Furniture

It has been three weeks since I updated this blog, and I notice a tendency to slide out of the habit as life in Berlin becomes both more ordinary and more time-constrained. Joan was telling me about research that suggests that part of the efficiency of expertise is knowing what one can skip when pressed for time. The blog, alas, is not on any critical path.

While Joan was here for 2.5 weeks, we bought furniture. The concept of furniture buying that we know from America consists of going to a store, picking out an object, and arranging for delivery. In Germany it more resembles planning for the invasion of Russia. Everything is modular and everything (or virtually everything) is custom built. It is not merely a question of finding the right store, but the right manufacturer that deals with the right store, and then finding the right advisor in the store who knows that manufacturer and can explain all of the details about which modular component can or cannot go with which other. Only then does the real joy of decision-making begin. All of this requires a good bit of abstract imagination, of course, since there are never exact models on the floor with the right fabric or color or cushions or number of shelves or drawers or height or frame or doors. We succeeded in ordering a sofa, a dining room table, six chairs, and a wardrobe for the bedroom. The wardrobe is a combination closet and dresser -- German dwellings rarely have build-in closets (which is a plus for flexibility).

The first photo at the right is a sofa bed that we ordered (in a different color). (Future guests take note!) The second photo is of a restaurant in Hamburg, where I had a meeting last week.