“When we begin our day in a space that is supportive and nourishing, we embody that as we interact with the community around us. That is my WHY.” - Anelisa, Founder + Principal Designer
About Anelisa
Some people choose design. For me, it was always just the language I spoke.
I grew up in Trinidad and Tobago, the daughter of a man who built spaces for a living. From a young age, job sites were as familiar to me as playgrounds. I grew up watching spaces take shape from nothing. Learning, without knowing I was learning, that the built environment is never neutral. It always says something. It always does something to the people within it.
At 19, I moved to Toronto with my family, and eventually found my way into the heart of the design industry. For over a decade, I worked alongside world-class designers and architects, not yet as a designer myself, but with an intimate, privileged view of what separated the truly exceptional from the merely beautiful. Those years gave me something invaluable: a deep, material-level fluency in how spaces are actually built and sourced. I understood the full supply chain. I knew which questions to ask, and which ones most people weren't asking.
In 2021, I founded Mata & Co. A studio where design is practised exactly as I believe it should be. With rigour, with reverence, and with genuine care for the people the spaces are built for.
Why Mata & Co
The name is personal and layered, much like the spaces we create.
Ma-ta is how I say "matter" with my Trinidadian accent. Matter as in substance, as in intentionality, as in the way we use it when something is worth fighting for. And it carries deeper roots: in Hindu tradition, mata is a term of reverence meaning mother, a connection that extends naturally to our commitment to Mother Earth.
& Co stands for Community. No beautiful space is ever the work of one person. It takes designers and clients, trades and artisans, makers and suppliers, and every hand along the supply chain. That I hold in deep reverence, always.
What Guides Us
I believe that when people begin their day in a space that truly supports them, they carry that out into the world. A little kinder, a little more present. That ripples outward in ways we can't always see but absolutely feel.
I believe in the fundamental kindness of people. And I believe design is a quiet yet powerful way to support it.
That belief shapes everything at Mata & Co. Our commitment is to well-being in its fullest sense. The well-being of the people who inhabit our spaces, of the communities around them, and of the environment we share. It lives in every material we specify, every artisan we work with, every decision about what belongs in a room and why.
As a certified Healthy Materials Advocate from Parsons The New School, that commitment comes with exacting expertise. What a material is made of, how it affects the air you breathe, the way you sleep, the way you feel on an ordinary Tuesday morning, is never an afterthought.
The Design Sensibility
Whether a project calls for modern restraint, coastal ease, layered eclecticism, or quiet traditional elegance, the through-line is always the same: design with such considered foundation and such thoughtful layering that it evolves naturally alongside the people living in it. As life shifts, as tastes mature, as a client wants to refresh or reimagine, the space is ready. It was built for that.
Luxury, to us, is not about price points or provenance. It is about the feeling of entering a space that was made, with exquisite care, for you.
How We Work
The most important skill we bring to any project isn't our eye for proportion or instinct for colour, although we'll bring those too. It's our ability to truly listen. Listen to what you say and what you don't say, to the energy of a space, and to the life you're hoping to build inside it.
The most successful projects begin not with a brief, but with a relationship. We create the space, and the safety, for you to let us in. To share not just what you want your home to look like, but how you wish to feel inside it. Your rhythms, your aspirations, the life you've always hoped your home could hold.
That is where the real design begins.
“Anelisa’s confident knowledge of design helped push us out of our comfort zone and spurred us to make thoughtful, bold, and timeless decisions in what would otherwise have been an overwhelming process. We are thrilled with the beautiful home we are now enjoying.”
— Allana + Bob (Halifax, NS)
“Anelisa delivers on her promise to bring a client's design dream to reality. I had the great benefit of Anelisa's expert and experienced capabilities on two projects - a home office and a play/workout room. Because of her discerning eye, unwavering consideration for a client's desired outcome and uncanny ability to transform living spaces, these two areas of our home are not only fit for purpose, but also perfectly reflective of our lifestyle. She's the best!”
— Wendy (Linden, NS)
“Anelisa's consultation helped me transform my guest room into a place I could spend all day doing what matters most to me - work, exercise, meditation and writing music. What was once the sore spot in the house has now become my favorite place to work, stay healthy, and create!”
— Christina (Port Howe, NS)
“I learnt a lot on this project and from Anelisa’s guidance - I love her design eye, ability to listen, sunny smile, kindness and grace (and patience!)”
— Private Client (Dartmouth, NS)
“I had the pleasure of working with Anelisa in a kitchen and bathroom renovation. Her kindness and uplifting energy as well as flexibility, made the process enjoyable. Her well-informed concepts and ideas transformed our spaces from tired and dated to fresh, inviting and chic.”
— Private Client (Mahone Bay, NS)