Making room for a baby

Foodie’s cozy family studio: “Every single inch is in use, but I’m happy we stayed here”

When Finnish food writer and influencer Tara Junker was looking for her first apartment with her boyfriend, finding the right kind of kitchen was more important than the square footage. Now the studio apartment in Helsinki’s Kallio district is a family home.

Author Anna Varakas

Images Antti Rintala

October 21, 2025Lue suomeksi

Tara and Atlas enjoy spending time on the sofa. The round rattan chair is from Granit, and the wool rug is from Jotex. The small table was built by Roope. It has wheels underneath. “It’s convenient to be able to move the table around when playing with the baby.”

Once Atlas’s eyesight developed, Tara noticed that the pictures above the sofa caught his attention. The frames contain posters, postcards, and paintings from her childhood home.

Home: A studio in a 1930s apartment building in Helsinki’s Kallio neighborhood. A combined kitchen and living room plus a sleeping alcove, 37 m² (399 ft²).

Who lives here: Food influencer and author Tara Junker, 29, an electrical designer Roope Kivistö, 31, and Atlas-baby.

Follow on social media: @tarajunker

Tara, why is the kitchen the most important place in your home?

My mother always says that we have a kitchen with an apartment, not the other way around. When you enter, you first come upon the kitchen, and when you sit in the living room, it’s as if you’re sitting in the kitchen. But that reflects the way I want to live.

Food and cooking have always been the core of my entire life and daily routine. I had a food blog when I was just 14, and ever since then, I’ve photographed everything I eat. I work as a food influencer and journalist and do my work from home. I need to have a proper kitchen with enough space to cook.

In her table settings, Tara prefers mismatched dishes. She collects them on trips and at flea markets. Tara tiled the kitchen’s back wall with elongated green tiles and added upper cabinets to maximize storage space.

The table is from the Mat restaurant, where Tara used to work. The chairs are the Nackanäs model from Ikea. The Helsinki poster was a gift from a friend when Tara studied in Sweden. Her best memories at home involve dinners and birthday parties. They have hosted up to thirty guests, and on those occasions, the food was served in the living room.

A small shelf adds extra storage in tight spaces. You can place your most beautiful wine glasses on top, for example.

Tara appreciates having countertops, prep space, and practical storage in the kitchen. She considers a dishwasher essential. “I couldn’t live without one. That would be my nightmare,” she says.

The most important ingredients are always within easy reach. Tara’s household staples include lentils, pasta, and rice. She always has them on hand, and Tara can’t understand people who keep their pantries empty.

Tara also reads a lot with Atlas. Cookbooks are good reading material with a baby, because they usually have large pictures, Tara says.

A deep sink that fits large baking sheets is an important detail for someone who cooks a lot.

What made you fall in love with this apartment?

Small apartments with a large kitchen are rare in Kallio. Usually they only come with a kitchenette, but we wanted something else. On the other hand, we didn’t want to start renovating, which is why it took us a long time to find the right place. I appreciate personality in a kitchen. Too many kitchens are modern and bland white, which I find dull.

This kitchen is cozy, and it’s also open. We have guests over frequently, and when I’m cooking, I can chat with them at the same time.

The parents’ bed was built by Roope and hides plenty of storage space inside.

The baby crib, found at a flea market, is in Tara’s former food photography spot. Beautiful natural light streams in from the end window. The bookshelf is from String.

The alcove was painted before the baby arrived using Cover Story’s plastic-free paint. The shade is Laila. The poster is from Desenio. The shelf was made by Roope.

Orange and burgundy create a fresh contrast with the light blue walls.

Is there anything else your kitchen is missing?

Natural light. I take a lot of photos, and food looks more appealing and delicious in natural light. A window in the kitchen is my dream. That’s what I want for my next kitchen.

Tara has a collection of one hundred cookbooks. Yotam Ottolenghi, Anna Jones, and Nagel Slater are among her favorite cookbook authors. Tara has written four cookbooks herself.

There are cookbooks everywhere: on the bookshelf, on the living room table, and on the floor by the sofa.

How did pregnancy affect your thoughts on the home?

It was quite stressful. At first, we thought we had to move because a baby needs space, their own room, and a pretty changing table. But in hindsight, I’m really happy we didn’t do it just for the extra space, because we enjoy being here. When you have your first child, you can’t really know in advance what you’ll need.

What purchases did you make for the baby?

We bought a beautiful changing mat, because I knew it would be visible. Then we got a crib, a high chair, and a dresser. That was everything at first. Now every single square meter of our home is in use, but I’m still glad we stayed. When everything else in life changed anyway, our location within walking distance of the city center and near restaurants and cafés stayed the same. That was absolutely most important for me.

How does the home feel now?

I honestly don’t feel like I’m suffering from living in a small home. Baby stores do great marketing, but a baby doesn’t need a lot of stuff, and you can always get more later.

The day we came home with Atlas was the happiest day of my life. It felt so unreal that now all three of us live here.

Tara’s goal is for Atlas to eat as much of the same food as his parents as possible, except for salt. That way, he’ll get used to their flavor preferences.

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