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" Kit Kemp, design director of the Firmdale Hotel group in London, is a renowned master of mixing colors and patterns. One of her latest masterpieces, the Haymarket Hotel, is so fresh and inspiring that we simply had to discover her secrets for putting together the boutique hotel&amp;#039;s perfectly mismatched interiors. During a recent telephone conversation, Kemp offered these strategies, tips and advice on how to achieve design balance with the most unlikely combinations.  Plan and Experiment  Great decorating takes planning, but it also takes a willingness to experiment and change. Kemp&amp;#039;s advice to the color shy: &amp;quot;Start gradually.&amp;quot; Begin with a vibrant pillow, then as the shade grows on you, &amp;quot;consider where else you can tie it in.&amp;quot; When you&amp;#039;re comfortable with the color, try it on one wall. (Kemp&amp;#039;s signature: Paint one wall a vibrant hue, while leaving the remaining walls white, see Junior Suite 101). &amp;quot;If a room&amp;#039;s design turns out exactly how you envisioned it, something is wrong,&amp;quot; says Kemp. &amp;quot;In decorating, the room should take on a life of its own.&amp;quot; Don&amp;#039;t let your design scheme hinder creativity; the occasional tweak keeps a room interesting. Picking Patterns &amp;quot;Begin with the print you love,&amp;quot; says Kemp. Select a large-scale print with several colors since this will give you multiple options for mixing and matching. Then, each pattern you subsequently choose should be gradually smaller. Don&amp;#039;t go too small, however, since the pattern will tend to look washed-out from a distance. Also, each pattern should be distinct from the others but not overwhelm them. When deciding where each pattern fits into the room&amp;#039;s design scheme, Kemp suggests &amp;quot;pulling your color to the center.&amp;quot; Don&amp;#039;t use a large scale pattern on the walls or the room will look too busy. Take a bit of the pattern from the curtains and elaborate on the furniture&amp;quot; (see Duluxe Double 108). Fabric Colors The fabrics should build off the colors in your original large-scale print. In rooms with many patterns, keep a narrower color scheme (see Haymarket Library). The exception: Tailored patterns since they allow for a more daring color scheme (see Junior Suite).  Texture Varying texture is just as important as mixing patterns. Texture can create visual depth, but it&amp;#039;s the tactile qualities that foster interaction. Kemp is often praised for her use of color, but her personal triumph is &amp;quot;when I see a child or a prim and proper man touch my furniture designs\u2013that is when I know I&amp;#039;ve done something right.&amp;quot; Texture can come from exposed stitching or a fabric&amp;#039;s thickness, but it can also be created with a few tricks of the trade. One of Kemp&amp;#039;s signature tactics is to expose upholstery seams (see her pink seamed sofa).  Creating Balance Counter big, bold patterns with areas of solid color or neutrals. The more patterns you mix in a room, the more you need to layer in visual relief. As Kemp says, &amp;quot;you need areas where you can pull back, so you can enjoy the prints you have.&amp;quot; She uses solids to maintain harmony and highlight the patterns (see Conservatory). Furnishings  Build on the traditional but challenge it. Classic antique furniture can go modern when upholstered with a fabric that defies its era. An 18th-century berg\u00E8re chair, for example, is traditionally covered with a different fabric in the front than in the back. While still thinking along those lines, Kemp&amp;#039;s instinct is to &amp;quot;try something like covering one side with African mud cloth and the other with a vibrant felt.&amp;quot; Beyond upholstery, you can update classic furniture by simply placing it next to something contemporary. Referring to her lobby design: &amp;quot;If you fix a modern rug with an 18th-century sofa, it all starts to look modern.&amp;quot; It&amp;#039;s all about breaking rules and once that starts, Kemp admits &amp;quot;it is quite fun to conquer the fuddy-duddy.&amp;quot;  See our slideshow to see how Kemp successfully blends patterns and colors to stunning effect at the Haymarket Hotel in London.   "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.elledecor.com/life-culture/travel/a1535/mixing-matching-getting-it-right-a-42118/>