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colorful retro dream

This home is in an old fire station—and filled with unique DIY projects

Inka and Tuomas’s pastel-toned home is a delightful surprise. It’s located inside an old factory building that once served as both a factory and a fire station. High ceilings and a loft layout immediately won the couple over.

A pale-yellow brick building features a tower revealing its past as a fire station. The structure was turned into housing a few years ago, and a compact 50-square-meter loft apartment became home to Inka Tikkinen and Tuomas Merikanto and their dog, Urho. They created a cotton-candy-soft nest in the brick building.

Tuomas Merikanto and Inka Tikkinen on the sofa
With this apartment, Inka looked to pastels. “I don’t have much say when it comes to colors, but I love Inka’s overall style,” Tuomas says with a smile.
A dog looking out the window
The sofa is Urho’s domain. The IKEA Söderhamn sofa has replaceable covers, making it perfect for life with a dog. Even with the large windows, the home is a bit dim, so the dark blue sofa covers never truly stood out, and they were replaced with pink ones from Bemz.

The young couple has been together their entire adulthood. They were captivated by the building’s history, once a shirt-and-apron factory and later a fire station. The tall ceilings, classic windows, and loft astounded them. Standard solutions didn’t suit the place, so they learned to make furniture themselves. They wanted pieces that were both practical and matched their personal style.

Inka and Tuomas wanted to preserve the apartment’s character. Still, they made it their own—a pastel-hued space that’s stylish, relaxed, and playful all at once.

A yellow old fire station building in the Möysä district of Lahti
The building was converted into housing in 2018, and its intriguing history as a shirt-and-apron factory and a fire station was one of the main reasons the couple moved in. It sits right by a beach yet is just over a kilometer from downtown. Living in a communal building also means getting to know your neighbors. Tuomas met one of them during a sauna session.

Plenty of DIY projects

They didn’t want the TV to look like a black box, and there was no reason to replace a functioning TV with a Frame-style model. Inka decided to craft her own frame. The outer part is made from thin wooden strips. The white inner frame is DC Fix adhesive film. You can switch between different “art screen savers” found on YouTube.

Handmade TV frames
Inka built wooden frames for the television.
TV on top of an Ivar cabinet
The cabinet was created by placing a glued wood board on top of IKEA Ivar cabinets as a countertop and painting them with Frenchic Paint’s Stone Rosie chalk paint. Since the paint has a built-in topcoat, it’s more durable than standard chalk paint.

A tiled table made by hand

A handmade tiled table
“For my first go at tiling, this turned out surprisingly well. Tiny mistakes only add character,” Inka muses.
  • The coffee table was made from 12 mm glued wood boards and wooden strips. First, the legs and their supports were attached to the tabletop, then the table was tiled.
  • Mosaic tiles were attached to a mesh backing, making installation easy. They were glued to the wood surface with wood glue, so no mortar was needed since they wouldn’t get much wear.
  • The tiles were grouted with black grout. A small batch was easy to mix by hand, so there was no need for a drill mixer.
  • Once the grout was finished, thin wooden strips were attached to the table’s edges. Finally, the wooden parts were painted.

Inka praises the landlord’s choice of kitchen—she would have gone with the same herself. This white kitchen is modern and works as a blank canvas for the rest of the decor.

There’s no dining table in this home at all. The pair eats at the island, on the sofa, or on the floor.

“I wanted more cabinet space than a table, so we made the island. We did plan on adding a wider countertop, but it never got finished,” Tuomas says.

Tuomas Merkikanto making coffee
Tuomas works as a barista at Kahiwa coffee roastery. He has won the World AeroPress Championship. Sometimes he makes coffee in the Chemex pot shown here, invented in the United States in the 1940s.

The island was built from a ready-made IKEA Malm dresser, finished on the back with fluted paneling. Neither of them had any carpentry experience, but they decided to give it a try. Once their first project turned out well, they felt encouraged to keep going.

They didn’t buy a large set of tools right away. They started with a drill and saw Inka got from her mother, refining each detail as they collected more tools over time.

“Apparently, woodworking runs in the family. I’ve always been creative—drawing, painting, and making clothes,” Inka says.

Inka Tikkinen walking up the stairs
Urho ventures partway up the stairs to the loft but doesn’t dare go farther. The linear art prints along the staircase, drawn by Claudia Talley, were ordered from the Norwegian online store Inzpero, which mostly features small-scale artists. The black frames work well with the black steel beam in the stairs and the loft’s sturdy metal railings. Getting used to the zigzag steps took a moment. The lilac shoe cabinet under the stairs was custom-built.

Off-the-shelf furniture wouldn’t have worked in the low-clearance loft with its beams and enclosures. The headboard was built around one of these enclosures, creating a fairly deep design that also serves as a wide bedside surface. The top was covered in paint stir sticks.

A custom-built enclosed headboard
The lilac bedding is from Jotex, and the floral pillowcases are by Vallila. The mushroom-shaped lamp is from Ellos, while the round box for small items is from Hemtex. The chair print has traveled with them through several apartments. Bought from Desenio, it fits here perfectly, as Inka is also interested in furniture design.
An armchair on the loft
There’s also a small seating area in the loft. The wire chair is from Jotex, and the armchair is from the same IKEA Söderhamn series as the sofa, but in a different hue. The Flower Market poster is by Swedish graphic designer Astrid Wilson.

The workspace is usually brimming with Inka’s projects, clothes, and jewelry.

Tuomas calls it an “explosion of creativity”.

Inka studied fashion and clothing design. Today, she teaches zero-waste pattern making, aiming to leave no scrap fabric behind. Alongside teaching, she works at a clothing store and designs her own clothes and jewelry.

Inka Tikkinen creating jewelry
Inka got her desk from her school, LAB, when it relocated.
Earrings designed by Inka Tikkinen
Inka’s jewelry reflects the same color palette as her clothes and home.

Items and colors in the home recall the late ’80s and early ’90s. The couple loves the vibe, even though they weren’t born yet at the time.

“We’re both old souls,” Tuomas explains.

They find the style of those times experimental, clever, and fearless.

Paintings by Inka Tikkinen
All the artwork in the workspace was painted by Inka.
White objects on a pink surface
This slender metal IKEA shelf was painted with Rustoleum chalk paint in Dusty Pink. Everything on it is a thrift-store find. The fruit poster came from Desenio.
White candlesticks and twisted candles on a pink surface
Now Inka and Tuomas often pick up white objects when they go thrift shopping.

Inka’s tips for DIY beginners

  • You don’t have to know everything immediately. After my experience with woodworking in elementary school, I hadn’t handled a saw or drill, so I truly started from scratch. You learn by doing. Don’t be afraid of mistakes.
  • You can always paint over it. This is something a friend once said, and I’ve followed it ever since.
  • Don’t settle for something off the shelf. It’s better to spend time and effort building furniture that really fits than constantly buying new pieces.
  • Start small. Develop your skills little by little. If picking up a drill feels daunting, ease in with simpler projects.
  • Ask for help. If there’s no expert around you, the internet is packed with how-to videos, Facebook groups, and Instagram accounts offering advice.
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