Max, who lives near Nuremberg in Germany, is living proof of how unpredictably life can turn out. Together with his husband, Sebastian, he bought a 400-year-old listed watermill with a total living space of 400 m², just over half of which is to be converted. Anyone who will soon be living somewhere so unusual deserves a visit! We met Max at @hyggemuehle, as he affectionately calls his new home, and talked to him about what is probably the biggest project of his life.
Hello Max! Tell us how and where you live.
I'm Max, and I currently live with my husband, Sebastian, in a temporary flat while the watermill we bought is being renovated. Waiting for us there is plenty of space, plenty of work and plenty of nature – as well as our fourteen chickens. It's the perfect balance to my work as a social worker.
Before we look at your big project in detail, how would you describe your interior style?
Our style is inspired by the Scandinavian countries. Travelling through Scandinavia, I collected all kinds of interior ideas, from modern Copenhagen in Denmark to the more rural west coast of Sweden. What matters to us is that we feel at home and that it's cosy. Our goal is to find a balance between cosiness and modernity.
We can see a real love of detail in your home. What do you love most about decorating?
Interiors are a big part of my everyday life. For me, home is where I can recharge my batteries. That's why I love styling all the lovely corners. I really care about details and enjoy bringing different decorative pieces together.
Interiors are also a way for me to express how I feel. If I'm in a cheerful mood or need cheering up, for example, I put a beautiful vase of flowers on display and enjoy it. If I need things calmer and more relaxed, the colourful cushions disappear from our sofa and I choose textiles in a single colour family.
What makes something feel hygge to you?
I first experienced hygge on a trip through Denmark. We were invited to a wedding at a holiday home right by the sea, and spent the two weeks beforehand driving around Denmark, getting to know the country and its people. What I love most about hygge is that it's about creating a cosy, warm atmosphere where you can enjoy the good things in life with people you love. The warm glow of candlelight is hygge. So are friends and family.
How important is sustainability to you? How do you make it part of your everyday life?
Sustainability in everyday life is very important to my husband and me. We try to be sustainable not only in the food we buy, but also in how we furnish our home. That's why we like to combine new furniture with old heirlooms and flea market finds. We're also using sustainable building materials to renovate the watermill, to create a healthy and sustainable living environment.
How did you come up with the crazy idea of buying and renovating a watermill?
It was definitely a decision that changed our lives for good. In fact, it all started with a nightmare, because we were originally going to move somewhere completely different. In summer 2020, we were due to move into a new-build home. But serious construction defects came to light just before the moving date, and our new-build dream fell through shortly before we were due to move.
Many sleepless nights and nerve-racking months later, I found the property listing for the watermill in the newspaper. Long story short: what started as a spur-of-the-moment idea to view the watermill grew, after that first viewing, into a vision and a dream of making it our home. After many appointments with architects, phone calls with the heritage protection authority and a very good feeling about the building, we decided on the mill in March 2021.
You're still living in a temporary flat at the moment. Do you have a moving-in date yet?
As homeowners in the middle of a renovation, we have to be very flexible and sometimes throw our plans out of the window. That goes for the moving-in date, too. We originally wanted to move in at the end of 2021, but unfortunately that didn't work out. Our current plan is to have all the furniture in place and every box unpacked by the end of 2022 at the latest.
Tell us more about your future home.
We have almost 10,000 m² of land in total. As well as a large courtyard, there's an orchard with two ponds. In summer, it's simply blissful! We recently built a small fire pit so we can spend evenings round the campfire over the coming months.
We've already planted quite a few vegetables in our kitchen garden, and I love cooking with food we've grown ourselves. Of course, we can't use all that space on our own: we took over six chickens when we bought the mill. There are now fourteen, and I wouldn't want to be without our two-legged housemates.
Are you doing much of the renovation yourselves?
My husband and I want to do as much as possible ourselves, so we've carried out the conversion work so far on our own. But the most important thing for us is to be realistic about our abilities: which jobs we can do ourselves, and which ones would push us to our limits.
What has been the biggest challenge of the renovation so far?
Working out which renovation work is really necessary and which is "nice to have". Otherwise, there's a risk of starting far too many projects at once and not being able to finish them all. And of course, as owners of a listed building, we need to allow more time for the renovation. Even with planning approval, we have to discuss many of the works with the heritage authority in advance.
Your new home is a listed building. Does that make furnishing it a big challenge?
Fortunately, we're completely free when it comes to furniture. However, any changes to the living spaces have to be agreed in advance – wall colours, flooring and doors, for example. Luckily, the building is in good condition, and we fell in love with the old floorboards straight away.
What has the renovation taught you?
That plans and visions are great, but I shouldn't fixate on them too much and should leave enough room for spontaneous changes. After all, some of the plans I had a year ago simply weren't possible in practice. To avoid too much disappointment, my motto is now: "Everything turns out the way it's meant to."
Do you have a building site update for us?
At the moment, we're preparing the rooms for the renovation. Old heating pipes, electrical cables and partition walls need to be removed. After that, work can start on the new heating, the bathroom and the roof structure. You wouldn't believe how much I'm looking forward to the coming months. And once we're finished, you'll have to come back so I can show you what has become of the old rooms.
Shop the look
It's a promise, dear Max! We'd be delighted to accept your invitation to visit again. We wish you plenty of stamina and patience, and we can't wait to see the result.
https://www.instagram.com/hyggemuehle/
