New-builds have a reputation for being bland and boxy, but for Paul Firmin and Niko Dafkos, they were thrilled to be the first ones through the door of their townhouse in east London. “The fact that you can make it your own, and that everything — from the windows to the boiler — is brand new, is no bad thing,” says Dafkos, who is from Germany.
Partners both in work and life, the founders of homewares retailer and fragrance brand Earl of East bought the property from the developer nine years ago and persuaded the company to cover the stamp duty. Fatigued from months of viewing microscopic flats in more salubrious neighbourhoods such as London Fields, where they met 13 years ago, they settled on Leyton.
“We thought it could be somewhere that comes up, like Clapton did, and we liked the neighbourhood feel,” says Firmin, who grew up in the north-east. Indeed, the area has since gentrified with wine bars and vintage shops, and fellow creative types such as magazine editors and taste-makers moving in.
The house itself is sensibly proportioned and set over three floors; unlike the Victorian terraces nearby, the wide kitchen was always intended for both cooking and dining in. In the first year they quickly filled it with inexpensive Ikea pieces to get the four bedrooms furnished. But over time they’ve swapped these out for more considered finds, such as a bench salvaged from a Paris roadside which they carried back on the Eurostar, and the odd bespoke splurge.
The dining table, which is intentionally low to work with the woven day bed (a cult Ikea design), was a custom creation by Fred Rigby. “I like the mix of the high and the low,” says Firmin of his taste.
Just last month, the couple took the plunge and replaced the entire run of laminate flooring downstairs with small-scale, square terracotta tiles. They also created a glass-brick wall in the front lounge and bought new doors with reeded glass painted a warm shade of oxblood. The new look forces visitors to leave their new-build preconceptions at the door. “It has completely transformed the house, and somehow made it feel bigger,” enthuses Firmin.
This year marks Earl of East’s 10th anniversary (Earl of East was Firmin’s nickname with former colleagues, as he was known for always trying to engineer gatherings east). What began as a Saturday side hustle selling candles, curiosities and cacti from a stall at Netil Market in Hackney has mushroomed into a retail empire counting four London stores. Its own-brand offering of home fragrance has over 250 stockists worldwide.
It was in their kitchen in 2015 that the couple started pouring candles. While the street food scene was ramping up, this felt like an untapped corner of the market. “From our first date we’d spoken about scent and how it made us feel. When we were living in a house-share with other random people, making our room nice was kind of only really achievable through scent,” recalls Firmin.
And so, while juggling their day jobs in advertising, the couple would batch-blend candles after-hours to sell them from a small store in a backstreet off London Fields as well as supplying Selfridges. The debut scents, Smoke & Musk and Wildflower, are still bestsellers today. To attract footfall, they served coffee and hosted workshops. It was instantly popular and in 2018 those masterminding the retail offering of Coal Drops Yard in King’s Cross came knocking.
“We just said yes! We didn’t really think about it, but we knew it was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to open up a store in central London,” says Dakfos. Remarkably, the couple held their full-time roles elsewhere while opening in time for Christmas 2018. “After that, we both said to each other that we couldn’t do it again,” laughs Firmin.
They took a leap of faith in late 2019 and both left advertising. The rest, as they say, is history. Stocking sought-after brands such as Hay and Ferm Living, they were in the right product category to weather the pandemic, and opened a store on Redchurch Street in 2021. Then came Regent Street in 2023 and Spitalfields just a fortnight ago.
What’s also noteworthy is how the duo have never taken any outside investment. Bar the odd bank loan, every shop opening has been self-funded and all Earl of East products are still handmade in their conveniently located Leyton HQ.
Firmin leads the buying and creative; he conceived Café, this year’s monster hit of coffee-inspired candles poured into reusable mugs. Dafkos meanwhile, having previously worked in production, has found his niche in operations.
In the background, the way they used their home evolved. Starting as a place to grow a side hustle, to somewhere they barely spent any time in once they acquired a studio, it’s now a sanctuary.
“We’re finally in a place where we can take days off, and when we do, we spend them here and would rather cook than eat out,” says Firmin. The couple work every Saturday in the stores — “it’s the best bit of being in the business,” asserts Firmin — but after interacting with customers, the batteries need recharging. “We occasionally host, but we’re happiest here just with our Frenchie, Piper.”
Naturally, their home smells incredible. The first thing they light is incense, followed by candles dotted around side tables. They are currently road-testing incense made in Japan based on their best-selling Shinrin-Yoku and Onsen scents, which are inspired by the bathing culture there.
During rare calm moments, talk invariably turns to work, but it feels different when they are relaxing in their own space. Says Dafkos: “This all started because we were dreamers, and I think that’s what we use our downtime for, is to dream bigger.
Shop online at earlofeast.com or visit the new store at 8 Market Street, E1
