Kids, Dogs & Design

According to Jerry Seinfeld, "a two-year old is kind of like having a blender, but you don't have a top for it." Indeed, we could not agree more. Add a dog, and the chaos will multiply exponentially.

Since the very dawn of the Olive Green Window, people have asked us the critical question: how does one manage to mix kids, dogs and design? Now after some years of trial and error, we would like to take the opportunity to show you a collection of photos of every day situations (divided in five categories) in which the miniature members of our pack interact with design. Afterwards, everyone can draw their own conclusions regarding this interesting topic.

1. Marks and scratches
In vintage items, marks and scratches are one clear indicator separating vintage from new. Rather than seeing those as unequivocally negative, we'd like to regard such imperfections as inevitable makings of time, as signs of years passed. That being said we do not mean that we would not prefer a vintage piece in good over poor condition, or would not like to take good care of these items. But being fond of vintage, one needs to have a sufficient tolerance for imperfections.

Serious paint work on the 82B table top by Alvar Aalto

Along the same lines, with kids and dogs one needs to have sufficient tolerance for newly appearing marks and scratches, both permanent and temporary by nature. Most of our daily meals (and all of Sofi's painting and drawing) are enjoyed around the 82B table by Alvar Aalto. Simply said, we love the fact that its laminate top has proven to be practically indestructible!

Sometimes, especially when we are entertaining guests, we use the Tulip table by Eero Saarinen. The Tulip was found from an internet auction and therefore we did not have the possibility to evaluate its condition in a live setting. Once it arrived, it was immediately clear that it had belonged to someone with kids - the table top around the edges is covered with little (spoon?) marks. Does it matter? Were we disappointed? No, not really. It is still a stunningly beautiful table - with a story to tell for the diners.

Spoon marked Tulip

Hiding pens, pencils, markers and all other miscellaneous drawing / writing instruments is an active and continuous process. This preventive activity is something that one quite quickly develops first a skill, then an obsession. We all know it too well - the first day you let go and tune down the 24/7 monitoring, things start to happen in a blink of an eye.

Pencil marks on a brick wall

Of course, sometimes the most interesting things seem to happen on the other side of the door. In those occasions, if you are small and can not reach a door knob, alternative approaches might be tried to break the barrier.

Nail marks on the door

2. Invasion of toys, trash and other junk
We rarely buy new toys, and most pieces in Sofi's collection are recycled treasures or gifts from friends and family. This does not mean her collection would be somehow limited. On the contrary, the pieces are numerous enough to populate the apartment quite densely. We try to keep most of them in Sofi's room, but she has very cleverly and conveniently managed to maintain a toy station in the living room around the Cadovius bookshelf. And as most nights she fails to have sufficient interest in organising them in a proper manner, the Lego blocks remain on the floor just waiting to be stepped on.

Endless battle against the invasion of toys

Urho can be also very creative with his interests, especially when spending time at home alone. The sight below is not uncommon, if something as interesting as for example household cardboard is left by the door waiting to be carried out. Urho takes the corrective feedback like a dachshund - with a miserable, apologising face but not really understanding how something so entertaining and fun could just not be common practise!

It used to be my playground

3. Missing essentials
Most vintage furniture collectors know that one of the most important factors determining the value of a given item is the condition. For us, the concept of condition includes for example materials, upholstery, finishing, original labels - basically everything tangible there is to be considered in a given object. Considering the exploring nature of kids, the sustainability of condition should never been taken for granted.

Something wrong?

As an example, there is a short story to be shared. A while back Pekka witnessed a curious moment in the dining room. On one of her explorations, Sofi had been crawling underneath the Cherner chairs around the Saarinen table. In a very systematic manner she had made her way from one chair to the next one and ripped off the original Plycraft labels attached underneath the seats. All Pekka could do was to bite his lip, accept defeat, and collect and store the random pieces those precious labels in a safe place. 

Original Plycraft label - ripped off

Where it was

4. Knocked down in action
On a frequent basis and as no surprise to anyone, things get knocked down. For example, the day it arrived the Toio floor lamp by Achille Castiglioni got knocked down resulting in a broken bulb. Luckily Sofi, the person responsible for the knock down did not get crushed underneath. Day two the Toio moved in Pekka's office.

And as the photo below indicates, the Toio is only one of many knocked down items. 

AJ (on the) Floor lamp

5. Explorations
During the last 1.5 years, we have focused all our energy and funds on the (endlessly) ongoing renovation project. Basically, this also means that we have had to postpone some of the ongoing restoration projects, one of them being the first generation Eames Lounge chair in the upstairs living room. The chair is in desperate need of new leather upholstery as the original has extensive cracks. The ripped leather has not, however, stopped us from using the chair. Quite contrary - the chair is in use every single day, as it has no structural problems. 

