When Laura Fulmine first found what was to become The House (her pocket-sized gallery/concept store) it was a sad, lonely shell on an east London side street. But despite the building’s ‘weird pink tiles and horribly depressing little kitchen’ the founder and director of M.A.H Gallery saw huge potential in its high ceilings and wall of windows, as well as its location – a canalside sweet spot between Bethnal Green, Victoria Park, London Fields and Broadway Market.
Laura and her team quickly decided to partition the space to create a storage room at the back, then reimagined the kitchen with British Standard Cupboards, using handmade tiles by Dea Domus. They also put down a bespoke floor by Sinclair Till and treated the walls to rich colours from Benjamin Moore.
That left her with a flexible, light-filled space – a perfect setting for the annually changing selection of bespoke pieces by the artists and designers she loves to champion. Last year, she created living and dining rooms, while this latest opulent incarnation centres on the bedroom and study – a decision led by a very special bed: Afra and Tobia Scarpa’s ‘Vanessa’.
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Laura responded to this iconic furniture design by boldly applying strong colours to the walls to enhance the sense of drama and cosiness. ‘I knew I wanted to create a warm, all-encompassing ambience,’ she says. ‘The rich red doesn’t make the space feel smaller as you’d imagine it might; in fact I think it does the opposite – painting the ceiling the same colour as the walls makes it seem as though they have no cut-off point.’
The reds and browns mixed with elements of bronze are reminiscent of old Italian palazzos, an aesthetic beautifully enhanced by a golden Fromental wallpaper. From that starting point, Laura set about curating an equally rich palette of art by names with whom she has wanted to work for years.
Alongside vintage gems you will find pieces by Leo Kaspar, Alexandria Coe, Studio Earle and Antonio Bellotti, with the home-like setting allowing potential buyers to easily imagine these creations in their own rooms.
Surveying The House’s new look, Laura struggles to choose her favourite element, but finds deep satisfaction and pride in the feeling it evokes: ‘the smell, the light, the colour and then the beautiful artworks all work together to create an unforgettable experience unlike anything that exists in London,’ she declares. thehousebymah.com
