guess what, built-in closets take up space as well…. AND they limit how you can place your other furniture in it. I have seen many American apartments and houses in which the beds block the windows because they cannot be placed across from the window because that is where the closet is and you must be able to open it and can‘t place anything in front of it… I think it makes more sense to buy wardrobes and plan rooms according to your needs (a bedroom can easily become an office, a craft room, a playroom etc.)…

There had been a time 1970-1980ies, were full carpets were laid, but as you mentioned, were hard to clean. You have pets, kids, guests and the carpet get very dirty. So people got back to the use of only small carpets on the floor. Using tiles make it easy to fix just damaged spots on the roof, and tiles do not rost. Before, wooden shingles were used.

40 to 50 years ago it was carpet too.

Door handles also are much more practical if you had no free hand, cause you can still use it with the elbow 🤓😉

Larger homes sometimes have a "Hauswirtschaftsraum" for the washing machine, and for ironing. Apartment buildings often have a communal "Waschküche" in the cellar either with communal or private washing machines. It really depends on the house/apartment!

As for carpets/wooden floors: I grew up in the 70s and 80s in rented flats which had carpets everywhere. You couldn't choose the color as they came with the apartment. The house of my grandparents was built in the 1930s and had all wooden floors, which were replaced with carpets in the 1970s. Around 2000 most carpets in Germany were replaced with wooden floors or laminate again. I was truly shocked when I landed in Canada for the first time and found that the whole floors of the airport had a carpet. I really didn't understand, because it's much harder to pull your suitcase across a carpet. As for the laundry rooms - I never saw a house or apartment with a laundry room in my whole life, so I never ever missed it :)

In Norway my washingmashine does the handwashing, I have a program for it.

Me as a native german, I think it's rather inconveniant when you move to a new place and can't plan out the room like you want to because one wall is a closet. Doesn't this hinder your way of desining a room to your wishes?

In the seventies it was very fashionable to have a carpet floor all over the house. But because it is so difficult to keep the carpet clean and because it is difficult if you have a dust allergy, people went back to hard wood or tile floors or something similar.

Built in storage still uses space even if it‘s integrated into the wall. But that particular wall is lost for everything else. With a closet you are more flexible. You can use every wall you like and even left or right of the closet there is still space which can be used. And Germans love flexibility. That‘s why they wear Jack Wolfskin jackets. 🙂

There are door knobs in Germany. It's just kind of rare and old fashioned. There was one in my grandpa's at the end of the 19th century. Carpets were a thing in the 70s in Germany. But it just less hygienic and it turned out that people have more allergies with fixed carpets.

It's easy to incorporate a closet into a wooden construction. The space between the timber is air and cover sheeting and would be wasted otherwise. In German homes, you have brick-and-mortar walls. They are massive. Constructing a closet needs more bricks (and is therefore heavier i.e. not desirable). The house where I grew up had central wood heating with little tiled stoves distributing the heat and a chimney. Between the chimney and the normal walls was enough space to build small closets, but my father made them himself after we moved in. He stored his Super-8-film equipment there and I had a small space to store my school stuff. Terracotta or concrete roof tiles are of higher quality and more durable than tin roofs. But they are heavier, and too heavy for some timber frame constructions. As we Germans love our quiet, we'd go crazy with tin roofs. If we need lightweight roofs, we prefer shingles.

I think the main reason why we don't have built in storage (or even kitchens) is because people like to choose for themselves how the cosets should look like, where they want them, the way they match with the sofas, curtains etc. As to the tin-roofs: I don't exactly know, but I would think it's a matter of isolation. Since tin seems to lead heat/cold the isolation to keep the house warm/cool could be very harder to accomplish?

Built-in closet take up space too. The wall you see in Germany is the same wall, which is in the closet. Without a built-in closet you do have much more freedom about how you do want to use your home. We do use the sleeping room as our living room. With a built-in closet the room would be much smaller.

