Designer Matilda Goad on home as her visual identity

“Home is such a safe space for me, it felt like the place that I wanted to welcome my kids,” Matilda explains of her two home births. “I love the idea that the home can be this starting point to a new life and the backdrop to those really important life experiences.” Matilda’s home (which is viewable to members on Patreon) is full of carefully considered pieces and ideas – many created by Matilda herself, such as the denim banquette and bespoke fridge/storage unit. However, it’s neither static nor pristine: it’s constantly evolving to meet the needs of her young children. Orange juice-soaked cushion covers and cracked marble countertops are part of that process: “I’m not fussed that the home isn’t perfect, I’m happy to wait to find the perfect piece, and that’s something I’ve really lent into since having small kids.”

Interior design is like cooking, Matilda explains, you need the right mix of sweet and spice. “My home is my visual identity; I compare styling a room in the same way as getting dressed,” she says. “I lean on a lot of basics. I love denim and a white T-shirt, but I have so many handbags and sunglasses and shoes, it’s the layers and that’s what I feel like in the home. Within my home are a lot of layers but if you take them away, it’s quite a simple canvas.”

For Matilda, pieces need to have purpose; she isn’t a fan of clutter and is a strong advocate of the junk drawer that every house has. “If a job is worth doing, it’s worth doing well,” is a lesson Matilda learnt from her property entrepreneur father. “I used to grunt at this in my teens, but it’s something I recognise in myself now. That and perseverance; looking at things in a slightly different way and finding a solution around things.”

From her school days, selling earrings she had made from Bacardi bottle tops (“£3 a pop, they were a big hit”), Matilda has been motivated to prove herself, work hard and “see an opportunity and share it”. After years in fashion, styling, magazines and photography, she spotted a gap in the market for a distinctive lampshade at an affordable price, so she began to produce her distinctive scallop-edged lampshades, driving them to the Post Office in her Mini, styling them on Instagram and growing the business organically into the homewares, lighting and hardware company, MG&Co, that she runs now.

Matilda’s energy and optimism run through the latest episode of Homing. “I’m a better mother when I’ve been stimulated and had a really productive day at work, I feel I can give more to my kids,” she explains. “Running a company and a team, you have to have positivity and optimism.” Yet she knows she is “prone to worrying” and calls on rituals like breathwork and slow evenings to help her see the bigger picture. “I like the idea that dawn brings a whole new perspective, you can have a bad day and go to bed and when you wake up, the sun still comes up every morning. Each day is a fresh opportunity.”

Forthcoming episodes of Homing feature Sam Taylor-Johnson, Tom and Sue Stuart-Smith and Dan Pearson. Subscribe to Homing or become a member of Patreon and as always, happy listening.