Podcast, Ep. 277: Designing the English Way with Emma Sims-Hilditch

Today’s lovely guest is English designer Emma Sims-Hilditch. Emma got her start designing sets for Ridley Scott before opening her own firm, Sims Hilditch, in 2009. Her work has been featured in Vogue, House & Garden, The Telegraph, and many other publications. We discuss Emma’s new book The Evolution of Home: English Interiors for a New Era and her tips for decorating the English way.

What You’ll Hear on This Episode:

• What has been the evolution of Emma’s design style through childhood, travels, and beyond?
• How does Emma find balance between rustic and clean, modern styles?
• Why does Emma paint her house twice a year?
• Why light plays such an important role in color and hue choices.
• Why is storage in the bedroom priority #1 for Emma?
• Emma encourages people not to always get hung up on symmetry and matching; nature is the perfect example of this.
• The case for brown furniture!
• What Emma likes to consider for home office spaces.
• How did working in set design influence Emma’s design style?
• What does Emma recommend for adding European design elements into a space?
• What are ways to add charm to your room even after decorating?
• Overstuffed upholstery and pillows are English staples that are fun to play with.
• What does Emma consider the ideal kitchen layout?

Decorating Dilemma:

Hello wonderful podcast ladies and guest!

Thank you so much for your show. It’s always such a treat to listen to and I feel like I’ve learned so much!

My dilemma is my kitchen. We built about 2 years ago with limited cabinet and counter choices, and this is where we landed on. Living with it for a while though it feels very builder grade and cold. The window is south facing so there is lots of natural light which I LOVE.

I would love to incorporate blues and greens and make it feel more custom. I’m loving Taryn’s new kitchen and wish I could copy and paste it! I’m open to painting anything but would rather not replace the countertop at this point. I was thinking about installing wallpaper (vinyl or sealed) for a backslash and pulling some color from it to paint the connected mudroom and pantry and have the lower cabinets professionally painted.

Any suggestions would be so welcome! I won’t be able to get to the kitchen for a bit because of other projects but I wanted to get some trusted input to stew on. Oh, and the dog crate isn’t staying there forever, we’ve gated up the puppy to the area and it will eventually be moved.

Thank you so much!
Jackie

Hi Jackie, 

This is a lovely kitchen with fantastic bones and storage. I personally wouldn’t change the white cabinets because I think it’s much easier to paint a wall. If you don’t like it, it’s also much easier to repaint. I would personally do a soft gray like Mizzle by Farrow & Ball. You could also go darker like a blue-gray. A white kitchen is a great starting point and I love the black contrast. I notice the countertops are polished vs. honed; I would recommend getting a quote to see how much it is to get them honed. It’s an easy process that gives a much softer edge and makes a huge difference. I would also recommend some pendant lights over the bar if it’s not too difficult to add them now. You could use fabric-colored shades or even play with patterns. If it’s practical, upholstered bar stools are another fun way to bring color in. I would also even look at the curtain; the soft white curtain could be swapped for something with more texture or pattern that’s more structured and less floaty. I would base it on what you choose for the pendant and barstools. You could also try a coordinating Roman shade above the window as well; whether it’s decorative or functional it will often up that space. I would not wallpaper the backsplash as cooking can be damaging to wallpaper. If you really want to wallpaper somewhere or even if the room carries on around the corner, you could paper one wall. I would pick out a pattern that’s complimentary to the paint color you choose from the kitchen. We all think drawing more attention to the island will be your best bet. With that in mind, you could also paint the island 2 shades darker than whatever you choose for the wall. We don’t think the dog crate is permanent, but if you want you could put a rug under it for now!

The kitchen looks wonderful as is and just needs some finishing touches–you’re almost there! Good luck and please send us some pictures!

Mentioned in This Episode:

• Sims Hilditch
• Sims Hilditch on Instagram
• Emma Sims-Hilditch on Instagram
• The Evolution of Home: English Interiors for a New Era
• Margot 2-Light Pendant
• Hector Finch

Please send in your questions so we can answer them on our next episode! And of course, subscribe to the podcast in Apple Podcasts so you never miss an episode. You can always check back here to see new episodes, but if you subscribe, it’ll automatically download to your phone.

Happy Decorating!

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