KaisuMari: a taste of the good Finnish life

KaisuMari is an online shop bringing together the best in Finnish decoration and lifestyle products, with items that give a modern twist to a longstanding tradition.

KaisuMari was created by Ulla Doyen and Sandra von Ahn’s mother almost 25 years ago. Back then, it was a bricks-and-mortar home deco store in the town of Aurich, in northern Germany. After their mother retired, her two daughters decided to continue the family business, but to take the shop online.

Photo: KaisuMari

Though the store has gone fully digital, the ethos behind KaisuMari (short for Kaisu Marjatta, their mother’s name) is still the same as when it first opened in the 1990s: to introduce people to the world of Finnish home decoration. As children, Doyen and von Ahn spent almost every holiday in Finland with their mother’s family, and they both studied there as adults.

Photos: KaisuMari

Typical for the Finnish lifestyle, Doyen says, is the deep connection to woods and nature – something that is also reflected in Finnish design. “Nature is a huge source of inspiration,” von Ahn explains.

With KaisuMari, they want to allow those outside Finland to bring this restorative Finnish culture into their homes – through products like Lapuan Kankurit’s wool blankets that pay homage to the lichen patterns found in the Arctic forest; Hetkinen’s natural cosmetics made with essences from Finnish forests; and Myssyfarmi’s beanies made from Finnsheep wool, and knitted by local grandmothers in Pöytyä, Finland.

“We like to offer a mix of traditional items that have been reinterpreted by young designers – that’s what we find interesting,” von Ahn says, adding that all the items in the webstore are fairly made, mostly in Finland, from natural materials.

A key ambition for the next few years is to start carrying even more items from their own interior design company, studioKaisumari. “The idea is to offer items in a limited edition so that we can always offer new things,” Doyen explains.

Photo: KaisuMari

Web: www.kaisumari.de
Instagram: @kaisu.mari
Facebook: kaisu.mari