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      Cavernous restaurant by Spacemen feels like “stepping into a giant pot”

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      Architecture studio Spacemen has designed the Bar Kar restaurant in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, to resemble the earth ovens historically used to cook and smoke food in the ground.

      Based between Shanghai and Kuala Lumpur, Spacemen conceived the interiors for Bar Kar “around the concept of primordial community cooking”.
      Bar Kar is entered via a pathway lined with firewoodGuests enter the eatery through a winding pathway lined with the same firewood used in the restaurant’s kitchen.
      This immersive hall was bookended with mirrored walls to give the illusion of an infinite space.
      Cavernous walls were designed to evoke ancient cooking pitsA bespoke yellow onyx welcome desk with a timber base was positioned at the end of the pathway, which leads to the main dining hall through a stucco-clad tunnel illuminated by a rounded skylight.

      Cavernous, terracotta-hued walls were designed to evoke ancient cooking pits.
      The central “chef’s table” was finished in veiny grey travertine”It’s as if patrons are actually stepping into a giant pot,” Spacemen founder Edward Tan told Dezeen.
      This geometry is echoed in curved tables and banquettes as well as a U-shaped central “chef’s table” finished in veiny grey travertine.
      Arranged around an open, terracotta tile-clad kitchen, the back-lit table provides a space for guests to sit and watch their meals take shape.
      Brown slate flooring was chosen to emulate rocks”All of the elements and finishes are inspired by primordial times,” said Tan, noting the locally sourced brown slate flooring, which was chosen to resemble rocks.
      Crumpled mesh sculptures reminiscent of flames were suspended from curved holes in the undulating ceiling.

      Masquespacio designs cavernous restaurant interior that nods to adobe architecture

      Bar Kar also features a private dining room informed by “the organic contours of a cave”. For this space, Spacemen chose cream-coloured stucco, stacked in ridged layers to mimic the inside of a cocoon.
      Another gold mesh sculpture hangs over the room’s central red travertine table.
      The private stucco-clad dining room mimics a cocoon”We deconstructed the elements of primordial living in ancient times and put them into an abstract composition,” Tan said. “We wanted to make the restaurant familiar but with a fun and contemporary approach.”
      Known for its bold application of colour and texture, Spacemen previously inserted an “otherworldly” moss-covered installation in a luxury bag store in Putrajaya.
      Other earthy interiors include Studio Wok’s cavernous pizzeria in Sardinia, with sandy pink plaster walls designed to reflect the island’s wind-swept granite rocks.
      The photography is by Su Ping. 

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      Timothy Godbold adorns Tribeca loft with modernist relief panels

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      New York interior designer Timothy Godbold has renovated an apartment in a historic Tribeca building, adding various relief treatments across its neutral walls including panels influenced by a 1970s sci-fi series.

      The spacious loft is located in an 1881 cast-iron building on Franklin Street, which was formerly a textile factory and was overhauled by Pritzker Prize-winning Japanese architect Shigeru Ban in 2019.
      The most dramatic space in the loft is a double-height living room surrounded by windows”The homeowners, a young family with two children, set out with the objective of creating a great home for entertaining that simultaneously utilized space efficiently to create a comfortable family living space,” said Godbold’s team.
      The designer helped to organise the layout so that it functioned optimally for the family, and despite opting for a neutral colour palette, Godbold upped the drama through the scale of the furniture and artwork.
      Rather than disguise a structural column, Timothy Godbold used it as an anchor for the dining tableA double-height living room occupies a corner flooded with light from windows on two sides, which can be diffused by drawing the sheer curtains.

