In this series of articles, our friends list their top Christmas gifts from the range of Finnish Design Shop. Interior architect Joanna Laajisto includes both Finnish design classics as well as practical home accessories in her gift list.
Joanna Laajisto, will you be getting a Christmas tree this year?
”I will! We are going to spend Christmas with the family in our soon-to-be-finished holiday home in Karjalohja, Southern Finland. Already during the planning stage I was thinking about a suitable place for a Christmas tree in the living room, next to the fireplace. I'm dreaming of real candles, but since the natural spruces on our own grounds have delicate branches, we have to resort to warm-colored LEDs. We will decorate the tree with homemade wooden decorations inherited from my childhood home, and a few of our children's more showy ornaments. In my opinion, the atmosphere when decorating for Christmas, with your children, is far more important than the end result.”
What is the most special place you have spent Christmas at?
”I lived in California for eight years, where I also spent many Christmases, due to the short annual holidays at my work. At that time my family flew from Finland to spend Christmas with me. My parents prepared our traditional Christmas dishes, even if finding a rutabaga in a local grocery store proved challenging. In Los Angeles, the temperature in December is often above 20 degrees, so on Christmas Day we would sometimes go to Malibu Beach. Christmas under the palm trees was in fact a really fun experience.”
Joanna Laajisto’s 5 Christmas gift picks:
1. For the green thumb
”Beautiful flower pots can be difficult to find. The Riihitie pots by Artek are new classics, and they would definitely delight my friends with a green thumb.”
2. For pampering someone
”A high-quality bathrobe adds a luxurious feel to one’s day, and I consider the Terva bathrobe by the Finnish brand Lapuan Kankurit a great choice. The perfect Christmas gift!”
”A high-quality bathrobe is the perfect Christmas gift.”
3. For the chef
”Timo Sarpaneva's cast iron pot is a practical design classic. It proves that an object designed in the 1960s still manages to look as modern as ever.”
4. For a beautiful everyday life
”A home cannot have too many functional storage solutions. In our home, Verso Design's beautiful Lastu basket acts as storage for our daughters’ Donald Duck comics.”
”At home you can never have too many funtional storage solutions.”
5. For myself
”The large Cane-line Lighthouse lantern is on my own wish list. The lantern would set the perfect mood at our soon-to-be-finished holiday home. You can create a beautiful still-life on a wintery terrace with different-sized lanterns, pots, rocks and branches.”
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Text: Mikko Vaija Images: Manufacturers, portrait by Mikko Ryhänen