Slowly it's happening

Renovation renovation renovation. The four rooms are slowly coming together, but there is still more than plenty to be done before I can share the ready spaces. Here are some photos of what we have done so far. Thinking back it seems so little but it's Bali time, so everything happens so slow!

Tiling the bathroom of room 9. The "California" tiles we got from India.

The shower is lowered down, and the mood is rustic.

Creating the wall shapes for bathroom of room 8.

Room 8, quite unfinished.

With my workers we communicate with pictures and smiles.

To make the window of room 9 bigger, we had to expand the renovation outside the 3rd floor.

I wanted to make the window 3 times bigger than what it was to make sure wont waist the view.

Waterproofing the room 7

I also decided to enlarge the bathroom windows.

Room 8 with new bathroom doors and the bathroom of room 6.

Room 9's bathroom slowly coming together.

Marble floor for room 8.

Bed head bench and bathroom of room 8

Installing the big mirrors.

Bed head for room 9.

View from room 9 and fabrics for the curtains.

The rooms are getting to the point where it will be a lot more interesting to share some photos since it wont be just concrete and dust. Can't wait to see them done!

Tatami stool - school work

It is the last weeks of this semester so naturally it is filled with schoolwork. Last week I had a presentation about my restaurant project, and this week I have been workig with some reports and these presentation pictures of a stool I designed and made. The pictures were taken in studio and in a really beautiful restaurant here in Kyoto, or actually in two different tea rooms of the restaurant.

畳こしかけ (tatami stool)

tatami stool is a mixture of traditional Japanese elements and modern, minimalistic form. It consists of two parts: a wooden frame structure and a changeable tatami cushion.

The key words for the design were simple, minimalistic shape, ecological approach and a possibility to variate/customise the product. The inspiration was found in Japanese  harmonious, traditional lifestyle and materials.

The wooden structure is very simple. The silhouette comes from Japanese “torii” gates.The four legs are implanted staight to the main board that works as a base for the whole stool. The wooden frame around the seat hides an air space between the main board and tatami cushion. By using the stiff flexibility of tatami, the cushion will give in and create a curved surface when it’s seated on. Tatami’s pleasant surface doesn’t only feel good but also creates the main pattern of the product. By using different colours and patterns in the heri framing the cushion, the stool can be customised to match the interiors it is lockated in.

The cushions are made of recycled materials. Both the inner tatami board and the mushiro on top are leftovers from the tatami manufacturing and usually these pieces ends up being thrown away. The smaller pieces that doesn’t fill the standard sizes of tatami mats can still be used for different kind of products.

Tatami stool is a simple supporting furniture that can be customised to fit many kind of  spaces and purposes. It celebrates the Japanese minimalism and sense of pure shapes and traditional materials.

Building the kitchen

This was the scene when I first came here.

The raw bodies of the kitchen cabinets.

Building the island.

All the building and finishing is made at the location.

Painting the first layers.

Black granite installed. Holes for the sink and stove.

And yesterday makin space for the cooking hood.

This is what we are doing now. At the same time we have been doing the sinktables too but those I will show later on. Almost everything is made here at the house and there is always different people coming to work depending if we need to work with wood, stone, electricity ect.

The design of the kitchen is mainly done by the contractor before I came here but luckily I saw the plan before it was made. For example the space between the two surfaces was only 80cm but now it is 120cm. Also the places for the handles were odd ect...

Everything is happening quite slowly but I hope to do as much as I can before I must leave this wonderful place.

wood shop

Before going to the shell shop I went to this place full of wood. There were these beautiful, over 3 meters long wooden (mahogany, wenge, teak ect...) boards that will make great tables. We are thinking of buying one to the Gayatri house. Instead of birch or pine wood which we use a lot in Finland, these does feel more ethnic and has that luxury feeling when you touch it.

Livingroom

Ciao! Some of my friends have asked me to show more pictures of my flat so here you go! It's mainly about the livingroom and some items but I'll show the other room (kitchen) when theres something iteresting to see :)

Ollie-pop stool

Designed by Esa Naukkarinen, Gea Karja, Roosa Riski and Sanna Ritvanen. The stool is made of used skateboards and they are all unique. It will be available at Trash design web store or straight from us.

Photos by Unto Rautio

"Vitriini" side table

Metal workshop. Our assignment was to design and create furniture by using metal rod. Here is the result: