From old, uninhabitable general store to cozy home: “We stayed there overnight before deciding to buy it”

One-penny teddy bears, milk by the can, coffee cake for primary school teachers, and a toy train for a brother. Many types of purchases and customers have passed under the gingerbread-edged awning of Tuominen’s general store. These days, that same entrance welcomes in the clients of Sami Karjalainen’s advertising agency. The building is also Sami’s home.

“In 2016, my then-partner and I were living in the peaceful countryside, about a 45-minute drive from the city of Tampere, Finland. The long commutes started wearing on us, and we also wanted to be closer to the city. We came across an old store property on a property website, even though the ad wasn’t appealing at all.”

Despite the grim photos, we decided to give the house a chance—maybe it would be more charming up close?

“I practice what I preach, with a strong focus on eco-friendliness. The house was renovated with breathable, traditional materials. My interior design solutions often spring from chance: a balanced blend of creativity and laziness. It’s also important for me to follow my intuition. The end result is a home where energies can flow freely,” says Sami Karjalainen.

Visiting in person was worth it. The house was far from its best: grass was sprouting from the walls, and silverfish were scurrying across the old store floors. But having already renovated one old house, the couple saw its potential and believed anything broken could be fixed.

They were especially drawn to the impressive original display windows and genuine details of the store’s old facade. The building also had enough space for Sami’s business, one of his main requirements. Another big bonus was the handy distance to Tampere and the center of Nokia City.

Because making such a big decision based on a half-hour viewing felt a bit precarious, the couple made an unusual request to the realtor.

“We asked if we could spend one night in the house before deciding,” Sami recalls.

The realtor had never heard such a request before, but once they got the owner’s permission, the couple followed through.

“After soaking up the atmosphere overnight, we decided to go for the project,” Sami says.

To be certain, they also commissioned a full condition survey. Despite the result stating that the entire property had basically reached the end of its lifespan, they chose to trust their own vision.

Shopkeeper Tuominen began operations in the 1930s and was known for his marketing flair. People strolling along the village road admired the store’s grand display windows. This photo is from 1938.

True to its name, the store really did offer everything from socks to fuses.

There was no self-service in this store; the clerks would get the requested items off the shelves. Shopkeeper Lasse Tuominen is standing on the left.

The property’s history goes back to the early 1900s, when it was reportedly built. Shopkeeper Tuominen opened his store at one end of the building in the 1930s, while his family lived at the other end. Like many stores of that era, it was split into two departments—one for groceries and one for general goods, stocked with all sorts of items.

The shopkeeper was a busy marketer who knew how to make the most of those dazzling display windows. When there were contests in Nokia for the best display window design, Tuominen’s store won so many times that he finally decided not to take part anymore, letting others have a chance.

Most of the customers were employees of nearby factories, and their families. Tuominen was by no means the only shopkeeper. There were two stores, called Voima and Jutila, on the very same street. Everyone had enough customers.

Locals still fondly remember going to the store to buy “properly brown rye bread” for grandma, or a golden-hued glass for their mother’s first Christmas present, which the family has treasured to this day. One former employee recalls a busy Saturday when the shopkeeper’s little daughter ran in, dripping wet and covered in dirt, proudly holding a huge rat by the tail! She and the rat were quickly shown outside.

Besides running the store, they also operated a mangle in an outbuilding that people could rent in the 1950s.

Business went on until the 1970s, when the store closed down. After that, it was used for storage and later as an artist’s studio for a while. The private residence remained within the shopkeeper’s family until it was sold to Sami.

The translucent paint on the log walls was made from fat-free milk, iron sulfate, and color pigment. The coffee packages and shoe were found in the house, and the old camera bag belonged to Sami’s father.

This small pass-through room functions as a home utility room. Sami made the checkered floor himself. The cabinetry is part of the old kitchen furniture he bought, from which he stripped the paint. The bench came from the old indoor sauna of the house.

After the deal was sealed, Sami and his then-partner fearlessly took on the work, starting with removing the asbestos-containing Kymarno floor tiles in the old store area. A local expert handled the hazardous job over a couple of weeks. To their delight, they found an old wooden floor under those tiles. In the office area alone, there were 110 rows of boards that needed sanding. The sanded floors were then painted.

They also hired professionals to replace the rotted sections of the logs. One puzzling area was near the store’s meat counter, which Sami suspects rotted because the floors had been washed with so much water that it finally damaged the base of the walls.

The residential side was stuck in the 1990s in terms of surfaces, so although it was livable, it needed a refresh. Once the most important space—Sami’s workspace—was ready after a year of determined renovation, they moved from the countryside into their new home.

“Throughout the renovation, we’ve focused on eco-friendliness and using breathable materials. Environmental values mean a lot to me in my business too, so it was a natural choice,” Sami explains.

Today, the old store floors are insulated with sawdust and wood shavings, which Sami sometimes collects from a local sawmill. There is wood fiberboard, lining paper, and paper wallpaper on the walls. The intact ceiling boards were left in place, and the paneled ceilings were painted.

“We restored the beautiful windows with the help of Katri, our multi-skilled neighbor who has since moved away. Our friends also came to help out with the renovation.

"Previously, there was a cramped electric sauna inside the house, which was torn down and replaced with a proper shower nook. We can still enjoy bathing in a sauna in the outbuilding, which is probably as old as the house itself," Sami says.

