Drying Room
In many apartments in Finland it is quite common to have a laundry room, but you are likely to find a drying room nearby, too! As the name suggests, it is a place for the tenants to hang their clothes to dry if there is space. The room has increased air circulation that allows for the clothes to dry well, usually by some sort of fan.
This comes as quite a shock to me since it shows the sort of trust the members of the community have towards each other as it would be so easy to steal someone else’s clothes, but it also means that your drying rack does not need to be a part of your living room décor anymore.
A Dish Drying Cabinet Above the Sink
As the heading mentions, most kitchens in Finland have a dish drying rack installed into a cabinet above the sink. This allows for the water from the wet dishes to drip down into the sink. I think it is a really clever and convenient invention and I often wonder how come it has not become a global phenomenon.
A Common (or private) Sauna
As you may know, Finland is believed to be where the sauna originated, and Finns have definitely embraced the sauna as an integral part of their lifestyle. In some more expensive apartments, you may have your own personal sauna in the bathroom, but when it comes to most student apartments, there are common saunas in each building which you can reserve.
Double-layered Main Doors
You might notice that when you enter or exit some apartments in Finland, you may have to open two doors instead of one. These might seem like they are a feature to keep the apartment warm, but in fact they are mainly for noise insulation.
Doors open towards the hallway
Personally, in the house I grew up in, doors actually opened in the opposite manner, so you had to pull the door to open it when you wanted to leave the house. However, in Finland the exit doors will always be pushed to open them. This is a common safety feature in buildings.
Built-in chopping board and bread board
Many apartments also have a bread board that is integrated into the set of drawers in your kitchen. Finns love to eat bread and the addition makes it so much more convenient to slice bread.
Additionally, you may also find a regular chopping board that you can also pull out –in my apartment this is found right above the bread board. I usually add a regular chopping board on top to prevent the need of cleanup and it basically acts as extra space in my kitchen.
Although there are many more things that I could mention, these are some of the things that I found to be the most remarkable for me. Hopefully this blog post gives you some insight. The fun fact is that I did not find out about some of these features until my second year of living in Finland.
-Ceaby
