Jeanette Neidhardt-Rosenberger has been an independent interior designer and Feng Shui consultant for 26 years. Together with her husband she runs an architecture and interior design studio in Stuttgart and offers her clients holistic furnishing concepts with implementation support.
Today, in an interview for Baltic Design Blog, she talks about what home really means to most of us, what you can learn from it when designing your own four walls, shows glimpses of her apartment and gives tips for a better living experience.
Dear Jeanette, You recently conducted a small, spontaneous survey among your circle of friends on the question of what defines a home. What did people respond?
Yes, it was actually quite exciting. I chose the topic HOUSE for a presentation and immediately came to the question: what makes a home? And from this I started a small survey among my circle of friends. You should write to me in one sentence what home is for you. The answers were exciting:
…a place where it is tidy, warm and quiet…
…a place where I can sleep well…
…we can enjoy the sun on the balcony and in the evening sit in front of the fireplace…
…where I can free myself from work…
…a place I look forward to every evening…
…a place where I can breathe freely…
…an oasis of well-being and a place to relax…
…a place for the family, with a feeling of security…
…a place where I can relax…
…a place where I don’t have to play a role and everyone can be who they are…
…a place with many beautiful memories…
…safety, heat, light and a bathtub…
… gather energy and find new ideas…
And if you read the points, you realize that it is personal emotions and feelings that make a home. It is not important that the apartment is large and luxuriously furnished, but rather that it meets my living needs.
Which areas are important to feel comfortable at home?
Safety – relaxation – community and communication – creativity – self-expression
These are the general terms that are important for a home, but the focus is a little different for each.
A home should give us SECURITY, being able to return to our family environment in the evening. Have the key to your apartment and be protected from the outside. Some people feel comfortable and safe “only” in an attic, while others have no problem living in a ground floor apartment with lots of glass surfaces.
Another point is the REST that our home should give us. A space where we can relax from everyday life. So we can sleep well, let go and let go of all the influences that come to us every day. A space where only we count.
Naturally, COMMUNITY and COMMUNICATION should not be missing in a home. In today’s homes, the dining table and increasingly the kitchen are often the place where conversations and exchanges take place, a meeting place.
Don’t forget that your home is also the place of your CREATIVITY. The house is a space that we can furnish ourselves; we can design it however we want. True to the motto: I make the world the way I like it!
And last but not least, your apartment is also the place of your SELF-PRESENTATION, your business card. Here I can surround myself with objects, paintings, works of art and furniture that satisfy my aesthetic needs. It comes naturally to me to think of the many beautiful villas that have appeared in glossy architecture magazines. – This is also allowed at home.
What do you take away from this as an interior designer?
In summary, I can say that my work as an interior designer has always been focused first on discovering and developing my clients’ wishes and needs and then on implementing them in the interior design. It often takes many conversations (and sometimes I even interview married couples separately, because this is where their real housing desires emerge). Because everyone has their own desires and ideas and if several people live in one house/apartment, justice should be done for everyone, sometimes it’s not that easy! And only when all this fits together harmoniously can colors, materials, light and furnishing styles be considered. And that’s what excites me about my job, that I have so much fun doing it.
Now to you: How did you get your job as an interior designer?
I grew up with furniture. My father was a representative of beautiful designer furniture from Italy, Austria, Germany and Japan and our Sunday walks often took us past furniture shops (much to my chagrin at the time). After my high school diploma I trained as a technical designer in the field of furniture and interior design in a carpentry shop with an adjoining interior design studio – from this period I acquired a lot of practical knowledge. (And I also met my husband.) I subsequently worked in the design offices of several furniture stores and for interior designers and supplemented my education with a 2-year further education with a degree in furniture design and interior design. I have been working independently as an interior designer for over 25 years and develop interior design concepts for my clients, which we then realize together. Together with my husband I have been running our architecture firm ROSENBERGER + NEIDHARDT for 20 years.
I still love my job because it is always exciting when my ideas and visions, which are born first on paper and then on the computer, are realized and my clients have a beautiful home.
What current interior design trend do you particularly like?
As a current trend we can say that anything you want is allowed. Combinations and breaks in style make many structures really interesting. And little by little there is more and more courage in using color, which I like. Of course, this trend is also reflected in our life today. Flexibility is necessary and therefore currently there is a lot of light furniture that makes it easier to move: from light sofas in Scandinavian-Nordic style to modular furniture.
The great thing is that it can always lead to new housing solutions.
How do you live yourself? What furnishing styles can you find in your home?
A few years ago we were lucky enough to be able to purchase an old house from 1928 in which we live and work. In our house the existing beautiful details (wooden handrails, beautiful door profiles, railings and elaborate wooden ceilings) have been renovated and combined with modern, classic furniture and decor elements.
We have a lot of black and white – natural tones – walnut and cherry (and in the office also green) – and I prefer soft carpets.
Otherwise I need a lot of air and space around me and I try not to accumulate too many (unnecessary) things that in the end you don’t know what to do with. Life is easier with less.
What inspires you in your work?
When I enter new rooms or homes, I try to feel what the energy is like there and how the rooms affect me. It’s always very exciting and insightful when you’re involved in it. I’m also interested in the stories of the houses.
Otherwise I like to surf the Internet, one of my favorite sites at the moment is www.ad-magazin.de, as well as Pinterest, Houzz, Atrium – and I also read classic home and architecture magazines. Of course the Cologne furniture fair in January is always a must and the Milan furniture fair is also exciting.
One last design tip for those who want to transform their apartment into a real home?
A certain basic order is important, which is why you can remove things that are no longer needed or that you don’t associate with anything positive.
There should definitely be room for things you love, it could be photos, a family heirloom, holiday memories, etc.
The right lighting is very important to create the right atmosphere!
And in large modern houses with a lot of glass and concrete, the acoustics must be adjusted using fabrics and fabrics.
You can use color: So that it doesn’t become too «colorful», you should choose one dominant color and subtly combine the other colors.
And then you don’t have to compromise when buying furniture, it’s better to save a little and then buy the right one that you can enjoy for a long time. Quality still pays off!
I always like to work with my clients to develop their personal master plan where the entire apartment is planned accordingly. This means that my customers have their own «roadmap» for which furniture they actually need and can buy (gradually): this way, costly incorrect purchases can be avoided.
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