Finnish blogger Varpunen tested the new Safira range

Interior stylist Susanna Vento, writer of the blog “Varpunen” (transl. sparrow), remembers Safira from her childhood as a product you can trust: “A faucet which has a lever with a shiny Oras-diamond.” Still today, Vento relies on Safira which she has selected to furnish both her home and summer house.

”That faucet is as old as I am”

If you were asked to list design products and brands that are regarded as timeless and reliable classics, you would quite quickly come up with a list. When thinking about Finnish design classics, my list looks like this: Marimekko, Artek, Arabia, Iittala, Pukkila, Oras, Hackman, Fiskars… Since our childhood, we have been taught to appreciate products with long-lasting design and value. To own a design classic is something to be proud of – even something to brag about to family and neighbors.  After all, everyone knows these brands – the brands that bring everyday luxury to all kinds of homes.

I am happy that I was raised to appreciate and admire Finnish design classics. I want to highlight the word “admire” as back in the days there was no way we could have afford these products. Having lived my childhood in a small town in Eastern Finland (Pieksämäki) in 1980’s, the Finnish design classics were the only design products we were aware of. After all, living in a middle-class small-town household, the design trends were somewhat different from those of more cosmopolitan and cultural households where the younger generations where more used to wealth and having also international design items to decorate their homes.

Nevertheless, there was always one design brand that we could afford and usually was waiting us in the house already before moving – thanks to the housing cooperatives. In Finland, everyone Finn has touched Oras faucets more times that one can even count. These commonplace products are present in our homes but also in schools and other public places. When I think about these products, my strongest memory is related to a small Oras Safira washbasin faucet with a lovely diamond on top of the lever. Some of you might remember it. Oras has now launched a totally renewed Safira product range, from which I photographed one of the kitchen faucets for this blog post.  

As an interior stylist, I have become familiar with different faucets and faucet designs. In my current home, we have chosen Oras shower to our bathroom and in the summer cottage there is an Oras washbasin faucet specifically designed for a summer house with the water heater – which has proven to be an invaluable asset. Without it, we would still need to warm the water in a kettle to wash the dishes.

I am already browsing through Oras’ new products to find a new shower to our bathroom. The inspiration for our current one came from old schools’ shower room – the rougher the design, the better. Let’s see what kind of design will be chosen next.

Oras Safira – a trusted faucet for over 40 years. // Oras
Content cooperation between Oras and Varpunen 
See the original text here. (in Finnish)