Designer Matilda Goad's Notting Hill home

When creative consultant and designer Matilda Goad decided to move into her now-husband’s Notting Hill home, she brought an abundance of colour, pattern and antique treasures with her, but not before the place was stripped to its bare bones. ‘We lived here with nothing - literally nothing! Because I was trying to find the right sofa, chair or fabric, and I’m not very good at compromising I suppose,’ she laughs.

Having cut her teeth working in fashion and for event designer Fiona Leahy, Goad's work is multifarious; ranging from product design and sourcing antiques, to styling and creative direction - she helped Shrimps founder Hannah Weiland conceive her wildly imaginative wedding, and yesterday opened a pop-up shop in Liberty.

Rising to prominence as the designer of a scalloped rattan lampshade that swiftly became a cult product, Goad’s remit now includes candles, tableware, jugs and plant pots that all bear the hallmarks of her look, English country whimsy with a kick of contemporary zing. She appears to have an uncanny ability to tap in to the zeitgeist. A self-confessed magpie by nature, she collects pieces from an eclectic array of sources, and nowhere is this more evident than in the open-plan kitchen, dining and sitting room of her home; a trove of treasures found on eBay, antiques markets or created by her. Painted a Paper and Paints pink, the living room walls are hung with a mismatch of art; a Portobello Road print hangs alongside a huge Alek O work that is reflected in an antique glass mirror opposite.

A gallery wall above the dining table, ‘is a combination of everything,’ Matilda explains. 'Framed tapestries, a Kate Moss cover of The Face magazine, a lot of my mother-in-law Kate Corbett-Winder's work, and plates from old Amalfi Coast trattorias that I found at a flea market in Rome – it’s a really personal collection.’

At one end of the sitting room is a Conran Shop sofa that Matilda bought for £150 on eBay and upholstered in a red clothing corduroy. At the other end is the fireplace that Matilda restored with the help of reclamation yard finds. Her scalloped planters sit either side, and the marble mantlepiece is decorated with kitsch antique candelabras. ‘I’m a huge fan of antiques sales,’ Matilda says, ‘I go to Kempton quite regularly, and Golborne Road around the corner for the little elements that make a home - the unique one-off lamps and the little trinkets.’

The kitchen and dining room is delineated by dark green tongue-and-groove panelling - on the cabinets, cupboards and a bench that runs behind a narrow reclaimed-wood dining table that's ideal for entertaining. Above the table hang three of Matilda’s new scalloped rattan pendant lampshades made in collaboration with Lisa Mehydene, founder of edit58.com and launching in November - with light from a large window dressed in a Soane fabric found at a London sample sale. ‘It’s such a strong window that I really wanted something bold,' says Matilda, 'when the blind is down, it’s a bit like having a huge painting on the wall.’

While the couple’s home doesn’t occupy the full townhouse, there are six flights of stairs throughout the maisonette and Matilda was keen to flood the dark stairways with light and colour. She removed the doors from two rooms to let the natural light through, and wallpapered the stairway throughout in a navy and white floral print paper from Sanderson that brings continuity to all levels of the house.