luxat, who recently became a mother, has just written a book about how to create a stylish home. Every room in her own home is testimony to her love of interior design.

Houzz at a Glance
Who lives here: Stefanie Luxat, her husband and their young daughter, Ruby
Location: Hamburg, Germany
Size: 1,076 square feet (100 square meters); 2 bedrooms, 1 bathroom

“Come on in!” Luxat calls when she lets us into her home. Her blog, OhhhMhhh, and her new book, Wie eine Wohnung ein Zuhause Wird (How an Apartment Becomes a Home), offer glimpses into the homes of other people. But how does someone whose job revolves around interiors decorate her own home?

“Perhaps this is due to my job, but our flat is not simply a flat, it is also a workshop for my ideas,” Luxat says. “Currently a mix of styles are coexisting in our home. Scandinavian style is combined with an industrial look and some ’60s furniture. Thankfully, our flat puts up with a lot without complaining too much.”

A year and a half ago, Luxat and her husband were gripped by the desire to renovate their home. “For a long time, we listened to people who asked why we wanted to spend money on a renovation, since it’s only a rented property. But then we finally did it, and now I know the answer — because it makes every beautiful day worth it. And because it’s our home, regardless of whether it’s a rental or not,” Luxat says.

After stripping the floorboards and painting, they started decluttering. “We are trying to only have furniture that means something to us, and which we really like. No more compromises,” Luxat says.

The blue velvet sofa seen here — the Madison from Bolia — matches the wall paint, SO.20.20 from Sikkens, and provides a lovely spot for family cuddling. Luxat hand framed the “Blablabla” pictures from One-Must-Dash. To create more visual interest, she lengthened some of the lines with the help of masking tape, so they reach out of the frame and up to the ceiling.

Coffee table, tray table and wool blanket: Hay; copper vase: Bloomingville; candlesticks: Nagel; pillows: House Doctor; chair: Acapulco; floor vase: Ikea; ottoman: Tom Dixon


“All right, I admit it. Sometimes our flat does complain. The porous old walls that dislike holding anything too heavy are particularly prone to complaining,” Luxat jokes. Instead of mounting wooden shelves, she used copper hexagonal shelves from Bloomingville. “Their warm color contrasts perfectly with the cool blue wall,” Luxat says. Other practical yet stylish additions are the magazines hanging from copper coat hangers from Hay.

Black and white Agnes vases (in different sizes): Normann Copenhagen; birds: Lys Vintage; copper candlesticks: Hay; box: House Doctor


Entryways are often overlooked during decorating projects, but Luxat believes they can be designed just as creatively as the rest of the home. Here, she used black diamond-shaped wall decals of her own design, which can be purchased in the online shop on her blog. Luxat has a knack for transforming her DIY projects into covetable products.

The purple rug from Bougiandbo, which was hand knotted in Anatolia, brings a welcome flash of color into the living room.

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Germany’s proximity to Scandinavia is reflected in the interior of this room, which features plenty of white, natural wood and sheepskin throws. These simple details are what give this family’s flat its character.

“The large wooden table always seemed so massive, and didn’t really fit with the lightness of the rest of the room,” Luxat says. So she varnished it in white to give it a lighter feel. The couple bought the dining room chairs when they moved in together. To make the room cozier, Luxat threw some sheepskin covers over the chairs.

Chairs: Lys Vintage; table: Punct Object; lamp: Secto Design; bowl: Ferm Living


When asked about her husband’s involvement in the decorating process, Luxat says: “I’d say that the entire process was rather democratic, though usually in my favor. His priority is comfort. As a lawyer, he has enough conflict to deal with during the day. So when he comes home in the evening, he wants some peace and quiet, a fact that I sometimes take advantage of.” She wrote a book on this topic as well: Wie Sag Ich’s Meinem Mann? Über Das Zusammenleben Mit Einer Anderen Spezies (How Do I Tell My Husband? Cohabitation With Another Species).

“WhatWeDo” prints: Lys Vintage; candleholders; by Lassen; vase: Ferm Living


During the renovation, Luxat and her husband stripped back the concrete-covered floor, a very time intensive and laborious task. Underneath the concrete were wood floorboards and tiles. “Painting the walls with Farrow & Ball’s Hague Blue was definitely more fun. The kitchen now combines modern country style and industrial chic,” Luxat says.

Plates: Lys Vintage; lamp and wooden box: vintage, via Johanna Schultz


Luxat finds inspiration in many places, such as creatively styled restaurants, cafes and boutiques, as well as online and in books. A visit to the Hotel Lindenberg in Frankfurt inspired her to plant kitchen herbs in old jugs.

Pistol vase: Bloomingville


For several years Luxat had a home office all to herself. However, she recently became a mother, and turned the space into baby Ruby’s nursery. “Now my home office is a space for us girls,” Luxat says. “I didn’t want to give up my home office for a nursery that isn’t even used that often yet. Half of the room is my space, while the other half is Ruby’s play area and her changing corner. This way I can sing her a song while I prepare the packages for my online shop.”

Chair and pendant light: Lys Vintage; sheepskin: Ikea; table: custom top on Loop stand frame from Hay; crib: Sebra; changing table: TrollSun via Sprösslinge Design; animal heads: Bodie and Fou


However, Luxat now has her own dressing room. “After the renovation, the smallest room became my very own space,” she says. The floor-to-ceiling wardrobe from Ikea stores all of her clothing, and the bright room itself makes early-morning starts much more bearable for the blogger. “Honestly, the ‘Wow’ print on the blind makes me laugh every morning,” she says.

“Wow” sticker: OhhhMhhh


Copper confetti decals: OhhhMhhh


Luxat loves everything about her classic period property — except for one small thing: “I’m not too happy about our bathroom, which feels like the smallest bathroom in the world. My husband has already been researching all kinds of ways to improve it,” she says. Still, with the help of diamond-shaped wall stickers, anthracite-colored walls and closed cupboards, Luxat has created a cozy and relaxing space.


The flat seems perfectly decorated, but Luxat still has more planned. “Until recently, the balcony was a complete construction site, and now I’m still pretty annoyed with the hallway,” she says. “I want more storage space and cozier lighting. However, the hallway doesn’t have any outlets. But I already have an idea for that.” We don’t doubt it.

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