The kitchen is on fire. Welcome to the final part of the Vapiano story where the tables are turning. In the first two episodes we followed Mark Korzilius' journey from setbacks to founding Vapiano, a groundbreaking restaurant concept, highlighting its fresh ingredients, dynamic atmosphere, and data-driven operations that drove rapid success. While achieving initial profitability and garnering attention from industry giants like McDonald's, Vapiano's global expansion has led to stellar revenue growth. However, it has also resulted in the emergence of numerous side projects (or distractions), operational challenges, increased costs, significant investments, and a notable accumulation of debt. This underscores the prioritization of top-line growth over profitable growth. We will continue on this thread and see how the story ends, but I would encourage you to read part one and two for better context. Vapiano P1: Italian Food Made in Germany (substack.com). Let's dig in.
Before Going Public
We are now in 2015 and the year is a disaster for Vapiano's PR department. Employee time stamps are being manipulated, endless overtime for employees and high turnover in managerial roles are reported; mice in the kitchen and even rotten food allegedly found.
The company is confronted with allegations of exceeding working hours among trainees in an article published by Welt am Sonntag, while the same outlet accuses Vapiano of manipulating punch times. The auditing firm PwC is commissioned to investigate the allegations and finds that there is no systematic approach but rather misconduct by individual employees, a mistake that’s being corrected. Internal however, investigations into stamp times are carried out regularly now and beyond its obvious reputational impact, this sucks up valuable management time and attention.
In the summer of 2015 CEO, co-founder and investor Gregor Gerlach, who has been running the group since 2011 is stepping down and Jochen Halfmann is taking over. A new Vapiano People Program with an App is being developed with the aim to better interact with customers that will incorporate innovate features such as mobile pay. The German website sees a launch of new magazine to further promote the brand and there is now a full inhouse blogger and Instagram team being installed. In October the company buys seven restaurants from original co-founder, former co-investor and ex-president previously responsible for internation expansion Kent Hahne (2x Bonn, 3x Cologne, 1x Koblenz and one in Cologne that’s under construction). This package of Vapiano restaurants is very successful and generates net sales of more than 20 million euros in 2014. Hahne opened his first Vapiano restaurant in Cologne in August 2006 and in 2015 with his company apeiron AG, Hahne operates six L'Osteria franchise restaurants, a direct Vapiano competitor, and two self-owned restaurants GinYuu.
Then in November of 2015, the next public relations bomb goes off with allegations regarding the company's quality standards. The company immediately investigates the issue through internal and external specialists but finds no evidence of any quality issues. Nevertheless, knowing that the group is now being closely watched, the company’s already in place hygiene standards are being reinforced. Additional audits and inspections are performed nationally. Further, all Vapianos worldwide are being audited twice by the partners SGS Institut Fresenius and SAI Global. Auditing software is purchased to simplify the implementation of the audits and the resulting measures. Apart from the external examinations, there is a food sampling plan in place being performed continuously. Again, all of this sucks up costs, management time and attention. With all these tumultuous developments the company’s growth engine is undeterred. Revenue grows by a whopping 50 million euros to 202 million euros, an increase of 33%. Impressive. While average spent per customer increases in all countries, the number of customers per day in Germany decreases by 3.3% partially due to the negative press towards the end of the year. Five own, four JV and 19 new franchise restaurants are added that year to the group, the total number of own managed restaurants grows to 51, there are 31 JVs and 84 franchises which bringing the total to 166 Vapiano restaurants. Global restaurant sales are now above 400 million euros.
But while revenue grows by an astronomical 50 million euros, operating profits, alarmingly, shrink again. Gross margins are staying perfectly healthy above 75% but operating costs keep growing disproportionately fast. The Company’s outstanding debt jumps by almost 30 million, close to 85 million euros by the end of the year. With operating profits at 9.5 million euros, alarm bells should be going off right now.
In Q4 of 2015, new CEO Jochen Halfmann introduces Strategy 2020. The new strategy includes five essential points. One, profitable growth in the newly defined core markets of Germany and Austria as well as in the UK, Netherlands, France and USA. Two, operational excellence through strict “best practice” management. Three, further development and digitalization of the concept considering guest feedback. Four, greater focus on long-term employee retention and five, building a modern and sustainable IT landscape. Sound’s good on paper but let’s see how things pan out.
