When dream homes come true
When it comes to the big wishes in life, we are pretty unimaginative: almost one in two Germans (49%) would like to write a book. Around the same number would like to move into a detached or semi-detached house. Caught out? Never mind. There is also typical dream furniture in which the longing for a better life is bundled. An Eames lounge chair for lounging in and listening to records, for example, is likely to be after the Porsche on many men's eternal list.
On the other hand, fine minds have been flirting with a daybed for decades. After all, there are beautiful specimens, but the idea behind them is even more tempting - self-determined work, an elegant work-life balance, hours of leisure along with tasteful coffee table books. All these premium promises seem to be fulfilled with the purchase of a daybed. It is the epitome of privileged living, because you first have to have the space for a piece of furniture that you only use for occasional relaxation. If you fulfill this dream one day, you will find that life goes on surprisingly unchanged - and that with the daybed you have primarily created a new storage area for pets and ironing. The book ladder is also an eternal, bourgeois dream utensil. There are many bookshelves, but it takes a small ladder to reach the top shelf meters to turn the whole thing into a library and the owners into private scholars. As with the daybed, the message is more important than the function: high old building walls, a muted step, a philanthropic overall feeling - that's what the ladder radiates. I know people with book ladders who have assured me that they are never used and that you can bump your big toe on them. But at parties, it would be unbeatable as a distinction booster.
In recent years, the swimming pond has also joined the ranks of such perennial desires. If you already have everything else, at least the detached house and the daybed, then you long for a swimming pond. A conventional pool is mundane and unsustainable, but a swimming pond means living close to nature while maintaining the pool amenities. Without wanting to spoil anything, the idea is also less complicated than the practice, which often keeps swimming pond owners on their toes. But perhaps that's a good thing, otherwise they'll all end up writing their own books.
Text: Max Scharnigg Illustration: Clo'e Floirat
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I've been writing about perfect houses and interiors for fifteen years, reading blogs about perfect houses and interiors in my spare time and buying heavy books in non-household quantities that are either about perfect houses or perfect interiors.
