Home that feels like Sunday

This is the home of a Finnish music composer and producer Hank Solo and the latest interior design project of Laura Seppänen Design Agency. It´s a 72 square meter two-room apartment in a hip Kallio district in Helsinki, Finland. Spacious and symmetrical floor plan with 3-meter room height appealed both Laura and the customer. The most important thing for Laura when designing apartments is the resident itself.

Hank Solo is very innovative and distinctive artist who takes a lot of risks and does things from very different perspective within his work, so Laura wanted to personify this in her design. The customer wished for a peaceful space where he can enjoy slow mornings and concentrate on his musical work. Laura came up with an idea of a industrial and luxurious yet cosy New York-style hotel room.

Beautiful wooden floor was hiding underneath a laminate layer. So first thing was to peel off the laminate and then treat the old planks with a light wax. Laura wanted to add some ruff surfaces to match with the paper white painted walls. The brick wall was unveiled to bring some brisk to the living room corner and bedroom got a soft grey concrete layer. Bedrooms old wardrobe got a new look by covering it with birch veneer made by local carpenter. Laura wanted to maximize the storage space by continuing the body from floor all the way to the ceiling.

The existing kitchen was in a good shape but needed some small but efficient modification. Wooden counter was covered with a black stain and sink was replaced with a black composite sink. New faucet, drawer pulls and wall lamps as well the open shelves recures the industrial atmosphere. Laura wanted to bring some warm wooden tones and to pair with the ruff surfaces and play with different materials and textures like brass, glass and leather.

Furnishing is a mix of new scandinavian design and iconic Finnish classics. Including some specialties like huge custom-made bronze glass mirror, hand sketched sideboard from Spanish Treku and Workstead wall lamp ordered straight from Brooklyn. Finnish abstract artist Tanja Meski painted art work that are especially designed for this flat. The massive dining table made from jute concrete is the center of the living room.

Customers old piano got a new appearance in the hands of Finnish graffiti artist Otto Maja. Laura had an idea of a graffiti-style grayscale artwork to hide the walnut coat, which Otto put into effect by painting paper planes with marker pens. To cheer up the final outcome Laura chose colorful art work and carpets with patterns to bring contrast to the white surfaces. Not to forget the carefully selected small items that bring out the homely atmosphere.

Laura Seppänen Design Agency