GAZING out of the window of Emma House's office at County Museum, Hartlebury, provides a serene experience which is a far cry from the hustle and bustle of city life - but the talented designer would not have it any other way.

One might be tempted to let a whole day drift past in quiet contemplation of the gardens in the grounds of Hartlebury Castle, listening to the gentle serenade of the birds, but museum designer Emma usually has far more pressing tasks.

She has a wide range of responsibilities, including publicity, site photography, designing displays and co-ordinating the museum's frequent touring exhibitions which regularly visit libraries across the county. Emma's favourite museum exhibit is an oak bookcase made by Talwin Morris in 1902 which belonged to the Cadbury family and was donated in the 1960s. It is currently on display at County Hall in Worcester.

"I'm very lucky to have this job. Among other things it involves explaining to visitors what they're looking at.

"There is lot of variety and I get to meet many interesting people," she said.

Emma hails from rural Herefordshire, where she was educated. She also studied in Ludlow before gaining her BA Honours degree in 3D Theatre Design at the University of Central England in Birmingham.

"From a very early age I had an interest in art and design. I used to work backstage designing the sets for school plays," she said.

Emma became, to give her her full title, design and interpretation officer at the museum after taking a gap year following her graduation and a period of working freelance.

She now lives "about a mile up the road" in a late Victorian house which she spends a lot of time working on with her husband, Chris, an art and design lecturer.

"The best part of my job is having complete creative control over what I do.

"I can do a lot of painting in very peaceful surroundings - it's lovely. I wouldn't want to swap this job for one in an office in the city.

"You have to be very careful when handling museum artefacts as they're often very fragile. I haven't broken anything yet - touch wood!"

Emma's job involves working closely with other museum staff, particularly the education officer, and much time is taken up with the complicated process of arranging schedules for touring exhibitions which can mean liaising with up to 30 different venues.

She said: "It's very important to take our collections out to the public. We are also constantly talking about taking the museum forward by improving marketing and targeting different audiences - there's something here for everyone. A lot of people don't know we're here!

"The museum is growing. We're trying to improve all the time."