“Our home brings a smile to my face every day” – Stefania and her family’s home is full of playful atmosphere

For Italian-born Stefania, their home in Helsinki is a playground for the whole family, where you simply cannot have enough color and art. Their love for high-quality design can be seen in all their choices.

Residents:

Finland Contract Manager at Muuto Stefania Alisciani Eräpuro, Art Director Tony Eräpuro, Amelia, 7, and Filippo, 10, and 3-year-old dachshund Benji. Their home is a 88.5-sqm apartment built in 1962 in Kulosaari, Helsinki.

ITALIAN-BORN Stefania Alisciani arrived in Finland as an exchange student twenty years ago. She met her future husband, Tony Eräpuro, at Kulosaari College. Having lived for two decades together in London and Helsinki, they now live with their two children just a stone’s throw from the college where they first met.

Having worked almost all her career in design, Stefania has always had the pleasure of working in companies the products of which she appreciates. In a home where two cultures meet, Scandinavian design and functionality go hand in hand with bold use of colors.

Home is for us...

an eternal project and playground, we do not take it too seriously. Our home transforms itself and adapts according to our needs and desires. The paintings and plants change places. We have changed rooms many times. Within six months, our home can be completely transformed.

I like in our home especially...

its relaxed and playful atmosphere. Our home displays the personalities and sense of humor of all four of us. Our home is our joint project in which we can all participate. It brings a smile to my face every day.

As an interior decorator I am...

thoughtful and functional – functionality and space bring me joy. Our home has various surface materials, such as wood and concrete, and plenty of house plants. We have color spots here and there. I’m not keen on passing trends. We have plenty of art, furniture and objects that we have had since our first home.

“We have plenty of art, furniture and objects that we have had since our first home.”

You rarely see in our home...

a big mess. I go into a lot of trouble to make sure our home is clean. I feel mentally better when things are properly organized. Before we go to bed, we try to put things in their proper places. The children too do their bit, because we have a place for every item. We control the amount of stuff we have by considering carefully before buying anything new, and by recycling stuff we don’t need.

What I love most...

are Tony, the children and Benji. Even though we have plenty of beautiful and interesting objects, I could give them all up. I’m not particularly attached to any object. This is probably because we moved house often when I was a child and I’m used to giving up things.

I became interested in design...

when Tony and I moved to London in the early 2000s. My first job was at a Marimekko store where I learned Finnish by listening the rest of the staff speak it.

My work is reflected in my home...

in the form of high-quality furniture and objects I have discovered in the companies I have worked for. Most of our furniture is by Vitra, Artek and Muuto. I work partly from home. At the end of the day, I put my work things out of sight. It’s important for me to have a harmonious environment.

“I couldn’t live in a home that had bare white walls.”

The walls in our home are...

full of art. Tony is mostly in charge of our art purchases. I am interested in art, but as an art director, Tony has more ideas and contacts in the art world. Most of the works of art in our home were made by our friends. I couldn’t live in a home that had bare white walls. We move the art pieces around depending on where we want to look at them.

When I want to relax...

I do yoga. I have been doing yoga for years, and four years ago received my yoga instructor qualifications. A small break from the design business gave me more tools and experience. Alongside my main job, I give yoga lessons in companies. Yoga brings balance into my life that can be rather hectic at times.

If I could now do something differently...

I would move the kitchen where the bedroom is, to be next to the living room. Our previous home had a kitchen-cum-living room, which worked really well.

The best moments here…

are Friday evenings when the whole family is present and we eat pizzas made by Tony, and watch movies. The children bring their mattresses and blankets into the living room and fall asleep at the end of the film. It’s a kind of picnic.

To me, home means...

a place where I can be completely myself, equipped with an Italian temperament and my very own sense of humor. We speak Italian at home, which makes me feel at home. We always play some music, and we are a noisy lot. We talk, laugh and sometimes have a few tantrums. Home is a place where you can show your feelings and feel safe.

I’m dreaming of...

my family living in Italy for a while. I’m not sure if it will happen in five or ten years, but it would be nice to give the children an opportunity to live in their other home country, close to their grandparents.

See also:

• All products by Muuto >

Text and images: Anna Riikonen

The story was previously published in Avotakka magazine 10/2022.