British ceramicist Emma Louise Payne opens her five-storey Paddington house to the public, blending personal space with innovative design showcase in her exhibition The Objects We Live By during the 2025 London Design Festival.
British ceramicist Emma Louise Payne has unveiled her new London atelier with an innovative exhibition titled The Objects We Live By during the 2025 London Design Festival. Hosted in her five-storey Paddington townhouse named Seventy-Six, the event extends beyond a conventional showroom, inviting visitors to experience how handmade design objects integrate into everyday domestic life. Payne has transformed the townhouse—also home to her parents—into a series of immersive, lived-in rooms featuring work from seven other designers and makers, including David Irwin, Studio BC Joshua, Brogan Cox and Nat Maks, Gather Glass, Daniel Mullin, Atelier Thirty Four, and Granite + Smoke.
Rather than presenting objects as isolated artefacts, Payne’s exhibition situates them amid family furniture, inherited items, and the natural eclecticism of a real home. She emphasises how objects acquire meaning through daily use, forming part of household habits, memories, and tastes. “Objects can feel abstract in a showroom or gallery, almost like they’re floating in space,” Payne explained to Dezeen. “Here, you see them in the context of everyday life—alongside family furniture, inherited oddities, and the compromises of a real home.”
The initiative marks the first time Payne has opened her entire house to the public, allowing visitors to explore each floor’s carefully curated spaces. The exhibition begins in the former garage, converted into Payne’s atelier, where introductory design displays welcome guests. From the kitchen and dining room to bedrooms and attic, each room features a single maker’s works integrated with existing furnishings. Notable pairings include David Irwin’s celebrated Hardy Chair alongside Payne’s colourful London Plane tableware, and Atelier Thirty Four’s anodised aluminium Gradini candleholders providing vibrant contrasts to bright pink kitchen cabinets.
Payne’s exhibition also highlights the work of makers whose craftsmanship resonates with the home’s character. Blake Carlson-Joshua’s sculptural, hand-painted furniture occupies her father’s former painting studio, contributing a contemporary dialogue between art and design. Glassmakers Gather Glass filled their space with vivid, bulbous lamps, while Granite + Smoke’s geometrically patterned rugs and quilts create a warm, tactile atmosphere in the attic bedroom. Brogan Cox and Nat Maks collaborated on the marbled-ink Tide Tables, blending artistic technique with functional design. Textural vases by Daniel Mullin, moulded from resin, sand, and iron oxide, enhance the entrance hall’s unique ambiance.
The exhibition is not only a personal milestone for Payne, showcasing her return to London after studying in Denmark and establishing a stable creative base, but also a statement about how design objects live within the rhythms of family life. Payne’s parents, having moved from the countryside to London to support her studio and enjoy cultural offerings, add to the exhibition’s bohemian yet intimate narrative. “Homes are products of our lives; they reveal what we choose to live with, what we can’t part with, and even what we tolerate because it carries meaning,” Payne reflected.
The Objects We Live By aligns with broader themes prevalent in the 2025 London Design Festival, a nine-day celebration featuring over 300 events across the city. The festival prioritises immersive experiences, sustainability, and the evolving relationship between craftsmanship and contemporary living. Within this context, Payne’s project stands out by emphasising design’s lived experience and everyday relevance. Against a backdrop of larger-scale installations and thematic exhibitions exploring material innovation, such as sustainable woodwork, biofabrication, and eco-friendly furniture materials, Payne’s intimate domestic setting offers a unique perspective on the personal and emotional dimensions of design.
Indeed, wood and sustainable materials also featured strongly at the festival, where makers like Brogan Cox and Nat Maks showcased the creative potential of wood combined with marbling inks, highlighting both traditional craftsmanship and environmental awareness. Other exhibitors pushed material innovation further, with initiatives such as EcoLattice promoting 3D-printed, recyclable foam alternatives for furniture, illustrating the design world’s growing commitment to ecological responsibility.
Looking ahead, Payne plans to use Seventy-Six as a recurring venue for exhibitions during London Design Festival and London Craft Week, aiming to develop a continuing programme that encourages visitors to engage repeatedly with evolving displays. She envisions the house as a place where design is continually reinterpreted within the domestic realm, fostering a deeper understanding of how objects shape and reflect our everyday lives.
The Objects We Live By ran from 13 to 21 September 2025 as part of the London Design Festival, contributing to the citywide celebration of creativity and craftsmanship through its distinct focus on the intersection of design, family, and home.
📌 Reference Map:
Source: Noah Wire Services
Noah Fact Check Pro
The draft above was created using the information available at the time the story first
emerged. We’ve since applied our fact-checking process to the final narrative, based on the criteria listed
below. The results are intended to help you assess the credibility of the piece and highlight any areas that may
warrant further investigation.
Freshness check
Score:
10
Notes:
The narrative is current, detailing an exhibition that took place from 13 to 21 September 2025, coinciding with the London Design Festival. No evidence of recycled or outdated content was found. The event is recent, and the information appears original.
Quotes check
Score:
10
Notes:
The direct quote from Emma Louise Payne, ‘Objects can feel abstract in a showroom or gallery, almost like they’re floating in space. Here, you see them in the context of everyday life—alongside family furniture, inherited oddities, and the compromises of a real home,’ is unique to this narrative. No earlier instances of this quote were found, indicating originality.
Source reliability
Score:
10
Notes:
The narrative originates from Dezeen, a reputable design and architecture publication. The information is corroborated by other reputable sources, including Wallpaper and The Standard, enhancing its credibility.
Plausability check
Score:
10
Notes:
The details about the exhibition, including the location at Seventy-Six, 76 Sussex Square, London, and the dates of 13 to 21 September 2025, are consistent across multiple reputable sources. The narrative aligns with the known facts about the event, and the tone and language are appropriate for the context.
Overall assessment
Verdict (FAIL, OPEN, PASS): PASS
Confidence (LOW, MEDIUM, HIGH): HIGH
Summary:
The narrative is current, original, and sourced from reputable outlets. All claims are consistent with known facts, and the information is corroborated by multiple sources. No signs of disinformation or credibility issues were identified.
Supercharge Your Content Strategy
Feel free to test this content on your social media sites to see whether it works for your community.
