One reality of life in Germany that may be hard for some American hausfraus to get used to is the lack of closets in many German homes. I didn’t get used to this the last time we lived here because our house in Pfaffingen actually did have closets, including a huge walk-in closet that our landlord had created by putting a wall up in his daughter’s room (the same room we used as a master bedroom). Our first German landlord worked for IBM and had obviously done a lot of work with Americans, so his house was kind of perfect for American tastes.
The house we live in now is a bit odd. It was originally intended to be three apartments. We have neighbors on one side and then our home consists of two upstairs and downstairs apartments. There’s even a doorbell by the upstairs door. And no, we don’t have closets, but we do have a few really small rooms. Fortunately, because it’s just me and Bill and we don’t need a lot of bedrooms for kids or guests, we can put those rooms to good use. The first three photos below are of my German “closet”, a room that was originally intended to be the upstairs kitchen. In many German homes, when you rent a place, you furnish your own kitchen. Since this house is just one residence now, the downstairs kitchen is furnished mostly by our landlords.
We have an ironing board, a shoe rack, and two clothing racks that I ordered from Amazon.com…
I was going to use clothing racks from IKEA, but as you know, we had the trip from hell there last week. I think I like these Amazon racks better, anyway. They were more expensive, but they’re also sturdier and hold more.
Obviously, I have more clothes than Bill does, though a lot of his stuff is hanging in the downstairs bathroom, because there was nowhere else to hang his suits and such. His dresser is also in the downstairs bedroom because it was too tall to get up the stairs.
I bought this shoe rack at AAFES.
This is a coat rack I also got at Amazon. I’m not as happy with it as I am with the clothing racks, but it didn’t cost much. I have always wanted a coat rack, but never needed one thanks to our love of closets in America (and our first German landlord’s pre-installed coat rack).
A better shot…
The stuff I got at Amazon I ordered about a week ago and they arrived yesterday via APO. I bought my German appliances at Amazon.de and they got here super fast. This “closet” I’ve created will probably not look so neat for long. I tend to be a slob, despite my housewife moniker.
Special thanks to the folks who lived here before us and sold us the small chest of drawers in the bathroom. It’s perfect for extra towels and sheets.