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Vibrant archipelago home

Vibrant colors and a garden of their dreams finally made this couple feel at home: “Nothing bothers us anymore”

Sanna and Tero Jokela had a traditionally inspired house built right next to Sanna’s parents on the family’s land in the Turku Archipelago: “There's a sense of security here for everyone.”

When the foghorn sounds from Airisto, it means there’s fog at sea. Otherwise, from the Jokelas’ yard, you wouldn’t immediately guess you’re in the Turku archipelago in Finland. The island is so large that the sea is out of sight.

About ten years ago, when their children were small, the Jokela family bought a traditionally inspired prefab home. Because Sanna grew up just across the road, their kids could enjoy the same childhood surroundings she did. Now that the children are teenagers, the house has undergone a transformation as well. There’s finally been time to update each room to reflect their own style.

Home: Completed in 2014 on Satava Island in the Turku Archipelago, with five rooms and a kitchen (136 m²), plus a 60 m² utility building.

Living here: Sanna and Tero Jokela, children Elli, 13, and Jonne, 11.

Follow on social media: @villajonnellinen

gray wooden house and garden
When the Jokelas’ house was built, the yard was a former field. From the start, the goal was to reclaim it for a garden. The area that needs mowing keeps getting smaller as more plants fill in.
The Jokela family on the porch
Shade with curtains. In summer, the family spends most of their time outside, “grilling and chilling.” On hot days, the deck can get too scorching, so they head to the pergola. Delicate lace curtains provide gentle shade.
blue hydrangeas in a pot on the porch
The large, round, blue hydrangeas are real, not artificial—even though they might look that way.

How did it feel to build on the family land?

Sanna: My grandparents, who were evacuated from Karelia, built a post-war home across the road, where my cousin now lives. My parents built a 1970s brick house next door. Then we built our house on what used to be a field, and my sister built hers a short distance away soon after. At first, it concerned me that the house was so close to my childhood home. I was mentally against it for quite a while. But when our children were little, it turned out to be very convenient because we could take them right across the road to their grandparents. There’s a sense of security here for everyone.

flower bouquet on the dining table
The retro style dining table was bought from Boknäs. The chairs are Eames from Vitra. Four matching cream-colored chairs were fund on a nearby island for a good deal to complement the turquoise ones. They’re probably from the 1990s. The Jugend-style cabinet was found on Tori online marketplace.
white fireplace and dining table
“This house is practical but also my dream home.”
Sanna Jokela
kitchen wall painted in a blue ombré
The family’s youngest, Jonne, came up with the idea for the ombré paint on the kitchen wall after doing a similar project in art class.
stickers resembling tiles in the backsplash
Tile-trick. The kitchen’s backsplash tiles are actually tile-patterned stickers from India. “At first, putting them up was a struggle, but by the end we got the hang of it,” Sanna says.

How did you end up building a new house?

Sanna: We lived in a three-story wooden apartment in Turku. Jonne was such a daredevil as a toddler that we worried he’d fall headfirst down the stairs. First, we looked for a post-war house near our old place. Then we remembered I had a plot of land I’d received in advance inheritance. I assumed building a new house would be cheaper.

Tero: We liked the traditional house model from the Finnish prefab house manufacturer Kannustalo, and it was quick to move into. The house went up in just a few days. We chose everything in advance based on just pictures, which was challenging because we couldn’t visualize how things would look in the end.

Tero Jokela playing guitar
Man and a guitar. Tero plays guitar in a band. A rehearsal space was recently finished in the outbuilding, and that’s where Sanna heard Tero’s band play again after a long break. “You actually sound like a real band,” she remarked.
armchair and fireplace in the living room
The living room got a boost when the walls were painted with Tikkurila’s turquoise shade S366. It makes for a quirky pairing with the red in the study. The trunk on the floor came from Tero’s grandparents’ garage attic. Sanna is a geospatial specialist—she works with maps—so there’s a map on the study wall, too. The sofa and blue armchair are by Pohjanmaan Kaluste furniture company. The fireplace is by Uunisepät tile stove company.
Italian glass carafe on a serving cart
This serving cart was found at a flea market. It served as a grill stand for a while but ended up back inside because the blue wall seemed to need something shiny next to it. The lamp base is from a flea market and originally came with an unattractive shade, which Sanna replaced with a Pentik shade. They no longer dare open the Italian glass carafe—last time they did, the Covid pandemic started, and the family jokes that the spirit escaped from the bottle.
steampunk-inspired sea paintings
These paintings have a nautical theme. Sanna once had a steampunk phase inspired by Captain Nemo, and these pieces date back to that time.