      To work around a large structural column disrupting the view to the living room, Godbold used the column to anchor a stone dining table to turn it into a focal feature.
      The kitchen is intentionally minimal, benefitting from the absence of cabinet and drawer pullsThe table references a 1930s design by Hans and Wassili Luckhardt and Alfons Anker, in keeping with the industrial style of the building.
      The kitchen is very minimal, thanks to the omission of cabinet and drawer pulls, and includes an island with a waterfall stone top that creates space for a breakfast bar.
      An area behind the kitchen was converted into a flexible office and bar spaceHidden behind the kitchen is a former TV room converted into a bar room and an office “to maximise the versatility of the space and meet multiple needs”.
      The walls in this flexible room are covered in geometric plaster-relief panels, which add shadows and texture, while the furniture is darker and more masculine.
      Plaster relief panels based on a 1970s sci-fi series cover the wallsA Reprise pendant light from New York design studio Apparatus hangs in a corner that has been curved to accentuate the modernist-style wall panelling.
      “The wall details in this Tribeca space are inspired by a classic 1970s sci-fi series that showcases an all-Italian modern aesthetic within a futuristic environment,” said the team.
      A feature wall behind the bed in the primary bedroom is fluted across its full widthA row of plastered arched niches separates the formal entertaining areas from a more casual seating area, where a large pale grey sofa shifts the tone from the warm whites found elsewhere.
      In the primary bedroom, the built-in bed and nightstands are installed below a tufted upholstered headboard that runs the full width of the room, and a fluted wall feature that extends to the ceiling.
      The bedroom also features a sculptural sofa, large planters and a huge artwork by Etienne MoyatOpposite the bed is a sculptural sofa surrounded by oversized planters and a large, carved relief artwork by French sculptor Etienne Moyat on the wall.
      Godbold custom-designed many of the pieces throughout the home, including most of the furniture and decorative elements.

      Timothy Godbold turns his Hamptons home into a “villain’s hideout”

      His references included mid-century Italian designers like Joe Colombo, whose space-age shapes are echoed in the dining chairs, sofas, and smaller lighting and decor items.
      Godbold also played with proportion to add drama, as seen in the living room’s custom stone sofas that are upholstered in a “brutalist” fabric made in England, and the coffee table with an integrated planter.
      A variety of space-age shapes and materials can be found throughout the loftThe rugs also feature custom designs that outline the furniture in the same space.
      Overall, the goal was to “marry the industrial, the art deco and the more surreal aspects of 1970s noir cult cinema for a glamorous and intriguing end product.”
      The home’s neutral colour palette continues through to the nurseryOriginally from Australia, Godbold is currently based in the Hamptons, where he renovated his mid-century home to resemble a “villain’s hideout”.
      He also aims to preserve other modernist dwellings built across the area through the nonprofit organisation Hamptons 20th Century Modern.
      The photography is by David Mitchell.

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      Eight minimalist bathrooms with peaceful pared-back interiors

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      For our latest lookbook, we have collected eight minimalist bathrooms that combine tactile materials and organic details to create a relaxing and tranquil environment.

      Next to the bedroom, the bathroom is often the place in the home that is reserved for relaxation and pampering. Keeping interiors here free of unnecessary clutter while adding organic materials such as wood and stone can help to create a tranquil feel.
      Below, we’ve showcased minimalist bathrooms in eight homes from around the world from Mexico to Belgium that show creative and beautiful solutions for this important room.
      This is the latest in our lookbooks series, which provides visual inspiration from Dezeen’s archive. For more inspiration, see previous lookbooks featuring Mexican holiday homes, interiors with dramatic full-length curtains and living spaces with swings.
      Photo by by Jonas Bjerre-PoulsenHeatherhill Beach House, Denmark, by Norm Architects

