A home brimming with stories: a tapestry of tradition, culture and art

Istanbulite Banu Muller's admiration for tradition, culture and art have led her to create a home filled with stories in Jinqiao Town, Pudong New Area.

For nine years, the jewelry designer has remained in the same three-story town house amidst a serene environment. "The pulse of this city, which today I call home, is the collision and integration of the old and the new, same as where I come from, Istanbul," Muller said. "Therefore, day first I could call Shanghai home, with slightest culture shock moments. Even though I'm used to this vibrant pulse, during house hunting, when we stepped in Jinqiao, realized that the life here is on a slower pace in the middle of trees, we knew it would be the ideal base for us."

"You are in the city, but you feel like you are not living in a city, feels like living in a resort. In May or early June, I hop on my bike and within three minutes I'm by a pool, enjoying my day, avoiding the bustling downtown, yet a very convenient location in a sense of proximity to Puxi. Or in 25 minutes, I can find myself in Pudong airport heading to an oversees destination," she added.

Sprawling 420 square meters across three levels, this townhouse features high ceilings that elongate the rooms and make it feel larger and airy. Moreover, the integrated elevator gave Muller the liberty of opening her own jewelry studio on the third floor of the house.

Born and raised in Turkey, she studied philology in Ankara, and then with a sharp turn studied gemology in Bangkok, where she met her German husband Peter Muller. Her international upbringing, curiosity for anthropology, literature, icons of style and travel inspired and shaped her ideas. Muller's admiration for cultural heritage, art and craftsmanship combined with her innate attention to detail, leading her to start "Banu Muller Jewellery" in 2004. She set up the jewelry studio and showroom insider her house in 2021, with her designs produced by local artisans and goldsmiths.

"I think living with creativity is very important because it awakens and renews an essential part of ourselves, and also allows us to access our dreams and inner lives. Therefore, I'm now creating my journey in this very townhouse together with my family," she said.

Muller said her father had a brilliant eye and an amazing imagination. "He was always able to find something great and put it into a different perspective with a whole new story. That's what defined me the most creatively – my father and his possession obsession. We have the same aesthetic."

She considers design and decoration as tools of communication, where she expresses her story and emotions.

"I love to incorporate different furniture items with certain materials from nature to have an eclectic look and of course blending my Oriental touch to it. During my travels, I always collect rare items, pieces I'm heavily influenced by global cultures and exotic materials," she said.

This habit also reflects in her jewelry as well. "I might not have an idea for a jewelry piece right away, but if I live with a rare object or gem for a while, I always end up transforming it into a wearable work of art, which are proudly made in China. China was the conduit not only for the exchange of products and goods through the ages, but also for inspiration, art, culture and ideas."

Muller loves to have friends over, therefore the first floor is all about catering to family and friends having long brunches and dinners, embracing culinary journeys. "Having a strong heritage of a hospitality background from Turkey, we love sharing quality moments with friends either around our dining table facing our master artwork from Ling Fanglu, barbeque items in the patio surrounded with my favorite bamboo plants or at our super comfortable Poltrona Frau, John-John model leather sofa, which also adds a more sleek look to our living room."

The interior style in their home, which Muller shares with her 16-year-old son Maximilian, her husband Peter and their two adopted dogs Puxi and Pudong, reflects the same eclectic feel, a taste from all over with a diverse range of sources.

"If you know the design rules, you know that style is all about the person who lives there," she said. "That said, I'm thrilled that the use of rattan and wicker indoors are high-fashion once again. It's not just for resorts any longer and it's a great texture to add to a room. I love my rattan daybed by the Danish designer, Peter Hvidt."

She also highly believes that the lamps are the jewelry of the room. Muller adorns their Italian PF sofa with the king of interior lighting, Baxter which is silver plated on both sides. "I love a good sliver lamp and I love silk, like my jewelry putting different kind of materials together in the design."

Old books, heirlooms and collectibles instantly make a room feel more personal, and open shelving lets them shine. In the living room designed by Massimo Castagna, Ceccotti Collezioni, a Flying Circles bookcase adds character and tells a story. "This bookcase carries our journey of our 20 years of relation, travels, memoirs of our experiences. You will find my husband's silver collectibles, our HIREF and URART brand collectibles which offer luxury arts and handicrafts, blending the rich historical and Turkish cultural heritage with contemporary perspective," Muller said.

"My husband has been living in Asia over 24 years and amassed a big collection of antiques. However, the collection we have in Shanghai is very limited, we have to leave our majority of Asian antiques back in Turkey. Antique furniture has unspoken memories which give it charm beyond the visual appeal. Saying this, my son has great taste, and not just looking but seeing through it. Last year, we spent a month holiday in Tokyo and when we visited the market by Ueno park, he found this very old script of a Shinto shrine and he purchased it himself without telling me. It's a very special piece for me, so I placed it on my leather bench next to our sacred antique Buddha, purchased by my husband in Taipei in the 1980s."

Although she loves antiques, Muller still has an eye for contemporary artworks. With a passion for living with art, Muller was thrilled to hunt for contemporary works to place in her home.

"Art engages the eye and the mind and can open doors and windows to places," she said. "I have five art pieces from Lin Fanglu, winner of 2021 Loewe Foundation Craft Prize. The instant I saw her art pieces, I fell in love. Somehow, her artworks were calling me and telling a story. And of course having met in person and sharing moments with her made her artworks deeper and evermore meaningful." Her Lin collections includes "She's Hydrating," "She's Red Shining" and three water color works.

The couple also owns "Typhoon" a photograph by Nancy Lee that they purchased in Hamburg, but is now displayed here in their Shanghai home.

"I also admire Secil," she said, "a very well accepted, London-based Turkish contemporary artist. I have her artwork from the 'Being' collection. I always admired her rituals while creating her art and the inner journey how she reflects to us through her pieces."

Muller is a proud collector of art by Erna Ucar, an old friend from her time in Moscow who she watched grow into a very passionate artist. "I also have a Husamettin Kocan art piece, whom he is a very well saturated artist back in Turkey."

"Home should always look like the people who live in them," she said. "Great design is a combination of where you have been, where you're at in your life, and where you are going, as there should always be something aspirational in a room. Living 8,000 kilometers away from my hometown Istanbul, my current home is where my family is and my home is Shanghai, which I dearly love."