As the great-granddaughter of a Royal Academician and the daughter of an interior decorator, creativity is firmly rooted in Emma Sims Hilditch’s DNA.
However, it was while she was working in film production – alongside the director Ridley Scott – that she developed a love of both light and colour as well as the challenge of co-ordinating film crews, locations and sets.
When her three children were still small, and feeling the need to channel her creativity, Emma started making curtains and soft furnishings and soon saw an opportunity to bring the disciplines of interior architecture, interior design and project management under one roof.
Today, her practice is known for its breezy contemporary take on classic English style and current projects range from the Bath Priory Hotel to a contemporary London town house.
With parts of this house dating back to different centuries, the clients asked Emma to reconfigure sensitively the space to meet the demands of modern life, but, at the same time, to embrace its rich historical character.
The kitchen is the Shaker-style Suffolk design by Neptune, which has a simple and timeless look, and it’s painted in Driftwood and Alpine from the company’s own collection.
The larder is from the same range, this time hand-painted in Juniper. The cabinetry is complemented with dark-grey hammered granite and an oak work surface and a light touch is introduced by the Buscot Limestone floors by Artisans of Devizes.
Mary Berry: ‘Why I love my Aga’
Julie Harding lifts the hot plate on the heart-warming kitchen feature no country house should be without.
Credit: Alamy
The kitchen dresser, and why it's 'more important than central heating'
What is a country kitchen without a dresser overflowing with crockery, car keys and keepsakes? Flora Watkins explains all.
The new kitchen design mantra: Don’t be afraid of the dark
Dark colours and rich materials are creating moody new looks in kitchens, says Amelia Thorpe.
-
How to create a serene, yet hard-working kitchenPlain English worked with antique dealer Robert Young to make this traditional kitchen with an effortlessly relaxing colour scheme that marries perfectly with the views over beautiful gardens.
-
Why kitchens are going green — literallyGreen is the perfect colour for a kitchen, says Amelia Thorpe.
-
A modern kitchen perfectly framed by the exquisite ancient beamsArtichoke designed a discreet and timeless kitchen to complement a converted granary. Amelia Thorpe takes a look.
-
Yes, you can put a new kitchen in a Grade I-listed house — and this beautiful example shows howTraditional cabinetry was a key ingredient in the sympathetic restoration of a Grade I-listed Tudor house in Shropshire.
-
A London townhouse kitchen transformed to be sociable, practical and charmingThe new owners of this London townhouse have reconfigured it to create a sociable space for cooking and entertaining.
-
A beautiful new kitchen sympathetically created for a 16th century manor houseLimewash walls, a large island and plenty of open shelving combine to create a kitchen that’s sympathetic to this 16th-century manor house in Somerset.
-
10 things I wish I'd known about doing up old houses before I started, by Country Life's interiors guru Giles KimeCountry Life’s executive editor and resident interiors expert Giles Kime shares the lessons he’s learnt from the experience of dragging a succession of houses into the 21st-century.
-
Seven beautiful new looks in kitchens, from classic cabinetry to 80s revivalThe latest looks in the kitchen, selected by Amelia Thorpe.