Vapiano's investments (capital expenditures) that year are primarily directed towards new restaurant openings, renovations of existing establishments, and share acquisitions in other Vapiano restaurants from franchisees or JV partners. A significant portion of funds is allocated to the digitalization of the guest experience, including the development of a new app scheduled for market release in 2016 and the implementation of a time recording system across all group restaurants. The world's first standalone Vapiano restaurant with a delivery service that year is built in Fürth, Germany. The company keeps expanding its presence in both inner-city locations and international markets, such as Shanghai, China.
To finance all of this, the group has its own operating cash flow which comes in at 18 million while capital expenditures are 26 million euros plus 14 million for acquisitions. The funding gab is filled with 26 million euros of new debt and a seven-million-euro equity raise. At that end of the year and after the equity raise Gregor Gerlach (through his AP Leipzig GmbH & Co. KG entity) holds 30.1%, Hans-Joachim and Gisa Sander through their Exchange Bio GmbH hold 25.5% and the Tchibo heirs, Herz through their Mayfair Beteiligungsfonds II GmbH & Co. KG hold 44,4%.
But for the first time the restaurant’s concept that was so successful to date is being questioned. Some customers are starting to mislike the operational flow of the concept itself. If you want pasta, you must queue for pasta. If you want pizza you stand in a different queue. A small side salad, yet another queue. "You spend more time carrying trays than an actress in Berlin-Mitte. The audience in the pasta limbo can only consist of people who have worked for an insurance company for a long time and, like Stockholm syndrome, they can no longer get away from the industrial canteen feeling," writes TV host Beisenherz provocatively. While overly harsh in his assessment he's not entirely wrong judging by customers venting their frustrations in forums and social media channels. It isn’t uncommon for those who ordered pizza to have already finished eating while there is little movement in the pasta queue. Long term that doesn't go down well, QSRs competitors like L’Osteria are handling this process differently, with much success.
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Tipping Point

Where are now in the year 2016 and things start to deteriorate visibility. Perhaps not for the leman’s eye but any business minded observer can see that there are problems under the hood. Yes, revenue grows yet another whopping 50 million to almost 250 million euros but half of that growth, comes from acquisitions of restaurants that the group didn’t already own 100%, which is now being fully consolidated within the group’s accounts. Here is a concrete example. In the past, Vapiano SE, the group’s top holding company held an indirect 50% stake in a French subgroup via the subsidiary VAP Restaurants SA, based in Luxembourg, and included this as an associated company in the Vapiano SE consolidated financial statements using the equity method. Due to the acquisition of additional shares in September of 2016, Vapiano SE's indirect share in the French subgroup increased to 75%. This means that Vapiano SE takes control of the French subgroup, which is therefore included in the group’s financial statements as part of the full consolidation. The revenue from the acquired subsidiary now recorded in the consolidated income statement amounts to 12.8 million euros. While that’s great for the top line, the loss of the fully consolidated entity equates to 0.2 million euros. Yes, you are buying revenue, but there are losses attached to them, not profits. A similar case is the Swedish entity that runs eight restaurants with revenue of 11.5 million euros but has losses of 235 thousand euros. So much for Strategy 2020 and “profitable” growth.
That year the group’s operating profits are absolutely tanking, halving to 3.5 million euros. Operating profits are now a mere 1,4% of revenue. Remember original founder Mark Korzilius who talked about operating margins of 25% to 28% at the restaurant level? Yes, there are overhead costs for the organization that sits above the chain of restaurants, but operating margins that low indicates a course correction is needed. What’s telling is that in the annual report, in the management discussion section, the company starts talking about EBITDA as a proxy measure of profitability, rather than operating profit or net income. This wasn’t the case in the years before. Is this window dressing for an upcoming IPO? EBITDA is short for earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortization. How can you measure profitability of a restaurant chain that absolutely and unequivocally needs capital investment to maintain its restaurant operations, the very source of cash generation, by simply excluding this maintenance charge (depreciation in the income statement)? Vapiano’s own annual report talks about the fact that existing restaurants must be rejuvenated from time to time and that new interior designs have to be implemented every few years. These things wear and tear, they go out of style, kitchen equipment breaks and needs replacement. This business absolutely needs maintenance capital expenditure, why anyone talks of profits before these maintenance costs is beyond me. Fun fact: in the previous annual report EBITDA is mentioned seven times, mostly around restaurant acquisitions and financing, not however as a profit indication for the group. In the new annual report, EBITDA is mentioned 28 times. Maybe it’s just me but belated Charlie Munger liked to call EBITDA: bullsh*t earnings. When in doubt I stick with Charlie. Interestingly, EBITDA for Vapiano keeps growing while operating and net profits keep falling.