Doorknobs exist in Germany, but handles are more common nowadays. Glued in carpet exists, but as you mentioned is harder to clean, therefore harder floors are often preferred. What I really didn't see in Germany, is bathrooms with carpet all over, that's something I know from England

The reason why washing machine is either in the kitchen or in the bathroom is because of the water connection. It's nearier.. because if you have to extend the water pipe than every square meter costs you sooo much. Like it can cost up to 75 Euros or more for every square meter. Depns on the material cost.. and of course of the costs for the installateur. That's why it's actually more practical and cheaper that's why. Also usally the water connection is in one of those room too - if you have an apartment. Greetings from Austria! PS: Older people do tend to have more carpet floors like I live in the apartment where my granny lived. I actually would like to have wood or Laminat. Though I would probably keep the carpet floor in the bedroom because it's nicer that way. But in other rooms? No, no way.

I can't stand carpet. After many years it becomes dirty and unhygienic, especially when being addicted to coffee. 😁 I love (bright) wooden floor. Gives such a warm feeling to every room.

I was so surprised about the carpets as I grew up with carpeted floors, too. But thinking about it that's really not so common anymore these days.

In every detached house with a cellar/basement you have a laundry room called "Waschküche". It's very common and just not the case in an apartment. Some people have the washing machine in the kitchen or bathroom, but all my family and friends who also own a house have a "Waschküche".

A major advantage of tiled roofs compared to tin roofs is the insulation. The weather in Germany is considerably colder than in New Zealand. So it makes sense that German houses need a well-insulated roof. Because our houses are already very solidly built, the heavy weight of the tiles (compared to tin roofs) is no problem. and just as a side note: my family has a separate laundry room🤔 also my grandparents and I think a lot of my friends families too🤔 Of course I don't, because I'm a student and live in a small apartment😅 but I think there are quite a few German Single-family houses with separate rooms for their laundry

As for storage: If you have built in storage, you are losing the same amount of space, if not more, as what happens here is that a wall is put int front of another wall, so the room is made smaller to begin with and sometimes the rooms are planned suboptimal to make sure you have corners where you can realize that built-in space. And as it is fixed, you must accept it as it is. I can decide how many cabinets I want to put up, how big they are, where I want to put them and I can change my mind every two month if I want to. With built-in storage, it is as it is, unless you want to tear out walls and re-rebuild your entire interior.

We do have door knobs in our house. It's because of our cats: They are able to open doors using handles but not via knobs. And we don't want them to enter everywhere at any time.

I find builtin closets rather inconvenient. They take space away anyway, so they are in no way superior to a piece of furniture. And they are probably not in the place where you would like them and you can’t change it. So they can prevent you from putting furniture where you want it to be. They limit your choices.

Some years ago I prefered carpets as well. Mealwhile I think that wooden floors or tiles are more practical. When something falls down on the floor its much easier to clean..

Coming from the UK, I find bare wooden or tiled floors cold and uninviting, regardless of how warm the room is. I was used to wall-to-wall carpets, of course. I find I am continually cleaning my tiled and laminate floors here in Germany. Then I think - what if all that dirt was hidden in the pile of a carpet? So it's cosiness versus cleanliness.

Despite its very compact layout, our Austrian home has a small laundry room. I love it, it’s so practical!

I always had and always will have carpets in my appartment! Livingroom, bedroom and hallway! I would never want to change it!

In my country built-in closets were economized out of homes. Closets need a door and frame, walls that need stucco and finishing and shelfs need to be built in and it all needs to be painted. It is just too expensive. And in every room. And another reason is that our walls are from brick not plasterboard. Houses are already expensive, so losing the extras makes the purchase price more reasonable or the rent a little lower. And most homes in my country have the washer and dryer in the attic, next to the central heating furnace, first because there is room for it and second because the furnace already needs water, sewer and electrical connection and so does the washing machine and the dryer. It’s cheaper this way.

