Mind the Gap – From Târgu Mureș to Bucharest, via London

A stroll through the design and interior decoration district in London’s sophisticated Chelsea neighborhood can reveal unexpected surprises. Among the bright windows of luxury showrooms, among the established brands of British and European design, lies a Romanian success story that defies stereotypes and redefines the concept of “made in Romania.” This is the story of Mind the Gap, a company with a British name but a Transylvanian identity, which has succeeded in exporting authentic beauty to the heart of the global interior design industry.

It is a discovery that makes you stop and reflect. We were also curious to find out more about Mind the Gap.

When you walk down King’s Road, Chelsea’s famous high street, every shop window is a style statement, every showroom an explosion of creativity. At the Design Centre in Chelsea Harbour, you enter the Mind the Gap space and suddenly find yourself in a universe that masterfully combines the elegance of classic interior design with the rich colors and decorative elements of Europe, Asia, and South America. Nothing is stridently out of place and everything is surprising. The wallpapers seem to breathe stories, the products have textures that invite touch, the decorative objects are so full of personality that they seem to have their own biographies. In fact, our conversation with the people at Mind the Gap revealed precisely this detail: each collection has its own story.

What appeared to be yet another London-based luxury design studio gradually reveals its true identity: here, every product bears the mark of creative thinking born in Romania, every design is conceived by a team working thousands of miles away, in Târgu Mureș, Transylvania, Romania: Mind the Gap.

A journey that begins in 2016, in Târgu Mureș

Behind this success story are Ștefan Ormenișan and Victor Șerban, two young, and visionary entrepreneurs who, at the end of 2015, founded a company with an extraordinary ambition: to transform international cultural heritage into Romanian interior design products capable of competing in the most demanding international markets. Mind the Gap began as an almost unconscious gamble made by two people who believed that Romania has much more to offer the world than the usual stereotypes.

Founded almost a decade ago, the company has remained relatively unknown on the Romanian market, the result of a deliberate strategy: from the outset, Ștefan and Victor targeted foreign markets, particularly the United Kingdom and the United States. The reasoning was simple and pragmatic: that is where customers are willing to pay for exceptional quality and original design, and where the distribution channels and visibility platforms necessary to build a global brand exist. That is where they gained international recognition—Mind the Gap is a company that today exports exceptional interior design products, “Made in Transylvania,” to 80 countries.

Ștefan Ormenișan – the complete artist

Ștefan Ormenișan is not only a successful entrepreneur and designer, he is also a jazz musician with his own repertoire, extending the artistic story of his business project into music. Mind the Gap Jazz Trio, his band, won this year’s award for best Romanian band at the Jazz in the Park festival in Cluj-Napoca. This dual identity, as an entrepreneur and musician, is not a coincidence or a simple diversification of interests. For Ștefan, design and music speak the same language: that of authentic creativity, controlled improvisation, and balance between structure and expressive freedom.

In the Mind the Gap philosophy, each design project is customized, tailored to the specifics of the space and the story it wants to tell. “Mind the Gap is an atypical project in terms of vision, but solid in terms of the firmness of the design choice,” he explains. “We understand that each space is unique, has its own identity, and we seek to bring out those accents that highlight its story.”

This belief is reflected in every collection launched by the Mureșeni. There is no rigid “Mind the Gap” style, no mechanically applied template. Instead, there is an aesthetic sensibility, an ability to look closely at seemingly distant cultures and extract themes and textures that can be translated into meaningful design objects.

Victor Șerban – the business vision

Victor Șerban, alongside artist Ștefan Ormenișan, brings the rigor necessary for any successful business: strategic vision, pragmatism, “scaling,” as entrepreneurs like to say, as well as the ability to translate creativity into measurable results. If Ștefan is the artistic soul of the company, Victor is the strategic architect who is constantly concerned with development and expansion.

Mind the Gap’s strategy has been to let the products speak for the company’s brand. Each product contains a statement of quality and originality. When a designer or architect discovers these products, they naturally become ambassadors for the brand, recommending it emphatically, out of genuine conviction.

