Sustainable style: How Xeraliving is greening home décor

Finnish entrepreneurs Veera Ylikotila and Jenni Hakkarainen launched Xeraliving with a bold mission: to make the interior design industry more sustainable and transparent. The Enterprise Europe Network helped the company with advice on outsourcing, building international connections, and finding new partners. Hanna Riski, Senior Adviser at Business Finland, spoke with Veera about how this support helped Xeraliving succeed globally.

The birth of Xeraliving: "Nothing but pretty things and better choices"

Xeraliving is a Finnish company, founded in 2020 by Veera Ylikotila and Jenni Hakkarainen who met at the Habitare Fair in Helsinki the previous year. With successful entrepreneurial careers under their belt, the two designers saw a unique opportunity to create a new brand that would shape the sustainable textile industry in Europe.

Taking inspiration from nature and the Nordic minimalist aesthetic, Xeraliving offers high-quality home décor in natural materials, produced responsibly and transparently. Collections feature a versatile range of textiles – from subtle prints and elegant linen bedding to rich throws and blankets – as well as a beautiful series of artwork, postcards, and calendars. The natural fabrics such as linen and organic cotton, together with the clean design and attention to craft, speak to modern dwellers who wish to create a functional and beautifully decorated space in their homes. In a timeless style, products are characterised by comfort and simplicity, created using eco-conscious techniques, in soothing cream colours and earthy tones. 

Sustainability as a way of doing business

Textile mills generate one-fifth of the world’s industrial water pollution and use approximately 20,000 chemicals, many of which are carcinogenic, to make clothes. Every year, Chinese textile factories alone produce about three billion tons of soot pollution, linked to severe respiratory and heart diseases. Xeraliving aims to change this grim picture. "It’s vital for companies to make better choices", Veera explained. "While a small business may have access to limited resources, it can always choose what materials to use and where to produce."

Ethical and ecological values are firmly woven into the company’s fabric, from the choice of materials to packaging and shipping. The signature fabric of the collection is linen, selected due to its durability and light environmental footprint. Flax, from which linen is made, is a resilient plant that can grow without irrigation, fertilizers or pesticides, using far less resources in its cultivation than cotton. Other décor and stationary items are made from organic cotton, recycled fibres, cellulose, and paper. Textiles are accompanied by international certificates such as Oeko-Tex100, which guarantees that articles are harmless for human health, and the Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS), ensuring the organic status of the materials. Similarly, paper products are certified either by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) or the Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification (PEFC), which means that the wood used as a raw material comes from identifiable, well-managed forests. A local company in Pori, Finland, currently employing 20 staff, prints all paper items.

Products are packed at a local factory to reduce fuel consumption and pollution. Merchandise is stored in a single warehouse in Turku, Finland. Packaging matters, too:  textiles are wrapped with an organic cotton ribbon, logo tags are made from natural Portuguese cork, while product tags are designed using biodegradable flower seed paper. The company minimises waste as much as possible and never uses plastic. Customers are invited to make thoughtful and informed purchases, recycle, compost, or simply return worn textiles to Xeraliving for donations or reuse. Similarly, cards and posters can be repurposed for crafts or DIY projects, while packaging paper is perfect for wrapping gifts.

The company carefully tracks and documents the entire production process – from design and printing to sewing and packaging. "All our items have what we call a 'responsibility map' that shows the product’s journey from the design table to the final product", Veera says. "We are creating the décor of tomorrow". Xeraliving only works with companies that share the same commitment to sustainable and transparent practices. The creation of their tote bag, for example, happened in close collaboration with a Dutch circular textile factory recycling polyester and cotton fibres.

When business smarts meet heart and hustle

Xeraliving first reached out to Enterprise Europe Network partners in Finland in 2020, seeking support with outsourcing, building international connections, and finding new partners.  The pandemic brought further challenges to the business. 

Hanna Riski, Senior Adviser at the Network partner Business Finland, connected with her colleagues in the textile sector and encouraged Xeraliving to join virtual matchmaking events like Textile Connect 2020. “We were relieved and excited to hear that the Network could help us find the contacts we needed, free of charge,” says co-founder Jenni Ylikotila. “Before that, we were on our own.”

Thanks to the event, Xeraliving quickly began working with five new partners in Sweden, Portugal, the Netherlands, Slovakia, and the Czech Republic. “It gave us a great start in our international journey,” Jenni adds. “We were able to connect with new companies much faster than we could have on our own.” The Network’s ability to pivot to virtual matchmaking was a game changer. “The shift to online actually brought more participants than ever, since travel was no longer a barrier,” Hanna notes. That digital flexibility played a key role in helping Xeraliving grow, even during uncertain times.

Xeraliving now works closely with Enterprise Europe Network partners in Finland and maintains an active profile in the Network’s database. The company regularly takes part in international matchmaking events to connect with potential partners and distributors. To strengthen its visibility, Xeraliving has built a strong digital presence, particularly on Instagram, and actively uses online wholesale platforms like Faire, Orderchamp, and Ankorstore as part of its marketing strategy.

As large companies shift toward more sustainable production, smaller businesses must keep pace to remain competitive. SMEs like Xeraliving are now key players in shaping a greener future, prioritising both people and planet. By adopting eco-conscious practices, they meet rising consumer demand, cut waste, reduce environmental impact, and build strong, future-ready brands. It may seem like a big leap, but SMEs don’t have to go it alone. With guidance from Enterprise Europe Network, small businesses can embrace sustainability with confidence.