Spring Fair in Helsinki

Miss Mo and I love a good fair. Especially fairs which involve interior and houses. Last Saturday we attended the Kevätmessu (Spring Fair) in Helsinki. The Spring Fair brings four different trade fairs under one roof namely Own Home, Own Yard, Own Cabin and The Sisusta! Interior Decoration fair.

There was a lot to see. Whilst walking around we saw flower arrangements, sauna cabins, garden furniture, fireplaces, cute cupcake shaped soaps and lots of people with stripey shirts. It so happens that both Miss Mo and I were wearing a striped shirt without the other knowing. That just shows how in sync we are. Bloggers, best friends and striped shirt wearers extraordinaire.

Beautiful flower arrangement by Jason Sudeikis lookalike.

Piccu

 

Cupcake shaped soaps!

The story behind 'Dokkän, Oriental Decor'.

 

In the heart of Helsinki is a cosy interior shop called Dokkän. During our visit to Habitare 2013 we fell in love with Dokkän's products. We therefore decided to get to know the owners of Dokkän, Finnish Terhi and Egyptian Riham, and ask them several questions to find out more about the story behind Dokkän. Before you start reading the story do grab yourself a cup of coffee or tea as it sure is an interesting one!

Riham and Terhi. Guess which one is Finnish.

Five years ago Riham's husband got offered a job at Nokia. I know myself that it is hard to move to a different country and leave your family and friends behind. Moving to a different country is equal parts daunting and exciting. It is almost like a marriage: something old, something new, something borrowed and something blue. The old represents the things you leave behind such as family, friends and the place you grew up in. Something new represents the new country, new things and new friends which lie ahead of you. The borrowed represents the new culture you have to adjust to and the parts of the new country you have to borrow in order to fit in and feel at home. And sometimes it makes you feel blue as you miss the things you left behind.

The things Riham misses most are the weather (for obvious reasons), her family and friends and the fact that you can lie on the beach in the morning and be in the mountains in the afternoon as it is so easy to travel around Egypt. She also misses the fact that when you visit family or friends you are always offered some food. Coming from Holland where visitors only get one cup of coffee and one cookie I actually think Finns are quite hospitable!

Luckily for Riham Egypt isn't that far away and she does travel to Egypt regularly to check on the merchandise and see familiar faces. In fact, Terhi and Riham are planning a trip to Egypt and Morocco in the future to check on merchandise so Riham gets a chance to mix business with pleasure. Perhaps it was because of this very reason that Riham decided to open a shop with Egyptian interior decoration items. 

Now you must wonder how Terhi and Riham met. I know I did. Around 10 years ago Terhi started living in Spain for several months a year. Terhi's husband and a business partner of his bought a villa in Fuengirola which is located in the south of Spain. The villa is called Villa Naranja as it looks out on an orange tree. As Terhi has an interest in interior decorating, Terhi's husband asked Terhi to decorate the villa and Terhi decided to decorate it with a mix of Scandinavian and Moroccan pieces. Terhi knew a reliable man in Southern Spain who sells Moroccan pieces and she started buying things from him. The mix was a success and Terhi's husband started getting interested in importing Moroccan interior pieces to Finland. Most Moroccan pieces are imported from Fes, Morocco.

Riham and Terhi met when Riham was planning to move to another location (Dokkän is located on Annankatu in the heart of Helsinki) and Terhi was interested in moving into Riham's shop. Terhi and Riham soon realised that their items were very similar and that they share a love for oriental decor. Terhi imports pieces from Morocco and Riham from Egypt. Terhi has a feel for what Finnish people want and Riham knows the story behind the products. The perfect mix for a partnership. They met in March this year. Two months later Dokkän opened its door.

We wanted to know about the name of the shop: Dokkän. It almost seems Finnish but the word is actually Arabic and it means shop. Riham wanted a name that means something to her whilst at the same time being relatively easy to pronounce for Finnish people. I do wish Finnish people would give their shops names which are easy to pronounce for foreigners!

Dokkän's clientele includes half-oriental people and people who have lived and/or travelled a lot in Oriental countries and are interested in adding oriental pieces to their Scandinavian interior. A funny thing is that they also frequently get Moroccan people trying to sell them their merchandise.

