Rooms with a view of the English

Hidden gems: A PERMANENT exhibition devoted to the living rooms of the English middle classes sounds like the kind of place you'd only consider visiting out of sheer desperation on a wet bank holiday.

But London’s little-known Geffrye Museum is, frankly, absolutely fabulous. It’s defiantly off the traditional tourist trail, located amid restored almshouses in the now painfully trendy area of Shoreditch.

The museum is laid out in a series of authentically furnished and decorated rooms that allow you to walk through the centuries and experience how affluent Londoners lived through the ages.

The journey begins with a typical room in 1630 and ends with a quintessential symbol of end-of-20th-century urban living: a “converted loft” apartment.

Each of the 11 rooms is a visual delight and a pleasurable learning experience. Discover how Georgian houses were heated or marvel at the Victorians’ penchant for papier-mache ornaments. See how people lit their rooms in the 17th century or what kind of wallpaper was popular in the 1920s. The attention to detail is astounding.

The museum also houses a treasure trove of furniture, pictures and ornaments. A fascinating 1936 oil painting by Thomas Cantrell Dugdale of an upper-class couple watching the arrival of the Jarrow marchers in London through a window is alone worth the journey to Shoreditch.

Outside are gorgeous gardens, including examples from the late Elizabethan era and the achingly nostalgic Edwardian period. There’s also a restaurant and a shop selling attractive books, cards and gifts.

This museum is a must-visit for anyone interested in interiors, but you’ll find that it also has much wider appeal.

geffrye-museum.org.uk