SNOW PLACE LIKE HOME

FESTIVE BAKING, HOMEMADE DECORATIONS AND SLEDGING – TIMELESS WINTER TRADITIONS LIVE ON IN THIS FINNISH WOODEN HOUSE FULL OF THE WARMTH OF A FAMILY CHRISTMAS

Photography: KRISTA KELTANEN/LIVING INSIDE

A couple of miles from the centre of Kouvola, Finland, on the edge of a quiet residential area, is an old wooden house. The windows overlook the frozen lake and silence surrounds but inside, its owners are hanging up decorations and keeping cosy around the fire. “We like Christmas a lot and we do start early,” says Janica, who lives there with her husband Ronny, sons Lenny, 11, and Luca, six, and their pet rabbit. “On All Saints' Day, 1 November, we put seasonal lights in the yard and inside, and hang paper stars in the windows. As Advent begins, I put up decorations in the kitchen and living room and Christmas calendars in the boys' rooms.” The tree goes up on Finnish Independence Day (6 December), then she adds wreaths…

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The Simple Things (Digital) - 1 Issue, December 2023

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