How important an interior designer is Emma Sims-Hilditch? 'In my view, she has almost completely turned the country house aesthetic on its head, and reinvented it for the 21st century,' says Giles Kime, Country Life's Executive Editor and our resident interiors guru.

'She's a great believer in creating houses which are not just elegant, but also function brilliantly and are perfectly configured for family life.'

Emma joined Giles for this special episode of the Country Life Podcast to discuss her ideas on design, architecture and making historic houses fit for 21st century living.

She talks through several of the projects she's worked on — not least her own. It's a former schoolhouse which she and husband — the designer John Sims-Hilditch of Neptune — took on as a complete wreck while they were still in their 20s, and turned it into a magnificent home.

At Country Life, we’ve covered many of Emma's projects over the years — this boot room, for example, and this bedroom — but you can see more of her work at the Sims Hilditch website or on Emma’s Instagram page.

Episode credits

Interviewer: Giles Kime

Guest: Emma Sims-Hilditch

Host: James Fisher

Producer and Editor: Toby Keel

Music: JuliusH via Pixabay

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Emma Sims-Hilditch and the re-invention of the country house aesthetic