Operating cashflow for the group that year is about 21 million euros, but capital expenditure is 30 million and acquisitions for subsidiaries another 20 million. To finance these expenditures another 28 million euros of debt and 16 million of equity is raised. Net debt rises above 130 million euro. The operating cashflow of the group before any capital expenditures is 21 million euros. I am not sure free cash flow would be significantly positive after maintenance capex is paid out; it’s not broken out so we can’t be sure. Granted, I am not on the ground during this time, and I am not in the board room, I am simply reading what’s in front of me, but to me this is starting to look like a distressed situation. Regardless, the following year the company goes public.

IPO

Where are now in the year 2017 and its Vapiano’s first year as public company. The company’s annual report reads the following “Sales revenue, like-for-like growth (LfL) and the earnings figures EBITDA and adjusted EBITDA are used as the most important financial performance indicators for controlling operational business activities.” The very same report however also says: “The majority of the group's investments regularly go towards opening new restaurant locations and modernizing existing restaurants. The latter are differentiated into regular replacement investments that occur during ongoing operations (Maintenance CAPEX) and fundamental investments in the renovation of a restaurant (Remodeling CAPEX). On average, a restaurant remodeling takes place nine years after opening.” It says it right there in their own report; every nine years a remodeling is taking place. Remodeling and updating is not cost free, so why exclude depreciation charges which reflect capital expenditures? I understand that perhaps you would want to strip out one-off opening costs, that’s fine and fair, but don’t go overboard.
The number of restaurants increases by 26 (previous year: 13) to a total of 205. The increase consists of 27 new openings and one closure. Group revenue grows to an astonishing 325 million euros but here comes the shocker, operating profits turn negative to 25 million. Fine, strip out foreign exchange losses of 3 million, IPO costs of 5.8 million and new opening costs of 6.1 million and you still have 10 million euros of operational losses. All the while the debt load of almost 130 million hasn’t materially changed, so those operating losses are before a six-million-euro interest payment. 184 million euros are raised through the IPO of which 85 million go to the company. This money is earmarked for further expansion as the group has ambitions to almost double the footprint to 330 restaurants by the end of 2020. The company is currently not profitable on an operating basis, and still wants to expand aggressively? I don’t get it. The remaining 100 million euros of the IPO money raised is distributed to co-founder Gregor Gerlach and Wella heirs Hans-Joachim and Gisa Sander. The family office of the former Tchibo owners Günter and Daniela Herz with a 44% stake, don’t sell a single share. After the IPO, 32% of all the company’s shares are now in free float.
One year later, in 2018, things get even worse. Revenue grows to 371 million, but operating losses mount to 85 million euros, that’s before interest expenses of 9 million. Even the beloved EBITDA figure turns negative, meaning the operating business before any expansionary or even maintenance capital expenditures is loss making. All regions are experiencing significant deterioration in their earnings profiles. Like for like sales are down 1% across the board. That’s revenue, not profitability. The question naturally arises: is the Group approaching its natural saturation point here or this operational by nature? The operating cash flow is now 9 million while financing cost are close to 7 million. That leaves 2 million for maintenance capital for 74 own restaurants and 76 joint ventures ones. Describing this as financially tight, would be an understatement.
