Cotswolds Delft with a German twist
Last summer, we were lucky enough to welcome Joerg and Kirsten Wick to the studio. Two Germans living deep in the English countryside, they are passionate about British cottages and timeless interiors, along with travel, food and family.
It was their love of British design that brought them to us - Joerg and Kirsten were redesigning their cottage kitchen and found our Delft tiles online. Combining a trip to Cornwall with a tour of Decorum, it was a pleasure to show them around the studio and show them exactly how the tiles are made.
The result? A gorgeous Delft kitchen with tons of personality and quirk.
Thanks so much for taking the time to speak to us.
Before we talk about interior design, can you tell us a bit more about yourselves?
We’re Kirsten and Joerg, originally from Germany, and we’ve been living in the UK for 10 years. We’ve always been drawn to Britain – we are both Anglophiles and have been for a very long time, especially because of the architecture, the countryside, and the strong sense of history and traditions you find here.
When an opportunity came up to move to the UK for work, we decided to take it and it quickly became home. Today Kirsten runs our YouTube channel full-time, while Joerg continues his career, and at weekends we explore Britain together. Our videos are inspired by the things we love most about this country – historic cottages, beautiful landscapes, quirky villages and interiors with character – and that appreciation also shapes how we approach our own home.
You’re proudly German with a very British twist. Can you describe your style in 5 words?
Colourful, quirky, traditional, playful, handcrafted.
What was it that drew you to living deep in the English countryside?
We’ve always felt comfortable living in the countryside. Even in Germany we lived in a small village with the possibility of easily reaching a nearby city, so that balance has always suited us. Life in the English countryside offers exactly that again – space, beautiful landscapes and a quieter rhythm of life. It also works well practically, as Kirsten works from home while Joerg commutes.
At the same time we didn’t want to feel too remote, and we love having cities like Chester within easy reach, where we often go for a wander, a coffee, or a bit of shopping. For us it’s the perfect balance between countryside living and being connected to lovely historic towns.
We were thrilled when you chose our Cotswold Collection, the Delft Collection for your recent kitchen renovation.
It's a big collection, so how did you decide on the motifs?
It was actually quite difficult to choose because the whole collection is full of beautiful motifs. In the end we selected designs that either reflect our daily life in the countryside or places that are meaningful to us. Some of the tiles show things we see around us all the time, like pheasants, sheep, rabbits or even wellies – small details that feel very much part of life in the British countryside.
Others have a more personal story behind them: the puffin reminds us of a special trip to Pembrokeshire and Skomer Island where we saw puffins in the wild for the first time. And then there are motifs like cottages or places such as Castle Combe, which are connected to lovely memories, including visits with our parents, so the tiles became a little collection of places, moments and things we love about living here.
We also did a couple of bespoke additions for you. Can you tell us what inspired them?
Some of the bespoke additions are connected to very personal stories for us. One tile shows Lotta, an English Cocker Spaniel who belongs to Kirsten’s father. She came into our lives after Kirsten’s mother sadly passed away and quickly became a ray of sunshine for the whole family, so seeing her on a tile in our kitchen always makes us smile.
Another bespoke tile shows a Black Forest gateau, which is actually Joerg’s favourite cake and one of the most famous traditional cakes from Germany, so it felt like a lovely way to include a small piece of our German heritage in the kitchen. We even added both the whole cake and a separate slice as tiles, which makes the little story even more playful. We also chose a tile inspired by Mullion Cove on the Lizard Peninsula in Cornwall, a place that is very special to us because it’s where we spent our very first holiday in Britain together almost 30 years ago.
And then it was such a pleasure to meet you in person when you came to visit the studio. Was there anything that surprised you about Decorum or the tile making
process?
It was a real pleasure to visit the studio and see where everything is created, because experiencing the place in person makes such a difference. What surprised us most was how personal everything feels – it’s not a huge anonymous production line, but a place where you can see the artists carefully hand-painting each tile. Watching that process made us appreciate our tiles even more, because knowing that every single one is painted by hand gives them a completely different meaning once they are in your own
kitchen.
You’re always working on something new. What’s next for you both?
We always seem to have another small project on the horizon. Next on the list is our downstairs cloakroom, which we’d love to redesign so it fits beautifully with the rest of the house. After that we’re hoping to tackle the bathroom upstairs next year. Step by step we’re shaping the house into a place that reflects our personality and the things we love, and of course a home is never truly finished – we always enjoy adding pieces along the way, whether that’s antiques we discover while exploring, beautiful paintings, or small objects that tell a story.
You can watch the full story of their studio tour here and their final - beautiful - kitchen renovation here.
