Company history

The industrial foundation for what was to become Puustelli was laid in 1920 with the founding of Harjavalta Osakeyhtiö in the village of Merstola in the parish of Harjavalta. The company began to process wood and sawn lumber and threshing machines soon formed the cornerstone of the company’s industrial activities.

The end of the Continuation War brought new life to Finnish industry, and a new plant for manufacturing doors and windows was built at Harjavalta. Massive war reparations payable to the Soviet Union jump-started industrial activity.

Back in the late 1960s, Puustelli focused on high-end products, with a range of ‘Carl Larsson’ wood interior doors for Sweden. The quality requirements for the materials and workmanship were unprecedentedly high. Manufacturing them required the skills of a master joiner. Today, all Puustelli makes all furniture doors to the same exacting standards as ‘Carl Larsson’ doors in their day.

The Puustelli kitchen was created in a recession in 1977. Mass production was becoming a thing of the past, and Puustelli offered something completely new to replace it: customisation, service, artisan joinery, design, planning and installation services. The Puustelli brand was born.

The Puustelli range expanded with new materials in the 1980s. The company’s old joinery skills were applied to new species of wood, and new colur options were introduced with glazed finished, solid-color MDF doors and the different patterns of melamine surfaces . Within a few years, by 1983, Puustelli became the most popular kitchen in Finland.

In the early 1990s, Puustelli expanded, exports strengthened and kitchens begin to be exported to Sweden, Russia and the Baltics. In the 1990s, Puustelli began to offer kitchen remodeling as turnkey projects, including new kitchen furniture installation and dismantling of old furniture, plumbing, electrics and Puustelli financing. This was the origin of Puustelli’s All Inclusive service.

Puustelli has always focused on quality and client satisfaction. Bureau Veritas is an internationally recognized award. Puustelli has had the right to use this label for years. The scope of the ISO 9001 quality management system is unique in the furniture industry, covering all operations from product development, production, sourcing and transport to installation and store operations.

Environmental matters have always been important at Puustelli. Water-based finishing agents were used at the Puustelli back in the 1990s. Respect for ecology and the environment will continue to be present in everything that Puustelli does. Material choices and production processes will be fine-tuned to ensure minimum impact on nature and the environmental.