Dokkän's products have been featured in magazines such as Koti ja Keittiö (My's favourite!), Divaani, Plaza and several others. Their products are a mix of Moroccan and Egyptian products. At fist glance the products look similar yet on closer inspection are different. The material and patterns can be different and as all products are handmade there can be slight differences in colour and fabric. For me that is the charm of handmade products. Their handmade products include Moroccan crockery, beautifully intricate lamps which are perfect for the dark evenings ahead of us, leather pouffes, bags, slippers and Kilim. Kilim is a tapestry-woven rug or other textile with geometric designs in rich colours. Dokkän offers beautifully handmade Kilim pillow cases and placemats. The placemats were Riham's idea and her father in Egypt made them a reality. Customers can have Kilim mats and pillow cases made to match.

Terhi and Riham are looking into selling oriental jewelry. Riham has gifted Terhi an Egyptian necklace which is quite similar to Finnish design such as Kalevala but slightly more exotic. When we visited the shop Terhi had paired the necklace with Kalevala earrings and the mix really works. Terhi sure knows how to mix Scandinavian with oriental style. All Dokkän's items are handmade and therefore chic, unique and magnifique! Visit their shop on Annankatu and you too will fall in love with their handmade products.

On Monday October 21st we will celebrate our blog's first anniversary. Our celebration will include a raffle and Terhi and Riham generously donated one of their precious Moroccan handmade leather Marrakesh style pouffes for our raffle. Make sure you join our celebration by participating in our raffle for the chance of winning the handmade leather pouffe below.

For more information go to:

http://dokkan.fi/

Treasure Töölö Apartment

I have written about my love for a Helsinki district called Töölö. I have also written about how I would love to buy an apartment there. I bought a lottery ticket today and I really hope I will win the lottery (fingers crossed!) as I have found a beautiful apartment, currently for sale via Arvoasunnot, in my beloved Töölö.

The exterior of the building has a Spanish feel to it and I love the colours, shape, windows, balconies and I love the fact that the building has 'curves' rather than straight lines.

As is common with old buildings, the rooms are very spacious with big windows and high ceilings. The apartment was refurbished in 2012 and finished to a very high specification. It comes with a beautiful original fireplace in the living room making it my favourite room.

The interior was realised by Vallila Interior and they provided the perfect mix of designer pieces and cosiness with lots of pillows and rugs with different textures.

Have a look at the pictures and I am sure you will fal in love with the apartment too.

For more information contact Hanna Ahtola from Arvoasunnot.

http://asunnot.oikotie.fi/myytavat-asunnot/8002471

For more information on Vallila Interior go to:

http://www.vallilainterior.fi/en

Miss My at Flow Festival

Last month I got a message from my friend, Paula, asking if I want to go to Flow with her. With Flow she meant Flow Festival which is an annual musical festival in Helsinki. At Flow different types of artists perform and the music can range from indierock to club music. I had never been to a music festival before so I was really keen on going and when Paula told me that Alicia Keys would be performing I said "yes, let's go!".

We met at Sörnäinen Metro station and decided to go eat at Lemon Grass (for more info on Lemon Grass go here) before proceeding to the festival. I had Pad Thai Kai and it was absolutely delicious as usual.

After Lemon Grass we walked to the Flow Festival which is located in Suvilahti. We had some problems finding it but we just followed the hipsters and sure enough the hipsters were heading to the festival. The atmosphere was amazing and I was just in awe of all the hipsters walking around there. I was checking their clothes and hairstyles whilst listening to the music.

When we arrived a Finnish rap artist was performing. We got some desserts and a drink and went to the seating and eating area where we found an empty hammock. Yes you read it right: hammock. The organisers had created cosy seating areas and strung up colourful hammocks. It all added to the relaxed atmosphere of the festival. Just go with the Flow.

At 22:30 Alicia Keys was scheduled to perform. The area in front of the stage was getting very crowded but Paula and I managed to secure a good spot from which we could see Alicia really well. Her performance was fantastic. Flawless. She is like every artist should be. She is multi-instrumental, a songwriter and a great singer. And she was on time which is refreshing for an artist of her caliber.

Paula and I had a great evening and I will definitely go with and to the Flow next year!

Picture

For more info on Flow go here:

http://www.flowfestival.com/

Miss My Loves Summer Terraces in Helsinki

As you may know, I love food. See my post on food here. I love to cook and I love to eat. One of my favourite hobbies is going out to eat. I'm always looking for good restaurants in Helsinki. Sometimes it feels like looking for a needle in a haystack but there are some gems out there.

