“Peace and plenty of space”—an old village school became Anniina and Samuli’s dream home in their early twenties

The accordion bellows fill with air, and the first notes ring out. The guitar joins in gently while the cajón drum keeps the beat. Furniture is pushed aside from the center of what used to be a classroom floor. The space hosting these lively gatherings is an old school known as Mansikkamäki, located in southwestern Finland.

This building served as the village school from 1927 to 1956. The previous residents painted the school red. Last summer, the couple tackled a major project and repainted the house after these photos were taken.

The former classroom, now the living room, has many uses. It houses Samuli’s studio and offers plenty of space for band practice, choir rehearsals, and post-theater gatherings. Anniina holds yoga classes here and dreams of eventually setting up a yoga studio in the attic. It’s hard to believe this room was once used as storage, stacked from floor to ceiling. The large, old dining table was found in the attic and treated with Supi sauna wax. Vallila tableware sits on top. The big rug was bought at Matto-Matti.

Samuli demonstrates by playing Argentine tango. He started playing accordion as a child and was so captivated that he sometimes practiced up to eight hours a day. He feels the accordion is among the most expressive instruments. Now he plays piano and accordion professionally. He has worked as a conductor at the Tangomarkkinat festival. In the 2000s, he toured the world as a keyboardist for The Crash, a Finnish pop-rock band.

Residents Anniina and Samuli Jokinen love hosting parties, and their spacious home often fills with friends at Midsummer, May Day, Independence Day, and pre-Christmas celebrations. These gatherings easily turn into jam sessions, with Samuli on the accordion or piano, and Anniina singing.

“It’s wonderful to see our friends embrace this place. Here we have peace and space,” Samuli says.

“And hosting just comes naturally to us,” Anniina adds.

They even held their wedding at home in 2010, on a day when the temperature soared to 30 degrees Celsius. Two hundred guests gathered indoors and outdoors. A fairytale twist followed when Anniina’s sister, the maid of honor, and Samuli’s brother, the best man, fell in love, resulting in another wedding a few years later.

When Samuli and Anniina bought the old school, they weren’t very experienced with furnishing a home. They had no real renovation skills but plenty of creativity and curiosity.

From the front door, a small set of stairs leads to a larger entry hall. Some original surfaces remain, such as ceiling and wall paneling and floorboards. Ulpu the cat sits on the windowsill.

Even the entry hall is huge, because in its school days it had to fit a large group of children all at once. It’s one of the few spaces that hasn’t been renovated. The fabric panel on the living room side is Marimekko’s Kaunis kauris.

Music brought Anniina and Samuli together more than 16 years ago. It was on Anniina’s 21st birthday when they first pulled into Mansikkamäki’s yard. They could hardly believe a place like this existed, and they were immediately sold on it.

“After that, we couldn’t even consider any other place,” Anniina recalls.

Looking back, both were very inexperienced. Their fathers helped them get started, guiding them through their first renovation steps.

“On the very first day, my dad taught me how to wallpaper. That was incredibly valuable,” Anniina says. She got so interested in renovation that she earned a degree in interior construction and has worked in her father’s company, painting exteriors among other jobs.

“Anniina is the foreman, and I just follow along behind her,” Samuli says.

Anniina is responsible for nearly all of the home’s interior renovations. She might decide a certain room needs a complete makeover, and then it happens.

They found the colorful tiles at Kymppilattiat. Samuli’s brother, who did the kitchen’s electrical work, said he would never choose such tiles himself. Anniina and Samuli just laughed, because they liked them. Anniina did all the tiling on her own.

The couple built this open shelf themselves. It displays vintage blue-and-white Arabia dishes and spice jars.

The white cats are father Hannu and daughter Ulpu, both born deaf. “They’re really zen—totally laid-back,” Anniina says.

The old Leino stove isn’t currently functional, but they mean to fix it eventually.

Their kitchen renovation, done with reused cabinets and appliances, cost only a couple of thousand euros. They first chose the Lukko wallpaper by Pihlgren and Ritola, and the cabinets they found matched nicely. They bought the sink, faucet, and handles new. The Artek dining table came from second hand online market place Tori, as did the spindle-back chairs.

The couple is grateful they were so bold when they were young. Over time, Anniina has realized that living in the countryside really suits her. When Samuli was on tour with The Crash, Anniina spent a lot of time at home on her own. People asked if she was scared, but to her, home is the safest place in the world. Samuli, for his part, has learned to value the quiet that helps him in his musical work.

“When I’m doing creative work, I need peace and nature to spark my ideas.”

They renovate as they go, staying true to the old house’s character. Living in an older building is a lifestyle and you have to accept that even if you spend 15 years renovating, it might never be completely finished.

“We do it step by step. There’s almost always a new project waiting. Sometimes we take a break. We couldn’t have afforded or managed all of this at once,” Anniina says.

“Not everything happens right away—an old house demands patience and perseverance,” Samuli points out.

When they met, Anniina already had two cats. Samuli had one. They also share their home with Mittelspitz dogs Armi and Olavi, both big fans of cuddling. The painting on the wall is by Anniina’s sister, Linda Jokinen.

The small living room’s wallpaper is Asteri. They chose all the wallpapers in the house from Tapettitalo. The linen cabinet belonged to Anniina’s grandmother, and the radio is a flea market find.

They found the second hand bedroom cabinet online. Anniina bargained so much that Samuli felt a little embarrassed when they picked it up. “Your wife sure knows how to bargain,” the seller said.

In Samuli’s view, this way of life has given them more than it’s taken. Renovating and tinkering are a great way to balance work. “I might be arranging music, then go split some firewood—it’s pretty therapeutic,” Samuli says.

Anniina thinks it’s incredible that even after all these years, not a week goes by without one of them saying how thankful they are for this home. She still can’t believe their luck in finding it.

Initially, they worried about feeling isolated in the countryside. In reality, it was the opposite. Now they have a calm place to relax, and friends always come over for celebrations.

The bedroom has already been remodeled twice. Now the light-brown Rantakukka wallpaper goes nicely with the fireplace. They bought the headboard from Parolan rottinki.

Guests stay in the guest room on a Karup Design futon sofa. Many friends and nieces and nephews enjoy overnight visits. The wallpaper is Ken kiuruista kaunein by Pihlgren and Ritola. The wicker chair was won in an IKEA raffle.

When a tree in the yard was taken down, its large branch became a climbing post for the cats.

When some trees were cut down in the yard, a view of the lake opened up. It’s lovely to sit on the sauna terrace and admire the lake. The couple sometimes takes a rowboat out. The indoor bathroom is next on the renovation list.

They recently finished renovating the yard sauna. Now it warms up faster than it did with the previous stove. Still, they haven’t avoided mishaps—during the first New Year’s party, the benches collapsed completely.

For a long time, the yard stayed mostly wild because Anniina wasn’t interested in gardening at all. Samuli planted a few perennials. Everything changed when Anniina turned 30 and discovered the joys of gardening. For their 10th wedding anniversary, they received a greenhouse as a gift from family and friends.