Old meets new in a beautiful Finnish home

Feeling super excited this morning as I'm off to Helsinki this afternoon for Finland's largest design fair - Habitare along with Decor8, Monsters Circus, Trend Stefan and Home for Soul among other bloggers. So fun! (Keep an eye on Instagram stories for updates!). This calls for a Finnish design post, don't you think? And beautiful Finnish homes are never hard to find (as you can see from this archive!). This lovely apartment belongs to Maija Rasila - interior architect and blogger for Avotakka magazine. Pihkala focuses on modern Scandinavian design and the renovation of her 100 year old house - where white and subtle shades of grey and blue provide a backdrop for design classics and vintage finds for a clean, calm aesthetic.  Let's take a peek....

Photography: Maija Rasila / Pihkala.

Such a lovely space, don't you think? So fresh! If you follow Maija's blog you'll see how the house is becoming more and more cosy as each layer is added (even though it's in Finnish she always adds a short summary in English at the bottom of each post).  I write a lot about taking your time to decorate a home in my book The Scandinavian Home - I think it's a vital part of transforming a house into a home. What are your thoughts on this?

Get the look from Maija's lovely home: Sitting room - Artek Beehive light, Menu afteroom lounge chair, Tisca rug.  Dining room - Eames chairs, art by Juhani Melender. Bedroom - William Morris wallpaper, Mantis sconce, white bed linen set. Hallway: Morris & co wallpaper.

If you'd like to see more Finnish homes today (hey, I'm in!), you might want to take a scroll through this archive (if this home comes up first simply got to the next) - Yup, those Finns really do know a thing or two about design! Can't wait to see more at the fair!

You can keep up to date with Maija's latest projects over on her blog and Instagram.

Right.... better finish packing, I've got a flight to catch! Weeeee!

Have a lovely day!

PS Happy to see my tips on 'how to get Scandi-style on a budget' in Ideal Home magazine this week!

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Ilkka's Charming Rural Retreat In Finland

Hei! How are you today? Feel like getting away from it all? Today, I'm whisking you off to rural Finland and the charming bolthole of interior architect Ilkka Mälkiäinen. Acquired 12 years ago as a weekend escape from Helsinki, Ilkka and Janne have carefully renovated the country home to bring it back to its former glory. Think high ceilings, beautiful wood floors and rooms painted in deep charcoal and steel grey. Today, the home is a goldmine of Finnish antiques and vintage finds and packed with charm. Welcome to Ilkka and Janne's age-old country retreat! 

How beautiful! I love the relaxed, eclectic feel of the home. 

Did you have a favourite room? I've always had a real weakness for romantic style bathrooms. Imagine locking up your city apartment, coming out here to the quiet of the countryside and running a candlelit bath. Heaven! 

This takes me back to the day I captured a home for The Scandinavian Home deep in the heart of the Finnish countryside. And there was a moose grazing in the meadows beside the house. 

I've been wanting to return ever since - something for next summer perhaps? Have you ever been to Finland?

If you're after a little more Finnish dreaming today, here are a few other homes to love: 

A warm, modern Finnish home with a touch if the Med

Suvi's modern home on Finland's West coast

A Finnish home in a converted factory

Have a cosy day! 

Credits: Krista Keltanen / Jonna Kivilahti - shared with kind permission

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Danila's Lovely, Earthy Home In A Finnish Rental

Quite often, the homes I show are blessed with dramatically high ceilings, beautiful stucco, original parquet flooring and other drool worthy period features. All very well if you are lucky enough to have these in your home, but what about the rest of us mere mortals? If you fall into the latter camp, you'll be as excited as I was to hear the owner of this Finnish apartment state in her instagram bio: "making the most of a not so glam 73m2 rental." Sound familiar? Read on for some beautiful inspiration from Danila Yonsini's lovely home!  

Danila has painted her walls in soothing earthy tones with a warm hint and added plenty of texture to break up the 'boxy' feel of the architecture.

IKEA rattan cupboard, Portrait H* is similar, Mantis table lamp*

Every time I see a Samsung The Frame TV it takes me straight back to that greenhouse make-over I did with Emily Henderson.  I love the one in my sitting room too - I always choose pictures like the one Daniela's chosen but my kids love to change it to more shall we say 'statement' art - just to wind me up!  

We're so used to seeing iconic String shelving in the sitting room, but I absolutely love it in the kitchen too (as seen here!!).  

Is it just our family, or is your hallway floor knee deep in shoes too? If you have the wall space for it, this storage from IKEA is really nifty! 

I spy a piece that has gone bananas on instagram lately: the round, white ceramic vase from HM Home (I couldn't find this in the online store so it might require a store visit if you're interested) . They're everywhere! 

