In our latest 'Meet the Designer' instalment we are delighted to be joined by the one and only Kit Kemp, Creative Director of Kit Kemp Design Studio and Founder of Firmdale Hotels. Kit Kemp has a wealth of knowledge when it comes to creating interior spaces with a 'home away from home' feel for hospitality. She has made a name for herself as a bold and creative designer and talks to us all things bright and colourful and even lets us into some of her design secrets…

WY: Could you tell us a bit about your background, when did you realise you had a flare for design and how did you get into the world interior design?

KK: Before I got into interior design I was doing graphics and helping to make a magazine for various clients. I then met my husband, Tim, he had student accommodation he was working on and from there we decided to go from student accommodation into hotels. Tim had a hotel background so we decided to go into the world of hotels together, and the rest is history.

WY: As a dear friend of William's, when did the two of you meet and if you have a story of William you would be happy to share we would love to hear! 

KK: William and I would catch up and meet at various design events. We really got to know each other when he was doing his first Screw Cancer Event, he wanted to find a place to do an event for the screw cancer charity app. We met at Ham Yard and agreed he could have it for the night. As only William could do he made it into the most fabulous evening and everybody wanted to be there. It was his evening and he was such a fabulous person, he had such drive, such sight and so many brilliant ideas and I just remember everybody wanted to be with him!

WY: We absolutely love your use of layering fabric, pattern and colour. Where do you source your design inspiration from and how have your designs evolved over the years? 

KK: I've never been a minimalist. I have always been someone who loves colour, I am more frightened of beige and neutral than anything else, they are often the after thought as I just love colour so much. I often get inspiration from your collections, you do such wonderful designs, stripes and also such wonderful textures

 I often find when people are doing collections of fabrics it might just be in linen or a cotton, but your collections are full of good weaves, textures, wonderful colours and stripes that all work together, you almost don’t need to go anywhere else to complete a room. After you've worked out where the light is coming from and what sort of scale and balance you want it can very often be textiles that inspire me. My favourite part of the day is when people come in and show me fabrics, I can sit on the floor and play around with them!

WY: When putting a scheme together what is your starting point and what do you think is the most important aspect to consider when putting an interior design scheme together?

KK: It has to satisfy all the senses. We always talk about the 5 C's: Colour, Comfort, Craft, Character and Curation and not necessarily in that order. If you have those 5 c's you have achieved a nice interior and a nice feeling to the room. I would also say I would only ever use one really large repeat design and make sure it is not fighting with anything else in the room. You need to decide what your focal point is going to be.

WY: We want to encourage people to go bold with colour and pattern, any advice on colour and mixing up patterns and are there any firm 'no-no's' in your book?

KK: I'm not desperately keen on shiny fabric, even embroidery I like it to be wool or matte. Not more than one very large scale print in the room. It is lovely to have almost a bit of craft in the room, something that is handmade that almost acts as a decoy focal point and it says something about you. I don’t want fabulous interiors that are massively expensive and luscious I would much prefer to see character and quirkiness in a room and I find something handcrafted, or something that means something and creates a talking point is more important. I think rooms are actually about talking in and living in, so having this conversation piece is so important.

WY: We love how you have used many of our fabrics in your schemes in Firmdale Hotels. Do you have a favourite room/scheme and why?

KK: We are using quite a few WY fabrics at the moment which I love. It is always the latest scheme I love the most, I am always looking forward. So it is normally the latest one I have done that becomes my favourite!

WY: Your hotels have such a 'home-away-from home' feel, how do you achieve this, and how do you seperate the design process for hospitality vs residential?

KK: I would never use anything in the hotel that I wouldn’t want in my own home and that is actually the premise from which I work from. So no double standards. I do need to think about durability, for example I have 4 dogs so I wouldn't use silk on my upholstery it would have to be a strong weave and I would do the same in a hotel, it has to be practical. Texture is SO important and I wouldn't use any fabric that I don’t think feels good or that I don't want to sit on in the nude. 

The devil is in the detail and a room can look care free but actually at the end of the day when you start looking closely there is a lot of detail and thought in there, whether it's a contrast piping, leading trim going down the curtain, whether it is artwork framing that works itself into the room and then of course we have our mannequins that also echo some of the fabrics in the room.

WY: Finally- do you have a favourite Yeoward piece or category and why?

KK: Yes! It's the Guinevere Crystal Castle. It is a wonderful centrepiece that has got little turrets and you put flowers or panels on it and I love it and it's my favourite thing I own of WY. And some blue and white bowls I use every weekend for my salads!