My Sanctuary: Samantha Todhunter
While home has often been considered a feminine space, too few opportunities have been given to women to tell their stories about the places they inhabit and the objects they value. Our sanctuaries articulate our unique aesthetics, rituals and needs and so become a beautiful expression of selfhood.
In this series we discover the stories of home and life told by some of the wonderful women in our midst.
Interior Designer Samantha Todhunter began her career as a journalist and art director for Vogue Living in Australia, before contributing to numerous international design publications to then set up her own studio in London, in 2012. With a finely attuned eye and extensive knowledge her practice has won awards for its easy style and elegance. Samantha shares with us some favorite corners from her Oxfordshire home.
“In my husbands study aka “The Courtroom” two cosy wing chairs really take centre stage. It’s a lovely hideaway with bookcases on all sides and really somber lighting which, mixed with the navy blue, is completely seductive. Our pup, Napoleon, thinks so too”
“I thought my husband was going to have a heart attack when I suggested we have leopards down the stairs of the house given he is such a traditionalist, but to my surprise he embraced the idea wholeheartedly. And here is a view from the top to the bottom with DVF’s heavenly leopards prowling elegantly down the stairs. A daily source of happiness for me”
“Looking into the kitchen form the courtyard, we used old wine boxes form my husband’s many deliveries over lockdown and turned them into a herb garden. It’s just a lovely spot to sit on the stoop.
“In my kitchen the intention was that all the cabinetry was to look like a lovely old dresser and although one might shy away from using pink in a kitchen, F&B setting plaster combined with black and white flagstone floors is a really cool and sharp combination that I endlessly love. And here with the table set for family gathering, you don’t really feel like you are in a kitchen where you have just thrown about a thousand pots and pans cooking at all”
“This a view into our bathroom, and it is such a lovely haven away from the rest of the house. There are windows on three sides, so you can lies in the bath and look out at the trees. I have a collection of blue and white china that is slowly growing around the bath and to top it off a Matilda Goad Clamshell is always full of something frothy and green”
“I always like to make a nod to tradition and traditional interiors without being predictable. As here in our drawing room where I mixed a fabulous 60s Casa Pupo lamp in the freshest yellow on a regency card table … And all this against pink grasscloth walls is just the best mix.”