Things are not looking good at this point. Yet the company still grows restaurants by 26 new sites. 64 million euros are spent on acquisitions, new openings, and maintenance costs, financed through a 20 million-euro equity raise and 72 million of new debt. The Company now has net debt outstanding of over 160 million euros. After the equity raise and by the end of the year 2018, Mayfair owns 47.4%, VAP Leipzig, Gregor Gerlach’s entity owns 18.9% and the Sander couple own 15.5% of the company. Yes, the Sanders and Gerlach may have taken 100 million euros off the table, but they still have substantial skin in the game. Plus, Mayfair hasn’t sold a single share and instead injects more money into the company through the equity round. The stock has now fallen from its IPO price of 23 euros per share to under 6 euros by the end of 2018. Something must be done here. And indeed, there is pivot in strategy and a hard push for change. At last, the management team abandons its aggressive growth plan and curtails new openings significantly. Additionally, the team wants to run a thorough analysis of weak locations to then either discontinue or sell sites. In Europe, the operating focus will be put on corporate restaurants and joint ventures in major cities to ensure the ideal size and location to match the respective demographic target group. Outside of Europe, the franchising business is being expanded and at the same time a consolidation of the existing corporate and joint venture markets is being sought. All future investments will be reviewed to achieve higher rates of returns on new openings. Investments are also being made in the renovation of older restaurants. The goal in the future is to also open smaller formats, like Mini-Vapianos (less than 400 square meters) or Freestander at prominent transportation hubs outside city centers (currently in Fürth and Toulouse) to cater to individual location requirements, and to enter new partnerships. I am not sure why management hasn’t stopped all expansion altogether, bringing the ship in order first, getting profitable, clean up, all hands-on deck before considering any further expansions whatsoever. But again, it’s easy to comment from the sidelines; maybe they saw white spaces that would be covered by competing concepts if they weren’t moving fast and aggressively enough. Although pushing internationally means competing with local players such as Jamie's Italian, Prezzo, Pizza Express, Wagamama, Nando's and many more which brings in its own dynamic.
Management also aims to enhance guest satisfaction. This involves refining operational processes, reorganizing the support center, and refocusing on the core offering: providing fresh and high-quality Italian food at affordable prices for a broad audience. The group also aims to reduce waiting times, especially during lunch, while also improving the evening atmosphere. There is even what I would call an evolution, away from Vapiano’s original concept, reorientating the customer journey. The ordering flow is being changed, offering guests synchronized preparations of all dishes while eliminating wait times at the cooking stations. The open show kitchen remains, staying true to original mantra of freshness and transparency but now guests can choose their preferred method of ordering through a mobile app, using a digital order point (kiosk), or by personally placing an order with a waiter. Guests can still freely choose their table and are then informed about the complete preparation of their order through a pager or their smartphone. This is a substantial deviation from the original concept, but a needed one. The group is also exploring and implementing the expansion of take-away and home delivery services but only at suitable locations, not universally across new openings. I am not sure why home delivery is even a priority here; it adds operational complexity. It’s better to clean up shop first and get back to the basics before adding new complexities. To be fair management does try to simplify. There are 49 different permanent dishes on the menu and additional 10 seasonal ones. Customers can choose from eleven different types of pasta. There is simply too much choice, and it makes orders complicated. The company announced to slim the menu down to its most popular and typical Vapiano dishes. There’s no need for an Asian salad at an Italian restaurant. "We have to go back to the roots, i.e. classic, honest Italian cuisine" says COO Everke. Regardless, in November of 2018, the supervisory board pulls the plug on CEO Jochen Halfmann and replaces him with Cornelius Everke. Everke himself has just become COO five months ago. Since 2017 he was responsible for international expansion. From 2011 to 2017 that role was filled by Mario Bauer – put a pin in that name, he’ll play a key role in the groups fate later. Then nine months later, in the middle of 2019, Cornelius Everke quits. He essentially concludes that his skillset and experience in the areas of internation expansion is no longer needed in the foreseeable future. To put it differently: Vapiano has moved from a growth story and has become a restructuring case, and other skills are required for that job. In June of 2019 Everke says the following “(we’ve) made a bit of a mistake when it came to foreign expansion”. No sh#t. Vapiano postpones the presentation of the 2018 annual financial statements three times in the spring of 2019, citing negotiations over an urgently needed loan of 30 million euros. It’s not until the end of May that a binding loan commitment comes through from the financing banks and major shareholders.
