Home tour | Menu’s London show apartment

I have a home tour with a difference for you today: a peek inside the new London show apartment of Danish brand Menu, which I was lucky enough to visit as part of a preview event last week.

Menu works with designers from all over the world to create simple yet stylish solutions for everyday living, and the apartment really is an embodiment of the brand’s ethos. Set in Shoreditch, it’s an airy, loft-like space that’s furnished almost entirely with pieces from the company’s range, but it’s not just for display. It’s actually lived in by Menu’s UK representative Kasper and his adorable dog Frank (who, incidentally, has his own Instagram account) – proof that good design is functional as well as beautiful.

The apartment consists of one large space with high ceilings, white walls and floors and long banks of windows, but it’s cleverly divided with curtains and neat sliding doors, meaning it feels cosy and homely throughout.

At one end is a living area whose varied floor levels create defined zones for sitting, cooking and dining. It houses a stunning collection of Menu pieces: an ‘Afteroom’ bench, a low marble ‘Plinth’ table, an elegant ‘Septembre’ sofa and more. But what most caught my eye were the stilted ‘Échasse’ vases by Copenhagen-based designer Theresa Arns, including a large floor-standing version brimming with scented lilies.

From here, a long, narrow space leads to the bedroom at the other end of the apartment. Rather than leaving it as a soulless corridor, Menu has transformed it into an inviting snug with Norm Architect’s ‘Offset’ sofa (designed to balance a bulky shape with delicate armrests), Iskos Berlin’s sculptural ‘Godot’ sofa, and a minimalist ‘Zet’ shelving system artfully styled with vases and other items. I particularly liked the cluster of ‘No No’ coffee tables, whose slim legs don’t look strong enough to support their glass tops but which somehow manage to do just that.

The bedroom itself is a soothing sanctuary decorated almost entirely in white, with a low-slung bed, a ‘WM String’ lounge chair, a ‘Norm’ floor mirror and Rui Alves’ ‘Tailor’ sofa, which showcases the inner frame rather than concealing it. My favourite pieces here were the contrasting ‘Plinth’ tables used at either side of the bed to create an interesting focal point without detracting from the minimalist feel.

As well as providing lots of design inspiration, the event gave me the chance to have a close-up look at some of Menu’s latest launches, including the new marble-based version of the iconic ‘JWDA’ lamp, a beautiful blush-pink edition of the ‘Afteroom’ chair, Polish studio Umiar’s ‘Phare’ lamp, and Swedish-Scottish designer Nick Ross’ ‘Cyclades’ vase. I also had the opportunity to chat to Tim Rundle, the London-based designer of Menu’s ‘TR Bulb’, which was created to provide a clever solution to nomadic modern lifestyles. It’s designed to be taken from home to home and can be installed by simply screwing it into the pendant socket found on ceilings around the world; it can also be hung from suspension frames, attached to wall brackets or set on lamp bases.

In addition to Menu’s range, the apartment incorporates plenty of goodies from some of my other favourite Danish brands: stylish speakers and headphones from Bang & Olufsen, beautiful notebooks from NOTEM, gorgeous lotions and potions from skincare company Nuori, and striking prints from Atelier CPH.

All in all, it really is my idea of perfect Scandinavian living, and I came away feeling very envious of Kasper and Frank!

All photography by Abi Dare