How has the house changed since it was completed?

Sanna: Our prefab home came with pre-selected paint, wallpaper, and tile options. We’ve been gradually updating them. The kids were small when we first moved in, so their wallpapers were originally quite childish. We started making updates in Elli’s room. The living room makeover began with an old workbench, matched with a Jugend cabinet we found on Tori. From there, changes have spread throughout the house. Now it finally feels like it’s truly ours—nothing bothers us anymore.

jungle wallpaper on the bedroom wall
The parents’ bedroom used to be light blue—too pastel for their current taste. They originally envisioned a forest theme with trees and sky, but at the wallpaper store they landed on a jungle print that just felt right. It’s Mischievous Monkeys from Rebel Walls, and they pulled the dark green shade for the other walls from that design.
“At first, it concerned me that the house was so close to my childhood home. I was mentally against it for quite a while.”
Sanna Jokela
a turquoise desk in the workspace
The bedroom’s workspace became cozy with older furniture. The turquoise desk was found at a flea market and painted with leftover paint. The chair is also from a flea market.
turquoise wall in the hallway
The oriental rug in the hallway came from Sanna’s mother, who bought rugs for herself and her daughter from a traveling carpet seller. At first, Sanna didn’t like it, but looking back, the timing just wasn’t right. Now all of the home’s rugs have been replaced with oriental ones. The large white dresser is from Kruunukaluste.
objects on a shelf

Did the house turn out to be a good choice?

Tero: We’re happy with a one-story house. There’s space set aside for a second floor, but it’s unused because we already have plenty of room.

Sanna: Absolutely! The house is practical but also my dream home. I get to fulfill my ideas when decorating it. I love colors and big, bold elements. I browse flea markets a lot in search of interesting finds. The archipelago location is great too, even though it’s still about 15 kilometers to downtown Turku. Our shared dock is about a kilometer and a half away on the shoreline, and in summer we go there to swim almost every day, either on foot or by bike.

objects on a String shelf
Elli Jokela in her room
Elli’s room has gone through pink, turquoise, and green phases. “She’d like a new color every year,” her mother Sanna jokes. Elli helped plan her room’s new look. She loves spending time in the woods, so she chose green and brown. “Mom usually has good ideas, but sometimes too many. At least she can decorate the rest of the place,” Elli says.
Jonne Jokela’s Lego collection
Jonne is big into Legos, which is obvious from his room. He’s organized them all by color.
snowball viburnum branches in a vase
turquoise wall in the entryway
The entryway’s two-tone wall is cleverly split by a coat rack. The lower part of the wall is boldly painted turquoise.
a coat rack with bags

The former field is now a flourishing garden

When the Jokelas’ house was built a decade ago, the yard was a former field. From the beginning, the clear goal was to turn that field into a garden. The section of lawn that needs mowing keeps shrinking as plants multiply. Early on, Sanna got a few hours of consulting help from a local garden center to shape the garden, and after that, she planned everything herself.

gray house and wine pavilion
Sanna and Tero got their vine gazebo as a shared 40th birthday gift from Sanna’s sister. The idea is that eventually grapevines and clematis will cover the structure entirely.

They add something new to the garden every year. The latest addition is a fish pond, which required some engineering know-how. Tero wanted it square, but Sanna convinced him to go with an asymmetrical figure-eight shape. Altogether, there are five different water features in the yard.

a water feature in the garden

Sanna is a geospatial expert—a mapmaker—and she enjoys drawing up plans, even if not everything goes exactly as planned. Around the firepit, she insisted on including a north arrow—a compass rose—also visible in the latest aerial images of Turku. Her enthusiasm for creating new things is evident in her gardening.

“I’m more of a builder than a maintainer. I’m not so interested in those very first flower beds anymore,” Sanna admits.

black pergola in the garden
The garden is divided into a Japanese-style area, a formal garden, and a cottage garden. Black paint ties together the outdoor furniture and the pergola.

Sanna has become more patient with the garden, and she’s learned to accept that things don’t happen overnight. When she started shaping it about ten years ago, it felt frustrating that nothing seemed to grow.

“Then suddenly, plop,” she says, describing the moment the yard finally started to look like a real garden.

Sanna Jokela in the garden
Columbines and peonies are Sanna’s favorite flowers. “To be honest, I like anything that’s alive,” she laughs. One winter killed five rosebushes, so Sanna prefers to let go of plants that won’t survive.

Her interest in gardening has only grown. For a long time, she peeked into other gardens, wondering how to get a closer look. Finally, she started a garden club, first inviting people to see her own garden. About ten people came, and the club took off. Now, they visit gardens around the islands together.

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