We are now in August of 2019 and the corona pandemic is just around the corner. Supervisory board chief Vanessa Hall takes over as interim-CEO and things are unravelling. Visitor numbers are declining; originally, it was planned to sell the US business but halfway through the year the buyer cannot come up with the money. But not all restaurants are performing poorly. The group's poor figures contrast starkly as an example with the experiences of the Swiss-German franchisee, who runs six restaurants. The Sodano family in Switzerland pays Vapiano a royalty of 6% of sales for the use of the brand. Enrico Sodano explains in an interview that they operate largely autonomously from the licensor. If an “accident” were to occur, he could immediately replace the Vapiano sign with Sodano, he says. The family concluded the rents and contracts with employees and suppliers independently. The Sodano family have six locations in Bern, Basel and Zurich, around one million guests every year and 350 employees. Things are going well on the ground. The delivery service they’ve built is offering them a second income stream. Expansion into Winterthur, St. Gallen and Lucerne are being planned; small locations with 150 to 250 square meters and an attached delivery service. Originally, Vapiano restaurants used to be huge but for such a large restaurant to be profitable, 800 to 1,000 guests per day are needed. That’s possible in medium-sized cities, but not in smaller towns which is why the Vapiano group now also supports smaller formats. Back to our corporate drama. The 2019 annual report would be the last report the group files. By the end 2019 the outstanding debt of the company is at an astronomical 450 million euros. Revenue has grown by another 7%, produced by four net new openings through two JVs and two franchise restaurants but operating losses come in at 317 million euros. That sound like an absolute shocker at first but depreciation and amortization charges are 345 million, so that operating cash flow is actually positive but unfortunately capital expenditures and interest payments are so large that they are eating up all of the company’s operating cash flow. Then in the beginning of 2020 Corona hits with full force and the world shuts down. As a result of the measures to prevent further spreading of the virus, the group is forced to cease all global business operations (except in Sweden). While all these shutdowns are happening, the group is the middle of negotiating with its lending banks and main shareholders. There are additional financing needs for restructuring measures, even without a pandemic happening in the background. The situation is so dire that the company starts pleading to the German government to roll out the package of financial help more quickly. Unfortunately, it’s to no end. The rapid closure of restaurants and the resulting lack of operating cash inflows in conjunction with the additional financing requirements, lead to the company’s final knockout punch. In April of 2020, the Vapiano group officially files for insolvency proceedings. The end of an era.

New Beginnings

Because of the pandemic, the majority of the group's subsidiaries in Austria, the Netherlands, Denmark, the United States, Sweden, and China also file for insolvency or seek liquidation. The US business never gets sold in the end and is wound down. In the summer of 2020, significant group divestments occur, including the sale of 75% shares in the group's French subsidiaries, shares in franchisor companies, Australian subsidiaries, German subsidiaries, associated companies, self-managed restaurants in Germany, and insolvency-related sales in the Netherlands, Great Britain, and Sweden. The buyer of the Vapiano brand and one of these bundles of Vapiano restaurants is company named Love & Food Restaurant Holding, a consortium led by Mario C. Bauer – a name I told you to remember. Bauer was a former Vapiano board member and led the national and international expansion, opening 200 sites in 33 countries from 2011 to 2017 until he was succeeded by Cornelius Everke. Bauer didn’t feel comfortable with the IPO at the time but clearly has a lot of managerial and entrepreneurial talent.
The buyer consortium is an absolute A-Team comprised of European QSR top league hitters, including the founder of the Pret A Manger chain Sinclair Beecham; Henry McGovern, the founder and Ex-CEO of the giant international restaurant and foodservice operator AmRest; the Van der Valk Family that runs hotels and Vapiano restaurants in the Netherlands, and co-founder and ex-CEO Gregor Gerlach. The acquisition value is 15 million euros and entails 30 Vapiano restaurants in Germany, albeit that’s just the purchase price which comes on top of any capital investment needed to refresh and return the sites to its former glory. Nevertheless, just as a thought experiment, if you can get each site to 2 million euros of revenue and 400,000 euros in operating profit on average, which wouldn’t be an overly aggressively assumption given the company’s history, you’ve got yourself a package that can deliver restaurant-level operating profits of 12 million euros or more. It’s not disclosed how much capex was needed to refresh the operations, just that fact that the overall investment plus purchase price was a middle double-digit million-euro figure. Stil, it probably was a decent purchase. The same consortium buys Vapiano’s French business for 25 million euros just two weeks prior. After the transaction concludes, the master franchise is given to Delf Neumann and his Gastro & Soul GmbH. Neumann is an experienced operator, and he is ambitious to revitalise the brand with new services and products. For example, instead of pizza, the restaurants will be serving pinsa - a flatbread made from sourdough, wheat and rice flour, topped similarly to a pizza. It targets a more health-oriented customer base looking for a less calory heavy option. The menu overall is expanded by including a variety of vegan and vegetarian dishes.
