Made by Choice: How Finnish Woodcraft Brings Nordic Happiness Home

Where ancient forests meet cutting-edge technology, where master craftspeople collaborate with boundary-pushing designers, and where the secrets of Scandinavian contentment are carved into every curve and joint.

A Different Kind of Happiness

We've all seen those global happiness rankings where Nordic countries consistently claim the top spots. It's become something of a cultural fascination: what exactly makes these northern peoples so contented despite the long, dark winters?

For Made by Choice, the acclaimed Finnish design house founded in 2015, this "Nordic Happiness" isn't just a statistical curiosity—it's a guiding philosophy and creative wellspring that infuses every piece they create.

"Happiness for us means enjoying life, design and creativity with sustainable values and means of production," explains the founding trio of Lasse Laine, Sebastian Jansson, and Niclas Ahlström. Their vision has resulted in collections of tranquil, organic wooden furniture, perfected with what they call "friendly, smart and fun details"—small moments of delight that accumulate into something profound.

The Halikko Workshop: Where Heritage Meets Innovation

Drive to southwestern Finland, and you'll find yourself in the town of Halikko—home to Made by Choice's remarkable production facility. Here, the company employs forty artisans and engineers whose craft emphasizes "the uniqueness and passion that goes into every design."

What makes this workshop special isn't just the quality of craftsmanship (though that's certainly exceptional), but the unusual marriage of tradition and technology. State-of-the-art manufacturing processes sit alongside centuries-old woodworking techniques, creating a dialogue between Finland's rich design heritage and its forward-thinking present.

"This allows us to produce the most obscure shapes," they note, "that are then hand-crafted and finished by the most skilled artisans in Finland."

The result is furniture that couldn't exist through traditional methods alone, nor through pure automation—pieces that bear the subtle marks of human attention while achieving forms that push the boundaries of what's possible with wood.

The Collaborative Spirit

Unlike design houses built around a single visionary, Made by Choice embraces a collective approach to creation. Many of their collections emerge from their in-house team's collaborative process, while others come through partnerships with notable Finnish designers and interior architects.

This philosophy of "collective creation" traces back to Finland's broader design culture, where pragmatism and functionality have traditionally been valued over individual expression. Yet Made by Choice has found a way to honor this heritage while infusing it with contemporary creativity.

Each product tells a story—not just of its designer, but of its place. Made by Choice names each piece "after its origin, carrying the true story about the context it was originally developed for." They believe "products remain cherished over time when carrying meaningful stories to relate to."

Consider the Kolho series, created with American artist Matthew Day Jackson. Inspired by both Apollo moon landings and a small Finnish town, these tables and chairs play with the tension between reason (flat surfaces) and chaos (serpentine supports). This commitment to narrative and context creates furniture that feels rooted and authentic—pieces that carry meaning beyond their functional purpose.

The Materials: Respectful Resourcefulness

Central to Made by Choice's ethos is a deep relationship with their primary material: wood from Finland's vast forests. But this relationship is guided by careful stewardship rather than mere extraction.

The company sources only certified materials, ensuring that their production supports sustainable forestry practices. This environmental consciousness extends throughout their production process, where they emphasize creating furniture "on demand" rather than in excess.

Beyond sustainability, there's a sensory quality to their material choices. Finnish wood—particularly birch and pine—has distinctive characteristics that reward both sight and touch: subtle grain patterns, a particular luminosity, and a warmth that synthetic materials simply cannot replicate.

"We are passionate about producing objects that are made to be cherished for years to come and handed across generations," they explain. This isn't just marketing language; it's reflected in the actual construction of their pieces, which are built to develop character over time rather than deteriorate.

Why This Approach Matters at Home

While contract furniture often prioritizes durability above all else, and mainstream consumer pieces frequently chase trends at the expense of longevity, Made by Choice occupies a thoughtful middle ground that's particularly well-suited to today's homes.

Their furniture brings several distinctive qualities to residential spaces:

Timelessness with personality: Unlike purely minimalist designs that can feel cold or anonymous, Made by Choice's pieces balance clean lines with quirky, characterful details. They're restrained enough to withstand changing trends, yet distinctive enough to spark joy daily.

Craftsmanship you can feel: In a world increasingly dominated by disposable goods, there's profound satisfaction in living with objects made by skilled human hands. The subtle variations and careful detailing in Made by Choice pieces create a tactile connection that mass-produced furniture simply cannot offer.

Environmental peace of mind: Knowing that your furniture was produced with sustainable materials, in a facility powered by renewable energy, and built to last generations rather than years brings a different kind of comfort to your home.

The happiness factor: Perhaps most importantly, there's the intangible quality that Made by Choice calls "Nordic Happiness"—a combination of functionality, beauty, and authenticity that contributes to genuine wellbeing in the spaces we inhabit.

A New Chapter for Finnish Design

Made by Choice describes their mission as maintaining "the cultural tradition of Finnish craftsmanship for centuries to come while creating a new chapter for Finnish design." It's a bold ambition, especially given Finland's outsized influence on 20th-century design through figures like Alvar Aalto, Eero Saarinen, and Eero Aarnio.

Yet they're succeeding by finding a balance between honoring this heritage and pushing it forward. Their pieces don't simply replicate mid-century Scandinavian aesthetics; they evolve them for contemporary life while maintaining the underlying values of craftsmanship, functionality, and connection to nature.

In a design landscape often pulled between reverence for tradition and hunger for novelty, Made by Choice demonstrates that the most compelling path might be neither pure preservation nor revolution, but thoughtful evolution—bringing the wisdom of the past into conversation with the needs and possibilities of the present.

Their trademarked concept of "Nordic Happiness" may sound simple, but it encompasses something profound: the idea that our material surroundings can contribute meaningfully to our wellbeing when they're created with intention, skill, and respect—both for the materials themselves and for the people who will live with them.

In a world increasingly concerned with authentic living and sustainable choices, Made by Choice offers not just beautiful furniture, but a template for creating objects that genuinely enhance our lives while treading lightly on our planet.

Explore the complete Made by Choice collection now available at Design Public.