Despite the nasty microbe problem, this couple simply couldn't pass on the log house near the lake

The renovation project began with installing drainage in the yard. The house’s exterior stayed nearly the same, but new decks were built around the house and the outbuildings. The house’s dormers, or tall roof windows, feature tar-treated wooden shingles.

When Kimmo Karlsson sent his wife Katja Vastamäki a message about a real estate listing in the spring of 2022, they had just three years earlier finished renovating their 200-square-meter dream home. Still, Kimmo was already on the lookout for another renovation project.

Katja opened the message while on her run. The log home in the listing was only three kilometers from the couple’s home at the time. Katja saw no need for a new renovation, but once she clicked the link, she got excited too.

The massive renovation brought Katja and Kimmo even closer, and they loved planning it together. They got ideas from interior design magazines, social media, design books, and various renovation and gardening TV shows. Kimmo also gets plenty of tips on new materials and color combinations through his work.

The location was perfect. The area, long known as a base for many artists, had already appealed to Katja and Kimmo. Living close to the lake and near cultural sights was a major draw. They also saw potential in the house, which had been among the real estate portal's most viewed listings for months.

“Along with the neighborhood, we loved the house’s shape and personality. Its steep roof and tar-shingled dormers reminded us of Swiss Alpine houses, and the impressive yard made us think of a Texas ranch,” Kimmo recalls.

For the downstairs, they found a surplus batch of 60 × 60 centimeter tiles originally used at Hotel Vaakuna. They left the logs untouched, but added new black trim around the windows. Katja and Kimmo plan to tile the fireplace with glossy green tiles. They bought the striking sofa, found at a store called Jean Vernet before the renovation even started. The large mirror is from Bo Concept, and the torso came from Tori online marketplace.

The bedroom wallpaper is designed by Kreetta Järvenpää. The wall-to-wall carpet is from RTV building materials company. The couple has had the bedspread for years, and some of the pillows came from Somia Living. The nightstands are planters topped with lids.

The couple set out to see the house as soon as Katja returned from her run. They closed on the log house that fall and moved in November, bringing only their essentials and putting the rest in storage.

Katja and Kimmo wanted to host a large extended-family Christmas in their new home, so they set up a temporary five-meter dining table that seated 18 guests. Renovations started right after Christmas.

They opened up a gap between the first and second floors so more light would reach upstairs. This area used to be a walk-in closet. The three dog-themed paintings from Jean Vernet represent the couple’s children. They plan to add a skylight above them. After a lot of debate, they chose Teknos Kanelsnurr for the paint color.

The upstairs landing can host overnight guests. Previously, it was a laundry room. The sofa bed is by Tapio Anttila, the ottoman is from Jysk furniture store, and the green paint is Teknos Forest. They found the Planet light fixture on Tori online marketplace. The floor is vinyl plank.

Katja and Kimmo stored their belongings and clothes in one room at a time. As the renovation progressed, the items moved with it. Neither minded living amid the renovation.

“Several of our loved ones said this made no sense when we’d only just completed our previous lovely home. But Kimmo can picture the final outcome in his mind, so I trusted him completely,” Katja says.

The sofa that fits perfectly in front of the window was a find on Tori. Kimmo hunts for secondhand furniture online, and Katja picks it up. The side table and some pillows are also pre-owned. The room was painted with Teknos Ainuke.

They tried to reuse as many furnishings as possible. The kitchen is a marked-down display model from Kvik. Although it wasn’t configured exactly like the showroom version, it fit Katja and Kimmo’s home perfectly. The laminate backsplash was cut to shape. The dining table was found on Tori, and the bench came from the Helsinki Wholesale Market area's flower market. They had already purchased the armchairs from Tori for their previous home. The rug is from Living 24/7.

They didn’t have a precise renovation plan—they’d never had one for their earlier projects either. Before tackling their 200-square-meter house, they had renovated three other homes and built a summer cottage.

Major changes at the house, like tearing down walls, were set from the start. Otherwise, their plans evolved while they worked.

The house, built in the early 1970s, was constructed by Knut Peltonen, who led the Kerava woodworking factory at the time, as his own house. He wanted to retire in his hometown of Tuusula. After a few years, he sold it to a family who ended up living there for 42 years. The second floor was added by them in 1982.

The house was basically in its original state, and Kimmo and Katja knew it needed a lot of work. They were already aware of the microbe problem in the base floor during negotiations, but it wasn't something that fazed them.

“Still, the previous owners had really taken good care of the place. For example, they meticulously noted all the paints and colors used,” Katja notes with approval.

How the house was renovated:

The old interior ceiling was sloped and set lower. The fireplace has already been patched and leveled. It couldn’t be removed because the flue runs through the roof. Otherwise, Katja and Kimmo would have swapped it for a smaller fireplace.

