If you are in New York during New York Fashion Week (February 11.-28.) you should definitely stop by at Ivana Helsinki -store in Nolita, 251 Elizabeth Street. You’ll find there an amazing Ivana Helsinki collection and a pop-store from a Finnish company called Paloni.

Some of the labels in a NY pop-up-store are:
Ainokainen / Netta Kervinen / Helsinki
Balabin Art & Design / Nikolai & Melitina Balabin / Lappeenranta
Dead Birds & Lionheart  / Maria Jokela & Anni Niemi / Tampere
Emmi Malmström / Emmi Malmström / Helsinki
Fiona Timantti / Fiona Timantti / Helsinki
First Crush / Mari Himmanen / Helsinki
MUKA VA / Anna Mattelmäki & Emilia Kiialainen / Tampere
Olav / Jussi Salminen / Helsinki
OutsaPop Trashion / Outi Pyy / Helsinki
Second Chance / Maija Nuppula / Fiskars

You can call it design, indie fashion, art or handicraft. We call it passion.

says Minna Särelä, the founder of Paloni. I highly recommend the visit at the pop-up-store!

Photos: Nina Varis

New from Finland: Kauniste

I’m so excited to share design news from Scandinavia that are not from Sweden, but from Finland. Kauniste is a new multi-designer brand from Finland, and their shop in Helsinki was one of the hottest new gift shopping spots in the city for the Holidays I hear.

Kauniste was created by uniting young Scandinavian graphic designers and craftsmen to combine fresh design and traditional screen printing skills and with emphasis on using eco friendly materials, for example use water based, solvent free inks, and linen mix fabric as the linen makes the fabric durable, and it absorbs well moisture and dries fast. Linen leaves practically no surplus waste in production, and it’s qualities only improve with time. The ecological approach is seen in everything Kauniste does – if there is access fabric from production, they will just create a new product with the access fabrics. This idea has been used by Finnish Marimekko for centuries, one of their stable products, the small coin purses were born from scrap material and the idea of using it all.

You can shop at the Kauniste products in their webshop. My favorites are the pillow cases and the trays.

Note: We use interactive images – click on the product info and links in the photo.

Design gifts on a budget

What is great design? Great design is beautiful, functional, and high quality. Typically with the high quality design comes a high price tag, and it makes it often difficult to find affordable Holiday gifts for design lovers. Don’t be alarmed just yet, like in good design – sometimes less is better. Here are 7 functional modern design gifts for any design lover for less, and all under 50 bucks. Many of the gifts are unisex, or suitable also for those hard-to-buy teens or college students, or make a great gift for a co-worker in the office.

1. Kaunis Kauris deer mug by Marimekko ($22)
Kaunis Kauris mug by Marimekko is a beautiful mug, a perfect gift for a design-lover co-worker to keep on her desk. The mug was designed by Sami Ruotsalainen, and it’s part of Marimekko’s Oiva dinnerware collection. Finnish design brand Marimekko know has an online store in the US as well, making it super easy for you to shop for this and other design gifts this year.

2. iPad Cover by 10-Gruppen ($44)
iPad Cover by Swedish 10-Gruppen is a necessity of modern times. The same bold prints can be found on iPad and laptop covers, and also on phone covers/pouches. Great gift for dad, grad, teen or stylish mom.

3. Sagaform Upside-Down Vase/Candlestick Holder ($39.95)
The Sagaform Upside-Down Vase/Candlestick Holder also from Sweden is a design object with two functions: it’s a candle holder that turns into a flower vase by turning it upside down. Get it for your girlfriend for Christmas and you’ll know she’ll always have a vase to put those flowers you’ll keep (or start!) buying her. Perfect also for office, small apartments or even college dorm, great inexpensive design gift for co-worker, college student or a special friend.

4. Nuance Bottle Opener ($19.99)
The Nuance Bottle Opener looks like a water drop, and is elegantly designed and a beautiful object on its own – but at its best opening a refreshing cold drink. Design from Denmark.