But as always, there is a catch. The ripped leather creates an easy access point to see what hides inside. And for one of us, this seems to be an open invitation to explore the inner parts of the chair. And even more miraculously, some filling from the arm pad has been removed and spread on the living room floor. Any guesses?

Entry point into the first generation Eames Lounge chair

Despite of being a very civilized representative of his breed, Urho also has his primitive moments. Often times, when given a new bone, he treats it like his ancestors when they found food and were not instantly hungry. The excess food is to be hidden well to save it for later consumption. In these occasions, Urho will first sneak around the rooms as long as he finds a suitable hiding place for his treasure.

A dog with a bloody snout

Then, he will place the bone in its hide and try to cover it. Unfortunately, unlike dirt outside in the nature, a fabric or carpet is not "transferable" in the same way than dirt is. As poor Urho does not understand this, sometimes his persistent but unsuccessful attempts leave a visible evidence on site. Fortunately, we had just covered the Toot Sofa by Piero Lissoni with a white sheet, when we came across the sight below. And fortunately, just like the sheet on top, the sofa covers are removable and washable.

A well hidden bone

So, how to conclude or thoughts around kids, dogs and design? Based on the selected examples above, and also reflecting to some key principles of functionalism, we would like to summarise as follows:

1. Remember, it is just furniture. Yes, it might be vintage. Yes, it might be design. But it is still just furniture. Marks and scratches are marks and scratches at the time of purchase. Afterwards,  it is magically transformed to patina. And even in the case of complete disaster, nothing is irreplaceable. The world is full of junk. 
2. If a piece is too precious, leave it. If something is too valuable, too fragile or too special, you already know NOT to get it. However, if you still can't resist, consider how it would look for example in your office. Alternatively, you might want to postpone your purchase for another 10 years. 
3. Be smart when choosing materials. Match the material with the intended purpose. Choose durable materials which are easy to clean and maintain. In other words, the key driver has to be the intended function. Anything completely impractical is just waste of time and money. And investing in quality material pays off. Even with significant wear and tear, a quality material grows old with grace.  
4. Get yourself the right cleaning tools and be prepared to use them often. Nowadays, almost anything can be cleaned. You just need to find the right detergent and choose the right approach. And if we are talking about walls, a new coat of paint won't take too much time. 
5. Provide sufficient distractions. As long as kids and dogs are busy doing other things, they are not busy damaging your vintage furniture or drawing on the walls. Provide them distractions. Hang a painting board in their room. Build a huge sandbox on the backyard. Include them in your projects. Anything goes. Just keep them busy. 
6. Enjoy your home. If you like where you live in, not everything needs to be perfect. The eye is a wondrous thing. It gets used to small imperfections really quickly. Every scratch adds to the character of your piece. 
7. Relax. Don't take it too seriously. With kids and dogs, things happen. Again, it is just furniture. Again, the world is full of junk. 

In the end, it is a home, not a museum. The most important thing is to enjoy the shared moments. Afterwards, the good ones make you smile, but the disastrous ones at the time make the most memorable and entertaining stories!

Slat wall

Let's face it. The idea of using wooden slats as decorative elements is not new. On the contrary, they have been widely used in interior design and architecture. A good example is Eero Saarinen's (one of our favourite designers of all time) work conducted for the General Motors HQ in Detroit Michigan. Among other things, he was asked to design the office interiors of Harley Earl, who at that time was the Vice President of Design at GM. The three other examples are more contemporary, yet relatively similar visually: 2, 3 and 4.

So very early in the process we knew we wanted to use some kind of wooden elements downstairs. First, Pekka made a slat ceiling to the laundry room. In terms of the downstairs lounge area, we were first contemplating wether to use plywood or not, but when acquiring a 1.65 m3 pile of solid teak which now lies in the underground space waiting for to be used, our minds quickly shifted from plywood to slats.

Quick prototyping with a ceiling element from laundry room

After choosing slats the question became whether approach the challenge with a horizontal or vertical pattern. Then, the thinking revolved around the dimensions of both the wood pieces and gaps in between. It is this rhythm in relation to the scale of the entire wall that matters and ultimately defines how well the slat wall will complement the entire space. 

As you can guess, these monstrous questions are driving Pekka over the edge. So during the last few weeks, he has been relentlessly working with prototypes made of pine. Via seemingly endless continuum of prototypes he has slowly started approach to the "perfect" design. It will take, however, a few more iterations and some more pine for him to find the absolute optimal rhythm. Only after that he will freeze the design and is allowed to start experimenting with his beloved teak to produce the final pieces (yes, he really goes and talks to the teak every night).

Early slat prototypes

As it is by trial and error, in order to be able to experiment with exact measurements Pekka of course made some tools to create gaps of various width.

