“This is the house of our dreams, an old lady we’ll cherish forever”: inside Marko and Tiina’s pastel log house with their triplets
Marko and Tiina’s pink log house with their triplets features sweet patterns and mouthwatering pastel hues that go together perfectly. “Our home has a little bit of everything, but we also like a little bit of everything,” Tiina says.
When Tiina and Marko’s triplets were born 12 years ago, the family moved into a new house in a suburb of Rauma called Äyhö. It turned out to be a mistake, because almost everything went wrong. The nearby school was closed due to mold, and the relatively new house never felt like home. Plus, it was too far from downtown Rauma. Eventually, they started looking for an older house closer to the city center. They discovered their dream home in the Nummi area, right by Old Rauma. Tiina explains how it happened:
“Nummi was a familiar area to us because we had strolled our babies around here. At the same time, we admired the older wooden houses in all their different colors. My father was also born in the Nummi neighborhood. But when the triplets were little, we didn’t have much energy to move, let alone renovate.”
In 2016, we noticed one of our dream houses for sale on Tori.fi. Its sheet metal roof was leaking, and the paint on the exterior siding had peeled off in places. A load-bearing log had gotten a bit damp. But all the windows had been replaced, and the electrical and plumbing systems were new. The house wasn’t a wreck but a great opportunity. One of Marko’s friends, a professional, inspected the roof and said that fixing the leak would be enough. The sellers also agreed to repair the load-bearing log – so, we bought the house and renovated it.
“Our home has a little bit of everything, but we also like a little bit of everything.”
Our home has a little bit of everything, but we also like a little bit of everything. Previously, this old house was decorated in beige, brown, and green. The atmosphere was dark and heavy. Even the curtains were so thick that the sun couldn’t wake the house up.
I have always loved color. Marko has quietly learned to appreciate my style and says he’s happy with my choices. Sharp edges in interior design just aren’t our thing. In my opinion, coziness comes from color and from a home that truly looks lived-in.
“We have frosted our home with colors and patterns to make it just right for us.”
We love to buy things second-hand and only acquire items that fit our home and are truly needed. I don’t scour flea markets or constantly shop for something new.
The children got to choose their own wallpapers. We also redid the walls in other rooms and replaced the kitchen floor. We completely renovated the bathroom and painted the exterior of the house. It was important for us to move into an older home that didn’t need everything rebuilt from scratch. We have frosted our home with colors and patterns to make it just right for us. Most recently, we renovated the sauna and washing areas. We’ve done all the updates gradually, not all at once.
The most important thing in our home might be our open-door policy. Friends are always welcome, whether they’re ours or the kids’. It’s always been that way, no matter where we lived.
After the triplets were born, we received a tremendous amount of help from our friends. We weren’t able to go out much, so they all came to us. Over coffee, someone would feed Taimi milk from a bottle or change the boys’ diapers. We still appreciate that so much! In the summers, friends often come over for a sauna in our yard.
“When the children were babies, we knew how challenging it is to be alone with three infants, and we didn’t want to leave one parent on their own. That’s another reason why our home is so incredibly important to us.”
“When the children were babies, we knew how challenging it is to be alone with three infants, and we didn’t want to leave the other parent on their own. That’s another reason why our home is so incredibly important to us.”
When the children were babies, we made a conscious decision not to live a ‘tag team’ life. Since we knew how challenging it is to be alone with three babies, we didn’t want to leave the other parent on their own. That’s another reason why our home is so incredibly important to us.
Taking care of three children naturally left us very little time together as adults. Without photos, we wouldn’t remember a thing about those baby years. But we drew strength from each other and from the kids. Getting through it together was a wise decision.
After a ten-year break, we recently started going to the gym together again and are taking better care of ourselves. We also plan to launch our cruising boat in the spring. We’ve done a lot of boating, even with the kids. Now we can embark on new adventures as a family in our boat, Lovely.