      This beach house on the Danish coast was created as “a getaway from everyday life in Copenhagen”, according to its designers Norm Architects.
      The home’s two minimalist bathrooms were informed by Japanese traditions and feature simple wooden details and brick floors.
      “The spaces are rather small and should still feel comfortable and spacious,” architect Sophie Bak told Dezeen.
      Find out more about Heatherhill Beach House ›
      Photo by Radek ÚlehlaSculptor’s Apartment, Czech Republic, by Neuhäusl Hunal
      Translucent glass panels were used throughout this apartment in Prague, designed by Czech architecture studio Neuhäusl Hunal as a workspace for a sculptor.
      A centralised, curved bathroom features a walk-in shower that is raised on a small platform and clad in white ceramic tiles.
      Find out more about Sculptor’s Apartment ›
      Photo by Givlio AristideCloister House, Australia, by MORQ
      Architecture studio MORQ designed this rammed-concrete house in Perth, Australia, to surround a plant-filled courtyard.
      The interiors also feature visible rammed concrete combined with red hardwood ceilings. In the bathroom, these materials create textural interest and are contrasted with steel fixtures and a wooden floor.
      Find out more about Cloister House ›
      Photo by Mariell Lind HansenCanyon House, UK, by Studio Hagen Hall
      The minimalist bathroom in Canyon House was given a warm feel through the use of cork tiles, which clad both the floor and the bathtub.
      Like the rest of the house, the interior was informed by 1970s California modernism. Pale lavender-coloured curtains and globe-shaped bathroom lamps add simple decorative touches to the space.
      Find out more about Canyon House ›
      Photo by Fabián MartinezLoma Residence, Mexico, by Esrawe Studio
      Local firm Esrawe Studio wrapped the whole interior of this Mexico City apartment in an oak “skin” – save for the stone-clad bathroom.
      Here, the all-stone walls and floor create a striking interior with their natural patterns, while an oval washbasin and built-in shower add interesting geometries.
      Find out more about Loma Residence ›
      Photo by Salva LópezCasolare Scarani, Italy, by Studio Andrew Trotter
      This 19th-century school in Puglia, Italy, was turned into a home by architecture practice Studio Andrew Trotter, which aimed to “bring it back to life without destroying its essence”.
      In the bathroom, the studio kept the traditional stone flooring and added calming lime-plaster walls. Geometric glass lamps, a jute rug and a copper tap and soap holder give the minimalist bathroom a rustic touch.
      Find out more about Casolare Scarani ›
      Photo by Tim Van de VeldeKarper, Belgium, by Hé!
      Clay plaster clads the walls of the bathroom in this Brussels home (above and main image) designed by Belgian studio Hé! While the colour palette was kept simple – held mostly in pale beige and white – plenty of green plants give the space life.
      The apartment is located in a former industrial building on Karperstraat, to which the studio added a timber-framed rooftop extension.
      Find out more about Karper ›
      Photo by Lorenzo ZandriNelson Terrace, UK, by Paolo Cossu Architects
      This minimalist apartment in London, which local studio Paolo Cossu Architects designed “almost like a blank canvas”, features an equally minimalist bathroom.
      Here, a chunky white bathtub sits next to a geometric steel stool – a decorative piece that functions almost like an artwork in the pared-back space. A fabric shower curtain and wooded towel rack give the room a more organic feel.
      Find out more about Nelson Terrace ›
      This is the latest in our lookbooks series, which provides visual inspiration from Dezeen’s archive. For more inspiration, see previous lookbooks featuring Mexican holiday homes, interiors with dramatic full-length curtains and living spaces with swings.

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      Selfridges launches The Joke Shop with playful Slapstick Generator artwork

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      London department store Selfridges has opened The Joke Shop, a “shoppable comedy store” that sells products including sneezing powder and has windows filled with whoopee cushions and slipping bananas.

      Located in the corner store space on Selfridges’ ground-floor level, The Joke Shop pop-up store was designed by the retailer’s in-house team.
      The Joke Shop has a fake entrance with nostalgic typefacesThe shop, which the retailer describes as a “shoppable comedy store”, sells joke shop products such as whoopee cushions and sneezing powder, together with fashion pieces from designers including Judith Leiber and Adam Jones.
      Selfridges worked with five joke stores across the UK to get the right atmosphere for The Joke Shop, which Selfridges executive creative director Laura Weir hoped “would platform the power of nostalgia and in-person human connection”.
      The shop sells a mix of playful toys and fashion items”The Selfridges creative team travelled the country visiting local joke shops and found institutions that were rich in inspiration and personality,” Weir told Dezeen.

      “We used more found and vintage pieces than we might usually in the space and as a result, a customer asked me ‘what did you use for the smell?'” she added. “The impression of a genuine joke shop was so strong that customers felt we had scented the space, which we hadn’t.”
      Artist Mel Brimfield created Slapstick Generators for the storeThe Joke Shop also features the Slapstick Generator, an artwork by artist Mel Brimfield that appears ready to drop buckets of paints and anvils on visitors to the store.
      A second Slapstick Generator outside the store threatens to release a boulder on the person at the Selfridges Concierge desk outside The Joke Shop, while a third sits in one of its windows.
      One appears ready to drop a boulder”I love the sheer scale of it, the detail of each mechanism and the sense of movement,” Weir said of the Slapstick Generator.
      A fake door, which fills another of the windows, was inspired by nostalgic typefaces and handwritten wayfinding.
      “Above the door, we worked with Peckham-based signwriter and mural artist Matt Rogers who hand-painted the signs to give a nod to the British joke shops,” Weir said.

