Museum of the Home, formerly Geffrye Museum, to reopen in September after £18milllion revamp

The Museum of the Home will reopen on September 19 after an £18.1 milllion refit.

The east London institution, formerly known as the Geffrye Museum, has doubled its amount of public space thanks to the lottery-funded rebuild and updated its display.

Visitors to the old Grade I-listed almshouses which are home to the museum will find a new library and cafe as well as a new entrance opposite Hoxton Station.

Director Sonia Solicari said: “ The Museum of the Home will be a place to explore and debate what home means through a dynamic programme of exhibitions, discussions, artist collaborations and events - whether those are experienced on-site or remotely. 

“We will bring to life diverse experiences of home over the centuries, providing a place to consider the ways we have lived in the past in order to explore creative ideas about new ways of living in and looking at the world. This feels particularly relevant at this moment, when our home living experiences are constantly shifting due to world events”.

The extra room will allow it to examine different ways of living including the domestic life of students and life in different homes from canal boats to sheltered housing.

More of its 400-year-old collection will be able to go on show in new displays including one dedicated to Domestic Gamechangers that will lift the lid on how objects from telephones to televisions and the humble thermostat changed the way we live.

The museum first opened its doors in 1914 when it was dedicated to furniture and woodwork before gradually changing its focus down the years.

It is still raising the final £530,000 needed to complete its plans and has launched the Sow A Seed campaign to raise £10,000 to restore its gardens by asking people to sponsor its plants.