Gap tools

Currently, thanks to Pekka's determination, we have answers to most of the questions. The slat elements will be layed vertically, from floor to ceiling. The cross sectional dimensions of the latest pine prototype is 22 x 22 mm attributable not only to the visual drivers, but also to the dimensions of the original teak pieces. So each piece would be 22 mm wide followed by a 14 mm gap. Naturally, the ratio of 22:14 is very close to the golden cut.

Testing with a ratio of 45:15

We are also planning to use teak to finalize the steps of the circular staircase. This will not only add warmth visually, but also has a more functional aspect. Without any coating, the steel steps are a bit slippery and to avoid any unwanted accidents adding wood might not be a bad idea.

Horizontal design

This will evidently lead to some design decisions as there are many ways in which the pieces could laid on a step.

Vertical design

Anyhow, back to the slat wall. In the end, we decided 22 mm is visually still a bit thick, so the next step is to experiment with 20 mm. Shall we see the day of the design freeze, before installing the slats the entire wall will be covered with acoustic panels. The slats will be installed on top of the acoustic element. Therefore, it will not only be a visually appealing end result, but the wall will also function as a sound trap. More to follow for sure!

Latest mock-up

Neither marble nor laminate

Back to our constantly changing and evolving dining set.

For a long time, our shared object of desire has been a Tulip table by one of the most famous Finnish designers Eero Saarinen (1910 - 1961). Introduced in 1958 by the manufacturer Knoll, the Tulip was part of the Pedestal collection, which consisted of several different sized tables and chairs.

Our dilemma has been that this beautiful table is available in various top materials, and we have had very divergent views on which one should we choose. Since the very beginning, Pekka has been insisting on marble, which Minna simply refuses even to consider preferring laminate instead. Finally after circling around the decision for months, the solution finally presented itself - once again in the form of an internet auction. Instead of marble OR laminate, it would be a Tulip with a teak top and black base.

Tulip, Cherners, Artichoke and yes - a dachshund.

The Dining Room Trio - the Tulip, the Cherners and the PH Artichoke really seem like a perfect match. First, it is remarkable that all three items date back to 1957 - 1958. Second, the black/wood color palette of the table and chairs complement each other in a very appealing way. Also, the oval shape of the table works really well with the shape of the Cherners. And the Artichoke is just simply fantastic. The only thing missing is a carpet underneath (we'll get back to that in due time).

The key design driver for the whole pedestal collection is the single base construction. In Saarinen's opinion under any table there usually was an ugly, confusing and unrestful world - the so called "slum of legs". With this notion he naturally referred to the conventional "four legs per item" construction which is very typical for furniture.

It took Saarinen and the product development team at Knoll five long years to finalize the revolutionary design. The single base construction creates an impression of a top loating in the air. It is actually quite amazing how a single, narrow base can steadily support such a large top as in the table we recently acquired. Measuring 245 x 137 cm our Tulip can easily accommodate 8 - 10 guests.

Single supporting base

It is actually funny that during all this time of intense collection of vintage furniture we have actually never owned an item by Saarinen or Knoll, which is one of the classic US manufacturers of design items for home, workplace and textiles. Founded in 1938 by Hans Knoll the company has produced several award winning designs by the top designers of the world.

For the 50th anniversary of the pedestal collection Knoll reintroduced rosewood (Santos Palisader) and teak table tops and subsequently made these line additions permanent. Items manufactured during the anniversary year (2007 - 2008) carry a special commemorative medallion. Ours seems to be one of these as indicated by the medallion underneath.

Anniversary label

Not only is the base construction remarkable visually, but its ingenuity becomes truly evident when the table is used by diners. The single base allows everyone to sit comfortably around the table without being distracted by table legs. Chairs can thus be added to any side or position around the ellipse whenever required.

There is, however, an (unfortunate) downside to all this. Ideally a table of this size is meant for eight guests, but we only have six Cherners. A chair hunt ahead, perhaps?

Sideways

The Tulip has another curiosity we have noticed. The elliptical table top creates an interesting visual phenomena. If you look at it on the side, the oval shape "narrows" the table down making it visually very light. Subsequently, the 137 cm wide table looks smaller than it really is. However, when you move and look at the table directly from the narrow end of the ellipse, you can see how wide it actually is and how much space there is between the opposite diners to lay dishes or any other necessities.

Slim oval

Oval edge

The overall condition of the table is good, but based on little (spoon?) marks here and there, the table has been hosting some younger generation diners also in the past. Pekka already has a plan to treat the table, but it is very likely that no matter how successful he will be now, the marks will miraculously return, sooner or later.

And what happened to our old dining table? Well, as some of you might remember the table top was actually a DIY, whereas the legs are genuine parts from a table called the Super Ellipse, manufactured by Fritz Hansen. The legs have now been disassembled and are for sale. So if you are interested in a set of genuine Super Ellipse legs, with or without a table top please let us know!

Super Ellipse legs

Super Ellipse legs looking for a new home