Hoteliers Kit and Tim Kemp Renovate a London Townhouse
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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.
I like bold pieces that are often required even in the most contemporary interior to add depth and grounding to a room. Kemp calls the quality and diversity of the sale’s 18th- and 19th-century lots “beguiling.” “A good, strong antique is like a magnet in a room,” she tells Galerie. Below, discover the lots she is coveting most and why bringing centuries-old furnishings into contemporary homes is more approachable than one may think. Kit Kemp and Annie Selke have joined creative forces to produce a lifestyle collection inspired by Kit Kemp’s favourite destinations – New York, London, and Barbados. “Our hotel rooms are like couture outfits, so every room is different.
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Encouraged by art and sculpture, Kit Kemp would make great use of materials to incorporate heat and character to her boutique hotel patterns. Across the arm of a sofa in the sitting room of Kit Kemp’s house in the New Forest is a colourful cloth she found in a second-hand clothes shop in Covent Garden. It provided the inspiration for ‘Mythical Creatures’, the range of china she designed for Wedgwood. Kit isn't afraid to try new ideas – such as curating a room at Somerset House using pieces only made from wool, in celebration of Wool Week. The scenes above the fireplace depict London and were created by textile artist Anna Raymond. Kit is such a fan, one of Anna's works takes pride of place in the Kemp's Knightsbridge home.
Furniture-wise, I love the strength of character of a good William IV piece. There are sometimes elegant decorations of lion heads; also, rosewood and zebrawood veneers were first used at this time for a striking look. French polishing came into vogue and allowed for smoother and shinier surfaces. I also try to collect Irish provincial furniture from the 18th and 19th centuries.
The Soho Hotel - The Soho Hotel by Kit Kemp
I still love a scrapbook – it means more to me than scrolling through Pinterest. Framing a large-scale, original work of art is one way to make an impact, but it's far from your only option. A uniform display that incorporates a series of prints can be just as effective. These folk-inspired images are available as part of Kemp's Bergdorf Goodman collection. Here, we shed light on some of Kit's most inspired uses of art in the home.
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
In the process of the redesign, the front door was moved and the hallway enlarged and it was with this space that Kit commenced the redecoration of the entire house. More recently, with the couple’s three daughters having flown the nest, it was time to tweak the layout again. ‘We had a front room that was no longer being used so we knocked it through to the living room, which in turn links to the kitchen, so now everything is open plan,’ explains Kit.
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.
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Discover a series of posts about our 'Dos & Don'ts' to design any space and make it your own, from using strong colours to creating a timeless space. I am fascinated by early embroideries and fragments of early needlework. There is a certain shade of peacock blue that I find in 17th- and 18th-century tapestries and embroideries that has altered over the years but is still quite beautiful.
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.
Want to know where to buy the latest furniture, homewares, rugs, art and more? We’re always sharing our latest finds and telling you where you can buy them. Art is often bc perceived as the final flourish to a decorating scheme, but it can also be the statement around which everything else is designed.
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.
Kit finds inspiration everywhere, and has also collaborated on textiles, wallpapers and rugs. But, in the design world, she is known, more than anything, for her individual take on hotel interiors. More than 30 years ago, Kit and her husband, Tim, opened the Dorset Square Hotel in Marylebone, and since then they have established a string of others, in both London and New York. As well as the hotels, they have their own commercial laundry and a small in-house hospitality school and bakery. "You come in and see straight through to the garden," Kit says, "and that big bubble of pink makes everything feel happy." Well-versed in the demands of hotels and other high-traffic spaces, the two founders leveraged that experience to create high style, high-performance rugs that will wear well over time.
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