5. Poster print ($29)
If you can’t get the design object.. get a picture of it, right? Posters and art prints are a great option for inexpensive gift items for design lovers, and I am particularly fond of the prints by Yumalum on Etsy, check out the vast collection, all under 30 bucks.

6. Design House Stockholm Bamboo Accessories ($19.95 and up)

The entire Design House Stockholm’s bamboo collection makes excellent gifts for anyone who likes great design and cooking or entertaining. The cutting boards serve both as cutting boards and serving trays.

7. Iittala Lempi glasses ($32 for two)
One of my favorite purchases this year has been the Lempi glasses designed by Matti Klenell for Iittala. They make a perfect gift for almost anyone. They stack and go well even in smaller kitchens, yet they are high quality, high design, and go from everyday table to dinner parties.
Two of the clear Iittala Lempi Glasses is $32 making it an inexpensive gift and you can start collecting design for someone you care about.

Read all of the Holiday Gift Guide posts and stay tuned for more from all of our writers.

Marimekko and Finnair partnership

Finnish design company Marimekko and Finnish airline company Finnair formed a three-year-long design partnership, starting spring 2013. Starting next spring all Finnair aircraft will feature a Marimekko for Finnair collection of textiles and tableware, featuring Marimekko’s classic patterns bringing Finnish design flair for Finnair’s customers on board. Finnair has partnered in the past with many Finnish icons, even Santa Claus, Moomin characters and Angry Birds, but this by far is one of the most exciting partnerships they have done so far, and I love how the Finnish experience can start for tourists flying to Finland already when they sit on their seat on their flight. During the three-year collaboration, an exclusive selection of Marimekko design products are also available for Finnair customers in in-flight sales and the Finnair Plus Shop. The design collaboration between Marimekko and Finnair is an important part of the growth strategy for both companies in the Asia-Pacific region, which is a key market area for both. I personally hope it will also bring more attention for tourism in Finland.

Finnair has had enormous growth on their Europe-Asia market, but I don’t know if the growth correlates to the tourism growth n Finland, although I was pleasantly surprised that the cruise ship I took from Helsinki to Stockholm last summer was filled with Asian travelers. I am hoping this partnership will inspire Finnair to incorporate even more overall Finnish experience for their flights. I personally love flying between the USA-Europe with Icelandair for the Icelandic experience on flights and it even has inspired me to actually not just have a layover in Iceland, but visit Iceland. I hope this partnership with Marimekko giving a glimpse of Finnish design will also entice travelers to visit beautiful Finland and what all the country has to offer for design-lovers and beyond.

Finnair has a strong design heritage, and this cooperation brings our design thinking to a new level. Our goal is to become a design airline, and bring our customers unique experiences for all five senses. Cooperation with Marimekko is an important step towards this target. Finnair aircraft will become roving ambassadors of timeless Finnish design and creativity, giving our customers a special experience when they fly with us.

says Mika Vehviläinen, CEO of Finnair.

Great design isn’t just about how things look, and the design collaboration between Marimekko and Finnair goes beyond changing the apron prints for stewardesses and it is a great example of great Finnish design. The Marimekko for Finnair collection is specially designed to add a light and fresh visual and tactile dimension to the onboard experience, while lightening the airline’s carbon footprint as well. The products are specifically designed for small spaces and the materials are light for ecological as well economic reasons.

Two of Finnair’s long-haul aircraft will also wear livery based on Marimekko designs. An Airbus A340 featuring Maija Isola’s iconic Unikko floral print from 1964 is already operating between Helsinki and Finnair’s Asian destinations, and it will be followed by another aircraft in Marimekko livery in spring 2013.

We hope that Marimekko’s sympathetic Unikko poppy flowers flying up in the sky as well as our other iconic prints as a part of the in-flight experience bring joy to people around the world. I believe that the Marimekko and Finnair design collaboration will bring to hectic and often grey air travel joy, peace of mind and beautiful memories.

says Mika Ihamuotila, Marimekko’s President and CEO.

