Katinpoika

We are pleased to announce Sofi's room is now safe and liveable! Not finished, by any criteria, but all the junk belonging somewhere else has been carried away - well, somewhere else.

While transforming the room to suit the needs of the little person living in it, we also decided to move Sofi from a crib to a baby bed. First, instead of needing to pick her up in the middle of the night and carry to our bedroom, she can now just walk herself - quite practical. Also, a bed just looks so much nicer than a crib. So what a wonderful opportunity, once again, to develop a slight obsession.

We first had our eye on an extendable Jolla-bed by Muurame, but when looking for an used Jolla, we came across another Muurame bed called "Katinpoika" (freely translated "Kitten"). Like Jolla, it is extendable, but has a design we preferred much more over Jolla.

Muurame Katinpoika

Muurame is a Finnish family owned furniture company with a long history of producing modular pieces with a timeless design suitable for a wide range of uses. The dawn of the modular collection dates back to 1954, when Pirkko Stenros had her first child and subsequently started designing modern, minimalist children’s furniture. The first piece was a child's bed (called Jetti) soon to be followed by some modular drawer units to serve originally as night stands.

Muurame label

Since there is actually very little information available online about Katinpoika, we would like take the opportunity to share some of it's history (information kindly provided by Muurame). The first bed Stenros designed for children was a full-sized bed, but when it was time to move her third child from a crib to a bed, she wanted something more "nest-like", which could then grow with the child. After the second world war, there were no extendable beds available for small children in Finland and thus in 1960's, she started designing one, later to be known as "Katinpoika".

Drawer button

Katinpoika, made of massive wood, was in production during 1971-1981. Eventually, it was part of an extensive product family, which included several different kind of beds for grown ups and children, night stands, seats, cupboards and even some toys. The two original colour options were white/red and white/blue, followed by a later addition of white/yellow, when parents wished for a gender neutral colour.

Oh the stories you could tell!

Up until today, Sofi's Katinpoika has without a doubt served several kids, and one can see some marks of years past here and there all over it.  However, the overall condition is very good, as Katinpoika bed was originally designed to last for many, many years. And really, we don't mind. Quite the contrary, we do love how these old pieces of furniture have a story to tell.

Perfect for storing toys

And yes, Sofi will add a story of her own, most likely very visible one, in the form of a marker, sticker or something else more or less permanent by nature. She is fascinated by her new bed, and every night she remembers to make a point how she is going to sleep in her "uus" (=new) - the "bed" part of her vocabulary still missing. But like her stories, the missing words will come, sooner or later. In the meantime, she is happily enjoying the early rise of her own queendom, still for a while missing a "Do Not Enter" sign at the door...  

Shall I go with a raccoon or a butterfly?