Thanks to my Instagram habit, I’m stopped in my tracks daily by the sets and still lifes that Scandinavian stylists create for clients like Iitalla and Asun. So clean. So magically simple. So serene. How does this talent, I always wonder, translate at home? Not surprisingly, it translates exceptionally well. Here’s a perfect example: Star Finnish interiors and prop stylist Anna Pirkola (@annapirkola) moved with her family of four into a Helsinki duplex apartment with a kitchen she describes as “just horrible and dark brown.” Sticking to a budget of €3,000 (approximately $3,400), she and her musician/cultural manager husband entirely overhauled the kitchen themselves—with occasional help from Anna’s father and an electrician. Take a look at it now.
Photography by Anna Pirkola.

The couple’s first move was attack the cabinets: They tore out the over-the-counter storage and left only the shell of the lower half. Then they applied birch plywood doors and counters to this frame, creating an entirely new look. (“Yes, we did it ourselves—my husband is quite handy,” says Anna.) Their sink and faucet came from Ikea, as did the circular lights and trio of cabinets that they staggered on the wall, supplying both storage and the display surfaces crucial to a stylist.

The ceramic coffee pot is Mette Duedahl’s Push design and the white ceramic teapot and sugar bowl are from Jonas Wagell’s Bulky Tea Collection, all from Muuto. The two-toned salt and pepper shakers are Norm Architects’ Bottle Grinder Mills for Menu—see them and more in Salt and Pepper Grinders from Around the World.






Join us for a look at two more Scandinavian stylists at home:
- Rhapsody in Blue: Tiina Laakonen at Home in the Hamptons
- And for great browsing, go to Goods We Love: New York’s Secret Scandinavian Design Source.
N.B.: This post is an update; the original ran on April 21, 2016.
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