Pantry of the Week: Elevated Kitsch in Matilda Goad’s Granny-Chic Larder

For a while, it was the mudroom that grabbed homebuyers’ attention as the most coveted tiny room of the house. The new status small space (according to our highly unscientific analysis)? The walk-in pantry.

A while back, we spotted on the historical real estate site Inigo the extremely charming pantry of Matilda Goad, the talented British designer who never met a scalloped design she didn’t like (her online store has napkins, lamp shades, and planters—all of her design and all featuring the charming silhouette). Not surprisingly, she has a penchant for floral prints and vintage pieces, too, but she elevates and modernizes the granny chic aesthetic with bold colors and graphic elements.

“I’m a great believer of the idea that if you happen to come across something that you love, you will always find a home for it,” she told Inigo. “I don’t over-consider anything, to me that’s what adds charm and character to a room. I think some people probably think my home and my style is bit of a mashup, but I’m just unafraid of mixing something from the ’50s with a really modern item that I could’ve bought last week from The Conran Shop. If you love something and it feels right, it will all work together in the end.”

Photography courtesy of Inigo.

Above: Matilda’s small kitchen in her London home features granite counters (notice the scalloped backsplash behind the sink) and cabinets painted Sage Green from Little Greene. The walls are painted with a peachy lime wash from Bauwerk. A slim doorway on the left leads to the tiny pantry. Above: Her kitchen has become Instagram-famous, thanks to the photogenic oxblood and cream checkerboard backsplash behind the stove. Above: “When I first started designing the room, I thought of it more as a space that I could just shut off from the kitchen, but since then it’s aesthetically developed quite a bit. It’s become so useful, I think it’s probably the most frequented room in the whole house,” she said. Above: A signature moment: modern and bright Yves Beeswax Candles in an old-fashioned vintage candleholder. Above: To keep costs down, Matilda chose inexpensive basic tiles but enhanced them by selecting a surprising grout color: red. “The grout is from Amazon; I discovered a whole world of coloured grouts on there.” Above: The shelves were made using leftover floorboards. Matilda wanted to keep them shallow so that things don’t get lost in the back. “Their width is based on the size of a standard Kilner jar.” Above: The Tartan Ceramic Butter Dish is one of her designs. Behind the curtain are crates of her less-used items. Above: The slim French doors were fabricated by her husband’s company Blockhouse Build. Matilda lined them with linen so that she can conceal the pantry when entertaining.

For more on pantries, see:

• Kitchen of the Week: A Bright Addition with a ‘Pantry Portal’ for a Narrow Townhouse in Brooklyn
• Steal This Look: The Modern Farmhouse Pantry
• Archive Dive: A Peek Inside 15 of Our Favorite Kitchen Pantries

N.B.: This story originally appeared on May 13, 2021 and has been updated with new information.