A Finnish designer explored the potential of a home with history and designed the home with respect for its features.
Designer Ilkka Mälkiäinen hunted for the perfect country house for several years until he stumbled upon this one in the provincial town of Guittinen in western Finland. The house was old, requiring investments and time, but it was Ilka who seemed suitable, so the designer decided to buy it without hesitation.
A smaller house was attached to the new house – for a traditional Finnish sauna. Along with the restoration work, Ilkka included the arrangement of a spacious terrace in the list of priority cases, where he planned to plant his favorite hydrangeas. As a result, two terraces appeared at once – one more was attached to the sauna building.
Since the designer constantly lives and works in Helsinki, and the country house was intended for weekends and holidays, Ilka managed to close his eyes to many of its imperfections, such as creaky floorboards and rough finishes, without difficulty. In addition, the designer is a big fan of houses with history, so it was decided not to hide the atmosphere of the old house, but, on the contrary, to emphasize and enhance it.
Within the framework of such a concept, there was no need to strive for even, uniform surfaces of walls and floors. Finishing flaws show through even through several layers of paint, but this does not bother the owner at all.
It is worth looking at the work of the designer with color and texture. The light here alternates with dark, matte with glossy, and monochrome rooms are diluted with active decor. For the anaphylactic layout of the house, such contrasts are an additional portion of rhythm.
The furniture included a lot of vintage things – tables, chests of drawers, decor items. All this is mirrored, and almost every item has a pair: the owner’s passion for symmetry is “to blame”.
Country housing turned out to be nostalgic, as intended, and somewhat reminiscent of typical Russian houses in the countryside. Apparently, it is precisely such situations that should be called timeless interiors.
