"For me, it can't be too nice. Breaks must always be visible. That applies to my work as well as my home."

Kitty Kahane is a book illustrator, designer and painter. Born in Berlin at , she still lives in the German capital in a renovated old flat at , which she also uses as a studio. Her personal style: old meets new, vintage meets art.

She moved into her flat in Berlin in 1995. At first it had a different layout - she did the interior work herself. She needs large rooms for her work. "We tried to combine the old with the new. I earned enough money and bought beautiful, high-quality furniture, much of it vintage. I love objects that have a story. Like my parents' little tea table, which has been with me for a very long time. They lived with this Hellerau furniture from the 1950s and 60s."

"Between 2009 and 2016, I travelled to sixteen countries: Pakistan, India, Indonesia, Kazakhstan and many more. I always took my work with me and always brought something back from my travels. Sometimes just a pair of shoes, a small figurine or a little matryoshka. My golden teapot from China may not be valuable, but it reminds me of the moments I spent with the people I was with there.

Today, I really enjoy working from home. I couldn't work in a shared office, I need my environment. I need the sofa to chill out and develop ideas. I think it's good to sit comfortably and work. The room shouldn't be too perfect or too organised. Being an artist is a lonely profession. I am an observer. My central theme is people and their relationships. Life has highs and lows. A mix of strength, energy but also pain, suffering and of course humour - that's my way of looking at life."