      Yinka Ilori imbues Courvoisier bar with natural beauty of Cognac region

      “Some of my favourite touches were the graphic stickers on the door, which disclosed a funny rating instead of a hygiene rating, for example, subverting classic retailing tropes with funny twists,” she added.
      “Eclectic attention to detail and intentional imperfection felt important.”
      Artist Max Siedentopf designed a display of a banana slipping on a banana peelSelfridges also commissioned artist Max Siedentopf to create installations for its other department store windows, featuring his takes on classic jokes – including a giant chicken crossing a road to get to Selfridges and a trainer-clad banana that has slipped on a peel.
      “Each window pays homage to classic jokes and pranks throughout the decades – from giant whoopee cushions, a wide collection of authentic clown shoes, pie catapults and, of course, bananas,” Siedentopf told Dezeen.
      A giant whoopee cushion fills one window”I bribed a group of monkeys with bananas to randomly select jokes for me,” he added. “Each window is unique, however every single screw, piece of wood, banana and nail were carefully selected for their comedic potential.”
      Other Selfridges retail spaces featured on Dezeen include a pop-up Kim Kardashian swimwear store and a Courvoisier bar by designer Yinka Ilori.
      The photography is courtesy of Selfridges.

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      Crosby Studios creates office-themed installation in LA for The Frankie Shop

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      New York-based Crosby Studios has piled office equipment around a long metallic table as part of a pop-up installation for fashion brand The Frankie Shop in Los Angeles.

      The month-long installation titled The Office was launched to coincide with LA Art Week and the Sag-Aftra film festival and marked the New York label The Frankie Shop’s first presence in the Californian city.
      A long, metallic conference table formed part of The Office installation created by Crosby StudiosThe brand’s founder Gaëlle Drevet and Crosby Studios creative director Harry Nuriev met at his studio, talked for 2.5 hours and decided to work together.
      The resulting installation occupies a trapezoidal building on Sunset Boulevard wrapped in metallic film on all sides.
      Equipment like printers, office chairs and water coolers were arranged around the perimeter of the spaceInside, the warehouse-like space features a long table also covered in a reflective material, with matching cube-shaped stools set along either side.

      Articulated desk lamps, microphones and bottles of water were arranged on the table as if set up for delegates at a convention.
      The central table featured microphones and water bottles as if set up for a meetingAround the perimeter, Nuriev placed recycled office equipment, such as a large printer, a stack of binders and a pile of plastic-wrapped office chairs.
      A row of water coolers was lined up along one end of the room, encircled with glowing light boxes to create sharp silhouettes of the equipment in front.
      Light boxes that encircle the space create sharp silhouettes of the office furniture placed in front”It’s not really about the office, it’s more about what happens after the office,” Nuriev told Dezeen. “I was thinking it’s time to officially move on from the office and consider the future. However, in this project, we’re uncertain about what the future holds exactly.”
      A selection of apparel by The Frankie Shop is interspersed among the vignettes, while a “storage” area in the back serves as a fitting room.
      Some of the furniture is plastic-wrapped, appearing as though just installed or ready to be shipped awayTogether, the industrial style of the building, the silvery materials, the lighting and the equipment served to highlight the brand’s reinterpretation of businesswear.
      “The pop-up design blends a dynamic combination of fashion and nostalgia, where the power suits of the past seamlessly align with the modern attitude of The Frankie Shop,” said the team.

      Crosby Studios looks to the “signature red” of David Lynch for Silencio New York

      Metallics are commonplace in Nuriev’s interior projects, appearing prominently in a Berlin jewellery store, a Moscow restaurant and his own New York apartment amongst others.
      However, he is vague about the reasons or intentionality behind this recurring theme.
      The exterior of the building on Sunset Boulevard is also covered in reflective film”I don’t really think about ‘why’; it’s just my instincts, and I prefer to follow my feelings,” said Nuriev. “For this project, I had a vision of silver, and I think it works perfectly.”
      Originally from Russia, the designer founded Crosby Studios in 2014 and is now based between New York and Paris.
      The month-long installation marks The Frankie Shop’s first presence in LA and was timed to coincide with the city’s art weekHe recently completed the interiors for New York nightclub Silencio, based on the original location in Paris designed by film director David Lynch.
      Nuriev frequently collaborates with fashion brands, on projects ranging from a virtual sofa upholstered with green Nike jackets to a transparent vinyl couch filled with old Balenciaga clothing.
      The photography is by Josh Cho.
      The Office is on show in Los Angeles from 23 February to 24 March. For more events, talks and exhibitions in architecture and design visit Dezeen Events Guide.

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      Eight compact garden studios with neat storage solutions

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      From cantilevered shelves to customisable pegboards, our latest lookbook rounds up eight examples of garden studios with storage designed to make the most of limited space.

