Table of Content
In London, where they have transformed the hotel scene with their six boutique properties, including the Haymarket and the Soho, this entrepreneurial pair turn heads with their mod personal style. "We look like a very 1960s couple," says Kit, a self-taught designer who does all the decoration for their hotels. 'I wanted to make this into an area you would want to stand in and look around,’ says Kit of the choice of her whimsical wallpaper design, which offsets a collection of unusual pieces including a chair upholstered in an embroidered textile from Kazakhstan. For bright living room ideas – a room now with glorious east-west light – she teamed her oversized One Way geometric linen with an exuberant botanical print, tempering the two bolder designs with a neat paisley pattern.
About 10 years ago, they completely refurbished it, adding the orangery – or dining room – as well as an extra bedroom, new entrance hall and stairway. Clearly, pieces have been collected from all over the world – in a bedroom, for instance, a traditional hunting scene hangs above ornate Indian side tables. In Kit’s capable hands, elements that, in other settings, might not sit together comfortably make perfect sense. Some evenings, when it's just the two of them, the Kemps will take their meals on the faux-shagreen cocktail table in their living room, a newly created space open to the kitchen. Here, an artwork by the English textile artist Anna Raymond hangs above the mantel, flanked by a pair of antique Venetian mirrors.
London’s Best Ice Skating Rinks
Kit works closely with her long-term framer, Marcus Wells, on many of her most striking displays. 'He feels free to show me new ideas and I'm always happy to suggest unusual combinations.' Judging by the results, it's a match made in interiors heaven. Kit uses this trick in her larger hotel suites and communal areas such as lobbies and restaurants, and it will work just as well in your open-plan living room. In this case, she has used a painting by Eileen Cooper as a focal point, then arranged furniture around it to create an intimate sitting room within a room.
The room is filled with Kit's finds, such as the unusual antique wood panels that she cleaned of their grime and paint and hung on the walls in strips. "It's somewhere else to put beautiful fabrics and flowers," she says. "Every time I get a new fabric, I stick it over the arm of a chair. It's always changing. It's a complete indulgence. And I'm all for indulgences." Kit loves a barter system, devising one of the bedroom schemes around pieces garnered from a showroom set she designed, while another bedroom houses armchairs she created for a stand for home furnishings company Blithfield. I love the color and patina of fine old wood, polished and cared for over several centuries. There is nothing to replace the feeling and character of a fine antique.
The Soho Hotel - The Soho Hotel by Kit Kemp
I am always trying to re-create the look and feeling of them in my rooms. A light-filled drawing room designed by Kemp is shown with lot 32, a circa-1790 Louis XV1 ormolu enamel and rouge griotte marble skeleton clock. Offering a house-from-house in this charming luxurious hotel in London's West Conclusion / Soho district, the eye-catching “Bloomsbury Team” art selection would make a focal point in the public places of this stylish home. Described by a daring mural behind the bar, the Soho Hotel gives some of the very best suites obtainable in luxurious inns in London.
A trio of plates by English ceramicist Robina Jack are displayed in plexiglass boxes next to a collection of books. British interior designer Kit Kemp is constantly changing her home design. Even though she has lived in the same house in London for more than 20 years the interior of the home has changed considerably in those years. Get Melissa's weekly rundown of where top interior designers source their things and find inspiration - that will instantly transform your pad. Although every room has witnessed an overhaul with new, original bedroom ideas, Kit has been mindful to reuse pieces where she can. ‘If the frame is good I will always reupholster it and we donate our fabrics to a number of different charities, while smaller offcuts get made into toys,’ she says.
Kit's Videos
Designers Kit Kemp and Annie Selke have joined forces to launch a new travel-inspired homewares collection. We’re mostly about the home but Jen also likes to share other things she thinks you’ll love, like food and travel. In this exclusive series of short films, Firmdale Hotels Creative Director, Kit Kemp, takes you on a journey through some of her most treasured spaces at The Soho Hotel.
