People of Woodnotes: Pasi Pietilä - “A customer can´t choose wrong”
Pasi Pietilä, who is responsible for Woodnotes’ domestic sales, fell in love with our paper yarn products even before he joined Woodnotes 22 years ago. He knows what makes our products so unique.
The rug was mainly black, with a few natural-colored stripes. When Pasi Pietilä touched its surface, it felt unlike anything he had ever experienced before. It was 2002, and Pietilä was working at Stockmann. Woodnotes’ Viiva rug was on sale in the department store, and he was considering buying a rug that felt completely new. “My mother said on the phone, ‘For heaven’s sake, you have to buy that rug right now – they’re absolutely amazing,’ ” Pietilä recalls. He bought it – and immediately fell in love with it in everyday use. “The rug literally felt totally different at home compared to any rug I’d had before. I fell in love with the tactile feel,” Pietilä says. “At the same time smooth and rough, alive somehow.” On top of that, the rug seemed to create a kind of magical aura around it, a strong atmosphere. “Cool, edgy, unique.”
Woodnotes products are unique
A couple of years later, Pietilä visited a Woodnotes warehouse sale and realized all the different ways the paper yarn familiar from rugs could be used as a material: curtains, stools, and various small objects. All the products shared a special feeling. “That comes from the fact that the paper yarn is made by hand – everything is made by hand,” Pietilä says now.
In 2004, Pietilä eventually ended up working for the company whose products he had admired. He is responsible for Woodnotes’ domestic sales: working with retailers, recommending products for projects, and also helping and advising consumers to some extent. His relationship with paper yarn has only deepened. “I like that the rugs are, in a way, slightly imperfect,” he says. “The paper yarn is tightly twisted, and the surface is natural and rugged.” Paper yarn made from wood is an organic material, which is why every rug is an individual. For Pietilä, every customer is an individual as well. “For me, customer interactions are what my job is all about. I want to do work for people and with people.” It is also important to Pietilä that he gets to sell Woodnotes products – something he can be proud of every day. “With Woodnotes products, I can always trust that there are no quality issues.”
“There are very few companies like this. I’m extremely proud of Woodnotes’ history – and of the perseverance that has carried us through difficult times. Many would have quit or started making whatever sells, chasing trends. But at Woodnotes, the original vision has always been trusted”, says Pasi Pietilä.
Finnish top quality since 1987
Whenever the Woodnotes collection is gradually expanded, Pietilä trains retailers and tells them about new products. And time and again, he returns to the basics: the special material and the way the products are made. They are unique even on a global scale. “Made of paper?” is a question Pietilä has answered countless times. It still excites him. Yes, made of paper, he replies – and then goes on to explain how special a material paper really is. “A paper yarn rug basically fits anywhere. I wouldn’t put one in a swimming pool, but otherwise – anywhere.”
The Woodnotes carpet collection does not include standard sizes; instead, each rug is made according to the customer’s dimensions and needs.
A paper yarn rug lasts for decades and is easy to care for, as long as you remember a few basic rules: no rubbing, and stains should be removed gently by wiping immediately, before dirt has time to absorb into the weft. The rugs’ dirt-repellent treatment should be renewed every couple of years. “With a product you can buy at a regular store,” Pietilä says.
With Woodnotes rugs, it doesn’t matter when they were purchased. Old rugs can be combined with new ones, and the same care instructions apply to all production years: the weaving technique of paper yarn rugs has not changed since 1987, when the company was founded. “It’s pretty incredible that the technique was perfected right from the start. I never have to say that we’re improving it – it’s already as good as it can be.” Alongside paper yarn rugs, the collection has also expanded to include wool rugs, and most recently the In/Out collection, whose rugs work both indoors and outdoors and withstand moisture perfectly. “The feel of those is unique too – they feel completely like a natural material in your hand.”
The colors in our Outdoor collection retain the familiar understated style used for our paper yarn products.
The untouchable sense of color of artist Ritva Puotila
The rugs are also unique because they are made to measure. The collection does not include standard sizes; instead, each rug is made according to the customer’s dimensions and needs. “You get a rug that’s exactly the right size and shape for in front of your bed, or precisely for your kitchen,” Pietilä says. “I myself have a round Woodnotes paper yarn rug in the hallway.”
Even the colors of the rugs can be customized. If you want to choose colors outside the collection’s standard designs, it only adds 10% to the price. Woodnotes’ co-founder Ritva Puotila is also an internationally acclaimed textile artist and colorist. She created Woodnotes’ distinctive color world, inspired by Finnish nature. Minna Ahokas, the designer leading Woodnotes product development, continues to elevate the brand’s use of colour, blending tones with a refined and beautifully nuanced touch. At the moment, there are around twenty different color options. “Yet they all harmonize perfectly together. A customer can’t choose wrong,” Pietilä says.
Woodnotes’ co-founder Ritva Puotila is also an internationally acclaimed textile artist and colorist. She created Woodnotes’ distinctive color world.
Sustainability is at the core of Woodnotes
Ritva Puotila’s international career as an artist is deeply embedded in the company’s DNA. “There are very few companies like this. I’m extremely proud of Woodnotes’ history – and of the perseverance that has carried us through difficult times. Many would have quit or started making whatever sells, chasing trends. But at Woodnotes, the original vision has always been trusted. That was important to Mikko Puotila, the other founder.”
Sustainability is a value that shows in everything at Woodnotes: in the company’s history, in the products themselves, and in their durability. A good example, in addition to the rugs, is the k chair designed by Harri Koskinen, which has been part of the collection ever since Pietilä started working at the company in 2004. New upholstery can be purchased for the same frame when the fabric begins to show wear – or when you simply want a new look. New padding comes with the fabrics, so by changing the upholstery, the entire chair becomes like new.
Woodnotes’ core value of sustainability is also reflected in long careers. Pietilä himself has worked at Woodnotes for 22 years. “If something is good, there’s no need to change it.” Pietilä hopes people would take the same approach – at least toward material things: buying less, but choosing quality, and surrounding ourselves with things that last.
