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

Mandi Keighran
·2 min read
4

Mike McMahon and Jewlsy Mathews took on projects ranging from casting concrete counters to CNC-machining a dining room set with a built-in fruit bowl.

Most of the artwork that adorns the walls is also by Mike and Jewlsy. The framed palm fronds above the credenza, for example, are inscribed with the original deeds to Jewlsy's family home in Kerala, India, and are approximately 300 years old.
Most of the artwork that adorns the walls is also by Mike and Jewlsy. The framed palm fronds above the credenza, for example, are inscribed with the original deeds to Jewlsy's family home in Kerala, India, and are approximately 300 years old.

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.

"We have two jungle balconies with a little pond of fish,
"We have two jungle balconies with a little pond of fish,

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.)

Most of the artwork that adorns the walls is also by Mike and Jewlsy. The framed palm fronds above the credenza, for example, are inscribed with the original deeds to Jewlsy's family home in Kerala, India, and are approximately 300 years old.
Most of the artwork that adorns the walls is also by Mike and Jewlsy. The framed palm fronds above the credenza, for example, are inscribed with the original deeds to Jewlsy's family home in Kerala, India, and are approximately 300 years old.
<span style="font-family: Theinhardt, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, &quot;Segoe UI&quot;, Roboto, Oxygen-Sans, Ubuntu, Cantarell, &quot;Helvetica Neue&quot;, sans-serif;">The small stool in front of the storage wall was made using spare timber from the production of the dining table and chairs. The way the form is created from a single repeated element gives the stool its name: 'Riff'. "</span><span style="font-family: Theinhardt, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, &quot;Segoe UI&quot;, Roboto, Oxygen-Sans, Ubuntu, Cantarell, &quot;Helvetica Neue&quot;, sans-serif;">A riff is a repeated chord progression in music,
The small stool in front of the storage wall was made using spare timber from the production of the dining table and chairs. The way the form is created from a single repeated element gives the stool its name: 'Riff'. "A riff is a repeated chord progression in music,

See the full story on Dwell.com: They Made Their Own Sofa—and Just About Everything Else in Their Family’s Quirky London Flat
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