Jenni’s home: a unique blend of form and function

Marketing professional Jenni lives in a playful post-modern home in Espoo with her husband Tommi and their children, Eliel, Seela and Isla.

Visiting Jenni’s home was a journey into a world where architecture transcended functionality. Constructed in 1992, this home is a unique blend of form and function, serving as a living canvas for the family who has called it home for the past three years. 

Their home is like entering a realm where architecture becomes an art form. The exterior hints at the unconventional within – a fusion of sleek modern lines and hints of playfulness that immediately captivate the eye, promising an interior that defies the ordinary. Each corner revealed a thoughtful design decision, a reflection of the homeowner’s commitment to creating a living space that was not only aesthetically pleasing but also a true representation of a unique and vibrant personalities. Patch 01 is truly in the right place.

How and why you chose this rug for your home?

We had been looking for a rug for the living room for some time that would have enough character to fill this gathering place and focal point of our home. Jenni saw the Patch 01 rug at Habitare furniture fair in fall 2022. The following spring, the rug moved to us. The rug’s geometric patterns felt fresh, and the same tones as in our home are also repeated in the rug. It was lucky that this warmly soft rug was also found in a large enough size (250×350cm).

Maintenance of wool rugs can feel troublesome, how do you take care of yours?

It’s easy to keep a wool rug clean if you just grab the vacuum cleaner regularly and remove the stains as soon as they’re fresh. Small stains have been removed just like from wool knits – with light pressure. The best thing to do on a snowy frosty day is to give the rug a good snow wash – it’s the best refresher.

Tell us about your furniture, what’s important?

This is the fourth home in which this furniture has found its place with our lives. We had been dreaming about a few interior items for a long time and we finally got them for this home; Wassily armchairs and Noguchi coffee table. They have a wonderful sculptural design language and they are right at home in the gallery-like space of the living room. Ikea cabinets and stools also live here in perfect harmony with design classics. Green plants are an important part of our home comfort and vitality.

Home objects are memories from the past: some have been acquired from our travels together, some are from the time we didn’t know each other yet. All of them have their own meaningful story. The interior takes shifts shape over time – right now it looks like this and by the evening it will look a little different when the rug gets buried under a pile of Legos and children’s books.

This rug has also been a practical interior design element for us, because we spend most of our time with the baby specifically on the rug. We hardly have time to lie down on the sofa. We will certainly continue to surround ourselves with beautiful things, but right now we feel there’s no need for anything new.

Let’s talk about inspiration, where do you find it?

We are inspired by everything that shows that someone has dared to differ from the familiar and safe. Contemporary art is often inspiring because it is difficult to evaluate it unequivocally – the catch of the work may lie somewhere else than the appearance of the work. It can be an insight, an event or a feeling that the work evokes.”

The most uninspiring thing would be getting stuck in a certain style direction or era, rather we admire openness – openness of spaces and also openness to different things. We admire many kinds of homes, their moods and details; it’s always so inspiring and also an honor to be a guest in someone else’s home. 

The walls in our home are mostly white, and it’s satisfying to keep things organised against them. The mind stays fresh when there is fresh air in the home and light is allowed to move freely. 

In the burgundy bay window, you don’t need to be inspired by anything if you don’t want to, you can just be there and look out the window 

Photos: Roosa Rauatmaa Text: Wendy Turner