MODERN living

TUOMAS AND ANNA MÄKELÄ PROVE THAT MINIMALIST DESIGN CAN SUIT FAMILY LIFE, WITH WELL CONSIDERED STORAGE RIGHT FROM THE START

- JONNA KIVILAHTI, KAREN WILSON

HOME NOTES

WHO LIVES HERE? Anna Ritakallio-Mäkelä, and her husband Tuomas Mäkelä, live here with their daughter Aida. Tuomas is creative director of Bo group, which he co-founded with Anna.

THE PROPERTY A three-bedroom, two-storey apartment within the mid-1800s Crichton building by the river Aura in Turku, Western Finland.

By creating a three-bedroom apartment within a beautiful old riverside building, Tuomas and Anna have proved that city living and family life are not incompatible.

WHY DID YOU BUY THE PROPERTY?

‘It used to be my mother and stepfather’s home, but the building was in need of major repairs,’ says Tuomas. ‘The property overlooks the river and was built in 1847 for a Scottish engineer and ship-owner called Crichton, who hosted many visiting dignitaries and presidents at his home over the years.

‘We decided to create an apartment for ourselves, plus four others to sell, along with premises for our real estate company, Bo group. The project took two years and we lived in a tiny one-bedroom flat in the same building as we’d sold our previous loft apartment nearby.

WHAT WAS YOUR VISION FOR THE APARTMENT?