A new lease on life

Inside Sanna’s giant studio apartment in a former Kingdom Hall—complete with a pulpit and marble walls

Sanna Vapalahti lives in a former Kingdom Hall of Jehovah’s Witnesses in Hamina, Finland. During the major renovation, the rows of benches were removed, but Sanna kept the pulpit.

Author Vivi Wihanto

Images Mikko Kaaresmaa

January 9, 2026Lue suomeksi

Living in central Hamina, Finland, Sanna Vapalahti has almost the same breakfast every morning at a café near the Town Hall. She orders a ham roll with a hard-boiled egg and a couple of cups of strong coffee, sometimes a traditional meat pie, too. On weekends, a group of five to ten people gathers at the café table. They have their own WhatsApp group and jokingly call themselves retired-man spotters.

“It refers to this old stereotype of retired men who have reached a certain age and state of mind, who know everything about life, and often sit in cafés. We slightly younger ones are the spotters,” Sanna says, laughing.

Home: A former general store and Kingdom Hall of Jehovah’s Witnesses in Hamina, built in 1928; 1 room + kitchen + bathroom + entryway + 2 × WC, 145 m² (1,560 square feet).

Who lives here: Entrepreneur Sanna Vapalahti, 54.

Follow on social: @sisustuslaventeli

Sanna’s home is at street level. The windows have been replaced, but they’re the same size as the originals. For the new windows, Sanna wanted divided panes. The middle window once marked the entrance.

The brass-toned baskets in the entry are made from coffee packets. Sanna commissioned them from Kaisa Mäkelä. The baskets serve as recycling bins for cardboard and paper. The coat rack was made by Sanna’s father, and the rug is from a local buy-and-sell shop. The wallpaper is by Cole & Son.

The striking light fixtures, marble tiles, and characterful parquet floor date back to the Kingdom Hall era.

Sanna was living in Spain in 2019 when, visiting Hamina in winter, she noticed a for-sale sign in the window of a familiar building. A couple of years earlier, Sanna had made an offer on the former Kingdom Hall of Jehovah’s Witnesses, which stood empty, but it hadn’t been accepted.

“I fell in love with the sense of space and the ceiling height—more than three meters (over 9’10”). There’s room to breathe here.”

Originally, the building housed merchant Mimmi Ulander’s general store, which sold fabrics, clothing, household goods, and even cars. Mimmi bequeathed the building to Jehovah’s Witnesses on the condition that they would care for her spinster sister for the rest of her life.

“I fell in love with the sense of space and the ceiling height—more than three meters (over 9’10”). There’s room to breathe. I made an offer for the same amount as before, and after negotiations it was accepted.”

The former pulpit is the perfect spot for the TV. Sanna brought the yellow sofa set from her previous home. The red armchairs are from Asko. The red rug was custom-made in Pakistan, and the painting is by Jukka Rintala. The wall color is Tikkurila M442 Vuono.

Behind the wooden sofa sits a Finnish-made bed over 30 years old that guests often miss. The bar cart is by Riverdale and from Sanna’s own shop, as are the dark green carafe, brass ice bucket, and mixer.

“From the start, it was clear that no separate rooms would be built. Sanna wanted the space to feel like a loft.”

The stunning floral arrangement is composed of artificial plants by Mr Plant; Sanna’s friend Sade Tepponen helped with the styling.

The hall was full of rows of benches bolted to the floor. There was also a hearing loop, which meant cables snaked inside the floor and left lots of holes. Those—and the bench bolt holes—had to go, but otherwise Sanna wanted to preserve as much as possible. To repair the floor, Sanna contacted a local flooring company.

“It turned out they had installed the parquet here in the first place. In an incredible stroke of luck, they still had a few packages of the same parquet in storage. Every plank with bolts was replaced, and in the end the whole floor was sanded,” Sanna recalls.

The marble panels on the walls are original. Only their trim was painted gold. The ceiling and wall lights are original too.

The shell chair, brass shelf, and pendants are from Sanna’s own store, Sisustus Laventeli. Sanna found the old smoking table in a dumpster. Its veneer had deteriorated and pieces were missing, but Sanna’s father restored it to like-new condition.

On the tray sits Tamara Aladin’s Cleopatra vase—the Finnish designer lived in Hamina. (Read more about her here!) The green bottle and aquavit glasses are from a buy-and-sell shop. The Pinocchio cushion is a souvenir from Florence.

Sanna wanted a cohesive, loft-style space, knowing her children would soon move out. The cabinets and floor of the kitchen, last remodeled in the 1980s, were replaced.

“I absolutely wanted to keep the marble panels on the walls, and the statement ceiling lights. I picked up the gold tone for the upper and lower trims framing the marble walls. I designed the renovation myself and drew inspiration from the building’s era.”

Under the kitchen’s original interior window sits a chest made by a local craftsman. The porcelain dog came from Sanna’s grandma’s home—originally bought at an agricultural fair. The dog’s important job is keeping the kitchen door propped open.

In Sanna’s view, the kitchen turned out highly functional, even though it’s short on square meters.

Sanna wanted a checkered floor in the kitchen, but finding the perfect tiles proved trickier than expected. She eventually found them at the local Haminan Puupojat. The kitchen is by Novart. The windows look onto the inner courtyard.

The china cabinet holds plenty of dishes, glassware, and other things. The cabinet is from Sanna’s interiors shop.

When Sanna spends the evening with friends, the group often gathers around her ten-person dining table. Sanna chairs the Hamina theater association, and her home has hosted both theater wrap parties and election-night gatherings.

“I’m especially happy when I can have both of my children home at the same time. My daughter studies in Oslo, and I get her here a few times a year. With the kids we often do everyday things—cook, play games, and watch series on TV,” Sanna says.

From the hall there’s a view into the entry, whose wallpaper was found at the local paint store Haminan Värisilmä.

The dining table’s right-hand chairs came from a Facebook dumpster-diving group. Sanna painted them in black and gold tones. The mirrored chest is Sanna’s friend’s grandma’s old bridal dresser, and Sanna has taken it into her care.

Sanna never has fresh flowers. She favors artificial flowers by Mr Plant. They look so real that Sanna’s mother almost watered them during a visit.

Many locals have been curious about converting the former Kingdom Hall into a home. Visitors have included people who once spent time in the building. Sanna enjoys showing them she’s cared for the space well.

“They’ve appreciated that I’ve kept a lot of the old and not tossed everything into a dumpster. The funniest comments, though, have come from my kids’ friends. They often marvel that someone could actually live like this. My home admittedly looks a bit like a church, but the sofa and dining table make it clear that this is a real home.”