Finnish Interior Designers Show How Bold, Colorful Prints Might Be the Best Way to Greet the Cold Weather
Photo: Arsi Ikäheimonen / Courtesy of Linda Bergroth1/12Interior of a private home by Helsinki interior designer Linda Bergroth: “If I were to point out the differences in the Nordic countries, I would say that the Danish and Swedish tend to have very chic, harmonious interiors. The Finns are not playing it as safe, but like it a bit more creative. Weird isn’t seen as a bad thing.”
Photo: Courtesy of Karen Burshtein2/12Tableware and comfy throw pillows speak the same language in a Helsinki apartment.
Photo: Courtesy of Karen Burshtein3/12Multi-patterned bed by Helsinki interior designer Susanna Vento, who says: “Of course everyone needs some joy and happiness in life and their homes, so we Finns love to bring nostalgic products to our homes: color and pattern. Lots of beautiful and minimalistic wood details, simple wood furniture with a hint of color, and some modern and graphic textiles.”
Photo: Courtesy of Karen Burshtein4/12This Helsinki residence shows that color and nature are always sources of inspiration.
Photo: Courtesy of Karen Burshtein5/12A bed in a Helsinki apartment looks set for fall with an array of decorative pillows and a duvet cover with the Pieni Letto motif fabric from Marimekko’s Fall 2017 home collectsion.
Photo: Courtesy of Karen Burshtein6/12Detail of interior by Helsinki interior designer Susanna Vento, who creates “textile patterns inspired from nature or modern patterns from simple architectural style: stripes, dots, and squares.”
Photo: Courtesy of Karen Burshtein7/12Fabric being printed at the Marimekko headquarters.
Photo: Rauno Traskelin / Courtesy of Nuutajärvi8/12Kaj Franck, one of the most celebrated Finnish glass designers, used the whole spectrum of color—green, red, ink blue, and green—for his everyday tableware. Seen here are Franck’s goblets, which were produced by Nuutajärvi in 1969.
Photo: Courtesy of Karen Burshtein9/12“Finns love to use natural colors and materials in their homes. Usually they choose shades of blue, gray, or green. Common colors/names of colors are mist, fog, forest green. Different variations of the greens that you can see in the Finnish forest are popular,” says Katja Hagelstam, owner of the cult Helsinki gallery–retail space Lokal, which organizes interiors exhibitions in the store. This is from the Klaus Haapaniemi “Black Lake” exhibition.
Photo: Courtesy of Karen Burshtein10/12Marimekko’s famous Kivet pattern, created by Maija Isola in 1956, was inspired by rocks near her atelier and created by cutting shapes with scissors. It’s found on dishes, pillows, and, here, Marimekko for Finnair house slippers.
Photo: Courtesy of Karen Burshtein11/12Samples of Marimekko colorways and patterns from the archive.
Photo: Courtesy of Karen Burshtein12/12The iconic Unikko poppy at the Marimekko printing facilities. “Finnish people have grown up with Marimekko and Aalto—we feel safe and Finnish with them, much like the Danish people do with oak and teak furniture, and the Swedish in combination of stick back chairs, Ikea, and kingdom royalism,” says Susanna Vento.
