Michi Buchinger's four walls: A home story and design journey to Leopoldstadt, Vienna
Michael Buchinger aka Michi Buchinger opens the door to his new kingdom, which he has been lovingly furnishing with his partner Dominik Pichler for some time. After the first café au lait and a tour of the apartment with photographer Florentina Olareanu, we immediately chat at length about the individual interior mix.
Buchinger, who became famous with his "hate lists" on YouTube and is now a bestselling author, podcast buddy of Thomas Brezina, and comedian with a tour program, has created a retreat for himself in Leopoldstadt that carefully brings together a wide variety of styles and eras.
Viennese box-type windows and high walls of old buildings, which have been given a color makeover from graphite to light gray, serve as the backdrop for the collected, immaculately renovated "willhaben" gems (we'll get to that later) and design classics.
The white bouclé couch from Prostoria, which attracts even more attention due to the colour contrast, is the favorite place of the house owners for reading books ("I find it suspicious when people don't have books." - Michi Buchinger) or watching TV. The sofa was discovered at Area am Schottenring. Dominik notes that Vienna does not have a good showroom quality for unusual pieces when it comes to interiors and is looking forward to the next trip to London, where a very specific shelving system is to be examined. Which one it is not yet revealed.
For this, the interior aficionados have already revealed the plan for a next dream piece, which will soon adorn the wall of the first living room: A custom-made neon portrait of Dolly Parton. This will then have an unobstructed view of the work table, which is enthroned in dark Mid-Century style. Above it hovers a chandelier from the historic Doria factory, which won design awards in the 1960s.
Next to it, a sleek, enclosed fireplace in dark fir green, fires up the room temperature. It originates from the family's property in Burgenland and was transferred to Vienna. "I would have preferred to have the legally required floor plate in brass, but I didn't think of that until later," says Pichler, who took over the design aegis within the four walls, as Michi Buchinger tells us, and is a true perfectionist: "This apartment is truly a work-in-progress."
The imposing bookcase was found in the lockdown on "willhaben" and manually freed from many layers of varnish. Underneath, a wood emerged that blends harmoniously with the color palette of the room. The idea of painting the cabinet again was thus discarded. Now it shares the room with a dining table with a dark marble top and Thonet chairs that exude authentic turn-of-the-century charm.
But back to the book display case's paint stripping odyssey, "When I think of Lockdown, I have the smell of burnt wood and varnish in my nose." Thermal stripping using a heat gun left its olfactory memorabilia, literally burning the display case into memory as a wooden family member.
However, the find from the Internet truly does not remain alone, because a similar bargain was made in the bathroom, which is decorated with the showpiece of a freestanding bathtub. How did it get there? Actually, another one was planned, but after a dry-swim attempt in an expensive bathtub was denied in the Berlin showroom, they took the enamel all the more to heart and painted it - matching the wall colour - in a rich black on the outside.
Attached is the kitchen, which was a family project, as Pichler's father is a carpenter and conjured the room with a practical built-in wall that makes one green with envy. Le Corbusier's Nemo Lampe de Marseille was chosen as the visual centerpiece above the small dining table, spreading through the space like a surreal retro mushroom (but in a good way!).
But let's also get back to the essential - the closet:
The comedian, who tours the German-speaking world, truly has a soft spot for unusual items of clothing.
Brands? "Isabel Marant, Ami Paris, and Gucci," it may be for him from which he now and then treats himself to something to look on stage.
When asked about his most outlandish piece, he pulls out a silver crop leather jacket from Alexa Chung's fashion line. "When I'm on stage, I want to be dressed better than my audience. And if someone doesn't like my program, at least they have something to look at all evening!"
A Buchinger sentence that one could immediately take as a life resolution.
Photos: Florentina Olareanu