Watch the video of more details and inspiration behind this collaboration.

Photos/video: Finnair & Marimekko

Finnish design company Artek turned 77 years old earlier this month, and one of the iconic Artek products, which achitect Alvar Aalto designed even before forming Artek, the “Stool 60″ turns 80 years next year. To celebrate this mark in time, designer Nao Tamura created this special version of the Stool 60 to be auctioned at the Design Trust’s 2012 Art+Design Benefit Auction on November 7th at Ralph Pucci International in New York City.

The stackable stool 60 was created in 1933 by Alvar Aalto represents the quintessence of functionalist furniture design. The simple idea behind this now-classic stool is based on three bent legs and a round seat. Nao Tamura gave this classic stool a new old look – old meaning that the seat portion looks like a cut tree with the year rings showing representing the 80 years since the designing of the stool.

Contained within a single tree is its unabridged chronicle Year by year, never skipping a beat, it records its history slowly. Some lines speak of seasons of plenty, while others cry of famine. The size of the rings are never the same. Each engraving bears witness to battles waged in the name of survival. To observe such is to humble ourselves to nature’s love of life.

This celebration was created by layering upon the chair’s beautiful geometric shape, a complex and organic graphic of life. My hope is that the Artek “Stool 60″ will evoke the bounty of nature as seen by the passage of 80 years of time.

Nao Tamura

Artek – Finnish Design Supremacy

Artek was founded in 1935 by four young idealists, Alvar and Aino Aalto, Maire Gullichsen and Nils-Gustav Hahl. The business idea of the company was “to sell furniture and to promote a modern culture of habitation by exhibitions and other educational means.” The founders of Artek advocated a new kind of environment for everyday life. They believed in a grand synthesis of the arts and wanted to make a difference in town planning as well as architecture and design.

The core of the Artek product range consists of Alvar Aalto’s furniture and lighting pieces. Today Artek is looking to extend the range and for example acquired the rights to Ilmari Tapiovaara’s furniture collection. Artek also continues to work in close collaboration with prominent international architects, designers and artists, such as Eero Aarnio, Shigeru Ban, Naoto Fukasawa, Harri Koskinen, Juha Leiviskä, Enzo Mari and Tobias Rehberger.

Here are the top 10 modern design products for home that I like and recommend.
Did you read What is great design and why it matters, where I also took a few pictures of some of my favorite design products and objects in my home? Here is a better look into products mentioned and a few more to present you top 10 great design products I recommend. These products stand the test of time, they are timeless and modern at the same time, and something you can proudly leave for your kids too. The Barcelona chair is really the only product here that is outrageously expensive, and you can find the Barcelena chair, the Eames chair and the Le Klint pendant as reproduction copies for much less. Of course the quality isn’t the same then.

Top 10 Modern Design Products for Home

1. Eames Molded Plastic Dining Chair with Wood Dowel Base by Charles and Ray Eames ($399) was originally designed in metal, and entered as a prototype in MoMA’s 1948 International Competition for Low-Cost Furniture Design. The chair evolved with the times and today the Eames chairs are made of recyclable polypropylene. The chair is beautiful but you truly understand why it’s great design once you sit on it. This chair is my personal choice also as a desk chair for every day work.

2. Le Klint Pendant 172 ($519.75) was designed by Danish Poul Christiansen in 1969 and it stands the test of time as a timeless design that works in any space.

3. Alvar Aalto vase is probably one of the most iconic Finnish design objects designed by the most famous Finnish architect Alvar Aalto, and it comes in several colors and sizes, but what reminds the same is the iconic rounded shape. A design classic that can be used in almost any room of your home, great gift item and timeless beautiful design.

4. Juicy Salif Citrus squeezer by Philippe Starck for Alessi ($100) is one of the most iconic products by Italian Alessi, and it was deisgned by Philppe Starck who originally drew it on a napkin on his vacation in Italy in the 1980′s. Like freshly squeezed orange juice on the mornings? Just put your glass under this one and squeeze your oranges directly into your glass. When not in use this makes an impressive design object in your kitchen or dining room.

