Since we first met in 2009, we have been renovating. Our first project was a two bedroom apartment from the 1950’s followed by a 1960’s mid century “dream come true” apartment. This is also when we started writing the Olive Green blog, sharing our renovation journey. Now, we are taking the first steps of our next challenge, building a mid-century modern inspired post and beam house.
So, who are we, and how does the team Olive Green operate? Let’s start with Pekka, who is an industrial designer, owner and a managing director of Seos Design. His professional background is in design and design related research. Pekka has held different positions as designer, design director, researcher and visiting professor. During the past 20 years, Pekka has worked both in business and academic fields in Espoo, Milan, Barcelona and Shanghai.
In the team Olive Green, Pekka is the creative driver and a primary source of product / process know how. Pekka is passionate collector of mid-century modern design, and loves hunting and restoring vintage pieces. He is maybe driven by the process more than the end result, and is thus already a bit worried about what we will do after the house is ready. In the house project, Pekka coordinates the activities of the design team, ensuring that all visual and functional decisions respect the concept and the vision we have of the house.
Minna has an academic background in cancer research. After some years working as a researcher, she transitioned over to pharmaceutical industry, now working as a business leader. She shares Pekka’s passion for MCM architecture and design, and so far only very few of Pekka’s obsessions have received and absolute “no” from her side. In the team Olive Green, she is responsible for the blog and related social media channels, as well as everything to do with the formalities, financials or any other supporting activities related to the house project. In contrast to Pekka, Minna tends to prefer the outcome over the process, but has over the years grown more patient and learned to enjoy the journey.
In addition, our children, Sofi and Eino, as well as our dachshund Urho will appear in the stories. However, we have decided not to post identifiable photos of the children, as their virtual footprint is not our choice, but theirs. Therefore, if you see them in the photos in some rare occasion, you know we have their permission. On the contrast, Urho visual appearances will for sure continue to be part of the blog posts.
So, we hope you enjoy the house building journey. This is our biggest, craziest and the most ambitious project for us so far, and it will be great to share it with you. We also welcome your thoughts and tips, so feel free to share those either in comments or by sending us an email at theolivegreenwindow@gmail.com.
(All photos in this post by Nani Annette)
Olive Green 