How I Curate My Space: Tara Zadeh’s Fashion-Filled London Home

“I like to call it a beautiful mess,” says Tara Zadeh, summing up the London townhouse she shares with her husband and their two sons. Ostensibly, she is talking about her interior-design aesthetic, although she could just as easily be describing the accumulated wardrobe of gorgeous items that now sprawl across an entire bedroom – or even the colorful international career that has taken her from magazine design to handbag design and, now, to professional host.

Zadeh originally studied graphic design at prestigious Parsons in New York. Years later, after relocating to London, she launched her eponymous handbag label, which was stocked at NET-A-PORTER from its first season until its last. Today, she describes herself mostly as a fashion consultant, working on projects and events for fashion, beauty and lifestyle brands – which sometimes involves hosting soirées at her well-appointed home.

“I always feel like I have had 10 lives, but they all feel very connected,” she says. “I really wanted to find the perfect house. I kept telling my husband that that was my dream once we had our two boys. I saw this beautiful, white, four-story townhouse with direct access to a communal garden in the center of Little Venice, just by my favorite place to buy plants, Clifton Nurseries. I had to visit it immediately – and, two weeks later, we were moving in.”

Although Zadeh grew up between Paris and New York, she is also proudly Persian; while her French-Italian husband presents another excellent dimension. Rather than diluting or neutralizing of those influences, the couple have allowed them to mingle into a lovely, eclectic aesthetic.

Zadeh hosts professionally, so it is unsurprising that entertaining has influenced the way she’s organized her house. She recently staged a La DoubleJ trunk show at her home, as well as a sit-down dinner and a cocktail event for two different jewelry brands. On occasions like these, she often flings open the terrace doors and lets guests spill out into the garden.

For ordinary weekends, on the other hand, she gravitates towards the living room and the dining table. “The living room is where the bar is but, ultimately, we love spending time around the dining table,” she says. “It can sit up to 12 people. It’s so lovely to have chats and laughs all together. And, of course, that’s where the kitchen is – so all the good stuff comes out of there.”

Whether she’s hosting an event or an informal dinner, Zadeh always values a properly considered tablescape and often calls on her friend Joy Asfar, founder of creative studio Joy of Staying In, for input. “She has a great eye. Even when I do dinner parties with friends, I call her so that she can put together a beautiful table. She is my go-to person for everything from flower arrangements to tablescaping. I always want people to feel that there has been some effort put into welcoming them into a beautiful, thoughtful space.”