At home with

Margie Riddiford

Writer, stylist and editor of VEIL.

Margie Riddiford is a stylist and the editor of VEIL, a publication exploring modern love. She has spent years in publishing and luxury, and lives with her husband and two daughters in a character villa in Herne Bay, near Jervois Road and the northern beaches.

Her home reflects both family life and a refined editorial sensibility. Objects, textures, and colours are chosen with care, balancing practicality with aesthetic intuition. The result is a space that feels lived-in yet purposeful, quietly stylish, and distinctly her own.

You recently moved from a modern architectural home to a historic villa. How has the change in style influenced your approach to interiors? Have you noticed your style evolving with the house?

We built our last home with John Irving and Rufus Knight, and it had this kind of beautiful, sleek Scandi-Japanese minimalism that felt really calm and sharp.

But when we had our kids, I think we realised that what we wanted from our home had changed. Our sensibility evolved from that kind of polished perfectionism to something a little more eclectic and unexpected. So when we were looking for our next house, it really was for a place where we could add layers - colours and textural touches - to make it feel like a reflection of our busy family life.

"Whereas before, I think I wanted precision, now I’m more drawn to imperfection. I like my house to feel like a home and not necessarily like an architectural monument. Upstairs at our new place, for instance, we have a blue room, a yellow room and a pink room, which sounds honestly unhinged but it really works. It’s fun to have fun with our spaces. And we’ve been able to slowly build, which has made everything feel really intentional."
When curating your home, how do you balance intention with instinct? Are there moments when intuition takes the lead?

I think that really has been the biggest shift from our last home to this one. Most of what my husband and I do with our current place comes from instinct. It’s a much more, ‘let’s try it and see’ approach, and I do think that we just know when a piece of furniture or art or a particular colour will work in the space. That said, we are currently undergoing a major landscaping overhaul with Jared Lockhart which has been very planned out and intentional. It will make a huge difference to the way we can enjoy our home.

How does family life shape your interior decisions? Do practical needs ever override aesthetic choices?

I think it’s a balance. Practically, yes we need to consider things like toy storage (if anyone has a genius solution for this, by the way, please let me know haha), art corners, dress-up boxes and all the various ephemera that ends up scattered across every floor in every room. And the solutions to those things need to be easy and look good.

On the other hand, Jol and I also want to enjoy and love our space so if we see an artwork or a piece of furniture that we know will be perfect, it won’t necessarily deter us if it’s not the MOST practical for kids. Two of our biggest artworks hang low enough for smudgy little hands but the kids know now not to touch them so it hasn’t really been an issue.

In the main living spaces, you’ve included the Sandringham Aquamarine rug and Cassia and Arcadia cushions in steel. Were these shades a natural draw, or selected for the atmosphere they create?

The tones in our living space err on the cooler side. Greens, blues and brushed aluminium accents. The Sandringham Aquamarine rug was the most ideal colour for lifting our dining table nook. We have quite a heavy, black round dining table and so the light blue of the rug lends the whole area a soft, modern lightless.

It also speaks to the tones of the Claudia Kogachi piece that hangs over it. Similarly, the Cassia and Arcadia cushions add some depth to that cool, steely palette, without feeling overbearing. They work really beautifully with the neutral tone of our sofa, and they’re also a forgiving colour for those inevitable marks left by busy children.

How does your experience as an editor and stylist influence the way you style interiors?

I think I have an instinct for how things go together that has evolved with experience. That said, I am definitely still learning about interiors. I wouldn’t say that my approach and aesthetic in this space is cemented. But it has been a real joy to dive in and understand more, experiment more, learn about brands here and overseas. I think a home’s interiors really work when you can feel the balance of objective beauty and personal influence. And honestly, I could probably say the same about an outfit. And, of course, that looks different for everyone.

Which objects in your home carry the strongest memories for you?

A blackened timber sculpture that my husband bought me for my birthday from Public Record.

The red Tripp Trapp high chair that sits in the corner of our dining space that both girls have used (and Dree continues to use) - I don’t think I’ll ever be able to get rid of that.

Most of the photos we have on our wall. The vases that we have been given to mark special occasions over the years that we fill with fresh flowers every week.

How do you see the balance between editorial-style touches and everyday family living evolving?

I think the idea of living in an aesthetic way has become so prevalent that people (myself included) are kind of pushing back. I remember recently seeing images of Greydon Carter’s New York home from the 90s and feeling like that was what I wanted my home to feel like. Walls covered in photos and art, shelves filled with strange objets and dog-eared books. There is an authenticity to it that leaves perfection behind.

And so for me, beyond thinking about how I want my home to look, it’s figuring out what I want it to feel like. What is that? Will I love it as much when it’s messy (because sometimes it will be) as I do when it’s tidy? How do I want my kids to feel when they come home from school? What memories do I want them to have from their childhood home? The pen marks on the floor are less important to me than the experience my kids were having when they made them.


"I think, in a broader sense, there is this shift happening everywhere. People are craving realness. A move away from editorial, Pinterest-worthy perfection and towards things that feel a true reflection of who they are and how they want to live their lives. More layering. More personality. More risks. Real life."

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