First floor plan that gets the honor of being reviewed is Finnlamelli’s Aapo. Finnlamelli is less-known custom log home manufacturer from Finland. Excellent product quality and flexible manufacturing and deliveries make this company one of the first choices when you consider buying a log home from Finland. Being so strongly technology oriented log home manufacturer, Finnlamelli’s standard catalog models aren’t stunning architectural thrills, still I found one that I especially like.

AAPO - FLOOR PLAN

COMING HOME
So you come back from work and pick up some groceries on your way. You park into the carport and expect to conveniently get those bags inside. No such luck! There is no access from the carport to wetroom and inside. Luckily overhangs extend far enough to protect you if it’s raining so you get inside without getting wet. There are two independent storage rooms connected to the carport one with optional access to inside the house.

HOME SWEET HOME
Open living room with cathedral ceiling greets you, once you get past the entrance. Statue-like oven is the focal point of living room. Imagine those warm and cozy nights, family getting together and playing board games and fire flickers through glass crate. Door to backyard veranda invites outside to sunshine and to sunset.

KITCHEN
From living room you have an access to almost every room in the house. Kitchen is almost integral part of living room and separated only by cabinets and the decorative partition wall behind them. Large kitchen area, plenty of room for dining table. Is there anything more natural than whole family having dinner together?

BEDROOMS
Three bedrooms make this log home a small family home. All the bedrooms have plenty of storage space, one comes with its own closet. Parents’ room is separated from kids’ rooms by living room, a nice detail that gives some privacy. Unfortunately same cannot be said about toilet, which is directly connected with living room. No matter what, it is always slightly embarrassing to use this kind of toilet when some guests are visiting.

UTILITY
Utility has lots of room for washing and drying machines also cabinet room for linen. This room also has a door to outside, you’ll probably find some kind of rack to hang laundry on. This kind of wetroom/mudroom area is reasonable to marry with bathroom and (as in Finland we are) sauna. Nothing splendid in bathroom, just very efficient, pretty much the same goes with rest of the house.

SUMMARY
This floor plan uses space extremely sparingly, providing good return for your money. Efficiency turns against itself and takes away some points, also carport should be connected with direct access to the house and mudroom. I can warmly recommend this floor plan, but with slight alterations. Luckily the company is up for the challenge since most of their homes are custom made.

Do you want your floor plan reviewed? Just leave a comment, I read them all.

As you can see from yesterday’s “preview“, the striking specialty of this home show is that every year new REAL area is developed just for this show. Any city in Finland can apply to be the host city or a town for that matter. It is THE show revolving around homes and is very much sought-after marketing opportunity.

How does it work for city?
It’s a great chance to polish up that worn old image and attract new people (tax paying people!) to live and create new activity. Businesses also notice new improved profile and might be interested in relocating or expanding activities to that part of the country, which is so appealing that even the home show is being organized there. Applicant must provide decent lots for the show and take care of setting up utilities and other communal services. The smaller the applicant the bigger the job.

What’s in it for companies?
Exposure! Quotations? Sales? Yeah, that’s how it goes, but usually visibility will bring money at least under some time frame. Companies must invest heavily though, because building one showcase house normally costs 500 000 - 1 000 000 USD. There is no guarantees that company is able to sell it later on, so it is always quite a balancing act between latest innovative products and mass market solutions that are easy to sell to people. Unfortunately easy to sell usually means hard to make headlines and vice versa.

What about people then?
The biggest benefit one can get from home show is - you guessed it - money. In order to guarantee good participation and successful show, city and companies give special offers, discounts and subsidies, which make building much more appealing than it normally would be. Home show might be the only chance for someone to build that extraordinary home and not to loose it to the bank right after completion.

Coming days I’ll walk you through some houses, which are of special interest for log home lovers.