Victor explains the company’s philosophy in simple terms: “We have always relied on the originality and quality of our products. We have done nothing more than propose a distinctive design, a fresh interpretation of an ambiance, and we are delighted that this has been appreciated and selected.” This charming modesty is characteristic of the two founders’ personalities, but behind it lies a decade of work, doubts, searching, experimentation, and continuous refinement of products and processes.

The road from Târgu Mureș to Bucharest passes through London

The story that brought Mind the Gap to the attention of the British public is almost cinematic, in the spirit of a situation comedy that can easily rival Dan Pița’s “Ardelenii.” In the summer of 2025, John Cooper, a British amateur designer, won the BBC’s prestigious “Design Masters” competition, dedicated to the most creative redesigns of living spaces in the UK. The show, watched by millions of viewers, is a prestigious platform for emerging talents in the field of interior design. The centerpiece of John Cooper’s redesign, the element that captivated both the jury and the audience, was an exotic wallpaper with Italian motifs. When the final credits revealed the origin of this refined wallpaper, everyone was surprised: it was designed by the Mind the Gap company in Târgu Mureș, Romania.

For British viewers, the revelation was a revelation. Romania? Târgu Mureș? And how does it produce wallpapers capable of making their mark on a BBC design show? But for those in the industry, for designers and architects who watched the show with professional attention, it was not a complete surprise. Mind the Gap was already a well-known name in specialist circles, a brand that professionals had long appreciated and recommended.

Diplomacy by design

Among the viewers delighted with the winning episode was the Portman family. Giles Portman, British Ambassador to Bucharest, and his wife Lucie, very active members of the diplomatic community in Bucharest, were familiar with the company. Mr. Portman had visited the two entrepreneurs in Targu Mureș and had visited their showroom in London. For a family of diplomats with cultural sensitivity, the discovery was twofold: on the one hand, an exceptional design brand, and on the other, a Romanian brand, from the country where they are temporarily residing, with expansion into the UK, where the brand has gained recognition.

The decision to invite the Mind the Gap team to design some of the spaces in the ambassador’s residence was much more than a simple interior design choice. It was a statement about the appreciation of Romanian creativity, about confidence in local potential, about the desire to build authentic cultural links between the UK and Romania.

Ms. Lucie Portman, ambassador of refinement, beauty, and good taste, worked alongside the Mind the Gap team to select and compose a blend of traditional and modern elements that reflect both well-known British elegance and Romanian originality.

The spaces selected for furnishing with Mind the Gap products, reception and relaxation areas of the residence, have taken on a new personality. The Scottish-patterned wallpapers were complemented by other pieces from the company’s collections, each carefully chosen to create a coherent narrative. The ambassador’s residence already had a history, a specific architecture, and an extremely clear diplomatic function. Mind the Gap’s role was not to overwrite this identity, but to emphasize it, to highlight it, to add layers of meaning and style that would enrich it.

A rainy evening and a sunny partnership

What could be more typically London than a rainy evening? The reception to present the new interior design, held at the ambassador’s residence, marked a symbolic moment for Romanian creativity and a professional compliment for Mind the Gap.

Ambassador Giles Portman emphasized the importance of supporting quality local businesses and the contribution that companies such as Mind the Gap make to Romania’s image abroad. For Ștefan Ormenișan and Victor Șerban, the evening represented an emotional validation of their work over almost two decades, a “miniature” retelling, as Victor called it, of the Mind the Gap story, which tirelessly posits that product excellence becomes the most sustainable communication campaign.

Through the dusty bridges of tradition

Mind the Gap has achieved what many companies only dream of: the perfect balance between innovation and tradition, between contemporary and authentic. The company’s collections are a vivid demonstration of the fact that preserving traditions does not mean freezing in the past, but creatively reinterpreting them for the present and future.