The old kitchen was sold on an online marketplace.

At this stage, the floor had insulation, underfloor heating, and rebar installed. The door leads to the backyard.

This used to be the old bathroom. Behind the brick wall is the fireplace. A new bathroom and utility room were built here.

Behind the wall is the chimney and the new bathroom's wall. The green, textured wall was Kimmo’s idea, using leftover mortar, sauna stones, and miscellaneous building material leftovers from around the house. They created patterns with plastic bags, brushes, and branches.

They removed the old stairs to make room for the new kitchen.

The renovation started with the second floor. They spent the first winter working there. The roof structure that was still in good condition and Honkarakenne log house manufacturer's custom shaped log frame were kept, but everything inside was transformed completely.

They ripped out the downstairs floors to the concrete slab and removed all old insulation, sawdust, the interior ceiling, and the rafters to raise the ceiling height.

They dismantled interior walls, rearranged the layout, redid all the wiring, and installed water-circulated underfloor heating. Katja and Kimmo traded ideas back and forth, carrying out only those that made financial sense.

“It’s easier to plan the improvements when you’re living in the renovation. That way, decisions are more thought out. We worked on it evenings and weekends after our regular jobs, so it did demand some effort. Some people are doers, and we belong in that group,” Kimmo says.

The couple’s adult son Jimi was a huge help during the renovation.

The painting of a Cuban woman is from BoConcept. Katja and Kimmo fell in love with it years ago at Vepsäläinen furniture store, but couldn’t find one anywhere. Katja set up a search alert on Tori, and they eventually got to pick one up in a town a few hours away. The sofa was given to them by Kimmo’s cousin, the rug is from BoConcept, and the table is from Vepsäläinen.

Sometimes Katja had grand ideas, and Kimmo had to tone them down. One was a walk-in china cabinet, of which Kimmo designed and built her his own version. Katja has brought a lot of their dishes from Spain and she loves making beautiful table settings. Because there was no space for a wine fridge, Kimmo drilled holes in the logs to store the wine.

They built a nine-square-meter outdoor kitchen for practical reasons. They knew the indoor kitchen would be unusable for a year, so all cooking was done outside. The outdoor kitchen is heated.

In the spring of 2023, they built a heated outdoor kitchen, where all of the family's food was prepared. They also built a woodshed and new decks in the yard. It all took more time than they expected.

Another unexpected twist was learning the upstairs walls hadn’t been primed before wallpapering, so the wallpaper clung tightly to the drywall.

“The entire upstairs—even the ceiling—was wallpapered, and we spent months peeling it off in thumbnail-sized pieces. The angles were so difficult that re-drywalling wasn’t any more logical. We ended up sanding off about half the paper because the task seemed never-ending,” Katja and Kimmo say.

The spiral staircase starts in the kitchen corner. The couple rescued it from a dumpster even before buying the house. It’s still unfinished, and the yellow steps will be replaced with oak.

They recessed the TV into a slatted wall while renovating. They bought the armchairs from a now-closed furniture store.

The bathroom has a sloped ceiling, too.

A pleasant surprise, in turn, was the barely used smoke sauna in the yard. The realtor hadn't shown it, even though it’s now one of Kimmo and Katja’s favorite parts of the property. During the renovation, they have loved relaxing there. Nowadays they heat the sauna from late fall all through spring. In winter it is in use at least five nights a week.

“Kimmo heads there first to light it and air it out. I follow about 15 minutes later with towels and some drinks to enjoy while we're cooling off. I also like to light candles. We take plenty of breaks out on the deck and talk about anything on our minds,” Katja says.

Kimmo also uses the sauna to cook. He has smoked venison and air-dried beef by hanging them on hooks and racks. Sometimes he puts a stew pot in there so it can simmer overnight, ready to have for dinner the next day.

The smoke sauna was in such good condition that it didn’t need renovating. They did build a deck around it to cool off during sauna breaks. The woodshed next to the sauna was reclaimed and transported from a nearby city. Kimmo dismantled a double shed with a coworker, who kept the other half.

The smoke sauna’s foyer is original, too. Katja lights candles inside and out before each session.

When the renovation began in 2022, it was clear to Kimmo it wouldn’t be done in a year. They never set a specific deadline. Now it’s been a couple of years.

Their remaining tasks include tiling the fireplace, installing fixtures in the downstairs bathroom, updating the upstairs landing floor, and renovating the guest room. They also plan to get geothermal heating. Kimmo thinks they’ll have everything finished by summer 2025.

“We’ve stayed enthusiastic throughout. We haven’t pushed ourselves to the limit, and we’ve still wanted to take time to enjoy our cabin and travelling abroad. You have to be able to step away from the renovation; that way it’s nice to come back to,” Katja says.