WORDS by Benjamin Reynaert
PHOTOGRAPHY by Martin Morrell
After months of letdowns and disappointing showings in the winter of 2017, British housewares designer Matilda Goad wandered by a little house for sale on a busy road in North West London. “I banged on the door, and the homeowner greeted me in a dressing gown, holding a cup of tea,” she says.
“I had clearly interrupted his breakfast.” After an awkward pause, he let her inside, where 35 years’ worth of collected ephemera covered most of the surfaces and walls.
Goad, who is known just as much for her unapologetically romantic style as she is for her signature scalloped raffia lampshades, looked past the clutter and saw the home’s potential: a beautiful ceiling rose; old plaster cornicing hidden behind posters; original tongue-and-groove paneling; and, best of all, a large green space out back. “I really wanted a garden that I could treat like an extension of the house and essentially another room,” she says. Goad was looking for an ideal nest for her growing family—her first child, Domino, arrived in May.
You Can Buy a Dress and Wear It Once,
But You Look at a
Lamp Every Day
Above: Vintage Chairs, Sunbury Antiques Market; Tartan Squiggle Jug and Ceramic Clam Shell, Matilda Goad; Roman Shades in Nasturtium Fabric, Lake August; Flax Lime Paint, Bauwerk; Vintage Sconce, Pamono. On Goad: Blouse, Sea New York.
Matilda Goad's London home is a laboratory for experimentation, with striking—but always timeless—results.
After months of letdowns and disappointing showings in the winter of 2017, British housewares designer Matilda Goad wandered by a little house for sale on a busy road in North West London. “I banged on the door, and the homeowner greeted me in a dressing gown, holding a cup of tea,” she says. “I had clearly interrupted his breakfast.” After an awkward pause, he let her inside, where 35 years’ worth of collected ephemera covered most of the surfaces and walls.