Homestory: Visiting Alex Schäler aka “die Artige”

In the interview, successful blogger, mom, wife and interior designer Alex gives us a wonderful personal impression of what sustainability means to her and how she implements this in the selection of her furniture and decorative items. Stay tuned :-)

Dear Alex, thank you for the interview. Would you briefly introduce yourself?

I'm Alex and I live with my four little and big men in the very north-east of Germany, between Rügen and Usedom. I have a small and fine design studio in which I design everything I can get my hands on, from graphics to interiors to gardens. I see this as a great, albeit hard-fought, privilege - because I do what I love. Influencing and content creation have now also been added, which serve a wonderfully fresh aspect of my creativity.

 

A few years ago, you and your family moved into a beautiful single-family home. You were already thinking about sustainability when you were building it. What did you pay particular attention to?

As is often the case at the start of a journey, you have no idea what you are getting yourself into and which paths you will take. We stumbled into the topic of house building just as naively. As a rather curious person with a penchant for details and backgrounds, I did an incredible amount of research, reading and asking questions at the beginning. Over time, all of this information gave me a picture of our needs and the options for how we could incorporate them into four walls.

Due to the primary component of financial viability, the issue of efficiency quickly arose. Efficient construction, in turn, includes energy issues, but also questions about necessities, materials, implementation and construction time. Combined with the issues of healthy living and quality of life, a fairly clear picture quickly emerged. Our wooden house is therefore a purely functional building that attempts to bring all of these aspects together.

There are five of us living - including an office for my studio - in just under 170 square meters. Large windows on the ground floor open the house to nature and at the same time use passive solar energy in spring/autumn. A raised ceiling and only a few walls give the living area - despite its manageable size - an almost loft-like, light character that remains flexible in terms of use and furnishing. This allows for constant adaptation to different living situations.

The extension with my office, for example, is planned in such a way that it can be used as a bedroom or even a one-room apartment at any time. On the upper floor, the rooms are only as big as needed. The children's rooms vary between 10.5 and 12.5 square meters, the bedroom is just under 15 square meters and the family bathroom is around 9 square meters.

In order to visually suggest more space here, proportionally large window areas and sight lines were planned, the wooden beam ceiling was made open and bulky 'space eaters' such as wardrobes and showers were placed in niches and thus visually minimized. In addition, all traffic areas were reduced to the bare minimum. All of this reduction even 'resulted' in a small roof terrace, which offers an idyllic view of the overgrown rectory garden.

A big aspect of my life is the careful and respectful treatment of nature and offering my boys a healthy and comfortable home. For this reason, and because our house should not be an unnecessary burden on the environment even if it were to be demolished, it was clear that it would be a wooden house with the appropriate living climate and tactile warmth. In addition, our house has excellent insulation properties and does not require any polystyrene or other types of construction foam, nor painter's fleece. It goes without saying that we use solar thermal energy on the roof, renewable energies and green electricity.

For us at Kanela, sustainability is our top priority; we want to avoid senseless consumption, even when it comes to furniture. How did you go about choosing your furnishings? What aspects are particularly important to you when choosing new pieces of furniture?

For me, furnishing is, like life, an ongoing process. Like most people, we started with necessary and affordable furniture. It was only in the last few years that we were able to afford to buy not only practical but also sustainable furniture that can accompany us indefinitely.

The first step when making a new purchase is the most important for me. Checking the need. Do we need the piece of furniture? Do we need it this way or that way? I often take months to check this and the background of a product. Of course, there is a wish list of things that I have often had on it for ages. But these items are also checked very thoroughly before a purchase.

There are of course no guarantees, but if a piece makes it through this test, it is very likely that it is the right one. Of course, with an open budget some choices would turn out differently, but who hasn't experienced that?

 

For me, sustainable means: quality workmanship, good design, fair and, if possible, regional production, high-quality materials . Bringing all of these aspects together in one product is not easy and certainly not always possible.

Waiting for things is not necessarily a virtue of our times, but it is so important. Because it means that we have to make far fewer decisions and definitely far fewer wrong ones.

And there is another advantage to being able to wait patiently for a long-awaited item. You appreciate it much more. To avoid any misunderstandings. I am certainly not immune to spontaneous purchases, for example because I fell in love with something straight away. However, these are rarely bad investments.

And how do you live the topic of sustainability in the area of ​​decoration?

When it's time for me to try something new - which usually only comes to light in the decorative area - I first experiment. To do this, I first use everything that I can find at home and then I really like our free shop in town.

I collect things at home that I no longer need, drop them off and simply bring something new with me. You could call it an experimental swap. Every now and then I have something new at home without buying anything new.

Of course, sometimes I discover decorative items that I really want to have, that I just think are great. And since the range between what I need and what I don't need is quite flexible, there is a certain amount of leeway. But here too, I usually take my time to make sure that it is at least not a flash in the pan.

When choosing your decorative items: Must-haves and no-gos:

Must haves:
Vases, yes sorry, definitely a few more candles and candle holders, pillowcases / decorative pillows (preferably with two different sides), (wool) blankets, cheerful tea towels, mirrors, picture frames, definitely personal items with emotional value!

No Gos:
Cheap, useless and kitschy decorative items, artificial plants, so-called antiques that have neither emotional nor actual value that is only there because there is nothing else.

You also work as an interior designer. Do you also focus on sustainability in your job?

If that's possible, yes. I always give open and sometimes emphatic advice on this. And all my purchase recommendations are always based on my sustainability criteria. But the customer always makes the decisions.

What do you think is important to most customers?

That they feel comfortable in their environment. Preferably immediately. Sometimes there are representative tasks, but mostly they are more practical. And of course the implementation, whatever it is, has to fit into the available budget.

Are there any sustainable furniture/decoration designers that you find particularly inspiring?

No. The market is incredibly flexible in this regard. There are always innovations, new manufacturing processes, materials or designs. It is completely impossible for me to commit myself to one thing. But I am absolutely thrilled that the topic has now become so big and visible. When you spend so much time talking and yet keep getting questioning eyebrows, these changes are a real blessing...

We are thrilled! Thank you for these great impressions and your inspiration, dear Alex!