Yesterday I had dinner and drinks with two friends on a terrace at Café Piritta in Helsinki. I had the Ricotta-asparagus salad with crispy bacon bits, herb-marinated vegetables, croutons and raspberry-vinaigrette. It was a really nice salad. Not the best salad I've ever had, nothing beats the goat's cheese salad I had on a terrace in Paris, but it was good. The seagulls found my salad appealing too as they tried their best to get their beaks and claws on it.

It was a hot summer evening, the terrace was buzzing and the view of Töölönlahti was amazing. I just love summer in Helsinki and eating on a terrace is my favourite summer activity. That and picnics in parks. Eating outside just makes the food taste so much better. Especially accompanied by nice weather and an ice cold cranberry juice. Life is good.

View from the terrace.

For more information on Café Piritta go here:

http://ursula.fi/piritta/

Lovely Luxurious Loft in Ullanlinna / Ullanlinnan Unelma Ullakko

I love lofts. This completely renovated, luxurious loft is located near the sea in Ullanlinna, Helsinki and currently for sale via real estate agency Huom.

The attic was used as a storage facility and when the builder renovated the attic he found a lot of old things there. Among those things was an old cash register and an old Helsingin Sanomat newspaper from 1917. 

The loft is very light and has exposed brick walls and quirky windows preserved by putting a new window in front of them. The refurbishment was carried out to a very high specification and includes a luxurious kitchen with integrated espresso machine (almost a must-have these days!). The bathroom has a big bath tub perfect for long soaks after a hard day at the office.

Have a look at this lovely luxurious loft.

- Miss My

*

Miss My ja Miss Mo rakastavat Helsingin Ullanlinnaa ja sen vanhoja kerrostaloja. Huvilakadulta löytyy uniikki remontoitu ullakkohuoneisto, joka on tällä hetkellä myynnissä.

Huvilakadun ullakko oli alun perin kanakoppivarasto ja siellä oli säilytetty yli 100 vuotta asukkaiden kodin tavaroita. Ullakko jäi remontoija Kai Kärjen raivattavaksi. Sieltä löytyi vanhoja leluja, naisten korkokenkiä ja mm. kirjanpitäjän mekaaninen Burroughs-laskukone vuodelta 1916, jonka Kai otti omaan käyttöönsä.

Lelut Kai luovutti lapsille Montessori -päiväkotiin ja kengät menivät uusiokäyttöön lähipiirin naisille. Kirjat, lehdet ja vanhat huonekalut Kai jätti kadulle roskalavan viereen ja niinpä tavarat löysivät uusia omistajia ohikulkijoista.

Kun vanhat rakenteet purettiin pois, Kai löysi sieltä vanhan Helsingin Sanomat vuodelta 1917, jonka päiväys oli 17. lokakuuta. Lehdestä löytyi mielenkiintoisia uutisia, kuten ilmoitus kätilön ja rokottajan toimesta, jossa selviää, että siihen aikaan synnytyksissä oli eri veloitukset ammatin ja varallisuuden mukaan: "Reisjärven kunta maksaa valtion palkan kanssa yhteensä 700 Smk. Synnytyksistä säätyhenkilöiltä eli kauppiailta 25 Smk, talollisilta ja varakkailta 6 Smk, torppareilta ja itsellisiltä 3 Smk. Aivan köyhille apu ilmaiseksi." Saksalaisten hyökkäyksistä Hiidenmaalle ja Riianlahdelle on pitkät uutiset.

Vanhat rakennukset voivat kätkeä sisäänsä mitä mielenkiintoisimpia aarteita menneisyydestä. Ullakkohuoneiston saattamiseksi nykytilaan kului paljon tunteja suunnitellessa ja tehdessä. Uniikki ullakkohuoneisto on laadukkaasti rakennettu. Lattiamateriaaleina on valkoinen epoksilattia.
Keittiössä ja kylpyhuoneessa on saksalaiset Noblessa -korkeakiiltoiset kaapistot. Huoneisto on viimeistelty tyylikkäällä sisustuksella.

- Miss Mo

 

 

A picture of the cash register found in the loft.

Contractor/ rakennusmestari AMK: Kai Kärki / http://www.netplan.fi/

For more info go to: http://asunnot.oikotie.fi/myytavat-asunnot/7779687
Or contact: Janne Soininen phone nr. 040-8474 900 or janne.soininen@huom.fi