My Story

My background

First of all, are you wondering how I came up with the name Cuckoo4Design? Well, here it goes in case you do!
Several years ago when my son was still a toddler, he had a play date with the son of one of our friends. And you know how kids (especially older toddlers) say things that they’ve heard from parents but shouldn’t repeat? Well, the little cutie pie came up to me and told me that his daddy calls me the crazy German. Haha…! Now I don’t know if this was meant as a compliment, but I take it as such. I really do! After all, I leave an impression ;)So when I thought about what to name my blog, this little scenario came to my mind and I had just found my new love for cuckoo clocks (click HERE to read about it). It all made sense to me. I know there are lots of “cuckoo for” websites out there but it fits perfectly for this “crazy/cuckoo” German.

Design and art are truly my passion. I’ve known this since I was a teenager and enrolled in art school in Germany. I loved anything that had to do with creating!
The town I grew up in is Lohr am Main and I went to school and worked in Würzburg. Two very beautiful German cities!

Lohrer Bayersturm

My kiddos when they were little in my hometown Lohr:

And my heart will always belong to Würzburg:

When I finished art school, I worked at one of the largest furniture stores in Germany while I was getting a degree in visual merchandising. I guess that’s where it all began! It was the funnest, most creative job without having to sell anything. I loved it! I learned from the in-house carpenters, painters, and coworkers.

After that, I started an internship in Marketing here in the United States where I met my future husband. I never thought I would end up here! I get really homesick at times and my projects keep me sane and from getting sad.
While working in Marketing I finished a degree in Graphic Design. It was fun as well but just never as fulfilling as working hands-on with a room and furniture. I love transforming an ugly piece of furniture. And working on a project is my “safe place”.

So I ended up at home with my two beautiful kids. I love being a mom and creating our home. So many of my friends and family have told me that designing, painting, and creating things is what I should be doing and I know they are right.

We live in a small home (HERE is a recent ugly truth post about our home) and I’m a firm believer that in this case, size doesn’t matter. You can make the smallest apartment and home beautiful and functional.

It makes me angry when people state “Oh this is only our starter home, so we don’t want to put too much money into it, because we won’t stay here long”. Who says you can’t do this on a budget? Like me, a lot of people will end up longer in their “starter” home because life gets in the way…. So you might as well make it look nice. After all, if you do decide to sell your home, it will show much better to potential buyers.

My work (projects and home) has been featured in magazines and websites such as DIY magazine, HGTV magazine, Better Homes & Gardens, and Domino just to name a few.

In 2014 I was named one of 17 Best DIY Blogs by Domino. And I have been an annual Better Homes & Gardens Stylemaker since 2015.

So this is my story and I hope you will check in again once in a while or maybe even follow my blog.

You can contact me at cuckoo4design(at)gmail(dot)com

My family

Some newer photos from throughout the years:

Guten Tag fellow webbers and thanks for stopping by!

Over the years we have written many blog posts about my trips home to Germany amongst some other traveling. You can check it all out on my travel page.