At home with MJ: a maker’s studio in a small London flat

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Marcin, MJ to most of us, has worked with Furl for seven years and runs our sales operations. He’s also a qualified textile designer: he studied in Glasgow, and he’s lived in the UK for 17 years. At home, high up in a London tower block, he still makes things. Since the summer he’s sewn three jackets, a pair of trousers and a waistcoat, and his textile art covers the walls.

He does all of it in a flat with very little storage. This is how his furniture makes the room. We filmed it in October 2026, in the middle of a storm, which is why there’s so much rain in it.

The bed is the fabric store

Lift the base of MJ’s ottoman bed and you find his whole creative life: rolls of fabric, university sketchbooks, half-finished projects, frames.

“Inside my bed I have all of the fabrics I use in my creative life. It’s literally full of everything.”

With the bed doing the job of a cupboard, the bedroom stays clear. See our ottoman beds, with up to 40cm of storage under the whole mattress.

One table, four jobs

MJ’s Pivot table never stands still. It’s a coffee table in the evening and a desk in the day. It’s his sewing station whenever the machine comes out, and a dining table when friends come round.

“My coffee table is probably the hardest-working piece of furniture in the flat. It’s my dining table, my sewing station, office, and occasional creative disaster zone as well.”

The Pivot lifts from 30cm to 78cm and opens to seat six. It’s made for us in Italy.

A sofa that hides things too

The pink corner sofa bed in his living room has a storage chaise. Lift the chaise seat and there’s storage underneath. See our corner sofa beds.

“With a flat like this, there’s not much storage, so the furniture is super important. Everywhere you turn, you can spot Furl.”

What he’s making

The film follows a front pocket going onto a denim jacket, cut from a discarded pattern book. The sewing machine is temperamental, and the stitch won’t hold, until it does. Then come the jackets, the colours, the embroidery, and a rainy afternoon at his allotment.

“This is all about London. The weather, rain, storms, fog, everything. But this is what creates it. And I love it.”

Questions this film answers

Can a coffee table work as a dining table and a desk?

Yes, if it lifts and extends. The Pivot goes from 30cm coffee-table height to 78cm dining height and opens to seat six, so one table covers lounging, working and eating.

How much fits in an ottoman bed?

More than a chest of drawers. Our ottoman beds give up to 40cm of storage under the whole mattress. MJ keeps all his fabric, sketchbooks and projects in his.

How do you fit a studio into a small flat?

Put the storage inside the furniture and choose pieces that do more than one job. In MJ’s flat, the bed is the fabric store, the sofa chaise holds the extras, and the table moves between desk, sewing bench and dining table.

Another small London flat: see how David lives in 36m².

See the ottoman beds