In most modern Danish houses or apartments, you will have a separate room for your laundrette, dryer, freezer etc. and in houses, this room will almost always have a door to go outside. This way you can also enter with your wet clothes, dirty boots and so on. Usually it is next to the kitchen. In Denmark, I grew up in (older) apartments with wall to wall carpets. Now wooden floors or tiles are in. My father was a carpenter, and he fitted floor to ceiling cupboard in most of my parents' friends' apartments and houses. You can never get enough space in cupboards 😂

Our washing machine is placed in the cellar in the heating room. We dry it there on clotheslines for avoiding high costs of a drier.

German expat turned Canadian here: Practically all you said about New Zealand homes is valid for Canada, too. However, your conclusion that the absence of built in closets reduces the usable room areas because you have to put in more furniture to store your clothes is kind of flawed: Putting in the built in closets reduces the available room area just the same, if you want to keep the total square footage of the house the same! I personally really don't like these built in closets too much (because often the doors don't extend over the whole width, and then you have these awkward hard to reach areas on each side) , but what I really do like are those walk-in closets, which you don't really find in Germany, either...

you don't have built in Storage, because German houses are traditionally built with bricks, not plywood. It is a lot more work to construct closets with bricks into the walls.

Zu 1: So wie Du schon sagtest sind Türklinken praktischer als Türknäufe. Der einzig Vorteil eines Türknaufes ist, wenn man Haustiere(Hunde oder Katzen) hat, die unerlaubt Türen mit Klinke öffnen können. Mit Knauf ist es schwerer bzw. verhindert Türen zu öffnen Zu 2: Wenn man Teppiche will, hat man die Möglichkeit Teppichboden zu verlegen oder (edler) richtige Teppiche(z.B.: Perser) auszulegen. Teppichböden waren ein Zeit lang sehr beliebt, aber das hat sich geändert. Zum einen sind sie schlechter zu säubern, gerade wenn man Kinder hat, die doch ab und zu ihr Getränk verschütten. Glatte Böden lassen sich besser säubern. Zum anderen haben moderne Häuser häufiger als früher Fußbodenheizungen. Hier ist Teppichware kontraproduktiv. Zu 3: Warum Einbauschränke in Deutschland nicht sehr verbreitet sind, kann ich nicht sagen. Vielleicht fehlt die Individualität.?. Aber zu Deiner Aussage 5:22 stimme ich Dir nicht zu. Schränke verschwenden keinen Raum, eher ist das Gegenteil der Fall. Einbauschränke benötigen auch Platz, nur sind sie als eine Art Wand versteckt, also bilden eine Fläche. Ein Schrank kann neben dran noch Platz für andere Dinge als Kleidung(Sportgeräte o.ä.) haben. Ob das schön aussieht…darüber kann man streiten, aber praktischer ist es. Zu 4: In Wohnungen, wie Du schon erwähntest, sind Haushaltsräume extrem selten. Ab und zu findet man in Mietshäusern einen Waschkeller/raum, in denen man aber fast nur eine Waschmaschine und einen Trockner findet. Nur einmal sah ich noch ein Bügelbrett. Anders sieht es in Eigenheimen aus. Hier findet man häufiger einen Haushaltsraum…sogar mit Bügelbrett oder sogar eine Bügelmaschine. Zu 5: Blechdächer sind in Deutschland wirklich nicht Standard. Das hat wohl eher historische Gründe. Ton ist ein sehr häufig zu findenden Rohstoff, aus dem man recht billig Ziegel herstellen kann. Außerdem wie hätten sie in der Vergangenheit Bleche herstellen sollen. Sie hatten ja dafür keine Maschinen. Was das beruhigende Geräusch des Regens betrifft…jaaaa…das hat wirklich was. Ich liebe es auch!

Full carpeting was still a thing up until the early 2000s, but was more and more replaced by panels such as Laminate or tiles. I personally use and have a lot of rugs and larger carpets throughout the apartment. Can’t live without carpets!

Try to open a door knob when you have both hands full of stuff. My grandfather used to say he has "gift friendly doors" you can open with plenty of gifts in your hand with the ellbow when visiting him 🙂

Our storage don’t take away space. I can put it any way I like to for decoration. Built in storage take away space the same way do to you can not block it but is always in the most inconvenient space.

