Style and substance: in conversation with Pat Scherzer and Sissi Pohle

Sharing a deep passion for finding vintage treasures, the creative couple see the magic in the imperfect and like to surround themselves with things that tell a story: “This is also the beauty of our Tylko shelf – you can fill it with things that are unconventional and restless and give them a quiet stage.”

We visited Pat and Sissi at their new countryside home, to talk about their style, moving away from the city, vintage shopping and how their new Tylko has contributed to their vision.

Hi Pat and Sissi! We love how you’ve both defined such a distinct style for yourselves. How would you describe your style, and how has it evolved over the years?

We’re no longer so easily influenced by trends and society. Together we are very solid in terms of our style and know what we like and what is out of question for us. That doesn’t mean that we don’t continue to change and aren’t open for creative input. We let ourselves be inspired by our chosen environment. This includes art and different subcultures as well as music – our look is very much influenced by the 70s punk bands from London.

You wear a lot of colours, shapes, layers, fabrics and unconventional combinations. We’re curious, what is your definition of beauty?

The things that are beautiful in our eyes do not appear perfect at first sight. We are happy about interiors and art that do not have a straight line. We ourselves love shapes and colours in fabrics and various materials – but preferably striped, as this combines straightness with restlessness. Perhaps this also characterises us a little.

You’ve recently moved to a new home in the countryside. How magical! What motivated you to make the move?

For some time we had the feeling to move back to the countryside, where our roots are and where we spent our childhood. A step back to simplicity and calm, without noise from the outside, where we feel more connected to nature. Of course, our decision also comes from an awareness to create more space for projects and through this to be able to work more creatively again – without external distractions. Since we work a lot on social media, we know how such distractions can drive you into unhappiness. The land and nature around us gives us the breeding ground we need to break new paths. In the future we would like to focus more on interior, events around our house and our vintage store outofuseberlin.

How would you describe your interior design aesthetic?

Our interior design is colourful and loud. We are big fans of naive art, but we also adore the baroque interior decoration. Our home is furnished like a kind of cottage but also like a rural country house in France. A mix of colours and natural tones surround us every day – of course you can find many striped fabrics for example in the curtains or in our bed linen. Since we shop on our travels through Europe for our vintage store outofuseberlin, we also find  many interesting pieces and special antiques for our home. 

Your vintage store outofuseberlin has so many great pieces. Do you have any tips on where to hunt for second-hand treasures?

We are big fans of flea markets in Italy or even in France. There you get a good feeling for prices and possibilities. Also the seller can often give you a lot of information like the origin of the unique vintage pieces. It is fun to go on a journey through time and find out something about these long forgotten objects. Flea markets have their own kind of magic.

Let’s talk about your new Tylko. What was the look you were going for, and did your vision come to life?

We designed wide-open shelves in Cotton Beige, because we wanted to give all our small gems a place to unfold and shine throughout the many tray against the backdrop of a soft colour. The shelf offers small spaces for each individual item and is itself located in one of our most beautiful rooms in the house – our light-flooded garden room. This room is very important to us as we use it all year long and it is the heart of the house. It also contains the old safe of the castle in its original state and the walls have been treated to bring out the old colours. The room is also equipped with a huge rattan carpet from India that covers the entire floor, and a small fireplace to keep the room warm in winter. The soft colour of the shelves in combination with the light that shines from the courtyard and from our garden into the room, creates a warm and friendly atmosphere even in the cold months.

And lastly, what does home mean to you?

Our home is our safe place. It is the most important place for us in this world. We have been looking for a place like this one for a long time and it feels like we won the lottery to be able to call such a quiet and peaceful place our home.