{"id":2424,"date":"2025-11-17T00:58:38","date_gmt":"2025-11-16T16:58:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/homeofmaterials.com\/2025\/11\/17\/kitchen-of-the-week-a-poetic-apartment-kitchen-by-studio-oink\/"},"modified":"2025-11-17T00:58:38","modified_gmt":"2025-11-16T16:58:38","slug":"kitchen-of-the-week-a-poetic-apartment-kitchen-by-studio-oink","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/homeofmaterials.com\/de\/kitchen-of-the-week-a-poetic-apartment-kitchen-by-studio-oink\/","title":{"rendered":"K\u00fcche der Woche: Eine poetische Apartment-K\u00fcche von Studio Oink"},"content":{"rendered":"

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The briefing: to create a \u201cwide and open layout with a calming atmosphere\u201d\u2014oh, and a lot of built-in storage. The space itself, a flat in a late-19th-century apartment building in Berlin\u2019s Wilmersdorf district, came with its original paneled doors and French windows. The wrinkle? The structure was in the midst of being overhauled by its seller-developer. The new owners, a young family of three, decided to break from the builder\u2019s standard program and asked husband-and-wife duo Matthias Hiller and Lea Korzeczek of Studio Oink in Leipzig to step in: \u201cWe saw Lea and Matthias\u2019s work online and were drawn to their poetic, rigorous approach.\u201d<\/p>\n

Working with the developer at first proved fraught for the designers: \u201cEvery custom-made solution from our side was a problem and \u2018impossible\u2019 in the beginning,\u201d reports Korzeczek. \u201cWe had to find a balance for what is in our mind and what is possible. Some ideas had to be reduced to simple shapes that could be manufactured and were not too expensive.\u201d The serene\u2014and storage-filled\u2014results belie (perhaps even benefited from?) the process. We especially love the streamlined, ethereal kitchen designed around a simple grid. If culinary spaces exist inside clouds, this is what they might look like.<\/p>\n

Photography by and courtesy of Studio Oink.<\/p>\n


Above: A sunny, centrally located room was selected to be the new kitchen and dining area. It features the requested counters and built-ins, all visually minimized through the use of seamless white volumes. The grid of cabinets in the back, for instance, \u201cfeels more like an existing wall than massive cabinets,\u201d points out Korzeczek. <\/p>\n

The plaster walls were stripped of old wallpaper and finished with lime paint from Kreidezeit. Early in the process, when the room\u2019s existing ceiling moldings couldn\u2019t be saved, the owners sketched the circles themselves and had them created by plasterwork specialist Juergen Liebe. In a room composed of squares, rectangles, and zigzags (the herringbone floor is also new), these interlocking rings serve as a grace note.<\/p>\n


Above: Studio Oink selected maple for the cabinetry\u2014\u201dbecause it has a quiet graining\u201d\u2014and sealed it with a white-pigmented wood wax. It\u2019s subtly offset by counters of Forbo Furniture Linoleum in a color aptly called mushroom.,<\/p>\n

Note that the cooktop and sink mirror each other: \u201cWe tried to calm down the overall picture by choosing the same sizes and proportions for each, 60 by 60 centimeters,\u201d says Korzeczek. The white range and ceramic cooktop are by German brand Neff. The dishwasher is concealed in the cabinet to the left of the sink, and the fridge is in the cabinets immediately next to the back door.<\/p>\n


Above: The sink and faucet are both by Blanco (see 10 Easy Pieces: Architects\u2019 Go-To Modern Kitchen Faucets), and, in lieu of a dish rack, the family takes the minimalist approach and uses a towel. <\/p>\n

The black-and-white photograph is by Francis Al\u00ffs.<\/p>\n


Above: \u201cWe asked Lea and Matthias to design kitchen storage that was at once invisible, pleasing, and capacious,\u201d say the owners. \u201cWe worked out the final details with our cabinetmaker Doris Goetz; she was a real craftswoman, meticulous in her approach.\u201d <\/p>\n

The lower cabinet sections have cutout handles and the upper have touch-latch openings; a ladder with its own slot in one of the cupboards is used to access the upper reaches.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n


Above: A Japanese Hinoki Bath Stool from Remodelista favorite Analogue Life is perched alongside cabinets used for pantry supplies and small appliances. (To hide \u201call the technical stuff, such as the toaster and mixer,\u201d Studio Oink designed a cafe curtain still to be installed along the open shelf.) The paper lantern hanging lights here and in the dining area are the $7.99 Sollefte\u00e5 from Ikea, placeholders that the owners hung until they find replacements. There\u2019s also task lighting over the sink and stove. <\/p>\n

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Above: An \u201cextra-warm artificial light\u201d cloaks the side cabinet in what looks like sunlight.
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Above: The wall behind the range and sink has an invisible backsplash: It\u2019s painted with what the owners\u2019 describe as \u201ca robust, wipeable paint\u201d that rises for approximately three feet and matches the limewash: \u201cOur painter, Sven Bath, did such an amazing job that you can\u2019t see the transition.\u201d As for lime paint in the kitchen, they report, \u201cwe used it throughout the apartment and it\u2019s been great; we\u2019ve had no issues with fingerprints.\u201d
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Above: The drawers are made of solid maple.
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Above: The white electrical outlets are by Berker (for other good-looking options, see 10 Easy Pieces: Problem-Solving Electrical Outlet Covers).
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Above: French doors open to a balcony.
Above: The family\u2019s existing table and a set of bentwood chairs \u201cprovide a nice contrast to the simple, geometric kitchen,\u201d says Korzeczek. \u201cThey introduce something very private and owner-related to the space.\u201d <\/p>\n

We recently featured Studio Oink\u2019s first US commission: A Luminous, Euro-Style Row House in Washington D.C.<\/p>\n

Here are two more of their projects:<\/p>\n