TOP INTERIOR DESIGNER: Mimi Maddock

Sep

NYDesign Agenda is going to introduce you Mimi Maddock, a fantastic interior designer from NYCity. “Palm Beach is timeless, it has always been beautiful, clean, full of flowers and Southern friendliness. Our family has been here for more than 120 years”, Mimi McMakin says.

Kemble Interiors, Inc. was founded in 1982 by Palm Beach native Mimi Maddock McMakin. McMakin has been recognized for her distinctive fusion of whimsy with respectful restoration in many a storied Mizner, Volk, and Urban designed estate or club. She has over 40 years of experience bringing comfort and beauty to the homes of her clients across America.

“In life as in design, it is not perfection you should be after. There’s beauty in the faded and worn, the well loved, and the sentimental…After all, life has seams. Your home should be like a loosely woven fabric of desires, memories, practical, notions, and even compromises.” – Celerie Kemble.

Mimi’s daughter and partner in the New York office of Kemble Interiors, Celerie Kemble claims her childhood was in many ways a design tutorial spent around construction sites, antique stores, and in the unique homes designed by her mother. A graduate of Harvard, Celerie worked briefly in film production before quickly succumbing to what she calls a compulsion for design and the creation of thoughtful interiors that “put the person in the place.” Since then, she has spent the past fifteen years cultivating a portfolio of much publicized residential and commercial interiors that are as unique and diverse as her clientele.

Known for her candor, humor and approachable design advice, Celerie published her first monograph Celerie Kemble: To Your Taste in 2008 to be followed by Black and White: And and Bit in Between in 2011. Celerie has recently appeared in J.Crew’s ‘Real Women’ ads and alongside industry leaders in Benjamin Moore’s ‘Experts’ campaign. She has created to-the-trade fabrics and wallcoverings with F. Schumacher, and a collection of floor coverings with Merida Meridian. She is recently debuted a collection of furniture with Henredon and accessories with Maitland-Smith at High Point Spring Market 2013.

Michael Boodro has said Kemble Interiors “incorporates the serendipitous and the sentimental without losing clarity or strength.”

The firm’s success is a reflection of both Mimi and Celerie’s quirky design ethos, which balances the aesthetic integrity of the project with the needs/personality of the client. To create a successful interior, the process must be well-managed, the client’s needs and dreams carefully considered, and the budget respected.

Phoebe Kemble, director and Head Chef of Kemble Kitchens, provides gourmet comfort food for events large and small, happily sharing culinary secrets from her life-long passion for memorable meals and travel.