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Today Neumann’s Gastro & Soul GmbH operates 18 Vapianos on its own account and has 29 franchise sites, amongst other brands. By the year 2021, Vapiano operates 191 restaurants in 34 countries. This is around 50 fewer sites than before the bankruptcy. The number of branches is particularly thinned out in Germany – from 80 to 55. Nevertheless, Vapiano's home country remains by far the largest market, followed by France with 35 restaurants and Austria with 15 locations. “We have shrunk ourselves to health,” says Bauer in the aftermath and there is no further shrinking planned. Quite the opposite, the smell of expansion is in the air again – pun intended. Not as aggressively as before and with a new menu and ordering process.
Overall, the team around Bauer is filled with industry experts with knowledge and networks gained over decades who have a great track record, a long-term view, and the staying power to let Vapiano breath and finds its way back to success. The pressure of being a public company with all the associated quarterly, half-year and yearly disincentives have been removed. The menu is changed and extended with new types of pasta and sauces with significantly more vegetarian and vegan dishes available. Guests can order with restaurant staff, at terminals or on their phones and there are barcodes attached to the tables identify the respective seat. The food is brought to your table, all at the same time if you are in a group, no more annoyances with waiting in line. There is a plan for smaller, 350 square meter locations, with half the number of guests and significantly fewer staff and less set-up costs required to make the economics work. Locations that capitalize on remote work and increased demand for local lunch options, higher population density with shorter delivery routes and therefore cost-effective in house delivery services are targeted. And Bauer is testing the concept of ghost kitchens, which operate without a dining room or service staff, focusing solely on preparing food for delivery services, which for obvious reasons have a very different operational set up and footprint. Original founder Mark Korzilius however is not entirely convinced. He is not a fan of the pinsa for instance and he considers Vapiano's pizza as its cash cow, flagship product and believes that the core Vapiano proposition of Pizza, Pasta, Bar that has given the company its original success is being diluted. He instead admires the competitor L'Osteria, saying they’ve done a better job by focusing on Italian classics, especially the impressively large pizzas that sticks out beyond the plate is leaving every customer in awe. The guys who run L’Osteria are the same guys who have built Vapiano with him in the first place. Bauer on the other hand, like a true business leader, remains undeterred, stating that he is frequently asked whether Vapiano's restart was bold or foolish. He believes in entrepreneurship, franchising, in his experienced fellow partners and importantly the Vapiano concept. By the year 2024 you can find over 140 Vapiano branded restaurant in 27 countries across the globe, including locations far away from its birthplace like Australia, USA, Columbia, Chile, Bahrain, and Saudi Arabia. And why not? Italian food is, and will remain to be, incredibly popular. Vapiano offers fresh and tasty food at affordable prices in a good atmosphere. This combination of attributes should attract a lot of customers. It certainly has in the past.
For more stories: WIP Thomas Weitzendoerfer Substack

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Creating a space that reflects your personality and provides comfort is essential for any home. Whether you’re moving into a new place or looking to refresh your current space, the interior design of your home plays a significant role in setting the ambiance and enhancing your quality of life. In this blog post, we’ll explore a step-by-step plan to help you transform your living space into a cozy haven that you’ll love coming home to every day.
Step 1: Define Your Style Before diving into the specifics of your home interior design, take some time to define your style preferences. Are you drawn to minimalist aesthetics, or do you prefer a more eclectic mix of colors and textures? Browse interior design magazines, websites, and social media platforms like Pinterest for inspiration, and create a mood board to visualize your ideas. This step will serve as a foundation for the rest of your design process.
Step 2: Assess Your Space Next, assess the layout and dimensions of your home. Take note of any architectural features, such as windows, doors, and built-in fixtures, that may influence your design choices. Consider the flow of traffic within each room and identify any areas that need special attention, such as awkward corners or narrow hallways. Understanding the unique characteristics of your space will help you make informed decisions when planning your interior design.
Step 3: Establish a Color Scheme Choose a color scheme that reflects your personal taste and complements the existing elements of your home. Whether you opt for soothing neutrals, vibrant hues, or a combination of both, consistency is key. Use paint swatches, fabric samples, and decor accents to test different color combinations and determine what works best for each room. Remember to consider factors like natural light and room size when selecting colors, as they can impact the overall ambiance of your space.
Step 4: Select Furniture and Accessories Now it’s time to furnish your home with pieces that not only look great but also serve a functional purpose. Start by prioritizing essential items, such as sofas, dining tables, and beds, and then layer in decorative accents like rugs, throw pillows, and wall art to add personality and warmth to each room. Pay attention to scale and proportion to ensure that your furniture fits comfortably within the space without overwhelming it. Don’t be afraid to mix and match different styles and textures to create visual interest and depth.