Sami’s kitchen is a creative mix of the Finnish 1950s solid-wood cabinets and black Ikea units.

The table and chairs were found for free through a local dumpster-diving group.

The wood-burning stove works, although it’s used only occasionally. The sideboard came from a friend’s mother, and on top sits a radio from Sami’s father’s childhood home. The yellow wallpaper is ’Kiurujen yö’ (“Night of the Larks”) by Pihlgren & Ritola.

There’s been no rush with the renovation. Sami’s plan has been to complete one room per year. The electrical system is also refitted as each room is done. That way, he hasn’t had to live in total chaos, and he has been able to keep his sanity.

While tearing out walls, Sami has uncovered some fascinating things. Sometimes he was showered with coffee packages packed with sawdust for display purposes, and inside one wall, there was a well-preserved child’s shoe. After taking off the drywall and fiberglass wallpaper in the kitchen, Sami found old newspapers from 1898 used as insulation over the logs. Finding a greeting from over a century ago gave the renovators goosebumps.

The renovation project has of course had some hiccups along the way, too. One of them was not finding exactly the right yellow for the secondhand 1950s kitchen cupboards.

“After trying five useless sample cans that only gave us Easter yellow or 1980s daycare walls, we needed professional help. I called Tikkurila’s (a Finnish paint manufacturer) paint helpline, and after a few extra test cans, we finally found the perfect shade,” Sami says with a laugh.

Sami wanted to keep one of the kitchen log walls as is, revealing the house’s many layers of history.

The bathroom is brightened up with framed advertising posters found in the house. The poster date back to the time the store was still in business. The fluffy pendant light was bought at a hardware store a while ago.

Vibrant colors are vital to Sami when decorating. The bolder the choices, the happier he has been. He decorates for himself, aiming for what pleases his eye. Good ideas also don’t require a big budget if you buy second-hand. Sami's playful touch comes through in fun lighting choices and the kitchen’s intriguing backsplash made of old maps. Sami bought them for a couple of euros at a flea market, and the plexiglass covering is easy to keep clean. He chose the maps for their look, but they also show places that matter to him from his travels, as well as countries and cities he hopes to visit someday.

As Sami puts it, the furniture is “a strange yet nicely layered combination of Ikea, dumpster finds, flea market gems, and items passed along by family and friends.” He’s certainly no packrat; in fact, he’s the opposite. He’s done plenty of KonMari-style decluttering and still feels there’s more to pare down. With the latest Europe-wide energy crisis, he’s also started to wonder if one person really needs this many square meters.

The fireplace in the bedroom is heated daily. The pedal-powered sewing machine was originally a wedding gift for Sami’s grandparents. The chair belonged to the home’s previous occupant. Sami made the atmospheric lighting by combining a string of lights, rope, and a tree branch.

The deep petrol paint over the wallpaper was a temporary solution meant to last only until Sami could start renovating the bedroom. The old window he found in the attic displays precious photos. The quaint wooden ironing board—now an end table—was another discovery made in the house. The dreamcatcher Sami got from his current partner Lauri is the only trinket Sami has allowed in.

Sami found stacks of old newspapers from the 1940s–1960s in the attic. He handpicked the most interesting pages and used them to wallpaper the middle room.

When Sami first saw the property, the garden was completely overgrown, with waist-high grass and brush. Establishing a proper garden meant starting from scratch, first mowing and clearing everything away. Then he could plant flowerbeds and shrubs, like sea buckthorn, aronia, and blackcurrant seedlings from his mother. His plum tree and blackcurrant bushes have been so prolific that he’s been able to share some of the harvest with others.

That same garden has provided a delightful backdrop for the corporate events Sami has organized, a laughter yoga session being one of the most amusing ones.

For Sami, home renovation and gardening offer a healthy counterbalance to his work, which mostly involves sitting. He was also involved in launching a local event dedicated to old homes, and in its first year, around 300 visitors came to see the old store.

The cozy atmosphere extends to the office. The sofa bed has been with Sami since his student days. The coffee table was once part of the Finnish textile manufacturer Finlayson’s factory store furnishings. On it sits a textured glass vase by Humppila glass factory. The wall displays Sami’s business logo. The understated gray-striped wallpaper is by Pihlgren & Ritola.

Sami installed a masonry stove bought from Tampereen Takka in the office during the renovation. The small kitchenette is perfect for making coffee for clients. The backsplash is covered with Enso board, which was a common element in retro style.

Sami found a blue rug in the attic and a red rug at a recycling store, which he’s layered on top of each other in a charming way. Sami rescued the shopping cart from a ditch ages ago on his way home from a bar. It always sparks a conversation.

There’s still plenty to do around the house in the years ahead. But controlling his own schedule is important to Sami, and he wants to leave room for activities beyond work and renovations. His flexible job has already enabled what he calls “work vacation” for several winters. During the darkest time of year, he works from Spain but also finds time to relax and explore. It’s been the perfect combination.

Sami's partner Lauri has begun another project: refurbishing an old RV. Who knows, maybe they’ll eventually swap their hundred-plus-square-meter house for an eight-square-meter home on wheels, traveling someplace warm in winter and enjoying Finland’s summery views. Only time will tell—because it’s good to have dreams.

The old facade is largely untouched, including its decorative roof edging. Today, that door leads directly to Sami's company Vehree’s office.