Creating a graceful, beautiful and above all cosy bathroom in a period house in Wiltshire

Emily Todhunter took a restrained approach to the decoration of her Wiltshire bathroom. She explained more to Arabella Youens.

u6sahgYEc2ABc65NsTH2fc.jpg

When it comes to conjuring schemes for her own home, interior designer Emily Todhunter confesses to being something of an un-decorator. ‘I like to live with things that are already there to see what ideas come up. In the case of this room, I left it almost exactly as it was — and am delighted with the result.’

This is the master bathroom of her Georgian farmhouse in Wiltshire. The scale and aspect of the room, together with the original panelling, fireplace and generous sash windows, combine to create a space that lends itself to switching off.

‘A bathroom is about the only place you can do that, when you have children and dogs at home,’ she says.

‘Here, I sometimes enjoy simply sitting in one of the window seats, taking in the view.’

"I briefly considered having floorboards, but, in the end, you can’t beat the comfort of carpet"

Emily was briefly tempted to use the room to create two en suites to serve the adjoining bedrooms. Instead, she decided to make the most of the space and decorate it as she would any other room — with paintings, a chest of drawers, an armchair and good lighting.

Sheer blinds in oatmeal made from her own Ultimate Floppy Linen range hang gently at the windows.

‘They are known as “Emily blinds” in our studio, because we use them in projects a lot. They are great for privacy, as well as looking pretty.’

The walls are painted in Edward Bulmer’s delicate Rose Tinted White.

White towels and a French-style bathmat from The White Company complete the room’s fresh, soothing look. ‘And I briefly considered having floorboards, but, in the end, you can’t beat the comfort of carpet in a bathroom — especially when the weather outside is foul,’ she says.

Todhunter Earle — 020–7349 9999, www.todhunterearle.com

The bedroom in a restored house by Bee Osborn of Osborn Interiors
(Image credit: Osborn Interiors)

The best interior designers in Britain

Of all the decorating trends that have been in vogue over the last 50 years – be it Scandi, Minimalism

Philippa Thorp's house in Hampshire – Photography: Richard Powers

Inside the home of a top designer: Philippa Thorp’s Hampshire dream

Interior designer Philippa Thorp tells Arabella Youens about the transformation of her Grade II-listed house in Hampshire.

Douglas Mackie's drawing room (Pic: Simon Brown)

Credit: Simon Brown

The beautifully symmetrical London drawing room of interior designer Douglas Mackie

Symmetry is regarded as the secret to creating a calm, coherent space, but for many designers, it’s more about creating

Nels Crosthwaite Eyre hall

The hall of a Grade II-listed manor house in Hampshire, transformed by Nels Crosthwaite Eyre of Eyre Interiors, a company which is among the new entries in the 2024 Country Life Top 100.
(Image credit: Simon Brown/Country Life Magazine Simon Brown/Country Life Magazine)

The Country Life Top 100 architects, interior designers, craftsmen, builders and garden designers in Britain

It's now six years since the original Country Life Top 100 was published, but the aim hasn't changed: we name

Arabella Youens
Arabella began her career at Country Life on the website as an intern. She read Modern History at Edinburgh University and spent a year working (photocopying) for PricewaterhouseCoopers in Barcelona before moving to London where she still lives with her husband and two young daughters.