Step 5: Maximize Storage and Organization Clutter can quickly detract from the beauty of your home interior, so it’s essential to prioritize storage and organization solutions. Invest in multi-functional furniture pieces, such as ottomans with built-in storage or bookshelves with integrated cabinets, to maximize space and keep belongings out of sight. Utilize baskets, bins, and drawer dividers to corral smaller items and maintain a tidy environment. By creating designated storage areas for everything from shoes to paperwork, you’ll streamline your daily routine and maintain a sense of order throughout your home.
Step 6: Infuse Personal Touches Lastly, infuse your home with personal touches that reflect your interests, hobbies, and experiences. Display cherished mementos, such as family photos, travel souvenirs, and heirloom pieces, to add character and nostalgia to your decor. Incorporate elements of nature, such as potted plants, fresh flowers, and natural materials like wood and stone, to bring a sense of serenity and balance to your space. By surrounding yourself with items that hold sentimental value, you’ll create a home that truly feels like your own.
Conclusion: Designing the interior of your home is a highly personal and rewarding process that allows you to express yourself creatively while creating a comfortable and functional living environment. By following this step-by-step plan and infusing your unique style and personality into every decision, you’ll create a cozy haven that you’ll be proud to call home for years to come.

By Jayne McCormack BBC News NI political correspondent A former Sinn Féin minister has said she accepts now that she should not have attended a controversial funeral during the Covid pandemic.
Carál Ní Chuilín was Communities Minister from June 2020 until December that year.
She appeared before the UK Covid-19 public inquiry on Wednesday.
She was among a group of senior Sinn Féin politicians who attended the funeral of republican Bobby Storey in June 2020.
The gathering was criticised at the time as being in breach of Covid rules.
She was asked by Brenda Campbell KC, representing the Covid-19 bereaved families in Northern Ireland about her attendance at the funeral.
Ms Ní Chuilín told the inquiry she was "very sorry" and that attending the funeral had an impact on public confidence.
She also said she accepted she should not have attended the funeral using her ministerial car, and had later reimbursed the costs to the department.
But Ms Campbell added: "Do you accept you should not have gone to the funeral at all given your role as minister for communities?"
Ms Ní Chuilín replied: "I can see the hurt and the anger and I accept that now... yes I do."
Former Education Minister Peter Weir also gave evidence on Wednesday.
He said he regrets that the debate over closing schools in Northern Ireland at the onset of the Covid pandemic created political division.
Lord Weir, a former DUP MLA, was Stormont's education minister from January 2020 until mid-2021.
He said debate within the Northern Ireland Executive over closing schools created a "level of division".
The context for closing schools, the inquiry was told, was in mid-March 2020, days before the UK government announced a national lockdown.
On 12 March 2020, the Irish government announced that it would close all schools in the Republic of Ireland.
But the inquiry heard that the Stormont Executive met on 16 March where disagreement between ministers broke out over whether to follow suit.
'Antipathy' towards Conservative government Lord Weir said he took the view that ministers should be following scientific and medical advice, which at that point did not recommend shutting down all schools.
But he said Sinn Féin and Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) ministers had "one eye towards what was happening in the Republic of Ireland".
"There was a little bit of an element... the situation was that not only would they want to follow the Republic of Ireland, but there was a natural inclination not to follow what was happening in London," he said.
Lord Weir also suggested those ministers held a "level of antipathy" against the Conservative government under Boris Johnson.
The inquiry was shown handwritten notes from that meeting which showed divisions behind the scenes between the parties.
Lord Weir was asked by inquiry counsel Clair Dobbin KC how well children in Northern Ireland were being served when it came to the decision over closing schools, asking whether it had become "political and divisive".
He replied: "I regret it became that, I felt there had been a level of consensus a few days before.
"Others wanted to take it in a different direction.
"At various levels it may have been seen as being directly political."
Asked about notes provided to the inquiry about "confusion" about public messaging on schools at that point, Lord Weir said the executive's position had initially been joined up, prior to the Irish government closing schools.
But he said that changed "within 24 hours" when the then-Deputy First Minister Michelle O'Neill did a press interview calling for schools in Northern Ireland to close immediately.
Lord Weir also said that once the UK Government announced that schools in England were closing, advice from health officials at Stormont also changed and that schools in Northern Ireland should shut.
