1930s and 40s Finnish Homes

[Mangrove]

A book called Suomalaisia koteja was published in 1949. It contained photographs of 200 homes of the prominent members of the Finnish community. Many of these homes were furnished according to the National Romantic style of the 1890s to 1910s and there was even a photograph of a traditional Sámi goahti. Out of the rest I have picked up some of the more modern style homes.

The rest of the photographs are from Gustaf Strengell's 1933 book Miten sisustan kotini and they illustrate typical items that could be bought at the time with their prices in Finnish marks.

Professor Kustaa and Liisa Vilkuna's home.

Professor Martti and Kaarina Ruusu's home.

J. and Betty Salonen's home.

Economist Ragnar and Levi Söderström's home.

Minister Uuno and Lyyli Takki's home.

Armas and Hilma Tuokko's home.

Pentti and Marita Väisänen's home.

 

[Mangrove]

Floors and wallpapers.

Light fixtures.

Couches.

Chairs.

Clocks and glass paintings.

 

[Mangrove]

 

[pgoat]

nice!

 

[Mangrove]

nice!

Thanks! There are some interesting items on the pages, e.g. floor tiles made of Finnish asbestos on page nine! The thing I do not understand is why the same furnitures, made with new machinery with less work involved, are now three times more expensive than back then (with inflation included)? I quess one of the thing is that they are "collectibles" and thus naturally more expensive than similar looking IKEA furnitures.

 

[Caroline H]

Beautiful! Thank you for sharing these. I really want some of those chairs!!

 

[kampkatz]

I couldn't help but notice that along with the tasteful decor there was a prominent place for books in all 3 households. Nowadays, the absence of books is sadly the norm.

 

[vitanola]

Very nice!

A few photographs of the more conventional Historical Revival interiors favored by the majority in this group would help to provide context, and would be interesting examples in their own right.

in any period only a small percentage of homeowners decorate in a high-style modernism, and so the study of the less "designed" interior is important to the understanding of the cultural position of the modernist outlier.

 

[tonyb]

...

in any period only a small percentage of homeowners decorate in a high-style modernism, and so the study of the less "designed" interior is important to the understanding of the cultural position of the modernist outlier.

Ain't that the truth.

It seems that the modernist home furnishings styles of 60 and 70 years ago are more popular now than they were then.

 

[Mangrove]

A few photographs of the more conventional Historical Revival interiors favored by the majority in this group would help to provide context, and would be interesting examples in their own right.

These sketches by Elias Saarinen (from Kotitaide 6/1902 magazine) show what an ideal National Romantic style building would have looked like with interior in place. There were couple of homes very similar to these ones. However the style was not very suitable for a modern city home so all of the homes of this style illustrated on the book were rustic log cabins build during the 1800s. The style needed much wood and some rock but little metal.

 

[Mangrove]

Here are some additional photographs taken in 1948 from the home of the Dean of Oulu Diocese to illustrate the older style which prevailed before the functionalism.

 

[MikeBravo]

There is quite a difference, althoughthe rooms are spacious and uncluttered in both styles

 

[Mangrove]

[...], although the rooms are spacious and uncluttered in both styles.

According to Statistics Finland, the average size of homes at the city of Helsinki were 22.4 m² (241 ft²) for studio, 41.5 m² (445 ft²) for two-room and 65.1 m² (700 ft²) for three-room flats in 1938. For comparison the average size for a studio in whole Finland in 2010 was 34 m² (365 ft²), 55 m² (590 ft²) for two-room and 79 m² (850 ft²) for three-room flats. As you can calculate, there is a larger relative increase at studios, less at the two-room and the least at the largest flats.

The old log houses were huge compared to the current ones but there were no private rooms for most of the people living there but then again there were no such "useless" items such as fixed beds and closets before the beginning of the 20th century! In this sense Finnish taste and living conditions are quite similar to those of Japanese people.

 

[tuppence]

Those flying ducks on the wall of Penttis house are popular in Australia, though they usually come in a set of three

 

[Mangrove]

Few more from the same book and same year as before.
Heikki Lampinen's home.

Johannes and Maija Liinamaa's home.

Oskari and Anna Virolainen's home.

Painter Gösta and Elsa Diehl's home.

Olof and Joy Lindfors' home.

 

[Caroline H]

Oooh, I really love that last one! (Olof and Joy Lindfor's home) I would like to copy that look in our house!

 

[Mangrove]

Oooh, I really love that last one! (Olof and Joy Lindfor's home) I would like to copy that look in our house!

The chair on the right is one of Alvar Aalto's design that is this manufactured and sold. The other chair and the small table next to it are both traditional Finnish country designs.

 

[esteban68]

great stuff!

 

[Mangrove]

Some Finnish furniture catalogs from the 1930s; it seems that the furniture factories and retailers were one of the most international businesses in Finland during that time as most of their catalogs are also available in English! (a great feat in a country where most of the people did not spoke any foreign language, some Swedish or German).

Asko Avonius - Furniture settings in Finnish
Asko Avonius - Furnitures in English
Asko Avonius - "100 fine furnitures" in Finnish

Finmar Limited (Alvar Aalto etc.) - English
Huonekaluliike Jussi Kiviranta Oy - Finnish
Huonekaluliike Mikko Nupponen - Finnish

Huonekalutehdas Juho Konttinen Oy - Finnish

 

[TomS]

That polar bear rug is amazing!