I'd like to point out that you probably have seen metal roofs in Germany without noticing ist. We hardly use the big sheets of metal you know from New Zealand, instead the metal tiles mimic the look of terracotta tiles. But a lot of newer homes use them because their are not as heavy as normal tiles and don't require the massive wooden construction of a regular roof.

I would like to thank you for your great videos. They are always so positive. For mecas a German, this is sometimes very helpful tobdampen my German negativity a little ane also to see the positive sides of my country.

Hi Antoinette! I love watching your videos. Next week I fly from the US to Germany to visit my brother who lives in Wurzburg. I’m looking forward to seeing the differences there and enjoying every minute of my stay. Have a great day!

As far as I remember, growing up in Central Thuringia, there used to be a lot of tin roofs on sheds, terraces and agricultural buildings.

til the '80/'90s carpets were very common (and in some places still are)... due to the increase of allergies they changed from long pile to short pile to tiles and parquett/laminate... nowadays due to the high prices people often chose pvc floors... and also our heating system had changed from coal/oil stove to central heating to underfloor heating...

Doorknobs: We have a doorknob on our front door! ... It's because our tomcat learned to use the handle when he wants to go out but he doesn't close the door behind him 😊 Storage: Well wether you build it in or you place a closet or cupboard, it takes the same space. You just have more choices to place the closet. Laundry room: The German word is "Waschküche". If ever, than usually in the cellar, even in apartment blocks. Also usually combined with what you call the "technicalk room". But I admit, you rarely see it in modern houses or apartments.

When I was a child, ,40 years ago, most of the german homes had carpets. During the years it had changed. 😊

YES YES to more comparison Videos, pleaaaase!!!!❤

Washing: if you rent you are not allowed to airdry your clothes in the appartement if there is a washing place in the basement. It prevents mold.

I actually had a closet in one of my first apartments. It didn't have a door though, it was just open. It was right outside the kitchen and I didn't have room for a fridge inside the kitchen so that's where my fridge went.

In the home where I grew up in Germany we had full carpet in every room except of the hall. But later I had some issues with asthma and allergies. Therefore we have hard floor in our house now.

We have so many woodpeckers in Germany...makes me wonder about tin roofs...:-))

Very good show! Germany has good idea‘s

By the way: Congratulations for 60000 subscribers!

I had a carpet in My bedroom. 1know that you can Plan New homes witj built in cuboard. Or you have a pantry for storage. I actuelley think that many homes look very different. The carpet can be dry cleaned. Well I think you will find very different looking homes. I grew up in SAfrica we also had different housing. But it is a fashion qustion what kind of home you have. Also the amount of space is what your home looks like gretings Tin must be very warm and you cant collekt sun for the energy .

I had carpets most of my life at home in Germany, even in rented flats

One specific thing I remember from New Zealand was the waste disposer in the sink - I have never seen something like that before!

In Sweden we had wall to wall carpets in the 70'ies and it is not popular now.

We have door knobs, carpet and built-in closets in my German home. But I agree, it is no longer as common as it used to be here in Germany. But also not as uncommon as one may think. Love your vids though. Keep it up. :-)

Tin roofs are much better / safer in earthquake prone countries like New Zealand. Wooden houses are also better in case of earthquakes - wood gives, bricks just collapse in a heap on the inhabitants of the building. New Zealand houses also don't usually have cellars - which would have to be built to withstand earthquakes. When I first came to Germany and heard everyone had a cellar I thought that the people of Germany must all be connoisseurs of wine 😀; since for many New Zealanders wine and cellar belong together. On interior walls New Zealand homes often have patterned wallpaper and seldom white / off white walls as in Germany. The windows in New Zealand homes are totally different. NZ windows when opened wide can be secured and they need to be because of the almost constant breezes, wind and gales. German windows when opened wide in general have nothing with which to secure them.

