In an interview, Guido Maria Kretschmer reveals which simple decorating rules anyone can observe in order to make a room shine.
Designer and "Shopping Queen" expert Guido Maria Kretschmer (55) is starting a new program on VOX: From March 20th he will be choosing "Guidos Deko Queen". In an interview with the news agency spot on news, the designer explains the challenges the candidates face and how the format differs from "Shopping Queen". He also reveals his best decoration tricks and reveals his own bad buy that he cannot part with.
What can viewers expect at "Guidos Deko Queen"?
Two candidates from different worlds, some of them from different regions, compete against each other and get a motto from me that they have to implement in two days with a budget of 2,500 euros and two companions for a specific room in their house or apartment. But you don't know which room, it can be the living room, kitchen or bedroom. The format is very entertaining and amusing and it's nice to see how the candidates can also part with things. As a rule there are, for example, the "golden three", which can be built into the room as the three most important, existing parts.
What's the biggest challenge?
You have two days, i.e. two times eight hours, to buy, build and finish everything. It's very sporty. But it is very sweet and nice to see how lovingly the candidates treat each other. You don't feel a lot of competition, but rather respect for one another. It's especially nice for me because I have more time for the finals and the women than with 'Shopping Queen'. As a great friend of women, it showed me once again how emancipated, patented and courageous many girls are.
There is also a new magazine for the new program. What can the readers expect?
For me, the magazine is both very fortunate and a logical consequence, because in the "GUIDO" magazine it has always been the case that I wanted the decorative series to be as large as possible. Now with "Guidos Deko Queen" I have the chance to tell the topic in great detail and to accompany the interior in a completely different way. I think it is the most personal and emotional furnishing booklet there will be, because I tell stories about people and also about myself and what things mean something to me. I try to encourage people to love their things and see them from a different angle.
Other design magazines are often kept very cool …
Good taste can be something very elitist when it comes to furnishing. I think living should be a pleasure. You have to appreciate the diversity of people and their facilities, and we celebrate that in the magazine. At the same time, you can also make people aware: What can it do if it is there? Is it too much of everything after all? Reduction is a very good way of calming down, appreciating things again and being more happy about them. In lockdown, many people have realized that if they are all together for a long time, they have no place at all. If you are thrown back on yourself, on your own four walls, then "My home is my castle" applies. The English don't say that for nothing. You have to be able to feel comfortable in your own castle, large or small. Furniture can do so much. You can conjure up your country house in a slab or beam yourself to New York in a village through loft elements. In the short time that we are in this world, it would be completely hammered to live in a situation that does not suit one at all.
What is important to you in your own home design?
I always have to feel that it suits me and my world. That means you have to know who you are and ask yourself: Can I live with it, does it belong to me? Then the decision has often already been made. I think that's nice, but it doesn't belong to me. That's the maxim I live by. I like an elegant, quiet and art-related cosiness. Because I have a lot of space, it is even more difficult to say what comes in and what stays outside. When something new is added, I usually let something go so that it doesn't get too full or too much.
So you are always redecorating?
In any case. Frank would say I'm totally exaggerating. (laughs) But that's been part of my job my whole life. I think as a designer you are very affine. Also how I decorate food, what I put on the table – that runs through my life. A house is an expression of creativity and sophistication. I build my own world in order to create something new from it and you develop a feeling for materials, shapes and trends. The latter have become a big topic when it comes to furnishing. In the past, you bought a look and it just stayed there forever until it stopped working. Today people spend money faster and throw something out because they say: That doesn't suit me anymore. In decoration it is almost the same as in fashion now.
Where do you get inspiration from?
Above all, my closeness to art and architecture certainly comes into play. A lot from yesterday, but also a lot from the zeitgeist, its colors and fashion. Fashion helps me a lot. It is a wonderful vehicle for designing furniture or products because you see people in focus and the way they move, how they walk and what they do. I always see the context: Does it make sense and will it enrich a life, so does someone value it? It must not be hazardous waste, I believe that is the most important maxim in our time. If you work in a manufacturing industry, you have a great responsibility in this regard.
Do you have simple decorating tips that everyone can follow?
For one, light can be a great magician. Where is north, where is west, where does the sun rise. What happens to a light during the day. Where is it nice to have indirect light sources. Then you always need a main actor in every room. The key-piece has to have space and the other things follow it. The main character can be an old secretary, a small table or a special shelf. Mirrors can also bring size very well. Beautiful pictures are important and so is harmony in shape and color. If someone is very picky, light furniture can be used to accentuate them. But if someone is careless or lives with children, he should choose colors that allow that right from the start. And that you buy decorative items that are so beautiful in themselves that they still look good even if they are incorrectly on the table.
Would you say good design is the same as expensive?
In some cases a little. It is like many things in life. You just need the two or three highlights that have a longing in them and that perhaps had to be spared first. That is that particular piece of furniture or that one picture, that one armchair. And then it takes imagination and taste in order to fit in cheap things nicely. It's like fashion when you buy a good bag or nice shoe for a cool look. And furnishings need personality. When it comes to pictures, for example, I like to look out for unknown young artists or get something at the flea market. People like to remember the purchase and develop a connection to it. With more individuality, it becomes beautiful, so it's yours.
Have you ever made a bad purchase yourself?
In any case. I once bought an armchair from a really great US designer for a lot of money. It was way too expensive for what it is. Now he's in the basement. I don't know if the time will ever come again that I like it. But I can't part with it either because it was so expensive. (laughs) That happens to me too, but the older I get, the less it gets. I don't move around and just decorate, but the main stories stay the same. As you get older and more experienced, you also become more professional. Then there is only this one place where a certain part can stand.