Janna Hurmerinta smiles as she opens the door to her first-floor Lumo home and welcomes us to her light-filled living room.

After spending a few years in Helsinki, Janna has returned to Vantaa where her roots are. She has lived in Vantaa almost all her life.

“I haven’t made it far,” Janna says and laughs.

Living just a stone’s throw from them are Janna’s parents, the grandparents of her small son Noah. 

The home had just been renovated before Janna, her French husband and their 3-year-old son Noah moved in, and all the surfaces look sparkling and new.

“We just moved in two weeks ago,” Janna reveals.

The apartment looks as though they have been living there longer, because all the furniture and things have found their places.

The 60 m² apartment has a layout that works particularly well for a family with children, because you can almost see the entire apartment from the living room at a glance. The parents can watch their son play while cooking in the kitchen, which is connected to the living room.

The two bedrooms are entered from the living room. The bedrooms have sliding doors, which add to the feeling of space but bring privacy when needed.

The ground-floor balcony is like an extension of the living room. Janna has created a nest-like space on the balcony by attaching covers to the balcony railings for more privacy from passers-by.

“We also have our own sauna, which is an everyday luxury,” Janna says. 

Having also lived in a detached house for a long time, for Janna, moving into a Lumo home felt like coming to a hotel. At home, she appreciates easy everyday living, because she is already busy juggling her career and family life.

“The internet was working right away, and it’s also free. The building also has cable TV,” Janna says.

She praises the My Lumo service, which you can use to order keys to a new apartment, check and pay rent, set up Internet or order a moving service. It is also a convenient way to contact the building manager.

“Our balcony boards were loose, and I reported that using the My Lumo service. Lumo quickly arranged someone to come and fix them,” Janna says to give us an example.

A vegetarian for over 20 years, the environment and recycling are close to Janna’s heart.

“It’s easy to recycle here. Living in a detached house, I always had to go to a recycling point by car. Now I just drop all the paper, cardboard and other waste in the building’s recycling bins as I go out,” Janna says.

Although Janna has not yet taken the carbon footprint test on Lumo’s website, she is going to.

The pandemic forced a lot of touring artists to take a long break, but fortunately for Janna, her maternity leave nicely coincided with the lockdown period.

“I was head over heels for my little boy, and I’m thankful that I was able to stay at home with him and take a slightly longer maternity leave. Without the coronavirus, I would have likely started playing concerts sooner.”

At the moment, Janna goes to Helsinki every day as her studio is located in Punavuori.

“The connections to Helsinki are good. The city centre is a 15-minute train ride away and 20 minutes away by car,” Janna says.

When Janna was on maternity leave, her creativity was flowing and she wrote several new songs. One of them will be released as a single in early October. Her next album is also under way.

She will start playing concerts again soon, and Vantaa is a great place to go on tour from.

“I will be doing the Christmas tour 2022 with Kaihon Karavaani, while Tuure Kilpeläinen is taking a break from touring. Jesse Kaikuranta is the other lead vocalist on that church concert tour. We will release a couple of new songs during that tour, and we will of course be playing lovely, traditional Christmas songs as well,” Janna promises.

In spring 2023, Janna will be playing concerts with her own band.