Ten Years of Middlethorpe Interiors
Why our rebrand was about much more than a new logo
This July marks ten years since I founded Middlethorpe Interiors, which feels both strange and rather lovely to say out loud. The studio has grown a great deal in that time, but what has changed most is my understanding of how people really want to live in their homes.
When I started, the work was mostly about creating beautiful rooms. Beauty still matters, but the work today feels far more layered. A home holds everything - family life, routines, celebrations, grief, work, children, dogs, weekends and all the small, in-between moments - and good design has to support every part of it. Over the years I have become far more interested in how a home feels to live in than how it looks.
Middlethorpe Interiors is an interior design studio in York, North Yorkshire. Led by SBID accredited interior designer, Ann Allan, Middlethorpe offers full-service interior design, soft furnishings & upholstery, design consultancy and virtual design services to homeowners in Yorkshire. Explore our Yorkshire interior design services, whether you have a townhouse, country home or are looking for expert interior design input through a Colour Consultation.
A Natural point of Change
About a year ago it became clear our branding no longer reflected the work we were actually doing. Nothing was wrong; we had simply matured. Clients were coming to us earlier - for better layouts, lighting, bespoke joinery and for whole home renovations rather than decorative updates - and many clients were returning room by room over several years. So the rebrand was never about changing who we are. It was about becoming more recognisably ourselves.
Middlethorpe Interiors Wildings Rebrand
Working with Wildings studio
One of the best decisions we made was working with Wildings Studio, the Devon-based branding and website studio who guided us through the rebrand. It felt less like an exercise in marketing and more like a series of thoughtful conversations about the studio itself - the homes we most enjoy, the clients we naturally connect with, and the feeling we hope people have when they work with us. They helped us put into words, philosophically as much as visually, things we had always understood but not always expressed.
What a home is really for
People rarely come to us simply wanting a beautiful room. Usually they want a home that feels calmer and more welcoming, better suited to family life and more reflective of them - often because life has changed and the home no longer works as it need to .
I often think of a period cottage we worked on in North Yorkshire - full of character, yet no longer supporting our clients’ lives or bringing them much joy. We began with the unglamorous essentials - structural repairs, layout and lighting - then moved gently into colour, room by room, as their confidence grew, until a once-hesitant scheme arrived at a deep, cocooning green in the lounge. We built bespoke cabinets for their cherished cassettes and vinyl, tucked storage into forgotten alcoves and created reading nooks where ever we could for these avid readers. By the end it wasn’t simply more considered, it was theirs again - a home ready to welcome people back in.
Ten Years on
A year on from the rebrand, what has changed most is not the look of the studio but the quality of the conversations coming through the door. Clients often tell us they feel reassured before we have even met, because the website and tone already feel aligned with the home they hope to create. Choosing a designer takes trust long before any layouts change or fabric is chosen - and that, in the end, is its own kind of comfort: the peace of mind of knowing it has been done, and done well.
Reaching ten years feels less like a finish line than a growing confidence in the work we want to keep doing - homes that feel lived in rather than styled, that support real life and last. There is still nothing I love more than helping someone shape the way they live at home, and after ten years I am more grateful for that trust than ever.
Planning a Project?
If you are considering changes to your home, planning a renovation, or simply starting to think differently about how it feels, we would love to hear from you. Middlethorpe Interiors is a Yorkshire-based interior design studio working on residential projects across York, North Yorkshire and beyond