“I was taking screenshots of whatever caught my attention and saving them to my inspiration album,” homeowner Yulia Yushchik recalls of her process. “During the long nine months of renovation, bits and pieces came together.”
Graphic, purple-veined marble counters; checkerboard floors; and color-blocked cabinetry shouldn’t look good together—in theory. Usually, just one of these features would be the sole pop among otherwise neutral decor. Yet, somehow, Yulia Yushchik stunningly combined all three in her compact Berlin kitchen.
Though the homeowner broke the unspoken small-space rule of keeping it simple, the kitchen doesn’t feel overwhelmed. Monolithic rectangles in Kelly green, baby blue, and peach separate the striking stone from the patterned tiling, keeping the two elements from competing with each other. The unexpected harmony makes the union all the more alluring.
The adventurous design is a complete departure from the room’s former state, which was a peculiar accumulation of updates like mismatched teal cupboards, exposed plumbing, and a mini-fridge inexplicably situated on top of the counter. By peeling back the layers of disjointed history, knocking down a wall to create an open layout, and painting a white backdrop, Yulia gave herself a blank canvas to play with—and play she did.
“When the balcony doors are open during spring and summertime, it feels like the kitchen expands,” Yulia shares.
Kitchen location: “We live in Kreuzberg, one of the central Berlin districts,” Yulia says. “Our kiez , or neighborhood, is diverse and vibrant. We have a park full of young families, weed sellers, and jobless artists enjoying the sun. You’ll also find hip cafés with a dressed-up crowd and Turkish stores selling baklavas. The area is known for its counterculture, but it gets gentrified little by little.”
The before: Yulia’s apartment, which is in an altbau (i.e., old building) constructed in 1873, had been rented for years before she bought it—and it showed. The old kitchen was a cramped, dysfunctional hodgepodge of what previous occupants left behind.
