Matilda Goad Uses This Trick for Scoring Vintage Online (and Saving Hours of Scrolling)
The British designer also shares her fave winter bloom.
Updated Oct 11, 2018 10:04 PM
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Known for her whimsical takes on everyday, utilitarian goods (Think: squiggly lampshades and colorful cutlery), Matilda Goad has added another title to her ever-expanding repertoire: mother. After giving birth to her first child, Domino, last May, Goad is prioritizing home as sanctuary more than ever. Just look to her North West London house (featured in our Winter issue)—an oasis of color-blocked rooms, wood and wicker, and a splash of checkerboard in modern hues.
The British designer sat down with Domino’s editor-in-chief, Jessica Romm Perez, on this week’s episode of Design Time (out today on Spotify and Apple Podcasts) to chat about her renovation journey. “For me, it’s about the small items that can just change a room,” says Goad. “We all love to knock down walls and put in new windows and paint, but I think there are more realistic things you can do. Changing a pair of lights by your bed can totally transform the feel of a room.”
During their conversation, Goad talks about the unexpected moments in her home (denim upholstery and indoor garden trellises), how her transition to motherhood has influenced her designs, and some of the things inspiring her right now. Read on for a sneak peek.
Design Hero
I think that Min Hogg, who was the formidable founding editor of World of Interiors, changed people’s perception of interiors. She found beauty in a lot of dilapidated buildings and proved that you don’t have to have a completely polished interior for it to be beautiful. The stories that she published during her time were really inspirational.View this post on Instagram
Color Pairing
The combination I go back to time and time again is pink and green. I always play with warm and cold colors; they really balance each other out.Plant Pick
I completely adore Icelandic poppies, which are these sort of big, bellowing plants. They’re so delicate, almost like tissue paper. I got married in wintertime, and I had them at my wedding. They’re even more beautiful because they bloom in the winter in these vibrant oranges, corals, and pinks.View this post on Instagram
Material of the Moment
I love brass. I’m about to switch my lamps to brass. [It] has the power to elevate a lot of other materials. You can have something that’s quite shabby or quite antique and rustic, and adding brass to it in some capacity really brings [everything] together.Hotel Hitmaker
One of my most favorite places in the world is a hotel in Spain called Trasierra. It’s a small hotel, but it’s also someone’s home. The attention to detail is beautiful—it’s a very, very special place.
Current Craving
A restaurant I’m longing to go back to is Chiltern Firehouse in London. The moment you step in, you feel as if you’re immersed in a different world. You just want to put your phone aside and be in the moment. I’ve had so many great times there.
Go-To Greenery
For Christmas I was given a paper potted geranium from the Green Vase. My home is filled with a lot of potted plants, as you can probably imagine, but I love that this one doesn’t need any attention.
Fave Film
I am a huge, huge fan of Wes Anderson. I think everything he does is brilliant. I’m always pausing the TV to get screenshots.
Bedside Book
I love David Hicks Scrapbooks. It feels like you can be really nosy. It’s lots of pages from his diaries and scraps and things that he’s drawn on. I enjoy flipping through it and feeling inspired.
Shopping Sources
Etsy and eBay are just the best resources for finding things. But what I maintain is that you have to be really clever about what you search for. Often people spell things wrong—I’ve found some amazing things on eBay purely because [the sellers] spelled something incorrectly. If you take a bit of time researching what you’re after, and looking on different websites, there’s often a keyword that you wouldn’t initially think of, and it can bring up a whole new avenue of searches. In terms of retail space, everything John Derian does is so charming. Every time I’m in New York, his shop is the first place I head to. You step in there and you want everything.
Our Winter Renovation issue is here! Subscribe now to step inside Leanne Ford’s latest project—her own historic Pennsylvania home. Plus discover our new rules of reno.