While putting together this year’s winter range for Artek Helsinki, we thought about how different decades are discernible in our furnishings and how a lasting interior is built up. The unique atmosphere of each home is born from a base of timeless elements seasoned with the currents and phenomena of the decades. Furniture, lamps, textiles, everyday articles and art are accumulated over time, varying with each stage of our lives. Furniture, once bought, can move from one setting to another within the home as their use changes. A changing, layered interior represents a home’s sustainable development at its best.

As we approach the festive season, the atmosphere of the Artek Helsinki store is born of a selection of small products that richly combine different eras.

Natural materials and a vivid colour palette

We find our insipration in the favourites of yesteryear as well as the latest products of right now. One of the most characteristic products in the display is the 401 armchair upholstered in horsehair cloth. Thanks to its sophisticated look and endless durability, horsehair fabric was popular as an upholstering material for Artek armchairs already in Aino Aalto’s day. Among our choices from earlier decades are also the stools with curly birch seats and stools with green and red linoleum. Vitra’s Organic Chair, designed by Eero Saarinen and Charles Eames in 1940, upholstered in sheepskin, is beautiful to look at and soft to sit on. A limited edition of only 250 chairs were made globally.

At Christmas the decades of a home are often further emphasised when we open the boxes of ornaments that have been packed away for a year. The content of such boxes is pure nostalgia – carefully preserved treasures are put in their places to decorate the home. The festive table may be set with heirloom tableware and cutlery, and the centrepiece may be a vase that we ourselves have bought more recently. A few years down the road, that vase will embody memories of the 2010s.

The Artek Helsinki store’s winter collection of small objects is characterised by natural materials and strong colours. Our ceramic selection includes Italian Bitossi ceramics, French Provençal ceramics, and Finnish items in the shape of Christmas tree decorations by Karin Widnäs and teapots by Paula Ruuttunen, not forgetting Artek’s Secrets of Finland family of products and the Riihitie plant pots. Lucia and Lucius candlesticks provide this year’s sources of light, while the classic Nagel chrome candlesticks are also available.

Baskets and storage made of natural fibres have been an Artek tradition since the store was founded. This festive season we have baskets and storage from India and Zimbabwe as well as Finnish Kaisla products.

Artek Helsinki 
Keskuskatu 1 B
00100 Helsinki, Finland
tel. +358 10 617 3480
artekhelsinki@artek.fi
Mon-Sat 10:00 – 18:00