I want Bauhaus! Waaaaahhhhh!

Now that we know where we are going and that particular worry has been put to rest, I am free to worry about the finer points. In particular, I am concerned about this whole "Drexel Heritage" furniture situation. Thankfully, I have Shannon over at Cyberbones to help soften the blow and give it to me straight now, so that I don't walk into my own personal interior design nightmare when we get to Frankfurt.

For all you veteran FSO's and Trailing Spouses out there, I am sure this is old news and you probably are far less superficial than I am. But for me, this has been a concern ever since my husband started the application process.

I have faithfully been collecting mid-century post modern furnishings and accoutrement for the last 10 years. I have done so on a minuscule budget and with the help of many familial donations (Thank you, Mom. Thank you, Grandma.) I had hoped that when I reached this age of maturity, I would really be able to rev it up and start buying some valuable additions without straining quite so hard. I always thought that by the time I was happily married with two children, I would settle in somewhere and really have the opportunity to adore and add to my teak, chrome and enamel "things." Alas, it will now probably be many years before I have such luxury. In the meantime, I have dark-finish American Colonial style furniture to admire (er... wretch over).

I get that the State Department in all its bureaucratic loveliness has to streamline the process of furnishing 12,000 Foreign Service homes. I get that. But what I don't get is why they chose such a stylized (and heinous) line of furniture. Why didn't anyone say, "I think we ought to chose something neutral so the families can find a way to easily integrate their own things." That makes perfect sense to me. No scrolly knobs and handles. No patterns or potentially offensive fabrics. No over-the-top headboards or back-lit curios. Just simple, unobtrusive, functional and straight-forward furniture.

I stole the attached picture from Cyberbones so I could show my friends and family what I am working with (thanks Shannon). The collage shows what her Carl Schurz Siedlung apartment looked like when she arrived. It pains me that we are moving to Germany, the birthplace of Bauhaus and austere but beautiful architecture and design, and yet we are going to live with the worst furniture design that the good ole USA has to offer.


I want to know who has the job of choosing the furniture for the Foreign Service and I think I want to take over. Now, I realize that hyper-modern isn't for everyone and I respect that. If I were the person who chose the furniture, I would find things that would fit everyone's taste and match everyone's colors. Foreign Service housing people: for the next round, pick me! Pick me! I promise I can make 99% of the people happy.

In the meantime, I am in the process of ordering multiple slipcovers...