Off the grid house
Hello,
welcome back! This is the second Super Finnish Blog post. I wanted to write a little bit about my true passion in home design industry.
Yes, homes are my passion, but there is something home related that I am SUPER passionate about; Off the grid living! Off grid houses (for example Tiny Houses) are a trend, and more people are thinking about living off the grid as an option. Maybe not permanently, but having an off grid location as a second home. By the way; did you know that the second home / summer house culture is HUGE in Finland? There are 5.5 million people in Finland, 2.7 million households and over half a million summer houses. It is estimated that about 2.5 million Finns have an access to a summer house (basically half of the population). A lot of people rent or borrow summer homes but there are also many people owning them. If I think about the people I know, there are many families who basically move to live off the grid for the whole summer, every year!
My own off-grid house!
In 2020 I started building our second home in Finland. It is a small off grid house with a separate sauna building, that also has a guest bedroom. The buildings are small and the focus is in the outdoor areas which actually keeps the monthly maintenance expenses very low. That is very traditional summer house thinking in Finland!
This picture of my summer house is from the year it was build. I keep working on the landscaping and outdoor areas every time I visit Finland. To me, it is important that this place is my ‘never ending project’, a playground where I get to build and make my own design dreams come true.
Building project!
What it comes to the building project itself, it was definitely my all time favorite project I have ever done. I enjoyed every part of it! I was hands on invested in the project for 14 hours a day for 5 and half months. No-days-off! I had 14 people working for me. I hired an electrician, plumber, contractors, ground builders, etc. but I also did a lot of the work myself which helped me to keep the building cost pretty low. I was the projects manager, site cleaner, errand boy, handyman and whatever was needed to keep the construction run effectively. I only had experience in smaller projects such as apartment renovations, and I have to be honest; it was way more work to build the whole house from scratch. But for some reason, maybe because I was so passionate about it, I never felt lost or had a feeling that things are not in my control. I was able to keep all the workers in schedule and building materials coming in when needed.
I built the house during winter season. It was totally worth it! I had the buildings ready by the summer and I was able to start the landscaping work early in the spring.
Will off the grid living be one of my future focuses?
I have been working with several clients in the US and I’m very lucky to be able to say that. It is not something you can take for granted! First year in business can be quiet. For somehow I was able to connect with amazing clients that I was able to help with my services. Most of the projects were decorating and furnishing homes and office spaces. Some staging and consulting too. It was awesome to be able to work on different kind of projects, to see what is the direction that attracts me the most. I guess this is one of the benefits of owning your own business.
I really believe that if possible, you should always find yourself work, that doesn’t feel like work. Money is a motivation that gets us to work, but work should also be so much more than money. That’s why I am still testing out the market, and finding all the interesting tracks I want to follow. I have noticed that my favorite type client (if you are allowed to say so) is someone who really appreciates the comfort and joy of home. As a new business, it is obvious that I am not able to choose only the gigs that fulfill my wildest dreams. But I can definitely learn from them and build the direction of the business towards the work I enjoy the most.
To go back to my all time favorite project, that’s what I also want to do. I want to find a way to offer services for clients who think like I do and have a connection with nature. It is awesome to live in the city, but it would be even more awesome to have a hideaway option where you can spend some of your down time and recharge surrounded by nature. Even if that location is in the city and nature is your own yard.
Coming from a country that has a strong culture of off the grid living I want to introduce that to my future clients here. I would like to get to design off the grid homes that are reasonable and affordable to build and maintain. Maybe find clients who are not able to buy homes in big cities but would be able to own a small house off the grid. A little hideaway for the weekends.
Overall I would say that my favorite type of project is one where I can actually and honestly help my client. To help them solve problems they might feel like they have, and find solutions they might not have thought previously. The comfort and joy of home is my passion, no matter if the home is in the city or off grid.
Jussi-Pekka Kajaala
Suunnittelija, Creative Entrepreneur