5. Barcelona Chair by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe ($5,068) was originally designed to serve as seating for the king and queen of Spain already in 1929 and it has become of the design classics. Ludwig Mies van der Rohe designed the Barcelona Chair and Stool to furnish his German Pavilion at the International Exhibition in Barcelona. The Barcelona chair is a great example of modern design that is easy to decorate around with, whether your taste is minimalistic and modern or traditional.

6. Block Lamp by Harri Koskinen designed for Design House Stockholm ($129) is one of the newest products in this line up. Harri Koskinen designed the Block Lamp in 1996 and it’s been a design classic ever since winning several design awards. The lamp that looks like a light bulb inside a chunk of ice is a design object and a functional lamp that doesn’t just light up your room, but also your smile.

7. Unikko print designed by Maija Isola for Marimekko in 1964 is one of the most copied prints of our times. The cheerful poppy print comes in several colors, but the original red and white still reminds the most popular. The print is utilized in hundreds of different products over the years. One of my favorites is the coin purses, which are made from the left over fabric when other products are produced. Another true icon of sustainable design.

8. Lempi glasses by Matti Klenell for Iittala (starting $32 for set of two) is a new product for 2012, and bound to be a design classic used for years to come. It took years of designing to create a beautiful glass that is multifunctional in a way that it can be used in everyday use for milk and water, but also for wine in special occasions, and on the top of that you can stack for easy storage even in smaller kitchens. This is my use-everyday-for-everything glass.

9. Stelton Vacuum Jug by Erik Magnussen ($69.95) is a coffee thermos, yes, but it still stands out in its sleek form, and functional design as one of the modern design must haves. You don’t have to open the top to get coffee out, no dripping on your table cloth when you pour the coffee, just like a coffee thermos should work.

10. Tripp Trapp Highchair by Stokke ($214.17) is the only chair you will have to buy your kid. On the top – it’s one of the most inexpensive things you’ll ever buy your baby considering how many times it will be used. My 12-year old daughter still uses hers daily – now it has just moved from dining room to accompany her school desk. The Tripp Trapp highchair was designed to last from a baby to grandparent and grow as the baby grows, and it’s a family heirloom for sure.

What did I miss? What is your modern design favorite?

It’s so simple to make a fancy looking DIY center piece.
Get a tray, fill it with tea candle holders and candles. Done.

I created my modern turquoise and white candle tray already waiting for terrace season, and I can’t wait to have my deck ready for summer. It’s still been too rainy, and cold, but we are hoping to have our back deck ready this weekend and kick off the BBQ season. We’ll see.

Candle tray is an excellent way to bring indoors out for outdoor entertaining. They are great also for balconies and for smaller yards because they don’t require much space. Candle trays with tea candles are great for spots where you can’t add a fire pit, but still would like to add some natural flame. The tea candles are also better for fire safety than tall candles.

You can use any type of large tray and then collect various votive holders to fill it. Pick one or two colors or a theme, and it’s OK if they are mix match, that’s the whole point. You can even use washed empty jelly jars, small cups, drinking glasses, you name it. Pretty much any glassware works, and the more you mix the better it will look. Start arranging your tray in the middle and add the highest candle holders in the middle, add tea candles and you are done.

I was hoping to find an old tray from a flea market but saw this modern tray in a design store and once I got home I realized I had enough things at home to create a candle tray, and I didn’t have to buy anything else. I didn’t have that many actual candle holders so I used small vases, coffee cups and glasses. I used some of my Finnish Iittala turquoise glassware and added a few old coffee cups my grandmother gave me and filled them all with tea lights.

Now all I need is my deck ready and a table outside to enjoy a glass of wine in the candle light with my hubby at nights. The days are getting longer and longer in Sweden though – and I might have to wait until fall to use my tray outside.

