Interior Design Masters star Siobhan Murphy gives Harewood House a Bridgerton-esque makeover for Christmas

Siobhan, of Castleford, who was a finalist on BBC TV series Interior Design Masters in 2021, is the creative director of Christmas at Harewood 2025.

She has been working with Harewood staff and volunteers, as well as her own friends, including fellow Interior Design Masters contestant Amy Wilson, and York designer and jeweller Natalia Willmott, to create the festive experience, which features more than 10,000 handmade decorations.

Highlights include the ombre pink 18ft Christmas tree fashioned from 700 second-hand ballerina tutus, surrounded by smaller rotating trees dressed in pointe shoes donated by English National Ballet.

Projections by digital installations specialist Tom Le Bon add to the experience.

In the Music Room, classical tinkling fills the air as animated musical notes dance across the walls behind Christmas trees decked with gold instruments and pink and orange feathers.

“It’s brilliantly bonkers. I wanted to bring my love of colour and maximalism, fun and playfulness,” Siobhan said.

“I want visitors to come into every single room and be wowed and amazed and really feel that Christmas magic that, I think, as adults we sometimes lose.”

She added: “Where I have been able to buy secondhand, I’ve done that. We have been crafting and making every single week, so presents have been wrapped, we have been decorating perfume bottles, making all these wonderful cakes and floral displays.”

The State Dining Room serves a festive feast inspired by Marie Antoinette, with bejewelled swans, rotating macaron trees and iced cakes created by Siobhan with Great British Bake Off contestant Helena Garcia, and giant flowers by Monica Escobar from Ita Lillywhite.

“It’s a total colour explosion, and it’s so fun with all the florals and the cakes,” Siobhan said.

In the Gallery, there are ball gowns from Leeds Playhouse alongside couture pieces by fashion designer Julia Clancy. The Spanish Library features a projection of the hostess writing in her giant diary.

The table in the Servants’ Hall is set for another feast amid decorations made from kitchenalia and natural foliage.

“I have always loved the kitchen at Harewood House,” Siobhan said. “It’s just so magical with all that shiny copper.”

Siobhan has also worked with nine miniaturist specialists to recreate tiny versions of Christmas at Harewood, including Michael Robbins, and 13-year-old Arabella Duffy.

She says: “It’s a lovely thing for children to go into a room and see everything big, but then be looking for the miniatures as well.”

Harewood House, the Grade I-listed home of the Earl and Countess of Harewood, was built between 1759 and 1771, led by architect John Carr, with interiors by Robert Adam, Thomas Chippendale furniture and Capability Brown-designed gardens and landscapes.

Zoe Hughes, head of public programme at Harewood, said Siobhan’s Christmas project had been in the planning for 18 months.

“It takes it to another level in terms of her style and her eye for detail, but also the way she has taken on the design of the whole room, incorporating the room itself, not competing against it, celebrating the designs and the colours,” she said.

Harewood’s Grand Christmas Ball runs until Sunday, January 4, 2026. Admission is from £27.95 for adults and £12.95 for children. Free entry for Harewood members.

For more information, visit harewood.org/christmas