From opposite: Maria
and René’s bedroom,
like all the bedrooms, is
downstairs, where
a poster by Therese
Sennerholt called
‘Shades’ comments on
the room’s restful grey
colour scheme; a bright
turquoise wall colour is
the backdrop to one of
the children’s bedrooms
(the rug was crocheted
by Maria); a carefully
curated corner in Maria
and René’s bedroomsofa-lolling area, are upstairs next to the children’s
play room. Downstairs is the master bedroom,
children’s rooms and – being Finland – a sauna. “We
live our life in the rooms upstairs; the space
downstairs is for relaxing and sleeping,” Maria says.
The living area is multi-functional but zoned so that
it’s clear what each part of it is used for.
Storage helps to keep zones clear: a family of five
generates a lot of clutter. Maria employed a
professiona l to help her create suf f icient storage
without it dominating. “I got rid of unnecessary
items, carefully thought about how many closets we
needed, and designed functional solutions inside
them,” she says. This included Bestå cupboards by
Ikea in t he liv ing room.
ONE STEP AT A TIME
Although it was tempting to buy new furniture when
they moved in, they took almost all the furniture
from their previous home to their new one. Maria
kept moving it around until she found the right place
for each piece. She also had a wishlist of pieces to
save for: she had dreamt of owning the tea trolley by
Artek for 20 years before she bought it. Similarly the
Eames RAR rocking chair was a longed-for item that
she could eventually afford to buy.TACKLING OUTDOORS
Maria was keen that her young family spend as
much time outdoors as possible. The house had a
couple of terraces and a yard that were largely
unused. She and René spruced them up and added
some outdoor furniture so that the girls had
somewhere to play and Maria had a few beds to
grow herbs and f lowering perennials. “It feels
like we have created extra rooms,” she says.
“The outdoor spaces are almost as important as
the indoor ones, even in the winter.”MARIA’S STYLE
ODon’t be too precious about furniture.
A home is to be lived in. Buy good quality
in the first place and it will withstand
everything the family throws at it.
OWhite works well with wooden surfaces –
it looks fresh and contemporary. You can
introduce colour with wallpaper and the
odd painted wall.
OIt’s OK to mix inherited furniture with
design classics and homemade pieces.
It’s your home, after all.