      Garden studios are becoming increasingly popular in homes around the world, prompted largely by the evergrowing trend of remote work.
      Often slotted into small spaces, these structures typically have compact footprints and require efficient storage solutions to keep them clutter-free.
      The examples in this lookbook demonstrate some of the ways storage can be suitably integrated within a garden studio, helping save valuable space within their small footprints.
      This is the latest in our lookbooks series, which provides visual inspiration from Dezeen’s archive. For more inspiration, see previous lookbooks featuring Mexican holiday homes, full-length curtains and living spaces with swings.

      Photo by Wai Ming NgCork Study, UK, by Surman Weston
      Birch shelves and twin desks cantilever from the walls of Cork Study, which Surman Weston created in the narrow garden of a home in north London.
      The set-up was designed to help maximise space within the compact studio, which measures just 13 square metres and was created as a workspace for a musician and a seamstress.
      The two desks, complete with their own cubby holes, are broken by a long vertical window in the rear wall, illuminating the workspaces with natural light.
      Find out more about Cork Study ›
      Photo by Nancy ZhouNightlight, New Zealand, by Fabric
      Green storage boxes on wheels slot neatly below the workbench of this outbuilding in New Zealand, which occupies the future garden of a home being developed on the site.
      There are also slender slats mounted to the wooden framework of the 10-square-metre structure, forming minimalist shelves from which tools can be hung.
      Find out more about Nightlight ›
      Photo by Ashlea WesselThe Garden Studio, Canada, by Six Four Five A
      The founder of architecture studio Six Four Five A built storage into the wooden shell of his tiny studio, which he created in the garden of his Toronto home.
      Exposed vertical studs double as supports for shelves and a large standing desk made from birch plywood along one side, preventing cluttering up the 9.3-square-metre space.
      Find out more about The Garden Studio ›
      Photo by Jonas AdolfsenWriter’s Cottage, Norway, by Jarmund/Vigsnæs Architects
      This cabin-like studio sits at the end of a garden in Oslo, where it acts as a compact and secluded workspace for the owner who is a writer.
      Among its storage solutions is a plywood staircase that incorporates a shelving system beneath it, leading up to a mezzanine sleeping area that tucks beneath its pitched roof.
      Find out more about Writer’s Cottage ›
      Photo by Wai Ming NgWriter’s Shed, UK, by Surman Weston
      Another project by Surman Weston on the list is the Writer’s Shed, a shingle-clad garden studio designed as a writing retreat for an author.
      Inside, a cluster of shelves has been built around the chimney of the wood-burning stove, which is used to heat the compact structure. While providing valuable storage space, they are also intended as “a centrepiece for the client to store his library of books”, Surman Weston said.
      Find out more about Writer’s Shed ›
      Photo by Sarah BurtonTerrazzo Studio, UK, by Sonn
      In east London, architect Tim Robinson designed and built himself a little studio and workshop at the end of his garden.
      The narrow workshop contains a line of storage units raised above the floor, alongside a large pegboard for storing tools. Next door in the studio space, a rear wall of cabinets incorporates a concealed fold-down bed, enabling the space to become a guest bedroom.
      Find out more about Terrazzo Studio ›
      Photo courtesy of Boano PrišmontasMy Room in the Garden, UK, by Boano Prišmontas
      This modular pod is a prototype for a garden studio, developed by London studio Boano Prišmontas in response to an increase in people working from home prompted by the Covid-19 pandemic.
      Inside, the plywood structure can be fitted out with customisable elements including pegboards from which desks, shelves and storage can be hung.
      “My Room in the Garden was created with comfort and customisability in mind,” said the studio. “We wanted to allow people to be able to decide what their interior would look like or how much storage they would have, and we do that by creating a system of interchangeable elements.”
      Find out more about My Room in the Garden ›
      Photo by Shannon McGrathWriter’s Shed, Australia, by Matt Gibson
      This deceptively spacious garden studio that architect Matt Gibson created in Melbourne is hidden behind ivy-covered walls.
      An angular desk slots into one corner, with one side nestled below two generous high-level shelving units on the walls. Plywood was used across all of the surfaces, giving the interior a unified look that adds to the sense of spaciousness.
      Find out more about Writer’s Shed ›
      This is the latest in our lookbooks series, which provides visual inspiration from Dezeen’s archive. For more inspiration, see previous lookbooks featuring Mexican holiday homes, full-length curtains and living spaces with swings.

