Connor Renwick: Brutally Finnish Design Brand Vaarnii Celebrates Its Debut Collection

Tuesday, July 27, 2021

Brutally Finnish Design Brand Vaarnii Celebrates Its Debut Collection

A superstar of the 1990s, pine wood is now often overlooked in favor of hardwoods. Finnish design brand Vaarnii is trying to bring back this now unexpected material choice to take advantage of its abundance and ease of replenishment. What’s more, pine has a distinctive grain that earns more character with time and doesn’t crack like many other types of wood. All-natural and un-lacquered, it’s the starting point for a series of furniture and home decor from Vaarnii that will celebrate individual materials for years to come.

Our furniture will endure for generations, and in doing so begin a new era of furniture-making. I want to see people dancing on our tables in ski boots. The patina will provide great memories in decades to come.

– Antti Hirvonen, co-founder of Vaarnii

Bowl by Mac Collins

Vaarnii’s work with a group of designers has resulted in a robust, functional group of pine wood furniture and home decor that represents the brand in its debut collection. Officially launching during the London Design Festival this September at twentytwentyone’s Back and Forth exhibition in the design store’s Clerkenwell showroom, these brutal forms suit both log cabins and loft apartments alike. From Sarah Kaye Rodden’s sculptural Circle Wall Hooks to Soft Baroque’s jointed coffee table, the pieces are direct and unapologetic of their blocky forms as they welcome fastidious use.

The brand is committed to using raw materials that are plentiful in Finland, finding inspiration from what their country offers rather than global design trends. Vaarnii’s makers, which run the gamut from small independent workshops or long-standing manufacturers able to work at scale, are all based in the country as well.