And another thing with the door handles: you can open it with your ellbow! I really love that

Carpet may actually be a generational thing. Because I do remember the house I grew up in had carpet everywhere except for the kitchen and bathroom. Same in the flat I live in used to have carpet everywhere, too. I guess it has to do with old style role distribution of housewife having all day to keep it clean vs. modern dual income families not having the time to spare for these kind of things. And yeah, the laminat or parquet are much easier to keep clean. And yeah, if I spilled something on the carpet as a kid I would hear no end of it from my parents, as of now, if I drop something heavy or with sharp edges on the floor I'll hear no end of it from myself.🤣 Also the house I did grow up in for my first seven years was a generational home, meaning my grandparents build it and when I was underway they added another room to it with bathroom over 2 stories. My parents and me lived on the upper floor under the roof and that really made it hard to get typical german sized living room cuppboards and sleeping room wardrobes. So my dad build a lot of hidden compartments and wardrobes under the slanted roof and most of them hidden behind drywall and wallpaper. So build-in storage does exist, but it usually is reserved for owned property. And I have 'cleaning' closet hidden away behind the wardrobe in the entrance.

1. We (in Germany) have also door knobs, but they are rare (and way not that practical). 2. Carpets are often an old thing here, but many homes still have them. Floors without carpets are better to clean and by the way, the most of us (who has no carpets) are using (little) rugs. I also grew up with a home with carpet in every room (except bathroom and kitchen, of course). Its no problem to buy carpets here, its nothing special. Its just went more unpopular. 3. I saw homes with build-in closets in Germany, but they are often old buildings (I dont know why its only an "old" thing here). But for me, I dont like them. They makes the rooms smaller (obviously) and you have to accept how they are built up. I prefer to buy a closet and put it where I want. 4. An additional thing of wasting room. I dont know why you need a complete room for laundry. By the way: Yes, the most people have their washing machine (and dryer) in kitchen or bathroom, but there also many people, who are using "Waschkeller", a cellar where all people in the house have their washing machines. 5. Yes, indeed, I never saw this kind of roofs. And honestly, I can say, if I like them. They are not really an eyecatcher. I prefer the roof tiles we are using in Germany, I think.

Die eingebauten Schränke brauchen aber auch viel Platz.

As you know we Germans are very soccer crazy. In a village near Kassel from the Autobahn you can see a blue tile roof with white letters "S04". S04 means Schalke 04 which has got one of the craziest fans in Germany.

we had carpets all over the house when I was a child 50 years ago, but they were removed because having carpets was no longer „in“.

I don't know anyone who has no carpets. Even people who have hard floors have carpets. But they often do not cover the whole floor but they set design accents. And of course they are comfortable. And many people still have carpeted floors, especially older ones. In Germany you will find really many carpet stores, which sell a very big variety of designs: modern, oriental or traditional. Even IKEA sells a lot of carpets.

In the end, it doesn't depend so much on how much space you have than on how much money you have. More money - more space.

Wall-to-wall carpeting is also extremely uncommon in France.

door knobs are very helpful if your cats know how to open doors with lever handles... ;-)

Antoinette! I'm soo happy to see that you finally got your well deserved 60.000 subscribers! Yay 🎉🙌

Ich bin auch mit Teppich im Haus aufgewachsen in Deutschland

Ja wir haben einiges nicht. Auch wenn ich mir das manchmal wünsche. Fenster die zum Öffnen nach oben geschoben werden. Türknäufe statt Türgriffe, Kamin in mindestens 1 Raum, offene große Küchen mit Living room für die Familie, , statt Schränken Kleiderkammer, Waschraum mit Platz, Keller mit Prepping-Bereich. Hausbaum, Porch und vordere Veranda. Auch mal Fenster in denen man eine eingebaute Bank hat in der man sitzen kann. Kleine Häuser mit Obergeschoss für Einzelpersonen und vor allem bezahlbar.wir brauchen keine Häuser mehr wenn die Kinder fast erwachsen sind sondern solange wir jung sind. Einiges könnte man machen, benötigt dafür aber das Eigenheim und viel Geld.

In the 70s and 80s fixed carpets have been standard. Today they are considered to be old fashioned. However I still prefer carpets. 😎

Carpets were common, but they fell out of fashion. I grew up with a carpet, but it's just impractical and unhygienic.

