Designed to Linger: Inside Matilda’s All Day Café
There are cafés you pop into, and then there are cafés you accidentally spend your entire day in. Matilda’s All Day Café was designed, very intentionally, to be the latter.
There are cafés you pop into, and then there are cafés you accidentally spend your entire day in. Matilda’s All Day Café was designed, very intentionally, to be the latter.
From the beginning, the goal wasn’t simply to create a place to grab coffee. It was to shape an environment that feels warm, familiar, and quietly magnetic—the kind of space that invites you to settle in, stay a little longer than planned, and maybe order one more thing simply because leaving feels like too much effort.
A Shift Towards Hospitality
For Owner and Lead Designer Carmen Tabatabay and her partner at Need to Know, Matilda’s reflects a broader shift in how spaces are being imagined. After years working primarily in workplace design, the move into hospitality wasn’t so much a pivot as it was a natural evolution. As expectations around physical spaces continue to change, the lines between work, home, and third place have begun to blur.
Today, even offices are expected to feel comfortable, layered, and inviting—more like a boutique hotel than a traditional workspace. With that in mind, their studio was built around a concept-driven approach that prioritizes experience just as much as aesthetics. Matilda’s became an opportunity to fully lean into that mindset, designing not just for function, but for feeling.
Learn more about the impact of hospitality-inspired spaces.
A Space That Feels Lived-In
One of the defining ideas behind Matilda’s was that it should feel like it’s always been there. Not staged, not overly styled—just naturally lived-in.
Achieving that meant going beyond finishes and fixtures and focusing heavily on the smaller, more personal details. Many of the objects throughout the space were sourced through antique shops and thrift stores, chosen not for perfection but for personality. These pieces add a sense of history that can’t be manufactured, creating moments of discovery that reveal themselves over time.
The effect is subtle but powerful. Instead of feeling like a newly completed project, the café carries a sense of familiarity, as though it has quietly evolved over the years. It’s the difference between walking into a designed space and walking into a place that feels like it already belongs to you.
Designing for Community
Long before the doors officially opened, Matilda’s was already part of the neighborhood. Owner Devon McConville, who built a loyal following through her mobile concept First Place Coffee, approached the new space with the same community-first mindset. Even during construction, people gathered on the lawn, peeked inside, and became part of the process.
That sense of connection is embedded throughout the design. Local artist Carlisle Burch contributed a custom ceiling mural that not only anchors the space visually but also reflects the personality of the café itself. Small, playful details woven into the artwork add an element of storytelling, reinforcing the idea that this is a place shaped by the people who inhabit it.
It’s a reminder that good hospitality design doesn’t just accommodate community—it actively invites it in.
A Thoughtful Balance
With so many classic elements already present, the design called for moments of contrast to keep the space from feeling overly nostalgic. That balance shows up most clearly in the furniture selection.
Throughout the café, Ferdinand Seating introduces a more contemporary layer, offering clean lines and a subtle sculptural quality that complements the surrounding architecture without competing with it. The warmth of the wood tones keeps it grounded, while the form itself brings a sense of refinement that feels current.
Just as importantly, it delivers on comfort. In a space designed for lingering, that isn’t a secondary consideration—it’s essential.
The Ferdinand chair just made sense—it’s durable, comfortable, and has that balance of warmth and polish that worked perfectly for the space.
Said Carmen Tabatabay, Owner & Lead Designer at Need to Know
Designed for Staying
At its core, Matilda’s is less about making an impression and more about creating a feeling. It’s a place that gently encourages you to slow down, settle in, and stay longer than you intended.
That kind of experience doesn’t happen by accident. It’s the result of thoughtful decisions, layered details, and a clear understanding of what hospitality can be when it’s done well.
And if you find yourself still sitting there hours later, wondering where the time went, it’s probably working exactly as intended.