Aqua & White Candle Tray shopping list

If you like some of the items on my tray, here are some of the products I used. Note that I have been collecting these over the years, and I have several different Iittala glasses in turquoise making it easy to mix. You can’t go wrong also when you mix with white or clear glass. Target, Walmart, IKEA and Kmart – every inexpensive store also sells small colorful tea light holders. Mix the inexpensive things with more expensive designer items and flea market finds and you will get the best mix. One of the best online store selections for candle holders of all colors and shapes is the Luna Bazaar.

Iittala Aalto mini bowl in turquoise ($120) – I love these for candles and candies and just as decorative items.

The iittala Kivi Candle Holder ($20) are less expensive and they look great grouped together.

I also added one iittala Kartio tumbler, and two Iittala Verna glasses on the tray to give height. The Verna glasses are older Iittala collection and no longer available but I didn’t want to risk my new Iittala Lempi glasses which would also have worked.

Ralph Lauren Pink Pony candle ($45) shows its support for the Pink Pony Fund in a pink hue, and it’s one of my favorite candles for the charity, the look and the scent. Maybe not the perfect match for the rest of the products, but it works.

I also added some old semi tasse coffee cups with plates and the Röstrand Mon Amie cups have a little bit the same look as my Grandmother’s old cups have. But the point is – it doesn’t all have to be a perfect color match and it actually looks better when you add unexpected surprises in the mix as well.

I’m in love with Gedigo.
Gedigo is a Finnish company that makes organizing and other home products. Gedigo’s products are made of durable natural materials like cotton, linen, wool, wood, reindeer skin and leather. Yes, you read it right – reindeer.

Piece of Finland Reindeer Hide Collection from Gedigo

They have a newer collection called Piece of Finland, which included reindeer hides for home decorating. I am craving for a few of the reindeer seat covers for terrace seating for spring and fall. Do you have any idea how warm reindeer skin is?

Coastal Living and Home Town Collections

I love Gedigo’s Finnish approach to design – everyday items should also look beautiful, but they should always be functional. Gedigo products are perfect for people on the go, and with active lifestyles. For example their home organization products like the ones in the Coastal Living category are perfect for your home – or your home away. You can easily take your medical bag or laundry bag with you for country weekend, or when you go sailing for the weekend. Whether you are on your summer house or at home (or college dorm), laundry will look good – and portable.

Same goes with the toiletry and other bags – they work for traveling and home. These products are perfect for people who live Skimbaco lifestyle.

Check out Gedigo online store for prices and more products.

Modern White Living Room Inspiration

When in Rome, do as the Romans do, right? So here starts my Swedish home decorating project, the Swedish style. While our home decorating style has always had Scandinavian influence, I am from Finland after all, we decided to create our new home in Sweden even with more Scandinavian style. I love very modern and minimalistic Swedish homes, but I don’t think I could maintain the pure white or even black and white minimalistic design, and I don’t know if I would really even feel at home in a house like that.

I love the modern sleek furniture but I would like to create a more homey feeling with combining the white modern furniture with colorful accents, souvenirs from our travels as decorations, children’s drawings as framed art, my photos printed..

Here are a few of my inspiration rooms. They of course don’t look like “us” because the personal belongings are collected over the years by the home owners, but you get the picture. I don’t want my home to look like from a home store catalog, where you can recognize every object – I want my home to have our personal signature.

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In a very Swedish way, our living room and dining room are the same space. The house was built in late 50′s and has the look of the era with birch wood flooring, and since we are renting, we can’t white wash it like in the picture below. The wood flooring will give the modern furniture a little warmer look, and I like it. (More about the dining space in later posts).

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When the furniture is all white, it will be very easy to change the look to dramatic or more serene, depending the season of the year. Both of the rooms below have simple white furniture and a sparkly ball lamp hanging from the ceiling, but with the wall art, pillows and other accents, the looks of these two rooms are completely different. And that’s what I’m craving for – a white canvas that I can change up.

