Aurora and Petra met a few years ago through a city-run youth workshop programme, and they’ve been inseparable ever since.

“From the day we met, it’s always been easy to be ourselves around each other,” says Aurora, also known as Ansku.

Petra, who is studying to become a youth and community instructor, and Ansku, who is studying to become a beautician and cosmetics advisor, used to live in their own small studio flats on opposite sides of the city. Eventually, they were spending so much time together that sharing a home started to seem like a smart idea.

“We were constantly having sleepovers at each other’s places. At one point we realised Ansku had been staying in my tiny studio flat for four months straight. That’s when we decided it was probably time to just move into a shared flat,” Petra explains.

Flatsharing is an ideal solution for student life thanks to its affordability. Petra and Aurora moved into their current home a few months ago from another Lumo home. They wanted to continue renting a Lumo home, as moving between Lumo homes doesn’t incur any extra costs, and pets are always welcome. Petra has three cats: Kida, Leia and Mabu.

So far, the shared home has felt cosy but still a little unfinished.

“We’ve had lots of plans we wanted to carry out, but we haven’t had the time. A limited student budget also slows things down,” Ansku explains.

Now, however, the situation is changing. Petra and Ansku were chosen from among Lumo’s student residents to take part in a makeover project, where their flat was styled according to their wishes to better suit their everyday life. The transformation was designed by influencer and interior design entrepreneur Janne Naakka. Let’s take a look at the finished result!

When Petra and Ansku got the chance to share their ideas with Janne, they were very much on the same page: neutral colours, softer lighting, and more storage in the bedrooms – especially for makeup. Before the makeover, their furnishings were a random mix of old furniture acquired from various places.

This project was a bit different—and more exciting—for Janne, as he didn’t meet the residents before creating the plan. Everything had to be designed based on photos of the flat and a wish list from the students.

“Luckily, Ansku and Petra had a clear vision of what they wanted in their home. And I got a lot of useful hints from the photos they sent me,” Janne says.

He guessed the residents would like light wood tones. In the kitchen, he chose a new dining table from Veke that matched better with the old chairs. The home already had a lot of white, which the residents liked, but Janne decided to paint the shared living areas in a muted greige tone – Tikkurila’s Mulperi. This made the white details, such as the curtains, stand out in a whole new way.

“I felt the home especially needed elements to tie the design together. The beige tones and light wood brought in the warmth that was missing,” Janne explains.

Janne also designed the home with Petra's cats in mind. The cats got a new climbing tree, and shelves were installed on the living room wall for them to climb on. The back of the sofa was also set up as a perfect perch for cat-watching out the window.

Previously, Petra and Ansku didn’t have a proper place to study—they worked from the sofa or the dining table. Janne built a long, shared DIY desk for the living room out of laminated wood and separate legs.

Even though the makeover was done on a student-friendly budget, Janne Naakka’s design completely changed the atmosphere of the home. The living room was rearranged to make the sofa take up less space. A light wooden desk was installed along one wall with shelves above it. The dining table was replaced with a larger and lighter one. Textiles, such as curtains and bedspreads, were replaced with new ones in different tones. From the Recycling Centre, they picked up decorative items like a vase and a tray.

All the common areas were given a fresh coat of paint. In the hallway, the walls were painted halfway up from the floor. A large mirror and empty frames from a flea market were installed, ready for Petra and Ansku to fill with posters of their choice.

“This is amazing!” Ansku exclaims as she sees their newly styled home.

“My favourite is the living room—but then I think about the new kitchen table and I love that too,” Petra says, astonished.

Ansku is particularly fond of her own room, which feels totally different after just a few simple changes.

“It used to be a bit of a low-key depression cave. Curtains really make such a difference—now it feels warm and lovely,” she describes.

Petra’s favourite spot is the living room’s new desk. It’s perfect for studying, but also for drawing, painting, or making handmade jewellery. The colour scheme is exactly what they’d hoped for: white, beige, and black. The soft, atmospheric lighting also gets lots of praise.

What Janne ultimately wanted to bring into the home wasn’t just individual pieces of furniture—but a feeling. Though the old furnishings were nice, the flat lacked a true sense of homeliness.

Now, Aurora and Petra’s shared student flat truly feels like home.

“There’s such a warm, cosy atmosphere here. I know it’ll be lovely to return here at the end of the day,” Petra says.

The makeover was carried out in collaboration with Veke.