Mind the Gap’s wallpapers and objects are perhaps the most eloquent examples of this philosophy. The company’s designers draw inspiration from universal traditional patterns: floral motifs, simple geometries, sophisticated textures, vivid colors, and bold combinations, all falling within what the founders proudly call “maximalism full of personality.” The result is surprising: Mind the Gap offers collections that could decorate an aristocratic home in the UK, a minimalist apartment in Tokyo, or a Mediterranean villa in the south of France with equal elegance, while retaining an unmistakable DNA that speaks to the company’s roots.

The textile collections go even further in this direction. Traditional weaving and embroidery techniques are used to create materials that meet the requirements of modern interior design: durability, versatility, sustainability. The artisans working for Mind the Gap in Târgu Mureș are not just order fulfillers; they are co-creators, young (even very young) and enthusiastic, bringing their own knowledge and intuition to the product development process.

Recognition in Romania: Romanian Design Week

Although mainly active on foreign markets, Mind the Gap has begun to gain visibility in Romania as well. Recently, the company attracted the interest of the local public through its consistent presence at this year’s Romanian Design Week, one of the most important events dedicated to contemporary design in Romania.

Participation in Romanian Design Week 2025 represented official recognition by the Romanian design community of the company’s innovative vision and a perfect opportunity for the local public to finally discover what professionals from other countries have known for years: that Romania produces world-class design.

Ambitious plans for future

For the coming period, Mind the Gap has big projects that will further strengthen its presence in Romania. The company plans to open contemporary design galleries in Timișoara and Cluj-Napoca, two of Transylvania’s most dynamic cities from an artistic and economic point of view.

For the coming period, Mind the Gap has big projects that will further strengthen its presence in Romania. The company plans to open contemporary design galleries in Timișoara and Cluj-Napoca, two of Transylvania’s most dynamic cities from an artistic and economic point of view.

Perhaps the company’s most ambitious and significant project is in the field of arts education. Mind the Gap is preparing a series of educational projects in Dolj County, focused on developing the creative skills of young people. “We believe that Romania has extraordinary creative potential that is often not properly cultivated. In Oltenia, for example, there is no higher art school,” explains Șerban.

These educational projects are strategic investments in the future of Romania’s creative industry. Ștefan and Victor know that their long-term success depends on the existence of a vibrant creative ecosystem in Romania, capable of producing the talent and skills needed for the next stages of development.

Lessons for Romania

The experience of the two founders, an artist who combines design with jazz music and a visionary strategist who transforms creativity into commercial results, resonates with any Romanian entrepreneur. The two young men from Mureș did not have any special advantages, massive initial capital, or privileged connections. They had talent, vision, hard work, and, perhaps most importantly, the courage to dream big and persevere when things got tough.

The Mind the Gap story offers valuable lessons not only for entrepreneurs in the creative industry, but for the entire Romanian economy. The first and most important lesson is that success in international markets does not require abandoning local identity; on the contrary, cultural authenticity can become a major competitive advantage in a globalized world with increasingly homogenized tastes.

The second lesson is about patience and perseverance. Ștefan Ormenișan and Victor Șerban did not build a global brand overnight. They invested nearly a decade in refining their products, building their reputation, and developing distribution channels. In an era of fast-growing startups and spectacular exits, their story reminds us that true value is built gradually, through consistency and small steps.

The third lesson concerns the importance of absolute quality. In a competitive market, you can’t win just by being good or having competitive prices. You have to be exceptional, offering something that no one else can deliver at the same level.

In reality, Mind the Gap doesn’t sell wallpaper, textiles, and decorations; it offers stories, identities, and unique aesthetic experiences. From the Chelsea Harbour showroom to diplomatic residences, from luxurious private apartments to boutique hotels, Mind the Gap products add that element of color and style that transforms a space from simply functional to memorable and bold. “Made in Romania” can be synonymous with products of exceptional quality, innovative design, and aesthetic refinement. And “Made in Transylvania” is more than just Bran Castle and the legends of Dracula.