“It’s as quiet as at the cottage”: inside Anna and Miika’s converted attic apartment
Anna and Miika bought their Helsinki apartment with “potential goggles” on. After three months of renovations, they now enjoy a converted attic space featuring a rugged brick wall and room for inherited treasures and Grandma’s art.
The designer of Anna and Miika’s apartment building, Emil Svensson, created many buildings particularly in Helsinki’s Etu-Töölö district. Because it is protected, this building is considered highly significant for its cultural heritage.
The Artek coffee table from Anna’s childhood home was refurbished at Fasetti’s carpentry workshop, and the repair removed teeth marks Anna suspects she left herself. The schematic drawing was created by Miika’s late father. The painting from Anna’s grandma’s collection is signed Scott 1999.
They bought a Lundia cupboard for storing dishware as the kitchen lacked space. The hare poster is by the design company Miiko. The spindle-back chairs, previously used in their Tornio home, had been in storage waiting to be brought back into use. The rug is an auction find. Anna’s grandma painted the piece depicting Anna’s grandpa as its model. The drawing by Jenni Kujala features their dogs, Nenna and Pipsa.
White-painted chimney stacks separate the kitchen from the living room. During the renovation, professionals replaced the floor and kitchen, while Anna and Miika painted the walls. They chose a knotted spruce plank floor from Arboret, finished with oil wax.
Home: An apartment building built in 1911 in the Kamppi district of Helsinki. 2 rooms + kitchen, 73 square meters (approx. 786 sq ft).
Who lives here: Anna and Miika Halonen and the dogs Pipsa and Nenna.
Follow on Instagram: @ullakkokoti.
Anna, what changes did you make to the apartment?
We’ve lived here for a year and a half. Although we initially wanted to move right in, we ended up renovating for almost three months. The attic was converted for residential use in 2007, and it showed: cherry-colored parquet, a matching kitchen, glass doors, and stainless steel. We had to put on our “potential goggles” to see what this space could become. Luckily, the stunning brick wall was already revealed. In our previous home in Punavuori, we also had a brick wall, so it immediately made this place feel like home.
How did the interior design come together?
We moved here from a studio, so we needed more furniture. We didn’t want everything brand-new, and we’d already spent quite a bit on the renovation, so we looked for furniture at auctions.
As for decor, we mostly let things fall into place—whatever happens, happens. We’re not the type to swap out textiles all the time! We prefer items with stories and memories attached. We’ve gathered a lot of older and inherited pieces. At home, it’s not just about how things look, but also how they feel.
The armchair and ottoman are from Hakola’s collection. We only had one requirement: the armchair had to be ‘incredibly comfortable.’ Anna planned it as her personal cozy spot, but Miika usually claims it. The shelf they bought at auction is a classic Alvar Aalto design.
The black kitchen was purchased from Kvik. The small upper cabinets were taken out during the renovation, and fortunately, the old kitchen was put to good use elsewhere. The residents tiled the backsplash and emphasized the grout lines with a dark color, then chose quartz composite for the countertops.
Anna, how does your grandmother’s artistic side show in your home?
Here we have many works by my grandma Hanna-Liisa Husa. She was quite an extraordinary person, not the traditional notion of a grandma. She painted often, and her artwork has followed me from one home to the next. Somehow, it feels like it fits best right here.
I definitely got my visual eye from her. It’s important to me that things look appealing, and whenever I’m making choices for our home, I wonder how she would do it. Her presence is always here.
Anna inherited her enthusiasm for art and visual design from her grandmother.
Anna says her late grandparents were ‘auction fiends,’ and their belongings have now passed on to the next generations. From her grandma’s estate, she picked a horse statue as a keepsake, one she was never allowed to touch as a child.
Anna has developed a green thumb in this home. The plant stands were an inexpensive find at Plantagen, just a few euros. Plenty of natural light streams in through the skylights.
They found the Artek Domus chair at the Helander auction, with a later addition of leather upholstery. Anna bought frames from Jysk to display a completely different poster, but it didn’t look right in that spot. The filler poster beneath turned out to be so nice that she kept it. The lamp was donated by a classmate leaving for work in Sweden.
How do you spend time at home?
This is where we decompress and act exactly how we want. Relaxation is hugely important in our home life. We’re real homebodies—spending easygoing time with the dogs and cooking together. We want this to be a place where we feel comfortable and can each find our own corner. I’m usually on the couch, and Miika is in the armchair.
We moved to Helsinki for work. We’ve always been drawn to older buildings, and the city has felt welcoming from the start. This home is perfect for us now. We’ve only occasionally tossed around the idea of a cottage.
The old suitcase, passed down from Anna’s grandparents, became the perfect cozy dog bed in our previous apartment when we realized nothing else suited them. It also fits in nicely with the rest of the decor.
It’s sheltered and quiet under these slanted ceilings—like being at a cottage. Above the bed hang two meaningful maps: one of Tornio and one of Kamppi. The nearby blocks are named for birds; our own block is called Pilkkasiipi.
A small window brings light into the bathroom, and the silkkimaija and peikonlehti thrive in the humidity. Because the bathroom was already in good condition, all we did was replace the cabinet knobs. We might install new vanity units or a shower wall at some point.
