Houseof x Goods In
Welcome back to our Brands We Love blogs - this week we turn to the founder of Goods In; Elle!
A part of the houseof family, Elle forms part of our PR team and is an impeccable stylist and prop-maker. We don’t know how she finds the time, but in 2019 she set up her own business ‘Goods In’ an antique, second-hand furniture store that sells sourced and curated pieces from the 20th century. The ‘side hustle’ of her dreams, here all her creative skillsets come to amalgamate; a true passion project.
Elle styled our ‘colour-on-colour’ shoot; our most recent Newness - the 1970’s inspired launch - and our new colour ways: Pine and Sand. More recently, she took over the houseof Instagram to show us the best of Milan ’22 Design Week.
Elle in her studio
Elle we would love to hear more about the origins of Goods In, how did you get into antiques?
I first properly got into antiques through my dad actually. He started his own mid-century furniture biz maybe about 10 years ago now - it was his side hustle. He asked if I wanted to come with him to the markets one day and I fell in love with it pretty much immediately.
I started buying bits and bobs, dining tables and chairs etc and selling them through his shop. He taught me how to renovate pieces and photograph them and basically, I learnt the ropes through him. But then after a few years, it got to a point where I realised that I wanted to do my own thing, be in charge of the look and vibe of something all of my own so I set up Goods In.
Where do you source your antiques from and what are the benefits of buying second-hand pieces over buying new?
All over the place really! Antique markets mainly and then you have to keep your eye on other sources like eBay and Facebook marketplace. It's something that doesn't switch off so wherever I am I always have to have a peek in the local second-hand shop. I've always loved hunting for bargains and rooting around for vintage gems ever since I was a teenager really.
Something that has always been important to me is to have things that are unique. I think maybe it stems from going to a school with no uniform, the idea of wearing something that everyone else had just felt like the worst thing! And so vintage and second-hand clothes were an obvious choice to save me from this nightmare, and I suppose it has transcended into homeware too.
From a sustainable point of view - trawling through second-hand homeware, whether it's a market, shops, or online - it's apparent just how much is out there looking for a home and I think when you see the volume and also the potential of furniture it makes it feel unnecessary to buy new all the time.
Also, the fast fashion homeware trends are usually inspired from the past, or have elements of the past - rattan, bent wood, marble, history always repeats itself and great design will always be in fashion anyway, no matter the era. And of course, there is no greater reward than getting a bargain price on something you love.
“History always repeats itself and great design will always be in fashion anyway, no matter the era. And of course, there is no greater reward than getting a bargain price on something you love”
Who are your favourite iconic designers?
My favourite designers - very tricky, it changes a lot and I find that I often love aspects and details of specific designers, but - I have an ongoing love affair with Italy and so the Italian designers will always reign supreme. I adore all the plastic pieces by Magistretti for Artemide, Anna Castelli and Giotto Stoppino for Kartell, Joe Colombo etc. I think because you don't really see a lot of this style in the UK it feels very cool and modern and in comparison, English Mid Century is very teaky - nothing wrong with that - but it only enhances the appeal of the bright colour pops of these Italian Space Age designs.
I had a pair of bright green Magistretti chairs earlier this year that were very hard to let go of, they can make any interior look very fresh.
What is your favourite piece that you’ve sourced for Goods In?
A hard question, as I get very attached to all my pieces. The pink sofa that I have on at the moment is definitely a favourite. You don't often come across items in good colours and condition and a beautiful shape. It has an in-built table which when I bought it was a piece of old chipboard but I got it remade in smoked glass and I think it looks amazing the perfect cocktail table.
Also my fave thing to source are the shell vases and marble soap dishes. The shell vases are 1930s and look a bit like a clam shell or a fan and were made so you can do those Florence Spry style arrangements. I just think they're the most beautiful objects, with or without flowers.
The marble dishes are old ashtrays and using them as soap dishes feels like the perfect re-purposing of them - the perfect sustainable piece - as there are an abundance of beautiful ashtrays that are left without a use now that smoking isn't so fashionable.
Some customers obviously still use them as ashtrays but a lot of people use them for their jewellery or of course soap!
Cristina Celestino at Milan Design Week
We loved your Instagram takeover for Milan Design Week; can you tell us a bit more about your week in Milan and some of your highlights.
Aw yes the takeover! It was a very hot and busy few days, my boyfriend and I had just got back from New York so it was a bit of a blur.
This year my absolute favourite was Cristina Celestino - I love her work so much.
She took over an old florist that had a magnificent interior. It was set within a curved and arched space that was finished in pebbledash, rich coloured wood panelling and marble, designed by Gugliemo Ulrich in 1945. The whole shop had step shelves built into the walls, for the flowers, and for Design Week they displayed the glass flower vases that Celestino had designed for this space. She also designed glass coffee tables which housed more fauna underneath creating this sort of blur between interior pieces and exterior, as well as some very well thought-out upholstered cushions on the lowest shelf, so you could sit amongst the flowers.
I found the space quite mesmerising such a wonderful harmony of textures, colours and materials that perhaps you wouldn't have necessarily imagined together and yet it worked so elegantly.
Se Collections at Milan Design Week
I also loved all the disco influence that was going on - I'm always drawn to retro-inspired things - naturally - the Se Collections' presentation -showcasing their lights and sofa really stood out, I loved the styling with the coloured glassware like we had just walked into an after party and the tunes, of course.
Also Draga & Aurel with their beautiful pink bed and disco wall lights. I hope one day I have a bed like that!
We also stayed in a really amazing hotel - called Aethos Milan, which was furnished with vintage furniture. Their restaurant was stunning, we ate breakfast there every morning and they had really lovely Cesca chairs some of which were upholstered as well as marble and smoked glass tables to eat off. Sunny dappled light shone through the glass in the ceiling, which made it such a wonderful place to fuel ourselves for the day ahead!
Who are your absolute favourite designers/creatives/businesses to follow on Instagram?
I get a lot of inspiration from photography accounts - " Keirnan and Theo" and "the rainbow is underestimated" are a couple of my favourites.
Cristina Celestino , of course - I love seeing her new projects
I love "Croco Studio" - her flowers are beautiful and feel very Goods In to me.
And recently i've started following Sarah Heartman, as i'm quite enjoying her DIY hacks, especially her use of spray paint on some acrylic nest tables, I think I might be nabbing that idea.
“[olive green marble curve floor lamp] it’s the perfect height for reading on the sofa. Also, there is something quite slinky and 70s about this lamp which is a vibe I’m really here for. ”
Lastly, if you could pair one of your antiques with one of our lights - which would it be? Is there a dream set you could talk us through?
Ooooh well I've always been a big fan of your diffuser wall lights, I think there is something very chic about a wall light.
My big pink curved modular corner sofa would look fab with a few pine diffuser wall lights because I love pink and green together.
I would also add the olive green marble curve floor lamp next to it, it's the perfect height for reading on the sofa. I think the curves of the lamp and the curves of the sofa would mirror each other nicely. Also, there is something quite slinky and 70s about this lamp which is a vibe I'm really here for.