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      Fala Atelier designs Lisbon home with “very Portuguese” materials

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      Architecture studio Fala Atelier decked out the angular spaces of the 087 house in Lisbon with oversized spots and stripes, which also feature on its bold marble facade.

      Designed by Porto-based studio Fala Atelier, 087 is a three-storey home in the Portuguese capital with a rectilinear facade decorated with chunky marble shapes.
      The 087 house features a facade decorated with chunky marble shapesThe studio, known for its playful use of geometry, created custom carpentry from locally sourced materials to accommodate the home’s curved and staggered walls and the sloping ceilings within the building.
      A garden-facing kitchen on the ground floor includes terrazzo flooring and stepped timber cabinetry decorated with bold black and white stripes and topped with marble slabs.
      A funnel-shaped extractor fan adds an eclectic touchUnusual features such as a funnel-shaped, teal-hued extractor fan add an eclectic touch. This Fala Atelier-designed piece can also be found in a windowless garage in Lisbon that the studio converted for a couple.

      “There are no elegant extractors on the market,” Fala Atelier partner Filipe Magalhães told Dezeen.
      “All of them look like nasty appliances. With the kitchen in the way of the window, we knew we would have to integrate the fan. Since we couldn’t make it disappear, we celebrated the piece,” he added.
      The open-plan kitchen is connected to the living spaceThe open-plan kitchen connects to the living area, which is characterised by pinewood flooring dotted with geometric walnut accents.
      “The colours of the stripes and the dots on the floor really try to be noble,” said Magalhães.
      Bespoke Fala Atelier-designed doors and window frames match the kitchen cabinetsThe space also features doors designed by the studio and caramel-coloured Ligne Roset Togo sofas – a quilted and low-slung design classic created by Michel Ducaroy in 1973.
      This seating was positioned next to a boxy fireplace clad with gleaming white ceramic tiles and a squat display plinth finished in veiny black marble.
      Custom cabinetry also features on the upper floors”We tried to diversify the material palette as much as possible while still making it quite banal,” explained Magalhães.
      “The choices are very Portuguese, but the mixture aims at being more than just that,” added the architect.
      Board-formed concrete ceilings were included throughoutUpstairs, the same bespoke cabinetry as in the kitchen was used to form larger cupboards across the curved and angular private spaces of the two upper floors.
      Board-formed concrete ceilings, which also feature downstairs, were paired with oversized rounded mirrors in the bathrooms and a mixture of timber and marble flooring.

      Fala Atelier nestles “very tiny palazzo” in garden of Porto home

      The garden-facing facade follows the same geometry as its street-facing component, also featuring circular and rectilinear decorative shapes.
      “This house is a lot about the relationship with the garden,” said Magalhães, noting the floor-to-ceiling glazing that connects the indoor and outdoor spaces.
      087 focuses on “the relationship with the garden”Fala Atelier has designed several homes in a similar style, including six micro-houses in Porto with geometric forms and concrete finishes and another Porto property topped with a striped concrete roof.
      The photography is by Francisco Ascensao and Giulietta Margot.

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      Children in social housing “sleeping on a blanket on a concrete floor”

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      Increasing numbers of people in social housing are living in inhospitable conditions because they are unable to afford even basic furniture and flooring, Dezeen reports as part of our Social Housing Revival series.

      In the UK, social-rented homes are usually handed over to new residents in a sparse state – lacking basic elements of decoration and furnishings, as well as essential appliances.
      As the cost of living continues to rise and the availability of crisis-support services diminishes, a growing number of people are unable to afford to furnish these homes, meaning they are sometimes forced to live in a harsh environment for months at a time.
      Top: before – many UK social-housing residents live with furniture poverty. Above: after – London charity Furnishing Futures makes new interiors for women who have fled domestic abuse”For the families who we work with, the point that is most distressing is the void condition – the homes are given and [social landlords] don’t bother painting the walls, and there’s absolutely no flooring down,” said Emily Wheeler, founder and CEO of Furnishing Futures.
      “Most people over time can manage to get some furniture together that’s gifted to them from the local church or friends or family or whatever, but it costs thousands and thousands of pounds to put flooring down, even in a one-bedroom flat.”

