ARTISTIC VISION

Interior designer Sheila Bridges has redefined what a country home can be with a curator’s eye and her compelling use of paintings and prints

- JULIET BENNING

Of the three touchstones in interior designer Sheila Bridges’ life, her home in New York’s Hudson Valley is perhaps the most representative of her personality – being entirely conceived by her. ‘I did hire an architect but I had already designed the house because I had a specific idea of what I wanted,’ she says. Her other two properties – in Harlem, New York City, and Reykjavik – are period homes while here Sheila began from the ground up. ‘I had already been in the area for many years but I wanted to downsize. My previous home was a farm where I kept horses, sheep and goats and had a lot of land but I wanted a simpler life. Something more manageable but big enough for me to enjoy the garden and have enough room for a pool and my dog Loki.’