Was the entire renovation that extreme?

LH: We literally removed everything that wasn’t original: seven layers of wallpaper, salmon-colored speckled vinyl flooring, and a 1990s kitchen. The goal was to give the illusion of more space, but the whole process was incredibly impractical.

SF: After living with unfinished floors for almost a year (and never being able to take our shoes off because of the dust), that was the first priority. We installed a dark red linoleum, which was also used in the Bauhaus library in Dessau. Until the stainless-steel kitchen was ready, we cooked with small makeshift appliances—like Leonie’s great-grandparents’ mobile electric stove from the 1970s, which we actually still use it today.

Did you quickly figure out how best to use the space?

SF: That’s the advantage of not having much space: In the end, there aren’t that many choices to make. We quickly found a place for everything. The devil is in the details, and we racked our brains over many small items for a long time. The Vitsœ shelving, for example, is mostly new, but one of the wooden drawers is vintage. The curtain is a special design by Studio Azur in Marseille. We even put a lot of thought into which electrical sockets we wanted.

LH: That’s the nice thing about a small apartment—you can get away with little extravagances without it being a problem for the overall budget.

Challenges and community building

Do you sometimes wish you had more space for art and objects?

SF: We don’t have to hang pictures on top of each other—yet. There’s something good about having to limit ourselves.

LH: Through our other projects in the neighborhood, like Grotto and Café Tiergarten, we’ve been able to expand our living space, at least in a figurative sense. We have temporary spaces for objects that we don’t have room for at home.

Right—since you moved here, you’ve not only discovered Hansaviertel for yourselves, but you’ve also introduced it to many other people through Grotto and Café Tiergarten.

LH: We quickly noticed how many of the storefronts were empty and that the area was in a kind of slumber. That’s what made it feel possible to design and open different spaces. In Graefekiez, where I lived briefly a few years ago, I wouldn’t have thought about opening our own ventures because of the abundance of things already available.

SF: And by helping to shape things, you also develop a sense of connection and responsibility. You develop a desire to share this part of Berlin with others.

How do you manage to create a neighborly community here?

LH: Building a community requires effort. It’s sort of like the broken-windows theory. Taking care of your neighborhood and treating each other and the environment, including buildings, with respect often triggers a desire in others to get involved and to feel less alone and more like they’re part of something bigger.

SF: It starts with small acts and the way you meet your neighbors, spending the elevator ride in conversation and not in silence, getting involved, and offering and accepting help.