British Design: Museum of the Home
By Molly Martien
In our British Design class, we visited several cultural institutions including historic homes and museums ranging from the Black Cultural Archives to Sir John Soane’s Museum to the Museum of the Home in the United Kingdom. Each site discussed and examined British design in various and unique ways. Out of all the sites we went to, the Museum of the Home in London was one of my favorite visits. Why? Below I will share several of my favorite British design objects we saw in the museum and discuss its successes from a curatorial and design perspective.
Our group arrived at the Museum of the Home Friday, January 17th where we were greeted by curator Louis Platman. Before we began our tour, we gathered together outside the exhibition space to discuss the history of the museum and any pressing questions. Noticing all of the families entering the exhibition space, a classmate of mine asked Louis if the Museum of the Home was kid friendly. Louis told us that the museum was very kid friendly. He also mentioned that there are several objects children can touch in the museum and added that there are designated areas for families to rest throughout the gallery spaces (Figures 1 and 2). After answering our questions, we entered the exhibition space.
The first series of British design objects that spoke to me in this space were a series of contemporary photographs titled “Home Circumstances” (Figures 3 and 4). The photographs depict British individuals in their homes. Collectively, the photographs capture a more vernacular concept of British design. Instead of simply displaying high-design decorative arts objects, the museum exhibits photographs of everyday British citizens designing, decorating, and creating their own sense of home.
The second section of the museum that interested me was the arrangement of British objects in the museum, such as a clock or chest of drawers, with labels that discuss how the objects were used in a British home (Figures 5, 6, and 7).
Another segment of the museum featured oil paintings of various individuals depicted in British homes. One painting “The First Place” in particular stood out to me (Figure 8). The painting depicts a woman crying in a home. Below the painting is a label that explains that the woman is a servant. The label mentions how this type of labor was hard, strenuous, and largely invisible in the nineteenth century in British homes.
The last section of the museum that interested me was a series of rooms that recreated interior living spaces in Britain. One room depicted an upstairs bedroom and bathroom of Irish newlyweds in 1956 (Figures 9 and 10). Another room depicted a Jewish tenement flat in 1913. Each room that we saw was carefully and sensitively co-curated with the assistance of the local community. For example, the tenement flat was co-curated with the assistance of individuals from various Jewish community groups.1 In this section, it was was exciting to see how a British museum is collaborating with their local community to curate exhibition spaces.
Overall, the Museum of the Home provided our class with an intimate glimpse into how design influences the everyday lives of British citizens. It was refreshing and invigorating to see a museum abroad that makes their museum space more accessible to children while also exhibiting democratic British design, such as rooms or photographs of personal homes, that is relatable to the general public.
Molly Martien is a second year Curatorial Track PhD student in the Art History Department at the University of Delaware.
- “A Tenement Flat in 1913,” Museum of the Home, accessed February 14, 2025,
https://www.museumofthehome.org.uk/whats-on/rooms-through-time/a-tenement-flat-in-1913/. ↩︎
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