Design for Life: Laura Fulmine

Step inside The House, Laura Fulmine’s showroom space on Vyner Street, and you’ll find yourself in one of the most eclectic spaces in east London. Curvaceous ceramics mix with plush-looking sofas, striking sculptures and the kinds of reassuringly deep carpets that make you want to go barefoot.

The colours on show are fascinating too; ecru, olive, khaki, caramel and deep red are set against soft grey walls and pops of artwork. The textures and tones in here feel as though they shouldn’t mix, but somehow they just do. Sophisticated and yet surprising, Fulmine’s trademark look is tricky to pin down – which isn’t ideal when you’re trying to put it into words.

Handily, Fulmine herself acknowledges that this isn’t an easy thing to do. “It’s hard to define my aesthetic,” she tells us with a smile, sitting back in a cream bouclé armchair. “If I had to put it into words, I’d say it’s quite eclectic, layered and injected with modernity.”

MAH Gallery is Fulmine’s art hire business, where she curates the work of independent artists and loans their works to film and TV studios, galleries and show spaces. MAH Gallery also sources art for clients, manages bespoke commissions and offers art consultancy to prospective collectors. “As a stylist, I constantly need artwork for shoots and a few years ago you couldn’t really hire much at all,” Fulmine explains. “Back in 2018, I asked a handful of artist friends if they had some pieces in the back of the cupboard. They did, but also wanted to create fresh work for the project too and it just grew from there. Now, we have over 100 artists represented in the gallery.”

You can probably tell by this point that Laura likes to keep busy. And on top of all her different work hats, she’s in the midst of refurbing her own home too. “Five years in and I’m still doing it,” she quips. “I find when I have to make design decisions for clients I can do that very easily, but when it comes to my own place it’s a totally different kettle of fish. I think because I have so much, see so much and go into other people’s homes all the time for work, I want to bring everything you see under one roof.”

An interior stylist and creative director who’s been honing her craft for close to 20 years, Fulmine was always destined to work in interiors. She remembers designing her own childhood bedroom – “there were lilac walls and green, pink and yellow curtains” – and studied multimedia textiles at university. From there, she worked as a stylist’s assistant before moving into journalism, where she edited the interiors pages for Wallpaper and Grand Designs magazine. “I had 35 pages to look after, and we were a monthly,” she recalls, “it was a baptism of fire.”

She went freelance 15 year ago, and has since worked with the likes of Adidas, Loewe, The Modern House and Bulgari, among other serious brands. She’s also worked on styling gigs for TV and has masterminded the interior design of countless projects for clients too. “My role is so varied and changes constantly,” Fulmine says. “When I’m here, curating my own gallery space, I’m a creative director, but then I’m also working on the interior design of a new hotel and working as a curator for MAH gallery, so I wear a lot of different hats.”

The brief to myself was to design it like my Italian Nonna’s lived there for 80 years and left it to me,” Fulmine continues, a touch wistful. “With my Italian background, home is all about big dinners around the table. I’ve always had a dream of having an open house where anyone can just turn up and be welcome. I’m looking forward to that once it’s finally finished.”

With such an energetic and varied career behind her, what lesson does Laura value the most, then? “Surround yourself with good people,” she says, thumbing through some fabric samples. “Over the years I’ve built a team around me who have helped me to hone my own skills and build confidence in what we do. In the design industry we’re all very much stuck in a vacuum of looking at the same Pinterest boards and Instagram feeds. Design needs to be truly considered to break out of that vacuum. For me, good design is based on research, personal experience and knowledge of materials.”

Learn more about Laura’s work at laurafulmine.com