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Five from Finland

Wall decoration

Finnish design is helping to decorate interiors in surprising ways.Julia Bushueva

Finnish design and innovation offer decorative options that are off the wall, yet well and truly firmly on it.

As more and more people are staying in amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, some might start feeling trapped within the four walls of their homes. In fact, it’s just the right time to refresh those four (or more) walls and give your home an instant update with some creative decorations.

Map posters, stickers, wooden photos, wallpapers and green air purifiers – these companies have walls covered in a variety of eye-pleasing ways.

This Finnish startup launched a free phone wallpaper generator that blew up on Reddit and successfully boosted the profile of its main business stream: customised map posters. Users type in any city in the world on its website, select their style and order a custom-made poster.

“We’ve gotten really good feedback,” said co-founder Nico Eriksson. “People choose locations where they got married, where they were born, where they met their first love or something like this. Every product has a story behind it.”

Although cameras and photographs are everywhere these days, fewer and fewer photographs end up being printed. Plywood Print wants to make the ones that are extra special.

“Create your own wall art from your own pictures is the principle we sell to customers,” explained Mirna Shampemba, the company’s marketing expert at the time. “Printing on plywood adds character to the photograph, with the wood grains and colours making the image livelier and adding to the depth.”

Every day is a Sunday for this company bringing cheer to homes and offices with bright colours and shapes made of ecological materials. Its fun approach continues to open doors to a sustainable future.

“We always try to get creative and think outside the box when it comes to new materials,” stated co-founder Thomas Leppä. “Of course, not buying anything at all is the most ecological choice, but when it comes to decorating a home our decals are a much better choice than PVC plastic or paint.”

These wallpaper designs feature the contributions of graffiti artists, surf-wear designers, illustrators, fine artists, tattooists, typographers and fashion designers. Walls worldwide are given a creative boost, thanks to the founders’ finesse in digital business, marketing and production techniques.

“We’re three ex-advertising people who had had enough of selling ideas to make children eat chocolate cereal,” recalled co-founder Anne Puukko. “So, we jumped from our day jobs to focus on the things we actually care about: art, big ideas, design, craft, having our socks knocked off and originality.”

FEATHR’s artistic approach to home decor has found global success, with some of their bold wallpaper designs being recognised by the industry’s top experts.

Naava’s living green walls are a biological air purifier, humidifier and space divider all rolled into one. On top of that, they look good and bring nature into homes and office environments.

“In the modern world, we spend 90 per cent of our time indoors, where we breathe man-made, synthetic air and are often disconnected from nature,” observed co-founder Aki Soudunsaari. “We at Naava are reconnecting humanity with nature by embracing millions of years of natural innovation with latest technologies and modern design.”

Naava’s green innovation has already found its way into South Korea, the UK, Central Europe and North America. Now, the company is aiming at global expansion with a special focus on the world’s megacities.

Originally published in November 2018

By: James O’Sullivan
01.04.2020