Designing for Berlin.

I have always been strangely drawn to Berlin. Even before I first visited the city, I was fascinated by the concept of a city in which a wall separated two super powers from each other. But when I visited it for the first time I fell in love with the mix of modern architecture cleverly ensconced among historical buildings, many scarred by WWII. I also fell in love with the personal style of Berliners, a blur of great eye wear and tough boots creating a sort of tailored rock and sometimes mod aesthetic.

So I was so excited when {this is glamorous} featured Freunde von Feuden, a sort of Berlin focused Selby. It was the perfect complement to one of my favorite streetstyle blogs: stil in Berlin. Suddenly, I was full of decorating and outfit ideas. There is something incredibly spare about the spaces. They tend to feature a lot of antique wood, 70s leather, and industrial light fixtures (all favorites of mine!). While almost all the featured spaces have white walls, there's something less forced about them than a typical Swedish space. As if the inhabitants of the apartments seemed to just stumble upon architecturally unique spaces filled with dusty furniture with a lot of character.

Berlin Inspired by matrioshkaDC featuring Adidas shoes

To replicate this aesthetic, I would be on the hunt for great garage and goodwill finds in Bauhaus (primary) colors. As for style, you can't go wrong with some great vintage glasses and Jil Sander (a great example of a German designer). And it helps that Rock n' Republic make some "Berlin" jeans. Plus to be truly Berlin styled you need a few urban accouterments, after all Berlin is also famous for its graffiti. Some Adidas, or a huge digital watch seem like they would adequately fit the bill.


photos via Freunde von Feunden, Cherry Blossom Girl, Stil in Berlin