Apparently the Victorians planted them to block out north winds,’ Hannah Weiland explains, pointing out the hawthorn tree looming over her garden furniture. ‘According to folklore, fairies live inside it. The tree was a huge reason why I wanted the house.’
If you believe in fate, you’ll understand why Weiland was destined to live in her three-storey home. The first time she visited the house, located in Kensal Rise, north-west London, it felt comfortingly familiar. Its previous owner, an illustrator, happened to have collaborated with the designer’s fashion brand, Shrimps. ‘So she had Shrimps x Habitat pieces and homeware by designer Matilda Goad, who is one of my best friends,’ says Weiland.
Famous for its colourful faux fur outerwear and playful mélange of vintage and witty modern art, Shrimps has amassed a legion of devotees, from Alexa Chung and Beanie Feldstein, to modern brides toting the cult-favourite Antonia bag. Weiland launched the brand (inspired by her nickname) in 2013 after spotting a special faux-fur fabric at a trade fair while studying at the London College of Fashion. ‘Shrimps is so much about tactile fabrics,’ she says, recalling a badge her teachers gave her printed with the phrase ‘It’s all about the surfaces'.
Today, Weiland is dressed down in a pair of torn jeans, a white delft-printed Shrimps blouse and her trusty platform Crocs. ‘I said they were mainly going to be my house shoes - now I just wear them out all the time.’ She lives with her husband, Arthur Guinness (yes, of the brewing family), their two-year-old son, Marlowe, and a bandana-wearing poodle named Lionel.
Weiland and Guinness bought the Victorian house – the only one they viewed - in the summer of 2020, two weeks after she gave birth. ‘Moving with a newborn was stressful. But I was breastfeeding at 4am so went on Zoopla and saw this house,’ she says. Fortunately for the sleep-deprived parents the previous owners had done a kitchen extension 18 months earlier. ‘I’ve got it in me to do a big renovation, but I got to do the fun parts with this house without having to choose where the plugs went.’
The ‘fun parts’ included fitting a marble-topped ensuite with pink ripple-effect wooden cupboard and a kitchen door with a porthole, as well as choosing Farrow & Ball’s Peignoir for the living room and kitchen walls and Jitney for the skirting boards, inspired by her ‘obsession’ with designing clothing in varying shades of tobacco and toffee at the time. ‘I love print, but I generally go for pastel-y paint colours as you can introduce a lot of patterns,' she says. Marlowe’s bedroom is decorated in the same Josef Frank-designed Svenskt Tenn wallpaper as his previous bedroom, while the cloakroom is covered in Lake August blue and white wallpaper. ‘It’s quite a small room, but you just want to hang out in it all the time.’
Growing up between her family’s home in Maida Vale, West London and Belcombe Court in Wiltshire fed Weiland’s appetite for vintage. ‘I like a house that you can imagine lasting forever, rather than following a trend,’ she notes, crediting her mother, a former interior designer, and her ‘creative’ father for their love of classic interiors as well as John Pawson-inspired minimalism. ‘I grew up around a lot of beautiful pieces,’ she says.
It's no surprise then that her current family home is a museum of cherished hand-me-downs, furniture and art. A Paula Rego Ride A Cock-Horse To Banbury Cross print, on loan from her parents, sits alongside family member Hugo Guinness’ artwork above the dining table. A Hans Wegner woven chord chair (a wedding gift) faces a vintage Bröderna Andersson sofa (‘I call it the Snozzcumber print because it reminds me of Roald Dahl,’ she says), while vintage Guinness adverts decorate the kitchen’s side extension. ‘Shrimps go very well with Guinness,’ Weiland jokes - a homage to the ‘Shrimps Loves Guinness’ sign at her 2018 wedding.
Elsewhere on display is an eclectic mix of homeware made by independent artists sourced through Vinterior, Etsy, Instagram and Glassette. The Folie Chambre vintage Italian rattan wardrobe in Marlowe’s bedroom and Le Klint wall lights and Murano swirl lamp in the lounge reflect Weiland’s affinity for vintage. Meanwhile, her David Perry coasters, Peter Jones dog prints (one, flanked by Mariella Baldwin mini botanical artworks above her bed, depicts her childhood teddy, Dog Dog), and Matthew Cox black wooden table champion contemporary artistry. ‘I love folk art and pieces that have been made my hand, as well as antiques you can’t find everywhere else,’ she says, crediting interior designer Sophie Rowell with helping source several key pieces.
The seagrass-carpeted lounge, hung with seaweed-esque embroidered curtains that remind Weiland of her hair, serves as the home’s focal point. A Faye Wei Wei canvas (‘I'm pleased I bought it when I did because the prices have gone up and up’), hangs pride of place opposite the bay window, metres away from a Dan Hollings painting – a housewarming present the couple bought themselves. The Kilkenny marble fireplace – topped with a Claudia Rankin candelabra and Santa Maria Novella scented terracotta pomegranate – is beneath a Sophie Balineum-designed mirror, purchased with Guinness’ winnings from a horse race.
With two Habitat collaborations under her belt, Weiland’s love of homeware design has renewed fervour since her recent house move. ‘I’m interested in adding small things to Shrimps slowly, I’d love to do another homeware collaboration,’ she says. One thing’s for sure – wherever the winds blow for Weiland, we’ll most certainly be following.
This article appears in the ELLE September 2022 issue, out on July 28.
37 Best Designer Homeware To Turn Your Home Into A Luxury Dream, From Missoni To Loewe
Katie O'Malley is the Site Director on ELLE UK. On a daily basis you’ll find Katie managing all digital workflow, editing site, video and newsletter content, liaising with commercial and sales teams on new partnerships and deals (eg Nike, Tiffany & Co., Cartier etc), implementing new digital strategies and compiling in-depth data traffic, SEO and ecomm reports. In addition to appearing on the radio and on TV, as well as interviewing everyone from Oprah Winfrey to Rishi Sunak PM, Katie enjoys writing about lifestyle, culture, wellness, fitness, fashion, and more.
