Decoration and design expert Guido Maria Kretschmer is back with a TV show and the accompanying magazine “Guidos Deko Queen”. We talked to him about furnishing sins, secret wishes and his very personal taste in living.
Star designer, TV darling, connoisseur: Guido Maria Kretschmer is all that and much more. After taking Germany by storm with his show “Shopping Queen”, it is now the turn of the Interior community. With “Guidos Deko Queen” (Saturdays at 5 pm on VOX) and the accompanying magazine, which will appear for the first time on March 18, the likeable designer with the cheeky mouth helps everyone to find a beautiful home.
Guido, what do you think is necessary for a successful interior: creativity or manual dexterity?
If you are completely honest: both. It always takes a lot of different people who master the individual work steps and deliver 100% quality. A little bit here and a little bit there is bad if the wallpaper comes down in the end, the furniture doesn’t fit or the overall concept is just not nice. With the right instinct and good guidance, however, you can make something out of everything, that is the most important thing. You have to know yourself how you want to live.
From March 18, there will be Guidos Deko Queen at your trusted magazine stand.
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What was your personal biggest mistake?
I once bought a beautiful, huge French kitchen cabinet. I actually wanted to put it in the kitchen of my house on Sylt and even had the wall widened for it. Then it stood there and I thought to myself: “Damn, it’s way too big and flattens the whole room.” Then I was really lucky, because the cabinet could be dismantled into three individual parts and now I have two beautiful, axially symmetrical cabinets standing in the dining room, and one has moved into the kitchen as originally planned. So in the end everything was fine, but in between I really thought: “Oh, you shame, Guido, you can’t get rid of him!”
Little budget, but big dreams: what can we use to tune our home in next to no time?
Sleep well, sit well, see and feel well. By that I mean creating great perspectives, creating visual moments that please the eye and lift the mood. I don’t think it makes sense to live with “solutions” or lazy compromises that you don’t really like. You have to be able to ban some things from time to time. When beautiful, new things move in, the old clutter should be thrown out and make room for it. Great furniture that is cozy, as well as light, warmth and pretty accessories dominate the feeling of space and well-being.
Guido Maria Kretschmer: We can shop for what he loves
Where do you get your furnishing inspiration from?
I’ve really had a lot of different residences and have always adapted the furnishing styles to the respective location. In Paris it was Art Deco, in Spain a Mediterranean style, on Sylt I was able to implement the classic, Scandinavian style. On the other hand, I also have a lot of pieces that I take with me everywhere, which are my basic structure. Clear, quiet furniture – some antiques, some very modern – and lots and lots of lamps, I’m really addicted to that. I like Louis Quinze, but I also find Belgian furniture with patina, armchairs, pictures and blankets everywhere.
Fortunately, as a designer, I can of course design and manufacture many things myself. I do that again and again for my Home & Living collection, so everyone benefits from it. There is a lot to do with it that I also use in my own home.
What is your favorite room and why?
Actually all of them. But in my new house (note: in Hamburg) I have a beautiful fireplace room that I love very much. With a view of the garden and large windows. This has become my afternoon Downton Abbey room. Especially in winter it is incredibly cozy here, when the dogs lie on the floor and watch out that the fire does not go out.
My study is a large, clear space that I really appreciate. I also like the bedroom and kitchen. I live and enliven all rooms and feel very comfortable everywhere. That’s the most important thing.
Great sins and secret desires
What is the greatest interior sin for you?
Far too much beech wood. I don’t like this look at all. That was all the rage in the 2000s. And cold, hard floors that clatter terribly loudly when you walk over them, that doesn’t give a nice feeling of space either. I generally don’t like it when everything is too crowded and overwhelming. I love open spaces very much. You shouldn’t have a closet in front of your head all the time when you turn around.
And what is the favorite place outside of your own four walls?
The garden, always. And the houses of dear friends where you are warmly welcome. We all miss that very much. Yesterday we were still on Sylt, so I said to my husband: “Frank, my greatest dream would be to be able to look into the beautiful house of our neighbors”. It looks really amazing from the outside. Sometimes I imagine that they simply invite me in passing: “You, Guido, please come in!”, That would be too nice. How people live says so much about their character – I’m just terribly curious about that! (laughs)