I love the little sculpture next to the bed. Sadly, I don't know where this particular one is from, but I got sent a similar one recently by a Swedish artist and it's one of my favourite pieces! You can see a glimpse of it in my sitting room here and they're available here. 

I hope Danila's home has given you some inspiration for your own home! You can see more pictures here. 

Fancy delving into a few more Finnish homes today?

In case you missed it, I shared a stunning Finnish family home in a former schoolhouse yesterday (so dreamy!) and I also love the happy, vibrant home of a Finnish designer and Maiju's delightful home. Check out the entire archive here. 

Niki

Photography: Danila / @indivisualstyle

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7 Design Things To Do in Helsikini + Habitare

A few weeks back (OK slightly more than that, this post is long overdue *red face*!) I was invited to Helsinki to attend the interior, design and furniture fair Habitare. I totally fell in love with the Finnish capital all over again. It really is one of my absolute favorite European cities (and I'm not just saying that because I have a penchant for all things Scandinavian - honest!). If you're into design and looking for a weekend break - this is your bag. For those of you further afield, make a week or two of it and visit the Finnish archipelagos as well as the Kakslauttanen Arctic Resort (it's on my wishlist!).

Helsinki Marketing - photo by Jussi Hellsten

Our chaperone was Annika Suomi, who knew just about everything there is to know about the best design spots in Helsinki! Over the space of three days, bloggers Holly Becker, Mette Jakobsen, Katariina Kalda, Stefan Nilsson and I enjoyed a design-packed schedule which included supper out on the island of Lonna,  holding a panel discussion at the Habitare fair and a tour of some of the most incredible stores, museums and galleries around the city (oh and we ate some delicious cuisine too!!). It was a whirlwind tour of some of the best design spots in town. If you're visiting any time soon, here are my tips:


7 Things to Do in Helsinki for design lovers

1. Take a tour of the Helsinki Design District and shop for books, design and craft at independent concept stores and galleries like Lokal and TRE!

Image courtesy of Lokal.

2. Take a guided tour of Alvar Aalto's House

2. Enjoy a morning at the Design Museum

Image by: Patrik Lindell/Vandalorum

3. Relax in a sauna at Löyly (beating yourself with branches optional!).

Helsinki Marketing by Pekka Keränen

5. Wile away a few hours at Iittala & Arabia Design Centre (check out this post by Holly Becker over at Decor8 to feel inspired).

Photo by Holly Becker / Decor8

6. Visit the island of Lonna for lunch.

Image - Salla Kantokorpi

7. Eat supper at Grön

Image courtesy of Grön

Where to stay: I loved my stay at Hotel Haven (I have to say, I kind of lucked out with this one!). And sister residence Hotel Fabian is also very central.

For more tips, the book Helsinki: People make the City offers some great advice from the locals and has been my bible both times I've visited (it captures the atmosphere of the city beautifully!).

Habitare design and furniture fair

While we were there, we also spent a few days at Habitare design and furniture fair. Suffice to say, it was hands down the prettiest fair I've ever attended (and I've been to a few!). It helps of course, that the Finns have an innate sense of style and this shone through across the stands! Here is my round-up of 2017 highlights.

1. To celebrate 50 years in the industry, Finnish interior design magazine Avotakka  collaborated with interior designer Maija Rasila (take a tour of her home here) to create a beautiful stand showcasing some of Finland's finest design pieces!

2. Scandinavian design is often about keeping things minimal and working with subtle colour changes. Pentik demonstrated this beautifully on their stand which was decorated in subtle shades of grey and dusty pink with the help of their ceramics.

3. A pile of design books including works by the famous architect Alvar Aalto (who's home we visited!) and Finnish design brand Artek were part of the Asun magazine stand. 

4. I kind of wanted to curl up on the Anno stand and get cosy among all their sumptuous textiles (and enjoy a fika at this table too!).

5. Toimittajien Tusina (The association of interiors journalists) selected their favourite 12 Finnish interior design products 2017 - which were showcased on this beautiful stand near the entrance.  

6. Having worked on a collaboration with Be&Liv in my own home earlier this spring I was so happy to finally meet the team in person and check out some of their new products - like the Peony Lamp.

8. And something for the children - the multi-purpose Nuppu sustainable ceramic children's tableware collection by Maija Puoskari caught my eye - in fact, I awarded it my design choice from the fair! Isn't it beautiful?

Kittos Annika and the Habitare team for inviting me to visit. I hope this post has inspired you to visit Finland some day soon too!

If you'd like to add any tips of great things to see and do in this wonderful city please add them to the comment section below!

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