Our German House

So, my dear friend Ginger has been bugging me for a long time now...wanting to see pics of our house in Germany. I actually took most of these pics this summer when my house was all nice and clean right before Maree and Christian came to visit. So most of these pics have just been sitting on my computer, waiting to be posted. (Pictures of my house seem boring in comparison to the Alps or France!) There are a few pictures that I just took while Kathy and Chris were here though (as the pumpkins attest to)...visitors seem to be the best motivator! :)

Here's the front of our house. It use to be an old farm house. The attached house (you can see the driveway to the left of our house) used to be the barn. Thankfully, it doesn't smell like a barn any longer.

First thing you see when you walk in our house...although, the sun isn't usually so bright that it glares off the stairs. This is our entry way.
Entering our kitchen is like stepping into a time machine and heading back to the 70's. YES, the tile IS orange and brown. Who ever thought that orange and brown tile was a good idea???Having owned a house before...one thing I took for granted was my kitchen. You see in America we build kitchens INTO our houses. NOT THE CASE in Germany. After we moved in, I started trying to unpack all our dishes and pots & pans. Well, since there are no cabinets, there is no where to put anything! Germans buy kitchen units, and take them with them when they move...no joke. So, we improvised and bought some storage cabinets to make due. We were not interested in buying a kitchen! (The stove and fridge are loaners from the base.)This is our dining room. We have loved having big dinners in here...I'm not sure exactly how many people we have fit in here for Easter or Christmas...but it's a lot!Another quirk of German houses...they don't waste plumbing pipes. We have 2 bathrooms side by side. This one is just a water closet.This one is a full bath...tub and all!We have a wonderfully large living room. It is great for entertaining! When we first moved in, it was a big space with a few things in it. My hobby while in Europe has been collecting antiques. So, it isn't so sparse anymore. Notice the fan in the corner...yes, it does get hot here...and no, we do not have air conditioning. And by the way, fans don't really cut it in 95 degree heat! Of course, that was this summer...now it is snowing here.Here's our office/computer room. It's also Jason's "man room." He has airplanes, airplane pics, and hockey pucks throughout the room.And our spare bedroom (we have been fortunate enough to put it to good use with many visitors!).
Now, we're heading upstairs Our laundry room is right at the top of the stairs. (it is so nice to have a laundry room upstairs!)And since Germany doesn't have closets in the houses, all the stuff that would be stuffed in a closet is in our junk room/extra bedroom. Our bedroom is upstairs too. Before we moved to Germany, I remember people asking me if we would be able to fit a king size bed in our bedroom since European houses are so small. Well, see for yourself...We are also fortunate to have a bathroom in our master bedroom (for some reason, that isn't common in German houses). Below you can see part of our bathroom. It has a shower in it also. We have a total of 4 bathrooms in our house...sounds great in theory...but it's actually a pain to keep 4 bathrooms clean!And the thing I just might miss most about our house...my walk-in closet. Actually, it's another bedroom. But since we don't need any more bedrooms, it is serves as our catch-all. It may not be a "Carrie Bradshaw closet"...but it works for me!The real reason we picked this house though is because of the backyard. I was determined to find a house with a fenced in yard for Dixie. That isn't easy to come by here. But we did find it. The yard isn't huge, but it is big enough for Dixie to chase squirrels in. She hasn't caught one yet (she caught loads of them in Georgia), but she has caught a bird. (She thinks they are interactive play toys.)I don't have much of a green thumb, but I was super proud of my flowers this year. There were more flowers than weeds (which is a big accomplishment for me).

OK Ginger...challenge completed. :) I actually posted pictures of our German house before we head to Japan.