Having a laundryroom is simply waste of spare. My washmachine is washer n dryer in 1.

Tile roofs don't work well in areas with freezing and thawing. In US metal roofs can range from corrugated sheet metal, to heavier metal that mimics asphalt shingles, slate and tiled roofing and is virtually indistinguishable from those types unless you are standing on the roof. I'm surprised this has not caught on in Germany with their concerns about fireprooing.

Früher hatten mehr Leute Teppich, ich finde den unhygienisch 😂

Tiles are so much healthier. If you have a roof in metal you get a lot of radiation in the house. It is not healthy to be under them. With natural tiles you also get the good and natural energy form the cosmos and energy can flow through them.

Ich bin Niederländerin und wohne in Deutschland. Ich hasse Teppichboden im ganzen Haus, wir haben also auch nur Laminat, in Küche und Bad natürlich Fließen. Einbauschränke finde ich voll grässlich, so kann ich ja gar nicht mehr entscheiden, wo ich mein Bett etc. hinstellen will. Möbel sollten immer beweglich sein. Das Wort Möbel kommt ja auch aus dem Französischen "meuble", das wiederum dem Lateinischen "mobile" entlehnt ist und nichts anderes bedeutet als "bewegliche Gut". Einen "Waschraum" haben wir auch, da stehen Waschmaschine und Trockner, ein Schrank, ein Regal mit dem ganzen Kleinkram und Werkzeug und zahlreiche Kisten mit Gerümpel. Stylish ist der Raum natürlich nicht, aber ich muss darin ja auch nicht wohnen. ;)

Sweet u made it to 60k

5:29 - so the room taken for "built in" closets is NOT calculated into the usable area of a flat/loft/house?

I prefer the handle to the knob too except when I discovered my Bengal cat could open the front door and let himself out at night. 😵‍💫

It's a pity that we don't have built-in wardrobes. Moving in Germany is most awkward because of the tons of furniture you've got to demontage, move and reassemble.

🤗🤗🤗

I'm sure pet dogs also prefer handles over knobs... Easier for them to get out.

There are still some homes with carpets, especially in older folks homes. But it's considered quite old fashioned. They are horribly unhygienic as well.

I find the „German“ equivalents of these „normal“ things much better

Die Einbauschränke sind zweifellos praktisch, brauchen aber genauso viel Platz wie mobile Schränke. Ausserdem verhindern sie eine individuelle Einrichtung. Fest verlegte Teppiche waren bei uns in den 70er und 80er Jahren ebenso verbreitet. Ausser Parkett, was sehr teuer war und ist, gab es keine preiswerte Alternative, wie Laminat, zum Teppich. Unser Hund macht auch gerne die Türen selber auf. Wo er es nicht soll, haben wir die Klinke halt senkrecht gestellt. Da hat er ein Problem ;-)

Carpet is dis-gus-ting!

A tin roof must get boiling in summer and freezing in winter. And: think of all the bucks living in a carpet 🙄

Wir haben due Türklinke senkrecht, so konnen die Katzen nicht tun was sie gerne tun und trotzdem kann man die Tür mit dem Ellbogen bedienen.

Car here: I most definitely prefer door handles 😸

On handle locks the LOST ROOM key won't fit

Carpet? It is common here in Farge.

Früher war Teppichboden seht oft zu finden….

Carpets wear and become dirty. And they are not so good for people with dust allergies.

Yes, I agree with EvaCornelia: In the 70s and 80s ist was quite common to have carpets. I think the carpets then disappeared in connection with the underfloor heating.

I lived in Spain and Canada. In both countries built in closets are standard. The placement of the closet actually is quite not as flexible as you think. A built in closet is much more convenient and you still can configure the interior the way you want with drawers, shelves, hangers etc.

Do n ur family have any pets..like cats, fish or anything

Wer will schon in einer Wellblechbaracke wohnen?

OMG - your accent 😂

Could you please rephrase "normal" things? Those might be normal in several countries, but what one regards as normal is quite the opposite in other countries, but to them this is the norm. Nothing is normal everywhere.