This international shared home is filled with laughter and whimsical theme parties

Laura, Jamie and Aparna are students at the University of Helsinki as well as close friends and roommates. Their shared rental apartment located in Ruoholahti, Helsinki, offers the perfect surroundings for happy gettogethers and the most imaginative theme parties. After living together for a year the girls know that with good friendships even your basic weekday can for sure be a feast.

California born Aparna Shakkarwar and Torontonian Jamie Lee met in 2021 at the beginning of the 'Changing Education' master's programme by the University of Helsinki. Attending the same programme was Laura Ramula, an English major with a dream of becoming a teacher.

"To participate in the programme was an excellent decision on my part, because with it I met these wonderful people", Laura says with a smile and points at her flatmates.

The girls are sitting in the sunny living space of their shared rental home with a view over the rooftops of Ruoholahti, near the city center. The tea is ready, and the friends have promised to reveal us all the secrets of shared living.

From near homelessness to a penthouse

Aparna and Jamie lived together in a student housing owned by Hoas. When the lease ended, they were in haste to find a new home.

Unfortunately the search proved complicated, since there were no available apartments with a floorplan suitable for shared living. 

As time went on with no decent apartment in sight, Aparna and Jamie began worrying about becoming homeless.

Then they stumbled upon a SATOhome online - a top floor rental apartment in Ruoholahti. There were no photographs on the ad - only a floorplan - but it struck accord: A separate living space, a huge balcony, and a sauna. The only downside was that there were three bedrooms, and there were only two girls moving in.

"As a lighthearted joke we messages Laura: What about living together? All three of us?" Jamie reminisces.

But as it turns out, Laura was instantly excited: "I had always wanted roommates. When I was younger I used to watch Friends and daydream of a similar lifestyle."

"Then I saw the floorplan and it looked perfect! In addition the apartment was located a stone throw's away from the Helsinki city centre. We absolutely needed to visit it."

Get smitten with the homes of Ruoholahti and Jätkäsaari ›

A diamond in the rough

The girls booked an apartment showing but there was a surprise waiting.

"We entered the apartment and it was...", the friends search the correct wording for a while, "...interesting! There was a ping pong table in the middle of the living room, a bunch of video games stacked up in the corner, and in front of the window a sofa that really had seen better days", Jamie laughs.

"The apartment was an image of its current residents", Aparna adds.

But the friends detected a lot of potential in the apartment. And the eccentric furnishing was something to be thankful for.

"We gathered that the 'quirky' furnishing might have been the reason why the apartment was still available", says Laura and continues: "If the current residents had not made it to look like them, someone else with less imagination than us might have snatched the apartment before us."

The friends fell in love with the sizable living space, big bedrooms and the balcony: "This rental apartment felt like a home from the very beginning", says Laura.

Tea, sympathy, and theme parties

Aparna, Jamie and Laura were good friends even before moving in together, but living in the same home has brought them even closer.

"Last winter Jamie visited Canada for three weeks, so I slept in her room because it had her scent", Laura laughs.

"We really enjoy each others' company and happily do stuff together. We all love mellow mornings and a good brunch", Aparna says.

”In the evenings we sit together, drink 'Uni-jukka' tea with cinnamon, chamomile and aloe vera, and have some cake as we update each other on the happenings of the day”, Jamie continues. ”If one of us has been away for longer, you can bet the night will be a chatty one!”

The roommates love to entertain their friends in their airy and bright home.

"At our Bridgerton party we had the apartment decorated like a mansion, eveyone wore themed outfits, and we had a proper English afternoon tea served. And of course we arranged a best costume competition in which the winners got some cool Bridgerton themed prizes", Aparna says.

At The Rubik's Cube party the dresscode was of course all the colors of the cube, and during the party the participants exchanged clothing pieces with each other.

”We do organize some excellent parties!" laughs Aparna.

Let's talk

Commonly the shared living experience begins with agreeing on the house rules. Aparna, Jamie and Laura however did not want to restrict their living with too many rules.

"All we basically agreed upon was that I am in charge of the floors, Aparna rules the kitchen and Laura takes care of the waste management - and things have worked smoothly ever since", Jamie says. "In many shared apartments the responsibilities rotate from roommate to roommate but we take our chosen responsibilities so to heart that we want to stick to them no matter what", she continues smiling.

In addition to taking care of their own areas of responsibilities the residents spend one Sunday a month cleaning the apartment thoroughly, together.

”There are no other rules, and perhaps that has been a bit of a problem every now and then", laughs Laura.

”We have just tried to manage things as they come”, adds Jamie.

And for that reason the girls' number one tip for everyone dreaming of shared living is: "Decide on specific house duties from the get-go. Don't be like us!” the friends laugh.

”And communicate openly”, Laura continues: ”If there's anything pressing on your mind, sit down together and talk it out.”

Take a read: The lease agreement of a shared apartment

We at SATO are pro shared living as long as you take into account the rental lease agreement is signed with a maximum of two residents per home. These residents are called 'päävuokralainen' (the main tenant).

The main tenants then sign an 'alivuokrasopimus' (sub-letting agreement) with the other roommates. The main tenant is required to inform SATO about the other residents. This is easily done via the OmaSATO web service. The main responsibility of the apartment and rent payments is always on the main tenant(s).

Lastly, here is one more thing to read before diving into a shared living: Kela's instructions regarding the general housing allowance.