If you do nothing, you will be auto-enrolled in our premium digital monthly subscription plan and retain complete access for $69 per month. Change the plan you will roll onto at any time during your trial by visiting the “Settings & Account” section. During your trial you will have complete digital access to FT.com with everything in both of our Standard Digital and Premium Digital packages. In the entry, flat-weave rugs were fashioned into a stair runner, antique mirror. This fantastical headboard was created by Kit for a showroom display; by a stroke of serendipity she found a lamp base that chimes perfectly with the aquatic theme. Kit sacrificed one of the four bedrooms on the first floor to create a walk-through music room housing their grand piano.
Amy Cutmore is Editor-in-Chief, Audience, across Future's Homes portfolio. A homes and interiors journalist of 20 years standing, she has spent much of that time writing about technology, appliances and kitchens. While other people count how many countries they've visited, Amy tots up how many countries' washing machine factories she's toured (it's eight by the way, from South Korea to Slovenia). She can't leave the house without a decent pair of noise-cancelling headphones, and is always ready to explain an acronym – be it QLED, DAB or HDMI. Kit is co-founder and creative director of Kit Kemp Design Studio and Firmdale Hotels, which includes London’s Ham Yard Hotel, Charlotte Street Hotel, The Soho Hotel, Covent Garden Hotel, and The Crosby Street and Whitby Hotels in NYC. A lover of British art, craft and sculpture, she uses these elements to make her hotels feel unique and personal — the antithesis of anonymous, bland decorating.
There’s always something that gives it character, whether it’s one of my fabrics, a chandelier or a headboard,” says the hotel maven. In London‘s Covent Garden Hotel , one of Kit’s signature gabled headboards is upholstered in Jim Thompson’s Heliconia Dreamin’ fabric. “I love a sharp green, as well as chrome yellow contrasted by white or a red earth colour,” says Kit. Kemp commissioned artist Alex Hollweg to create a mural that embraced its past life as an old car park. “I loved the idea of a Rousseau-esque painting but with an old car wreck to reference the building’s history, it’s great! ” Hollweg is just one of many talented makers and artists that Kemp commissions to add charm to her designs.
I think we can all do with a good splash of eccentricity and style,” says Kit Kemp. If you’re a fan of statement upholstered headboards, you can thank English designer Kit Kemp, who popularized the look. The London interior designer and decorator writes books and teams up with brands including Christopher Farr Cloth, Porta Romana, Anthropologie and Wedgwood to design textiles, fragrances and homewares. "It's a wonderful obsession." And nowhere is her eclectic flair more in evidence than in the couple's London townhouse.
The green marble-top console table is possibly the easiest piece to place and to use. I think a piece like that transcends time and would look good whether you live in a SoHo loft, rectory, or manor house. The delightfully down-to-earth pair, Tim and Kit Kemp, are two of the leading names in luxurious inns in London currently. Specializing in renovating boutique and compact luxurious inns, Kit's eye for detail and charming self-taught inside style suggestions make every single of their luxurious inns incredibly exceptional.
A magnificent assortment of rugs, pillows, and bedding, ‘The Kit Kemp Collection for Annie Selke’ is a collaboration and friendship that came together with grace, humour, and relative ease via Zoom! After many months of sketching, sampling and scheming we couldn’t be happier to see the collection launch on 7th March 2022. Follow our series of 'Sleeping Around' blog posts which capture the inspiration behind some of our interiors at Firmdale Hotels. Watch our exclusive series of short films in which Kit Kemp, takes you on a journey through some of her most treasured spaces designed by Kit Kemp Design Studio and at Firmdale Hotels in London and New York.
A sofa and the window recesses are covered in a painterly floral by the Japanese fashion designer Akira Minagawa. "I love fabric and texture and fabulous pieces of art, not necessarily expensive," says Kit, who has made this combination the hallmark of all her interiors. Interiors have always been Vivienne's passion – from bold and bright to Scandi white. After studying at Leeds University, she worked at the Financial Times, before moving to Radio Times. She did an interior design course and then worked for Homes & Gardens, Country Living and House Beautiful. She worked on Country Homes & Interiors for 15 years, before returning to Homes & Gardens as houses editor four years ago.
No comments:
Post a Comment