The Perfect White Leather Sofa

In my dream room I’d have the white leather couch designed by Florence Knoll in 1954. This gorgeous white leather with chrome legs is a design classic.
The Philippe Starck’s Monseigneur Sofa is newer, from 2008, and most certainly would work as a second choice. Thanks to IKEA, the heaven of modern copycat products, the KARLSTAD sofa in white leather with aluminum legs will do the trick for under 1,000 bucks.
If you don’t like the buttons, the BoConcept sofa looks great too.

Armchair

The inspiration pieces here are the Ludwig Mies van der Rohe’s Barcelona Chair and the matching stool. To stay in the budget, you can find a knock off of the Barcelona set for much lower price.
IKEA has a matching KARLSTAD arm chair with the couch, but I don’t care for it as much – it’s little too heavy looking, I’d prefer something more elegant.. like Barcelona chair.

I like large coffee tables, and the Knoll couch and the Barcelona chair could perfectly be matched with the Zion coffee table from Living Furniture or even the large one is from Bagge Design.

I think a designer armchair is a must to complete the modern look we are going for, and luckily there are a few options in addition to the Barcelona chair.

Alvar Aalto’s Paimio chair.
Arne Jacobsen Egg chair.
The Eames rocker…

And see more of my modern chair loves.

Lighting

Since the winters are so dark in Sweden, the homes are filled with light coming from light fixtures. Swedish homes have lamps even on windows, so houses look pretty even when you drive by. I absolutely want to get more lamps than what we typically have had in our homes in the US. For the living room I’d like to have a large floor lamp, ideally the famous Arco lamp, but here are a few other options, even one from IKEA.

Arco Floor Lamp designed by Achille and Pier Giacomo Castiglioni for Flos.
Block lamp by Design House Stockholm.
Regolit lamp at IKEA.
Mama lamp by Thibault Désombre for Ligne Roset
More modern large floor lamps here.

So what do you think? Too much white on white? Can I pull it off and can I make it my own with colorful accents?

If you want to see all of my inspirations and more products I like, follow my Pinterest boards

When it comes to dishes, it really was clear to me what to keep and what not to keep in our latest move when we had to get rid of even more things than normally (when we move). It was the nice high quality white dishes and the colorful printed designer dishes that filled the moving boxes and every single piece from IKEA or Target was gracefully donated. Going to IKEA is tempting here in Sweden too, but donating everything again in three years is not tempting at all. I want to pay even more attention to dishes I’ll buy, and want to add on to my collection with pieces that are worth taking along when we move the next time.

Black & White Dishes to Adore

Here are some of my favorite black & white patterned dishes to adore.

1. notNeutral black links coffee set includes a coffee pot, creamer and a sugar bowl. The set is $64 and perfect for afternoon coffee with friends.
2. Marimekko’s Siirtolapuutarha plate ($35) is one of my favorite black and white plate designs. Simple, modern, fun.
3. http://www.huset-shop.com/mlle-oiseau-mug-by-lovisa-burfitt-for-rorstrand-p-1988.html">Mlle Oiseau Mug by Lovisa Burfitt for Rorstrand ($31) is the perfect designer mug for many purposes. Perhaps for the bathroom for the makeup brushes or toothbrushes? Perfectly brings you the Parisian feeling.
4. Moomin Pitcher by Arabia ($34.82) is the perfect water pitcher for family dinnertime.
5. Sagaform Keep Storage Jar with Oak Lid ($29.24) is perfect storage container & helps to make kitchen counters or inside of the cabinets look pretty.
6. iittala Taika black & white pasta bowl ($24) with its whimsical forest print makes breakfast granola taste so much better.
7. Filippa K Burkina bowl by Rörstrand ($18.71) is another perfect modern breakfast cereal or soup bowl.
8. Marimekko Räsymatto bowl in black and white ($25) is another perfect black and white designer bowl, deisgned by Sami Ruotsalainen and Maija Louekari. Serves perfectly also as a serving dish.