Cozy Living Spaces

Author : Henri Kalm

I have been to quite many homes and they all have left a different impression on

me. Some I have liked a lot, some have been unpleasant and some just okay. I

can’t deny that each one of us has his or her own taste and I have no right to

say which taste or style is the one to go by. However, I have noticed which

elements please my eyes and inspire me, even to the extent that I have

incorporated some for those items into my home.

If I think about the houses that have made a big impression on me, then the

winner must be the country cottage of my sister’s family. The cottage is situated

in Lapland, near Rovaniemi, so basically in the middle of nowhere but still only

30 minutes from a big skiing center. The cottage itself is quite big, for a cottage

that is. It has a living room upon entering, open concept kitchen, three bedrooms

and a sauna space with Jacuzzi and showers. We usually spend every

Christmas there and sometimes stay to celebrate New Year’s Eve, too. The

reason why no one minds travelling 5,000 kilometers is the magical and cozy

atmosphere of the cottage. And it doesn’t matter that people have to share

bedrooms and sleep on the floor.

This year when I was sitting alone reading a book while others were skiing, I

looked around me and started pondering on what actually makes this place so

special. The furniture was made of sea grass, there was a sheep skin carpet on

the floor, a lot of books on the shelves along with board games – and fire

flickering in the fireplace. I couldn’t help but stare at the fire which made a

crackling sound as the wood was burning. It was actually the fireplace around

which we all gathered and spent most of the time when we were inside.

However, it was only now that I really started thinking about it. I remembered

hearing how my sister and her husband were praising the fireplace company

Uunisepät where they had bought the fireplace, but it wasn’t until now that I

realized what a difference a fireplace can actually make, and now that I did I

definitely have to see whether one could be installed in our town house.

For more information about Uunisepät, please visit :

http://fi.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uunisep%C3%A4t

Planning Valentine’s DayAuthor : Henri Kalm

Not much time has passed since we had all the Christmas and New Year’s Eve

festivities but I can’t help thinking about and planning the next festivity:

Valentine’s Day. I admit that I am a hopeless romantic and I love showing love

and making people around me feel loved. And I can’t deny the fact that I love to

be pampered myself, too. For Valentine’s Day I have done all sorts of things:

been in Paris, been at a country cottage, in Lapland, in spa, in restaurants… But

I have never spent Valentine’s Day at home. So, for this year’s Valentine’s Day, I

decided to come up with something extremely romantic – at home.

Once I had decided upon celebrating the V day at home, I started panicking a

bit. It is quite funny but I really want to make this day special. So, for starters I

went online and typed in search “Valentine’s Day” and “home”. I was actually

quite surprised to get so many results which were all great sources of

information. I went for the one that suggested a romantic dinner and dessert by

the fireplace. I though that this would be something new and unexpected, yet

very romantic and private.

I started to make a list of the things I would need for this – just to be able to get

needed things on time. When I went to check out the fireplace area, I realized

that it would be a bit dangerous to eat so close to the fireplace because there

wasn’t any shield which would protect from sparks and yet, it would be nice to

have the fireplace doors open. I stood about a bit and then decided to call

Uunisepät, a company where we got our fireplace from seven years ago. As I

explained the situation to a friendly lady who answered, she had straight away

an answer to my problem and consulted me to come by their store for they had

a special fireplace spark curtain.

It is so nice to receive good customer service when in need. Now I have to make

sure I have plenty of chocolate and some champagne for Valentine’s day, and

just relax.

For more information about Uunisepät,

please visit :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fVIwv90wmQE