Form follows function in this sensitively remodelled London flat, where every stick of furniture was made by its creative inhabitants
Architect Mike McMahon and optometrist Jewlsy Mathews have built every piece of furniture in their home. There’s a papier-mâché dog sitting on top of the first shelving unit Mike designed to make the most out of a nook in their London flat. The ornament ran the Dalston Derby, a remote-control car race the couple organised to celebrate Mike’s 30th birthday in 2011. “Before we started making art together and selling pieces of furniture, we put on events like these,” Jewlsy explains. “The pace at which Mike comes up with ideas is dizzying and he actually brings them to fruition.” Combined with a pub crawl, the Dalston Derby ran for four years.
These activities began to wind down when the couple’s son Milo, now nine, was born. “Our life used to be very outward-facing, but when he arrived we started to spend more time indoors,” Jewlsy says. She owned the two-bedroom second-floor flat in London’s King’s Cross before meeting Mike, who moved in in 2012.
