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| Kime's Bedroom, London, above his Bloomsbury shop |
"...Robert Kime, Britain’s most
esteemed interior designer. Past a rickety bridge and ragged hills with
sheep grazing on either side, a low golden light streaming through the
valley, is his charming, white-painted farmhouse. The property could not
be in a more beautiful setting — the picturesque Longsleddale valley
near Kendal in the north of England. Appearing untouched by time, with
its working sheds and a beautiful barn that Kime converted into his
library, the bucolic scene must look much like it did in the 18th
century. While Kime lives primarily in London, in an airy apartment
above his design shop in Bloomsbury, Docker Nook is his quiet escape,
where he idles the days away doing little more than reading by the fire
and walking the grounds..."
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| Robert Kime |
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| Living Room of Docker Nook |
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| The Larder (formerly the dinning room) Docker Nook |
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"Kime is without peer in creating the lived-in, classic English look that
eminent figures such as the Prince of Wales and the Duke of Beaufort
call on him to create for their homes. Yet this place proves he’s as
talented at decorating a humble farmer’s cottage as he is a palace. The
interior is quite simple and comfortable, but everything is of great
quality. Each room feels like it’s been there forever, for Kime
understands the value of leaving alone as much as he changes. Yet the
telltale signs of his work abound: loose-gathered lampshades on thin
silver candlestick lamps, antique octagonal occasional tables, small
cushions in all sorts of vintage linen and Uzbeki fabric and very deep,
soft upholstery..."
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| Kime's Drawing Room in his London Apartment |
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| London |
"...Unless you are familiar with Kime’s approach, you would think that the
place had been untouched by an interior designer. This might be because
he is a dealer first and a decorator second."...
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| The Sitting Room at Docker Nook |
"Kime was born in Hampshire in 1946 and left school at 16 to work as an
archeologist in Greece and Israel before studying history at Oxford.
Throughout university, he would deal antiques to his fellow students to
help fund his studies. After Oxford he went to Sotheby’s and from there
to work for Miriam Rothschild, selling pieces for her. “She was more
hands-on than a patron,” he says. 'She let me get on with things but
loved the fact that all her stuff was recyclable, a lot of
Rothschildiana.' Kime admits he never intended to become a decorator. 'It was looked down upon in those days,' he says. 'I figured, ‘I can’t
afford to be a decorator, but I’d like to do it,’ so I took Fridays off
[to try] and gradually it took over.'..."
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| The Dining Room in London |
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| London |
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| The Master Bedroom in Docker |
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| Kime's Bedroom London |
"But it is his bedroom that ultimately defines what Kime stands for as a
designer. In the center of the room is a beautiful antique gilded
four-poster bed with chintz curtains, lined with a delicate antique
muslin voile. The headboard is covered in an old quilt with a scalloped
edge along the top, giving it a homey finish. What is very obvious here
is Kime’s unusual and unique talent for making rooms both masculine and
delicate; they are never too feminine and never something you have seen
before."
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| A view of Docker Nook |
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Cited from:
tmagazine.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/11/12/robert-kime-interior-decorator-docker-nook-home
This blog version is an edited edition from original online article.
I hope it's lovely where you are...
All the best, Rié