He acknowledged that it was "doable at that stage", with furlough schemes and finances available from Westminster to help support parents with childcare.
'Disappointed' by text message Former Communities Minister Deirdre Hargey disputed a text message that claimed she showed "no interest in Covid" prior to mid-March 2020.
Details of the text were revealed during evidence to the Covid-19 inquiry by counsel Leah Treanor.
She said the then-head of the civil service Sir David Sterling sent the message to another official, Chris Stewart, on 10 March 2020.
Ms Hargey, a Sinn Féin MLA, said it was not her reflection of the time.
The text from Sir David read: "I spoke to Tracey earlier, she's briefing her minister (who has shown no interest in Covid up to now) tomorrow."
It referred to Tracey Meharg, who was the top civil servant in the Department for Communities then advising Ms Hargey.
Asked by inquiry counsel if that was a fair assessment, Ms Hargey said she was "disappointed" to have seen the text message and its contents.
She said she had spoken an executive meeting on that date and was looking at contingency plans for her department as well as how to support key sectors.
"We would have been planning at the start of March and late February for that to happen, so I am disappointed at that text message. I don't think it reflects where we were or conversations I had with Tracey Meharg," she added.
Ms Hargey was Stormont's communities minister from January 2020 until June that year, before stepping aside temporarily due to illness.
Her party colleague Carál Ní Chuilín filled in during that period of sickness until December 2020 when Ms Hargey returned to work.
Storey funeral 'damaged relations' Former DUP Economy Minister Diane Dodds also appeared at the inquiry on Wednesday.
She was asked about the impact of the funeral of republican Bobby Storey on the public adhering to Covid restrictions.
Mrs Dodds said the event "damaged relations" within the executive.
"It was really difficult to then stand at another press conference and say to the public, 'we're going to allow you to do this', when all of this had taken place just a few days before it."

Ok, I don’t remember much but in the middle of the night I think I went to rub my eye and felt something crusty so I pulled it off, and then thought wow that’s one heck of an eye booger.
Nope.
It was this bug…Not sure of the actual color as I had my red night light next to me since I was nursing my baby and didn’t want to wake her. Anyway, I panicked and threw it in the diaper pail so not going back in there to look. 😅 It did feel like it was grabbing on my bedsheet as I tried to pick it up with a towel.
Looking at some images online, maybe it’s a Weevil of some sort? It’s smaller than the tip of my finger, but doesn’t have that ‘snout’ like a typical weevil.
BUT WHY would it be on me? ON MY EYE?!!
I had been indoors all day. I did go in the basement/garage one time for a few minutes to grab something but that was well before I showered. My husband was out working in the yard - but I didn’t touch him until after he showered. I also had a shower before he got home. My husband wasn’t in our bed either (he’s temporarily sleeping in another room since he snores and wakes our baby…). He only kissed me goodnight while I was sitting in the bed nursing my little one before he headed off to the guest room. Could it have come from him since he was the one working in the yard?? How does one of these get on a person and is it possible to have stayed on someone even after showering???
Or is the problem in my bedroom?
I’ve never seen these before in my house, let alone my bed…and not even sure what these even eat assuming I should be concerned about an infestation. I normally don’t eat food in my bed except maybe prepackaged snacks but haven’t done that in a few weeks. The wrappers immediately go in the trash when I’m done. My sheets are washed weekly. I vacuum weekly. I’m a pretty clean person so I can’t figure out why this was on me (my closed eye!) while I was sleeping! 🧐😫

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Not too sure what happened I was home by myself. What I can piece together, I remember coming downstairs around 6am to have breakfast, a coffee and my meds. Did everything. I walked to the back door and that's where I had it. Afterwards I negotiated the stairs went back to bed and woke up at 2pm. When I got up noticed that my toe was bleeding and I am really sore with a crazy headache. It's now 6.30pm Tuesday and I have bruises coming out on my leg, a bump on my head and carpet burn on the tops of my toes, elbows and knees. Noticed downstairs that the rug was all ruffled up and there was a strange smudge on the glass sliding door and the tv remote that was on the entertainment unit was on the floor. Sorry for unloading, just needed to vent. I've had my licence back for 20 months and just got a new job. I guess I'll be losing both. Aaah so frustrating! I also can't find my pill caddy for yesterday. I had it because I took my morning meds. I left it on the breakfast island and now it's gone. It'll turn up I guess.