Paul Firmin and Niko Dafkos, founders of Earl of East, the London scent brand, have authored "Home for Now: Living Well Without Staying Long," a design book that challenges the assumption that rental apartments must remain sterile and impersonal. The volume showcases eight spaces where tenants transformed temporary homes into reflections of their own style and identity.
The project tackles a real gap in interior design publishing. Most home design books celebrate permanent residences where owners can paint walls, remove flooring, or undertake structural changes. Renters face different constraints. Firmin and Dafkos demonstrate that personality does not require permanent alterations. The book highlights strategies like layering textiles, selecting portable furniture, deploying plants, and using scent and lighting to create atmosphere within the boundaries of a lease.
The timing matters. Rental markets dominate in major cities across Europe and North America. A generation of younger professionals and families move frequently for work and opportunity, meaning temporary living arrangements increasingly define home life rather than serving as way stations. Yet design culture has largely ignored this reality, treating rented spaces as something to endure rather than inhabit.
Dezeen, the architecture and design publication, featured the book through interviews with Firmin and Dafkos discussing the eight case studies. Each example balances aesthetic intention with practical realism. The authors avoid romanticizing rental living while refusing to accept that it demands aesthetic surrender.
Earl of East's entry into publishing aligns with broader brand expansion. The scent company has grown beyond candles and fragrances into lifestyle counsel. Books on how to live well fit naturally into this trajectory. Firmin and Dafkos position scent not as luxury but as a core tool for making spaces feel like home.
THE TAKEAWAY: Design publishing has largely ignored the rental market, but "Home for Now" argues that temporary living spaces deserve thoughtful design strategies beyond resigned minimalism.