[title]
It used to be called the Geffrye Museum, but that's apparently too much of a mouthful, so this venerable East End insitution has announced (during its year off ruding redevelopment) that it will be changing its name to the Museum of the Home. Housed in a set of 18th-century almshouses, this lovely little museum has for more than a century offered a vivid physical history of the English interior. Displaying original furniture, paintings, textiles and decorative arts, the museum recreates a sequence of typical middle-class living rooms from 1600 to the present. It’s an oddly interesting way to take in domestic history, with any number of intriguing details to catch your eye- from a bell jar of stuffed birds to a particular decorative flourish on a chair. There’s an airy restaurant overlooking the lovely gardens, which include a walled plot for herbs and a chronological series in different historical styles.
NB: The Museum of the Home is closed until early 2020, but will continue to host events in the garden and run tours of the almhouses; see the website for details.
Read about our favourite seven exhibits at the Geffrye Museum