How to be happy: Finnish wallpaper offers Trump and Putin pro tips on fixing the world

Finnish interiors brand Feathr has launched a wallpaper to mark the arrival of President Trump and President Putin in Helsinki for the 16th July summit. This special print, ‘Finland Toile’, signals ten traits, like those depicted above, which helped build one of the world’s happiest countries. Rolls of ‘Finland Toile’ will be gifted to both Presidents at the start of the summit, which will doubtless be as interesting as the earlier encounter between the Finnish President Sauli Niininstö and Donald Trump.

Style-wise, the ‘Finland Toile’ wallpaper is a playful, Nordic take on Toile de Jouy with playful modern Nordic illustrations. ‘Toile’ is a decorating pattern with a white or off-white background, featuring detailed patterns, oftentimes pastoral themes like picnics or flovers.

Guess again: ‘Toile’ isn’t French for ‘toilet’

Using this style, Feathr’s ‘Finland Toile’ displays the policies and traits that saved Finland from centuries of poverty, including equality, education and human rights.

Feathr’s web shop advertises colourways for Finland Toile in “Green is Good”, “Don’t See Red”, “It’s Not Black & White” and “Trade War Blues”. Feathr insists this particular design is available free to Presidents all over the world. Presidents tend to have large residencies, so if you have friends in high places, give that offer a go, and let us know if Feathr is good for their word in the comments below.

After all, in Finland, we appreciate honesty. That gives us the chance to ask ourselves whether we believe Finland’s recent governments have been truly committed to any of the wonderful things discussed here.

 

1. Enjoy sauna – naked

With 3.3 million saunas for a population of 5.3 million, sauna is a Finnish national obsession. It’s about more than just warming up on cold days. Sauna’s are usually naked and sometimes communal: they represent the stripping away of hierarchy, artifice and gimmicks to show what is really true. Underneath, we’re all just the same.

2. Be tolerant

3. Love nature

Finland’s nature is one of extremes: in both weather and also in numbers. It has more trees than any other country in Europe, a mind-boggling 179,584 islands and even more lakes: 188,000 in total. The result is a society formed by and respectful of nature. Not only is Finland the most eco-friendly country in the world, ranking number one in the 2016 Environmental Performance Index, but it has ambitions to go even further: by 2025 its capital, Helsinki, wants to make the car obsolete.

4. Read books

5. Encourage a free press

Hot tip: In case you have trouble reading books or the news doesn’t inform you on how to save the world, we have a little recommendation of good podcasts. Also, some countries, including the US, offer audio books for people with reading impairments, sometimes extending the offer from people with limited eyesight to potential readers with ADHD and dyslexia, just as Finland and Sweden do.

Finland, the least insufferable country for women

6. Empower women

Press freedom is pretty nice. We’re not even real journalists, but we’ve hidden links to the ugly truth about Trump and Putin across this post. Let’s see if the Russian troll factories notice.

7. Have sisu

Finns view ‘sisu’ as being an integral part of Finnish culture: the ability to face what’s in front of you and deal with it with courage, bravery, grit and decency. As long as it’s not about making smalltalk and eliminating loneliness.

8. Make daddy time

Some soothing blue from Feathr to calm upset geopolitical nerves

9. Live the Finnish dream

Finland is famed for the results it achieves in its education system: which it does not by chasing results, but by prioritizing equal education opportunities for all. “ Regardless of a person’s gender, background, or social welfare status,” said Krista Kiuru, then Finland’s minister of education and science, “everyone should have an equal chance to make the most of their skills.” The result is a country that makes the top 5 for social mobility, according to the OECD.

10. Try kalsarikännit

There we go. To put it in the words of Tom Puukko, Co-Founder of Feathr: “Finland is the most wonderful place to live: and that’s no accident. It’s come about through hard work to create a society that lives by rules of tolerance, fairness, community, decency and respecting others and the environment. Finns are known for being humble, but we think if the world lived a bit more like Finland then the world would be a better place. Whatever you think of the policies of Trump and Putin, they hold power in the world: so we hope they can take something from Finland that encourages them to wield that power for good.”

Getting drunk alone in your underwear should be a thing for anyone who can handle the booze but not people.

Needless to say, we agree with Tom’s sentiments although based on their achievements so far, we’re not holding our breath.

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