There is a cheerful foursome meeting the camera crew at the door. Arman and Oscar, a pair of Shi Zhus, welcome the guests, and Antti and Jari lead them further into their home. The couple’s two-room apartment is flooded with light and warm atmosphere, and a delicious smell is wafting out of the kitchen: Jari has baked as many as three different pies, and the coffeemaker is making its familiar noise.

“A functional and modern kitchen is very important to us. I do a lot of cooking and here it’s nice to prepare a dinner even for a small gathering of people,” says Jari as we are drinking coffee. Earlier, he used to work as a restaurant manager.

The apartment is bright and, therefore, there is no need for any larger photographic lights. That is actually a good thing, because the purpose of the series of photos is to showcase the home and its residents in their sublime everyday living. Photos are taken in every room of the apartment, from kitchen to living room, and from balcony to bedroom. The photo shoot is only interrupted by a few quick changes of clothes taking place in a closet, and then the job continues.

“A functional and modern kitchen is very important to us.”

When the photos are being taken, Jari and Antti have time to tell more about how they ended up in their current, no less than fourth consecutive, Lumo home.

“Here, everything was just right. The location couldn’t be any better, the views are great and even the floorplan functions well, because practically not a single square metre of floor area has been wasted,” Antti points out.

“Kerava is an absolutely fantastic place to live. There’s just the right amount of people living here, and the services are nearby. On the other hand, it’s also very easy to get away from here. By train, Helsinki city centre is 17 minutes away, and the airport 15 minutes away. In addition, there are excellent opportunities for walking the dogs,” Jari adds.

Jari and Antti agree that they wouldn’t easily change their current home for anything else. With its 58 square metres, the two-room apartment has quite enough space, and the couple does not mind that the apartment does not have its own sauna – after all, the housing company has three saunas for common use.

The couple is of the opinion that the sense of community is one of the biggest assets of the apartment:

“The residents of the building have their own Facebook group, where they discuss common issues of the housing company and plan joint programmes for the club room, for example. Here, we’ve met a huge number of amazing new people. People from teenagers to old ladies have taken part in managing the housing company's common affairs, which is a great thing, since it has also expanded our own perspective on matters and different people,” Jari explains.

“And on different dogs,” Antti says with a chuckle next to him.

Lumo residents is a series of content that showcases the residents of Lumo homes in their natural environment – their own home.