      London charity Furnishing Futures was recently established to address the issue among women fleeing domestic abuse, creating interiors to a high standard using furniture donated from brands.
      Emily Wheeler founded Furnishing Futures after realising that the poor condition of social housing was driving women back to abusive partners. Photo by Penny WincerDomestic-abuse survivors and people leaving care or who were previously homeless are particularly at risk of furniture poverty since they are less likely to have items to bring with them.
      Wheeler said Furnishing Futures is seeing increasing demand for its services as more people come under financial pressure.
      “Initially we were only working with women who were in receipt of benefits or experiencing severe poverty or destitution,” explained Wheeler.
      “But now we’re working with families who are using the food bank but the woman is a midwife, or she’s a teaching assistant, or she is a teacher, and that is new.”
      The charity increasingly encounters families living in destitute conditionsSometimes the conditions the charity witnesses are shocking, Wheeler told Dezeen.
      “People are experiencing real hardship,” she said. “We’ve frequently come across people who have no food, no clothes, no shoes for their children.”
      “The kids are sleeping on a blanket on a concrete floor – there’s nothing in the flat whatsoever,” she continued. “And those people might even be working as care assistants, or teaching assistants. So it’s really, really difficult at the moment for people.”
      Furnishing Futures seeks to deliver interiors that “look like show homes”. Photo by Michael BranthwaiteAccording to the campaigning charity End Furniture Poverty, more than six million people in the UK lack access to essential furniture, furnishings and appliances – including 26 per cent of those living in social housing.
      Only two per cent of social-rented homes in the UK are let as furnished or partly furnished, the charity’s research has found.
      Wheeler is a trained interior designer who formerly worked in child safeguarding.
      The charity decorated and furnished 36 homes in 2023. Photo by Michael BranthwaiteShe was prompted to set up Furnishing Futures after discovering that many women in social housing who had left dangerous homes were driven back to their abuser by poor living conditions.
      “When women were placed in new housing after having escaped really high-risk situations, they sometimes felt that they had no choice but to return because they couldn’t look after their children in those conditions – there’d be no fridge, no cooker, no washing machine, no bed, no curtains on the windows,” she explained.
      “People are expected to go to those places at a time of great trauma and distress, and recover, but those places are often not conducive to that because of the design and the environment.”
      Wheeler said the interiors industry could be doing more to have a bigger social impact. Penny WincerThe charity overhauled 36 homes in 2023, helping 99 women and children. It takes a design-led approach with an emphasis on finishing interiors to a high standard.
      “We professionally design them and they look like beautiful homes – they look like show homes when they’re finished,” Wheeler said.
      “And the reason we do that is because it’s really important that the women feel that they have a beautiful home and they feel safe there, that they feel for the first time that someone really cares about them,” she added.
      “It also supports the healing and the recovery journey for those women.”

      Social housing means “I can breathe again” say residents

      To help ensure quality, the charity only works with new or as-new furniture. It works with brands to source items that would otherwise be sent to landfill – usually press samples or items used at trade shows, in showrooms or on shoots.
      Donating partners include Soho Home, BoConcept, Romo Fabrics and House of Hackney.
      Wheeler is keen for Furnishing Futures to expand beyond London but the charity is currently held back by limited warehouse capacity and funding.
      “If we had more money and more space we could help more people, it’s as simple as that, really,” she said.
      The charity relies on donations from furniture brandsThe charity continues to seek donations from brands, particularly for bedroom furniture and pieces for children.
      As well as calling for social-housing providers to let their properties in a better state, Wheeler believes the design industry could be doing more to help people facing furniture poverty.
      “I do think that where the industry could catch up a little bit is working with organisations like ours,” she said.
      For example, charities are unable to take furniture lacking a fire tag – which tend to be removed – so imprinting this information onto the items themselves would make more usable.
      The charity is often in need of items for children’s bedrooms. Photo by Michael BranthwaiteIn addition, donating excess items as an alternative to sample sales could be a way to reduce waste with much greater social impact, she suggests.
      “There’s probably millions of people across the country living without basic items and yet there’s massive overproduction, but the waste isn’t necessarily coming to people who actually need it,” Wheeler said.
      “There are things that the industry could be doing that will create a huge social impact very easily.”
      The photography is courtesy of Furnishing Futures unless otherwise stated.
      Illustration by Jack BedfordSocial Housing Revival
      This article is part of Dezeen’s Social Housing Revival series exploring the new wave of quality social housing being built around the world, and asking whether a return to social house-building at scale can help solve affordability issues and homelessness in our major cities.

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