Tucked away on a quiet cul-de-sac just paces from London’s Kings Cross is a small, unassuming development set around a courtyard. The brick apartment building has two balconies overflowing with ferns and more jungle-like greenery, hinting at the urban oasis that is Mike McMahon and Jewlsy Mathews’s home, which they recently reimagined almost entirely themselves.

From the filled-in foliage to highly customized interiors, the apartment feels like a complete idea now, but came about in phases. “The first project began when our son, Milo, was six months old, and he’s now eight,” says Jewlsy. “That was when life shifted from us being out in London all the time to being at home more.” Adds Mike, “When we started, we never thought we’d get to the point where we were making our own sofa. It all happened incrementally.”

Jewlsy bought the space in 2008 and the couple later met through her first flatmate. Mike moved in four years later, and they began the process of transforming the space. While Jewlsy doesn’t have formal design training, she has a keen eye, and bringing the apartment together was very much a joint effort between her and Mike, who’s an architect. (A year ago, they formed Mike McMahon Studio.)

The stool in front of the storage wall is made of timber leftover from making the dining table and chairs. It gets its name, Riff, from the repeating form. “A riff is a repeated chord progression in music,” explains Mike." layout="wide" credit="Photograph by Peter Molloy" photoUserId=""/>

The first project was a timber storage wall built around a window that acts as gallery for the couple’s collection of prized possessions that include materials samples, an elephant sculpture Jewlsy purchased in India when visiting family, and a papier mâché dog that once played a key role in a pub crawl with friends. It also cleverly conceals the storage heater.

The following year, they updated the kitchen, opening it up to better connect it with the living area. They also exposed a structural ceiling beam that demarcates the dining and living zones, painting it a playful yellow that recalls architect Richard Rogers’s early work. Mike and Jewlsy formed the concrete counters for the kitchen themselves, and their friends at Risner Design, a kitchen-building company, fabricated and installed the spruce cabinetry with the assistance of the couple. “We went to the workshop and it was like an informal apprenticeship in joinery,” recalls Mike.

I just absolutely love the color,” says Jewlsy. “I’m Indian and I’ve always felt a really strong affinity for the really deep, rich colors found in India. It’s also a wonderful backdrop for the green of the plants.”" layout="" credit="Photograph by Peter Molloy" photoUserId=""/>

With their newfound skills, they decided to transform an old junk cupboard into a cozy reading nook and build a sofa and matching coffee table. The sofa is one of the most meaningful objects in the home, say the couple. “Jewlsy did the upholstery, I did the timberwork, and we both cast the concrete legs,” explains Mike. The round concrete legs, cast with rainwater pipes, pay homage to the cardboard tube architecture of Shigeru Ban. The coffee table features legs of the same size, but made from cork.

Initially, the renovation was a slow-moving project, with Mike and Jewlsy tackling one element every year or so. Then, during the pandemic, things picked up, partly out of necessity. “My first day working from home during lockdown, I sat in one of our dining chairs all day on Zoom,” recalls Mike. “When I stood up, I could barely walk. It was then I decided to design a new dining table and chairs.”

He created a matching credenza for the living area at the same time, and—to make the most of the timber delivery—the couple renovated Milo’s bedroom. Drawers in a stair and shelving in an alcove beneath an elevated bed makes the most of the compact space. “When you live in a dense city, everything has to work very hard, particularly storage,” says Mike.

While the home’s custom touches shine, what’s less obvious is the couple’s dedication to reuse and future-proofing. Rather than just paying lip service to sustainable design principles, they put them into practice. The bathroom, for example, looks as if it’s completely transformed, but got its new look from timber offcuts that came from the kitchen construction and a fresh coat of paint for the tile.

“People have a constant need to rip things apart and start again,” says Mike. “We wanted to work with our flat and look at how we can do less. I would hope in 10 or 20 years’ time, someone else will just repaint again rather than getting an entirely new bathroom. I think as designers we need to be doing more of that.”

Similarly, the kitchen island is crafted from unused concrete and rebar from a project in King’s Cross that Mike was working on. Many of the small furniture pieces, such as stools and side tables, are made of timber leftover from CNC-machining a dining room set that adds radical shapes to the home. “There are a lot of geometric motifs going on,” says Mike. “I’m fascinated by geometry, particularly fractals and the work of artists like Bridget Riley.”

“When something has a soul and meaning it is so much more powerful—and everything in our home represents the collective memories and shared past of myself and Jewlsy,” Mike says. “We fill in the gaps that the other person has and this home only exists because we are together.”

The pendants in the primary bedroom were found in India, and their geometric forms inspired the patterns of the bedroom furniture. The lamp is a work in progress that is inspired by the basic principles of assembling a stone staircase in a medieval castle." layout="" credit="Photograph by Peter Molloy" photoUserId=""/>

Related Reading:

Budget Breakdown: This London Couple Did the Dirty Work to Keep Renovation Costs Low

Oak Cabinets, Cupboards, and Banquet Seating Reset a Small East London Flat

Project Credits:

Architect: Mike McMahon Studio / @mikemcmahonstudio

Spruce Kitchen Joinery: Risner Design

Photography: Peter Molloy

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They Made Their Own Sofa—and Just About Everything Else in Their Family’s Quirky London Flat