Life in a student flat starts rough but gets colourful. The flat looked more squat than home, but we made it ours. Flat-pack breaks too quick, so we hunted retro. We carried a wingback through Dalston. It looked like chaos, but that’s what gave it soul. Funky retro seating has character, and students get that instinctively. I’ve fallen asleep in a battered armchair with a book, and the sofa was another character in the story.

Every warehouse flat tells the same story, and Smithers down in Shoreditch knows it. One afternoon I stumbled into Smithers, and the accent arm chairs for kitchen were bold and chairs and sofa weird. we left with just one piece, but everyone fights to sit in it. We’ve all dragged furniture through rain. it’s what makes memories. Armchairs don’t mind if you fall asleep in them. Mass production doesn’t care, but old sofas age into character. every stain means another night.

Once the parties are done, the stress disappears, but that funky accent chair is legend. Next time you walk past a market, don’t waste time on the soulless new. Grab a retro sofa, and let it shout Shoreditch every time you sit.