Kit Kemp's tips for combining geometric and organic patterns

Kit Kemp-designed bedroom suite in her Firmdale Hotel — (Image credit: Firmdale Hotels / Kit Kemp)

Interior designer Kit Kemp is a pattern guru. Her bold pairings have made statements on both sides of the Atlantic – but now she is influencing your home too.

Kit is synonymous with audacious prints and color paintings, but none are quite so daring as her geometric and organic pattern pairings – which she exhibits around her Firmdale Hotels. Sharing her interior design tips in her blog, Kit shared the secret behind this combination and how you can mirror its style in your scheme.

Kit Kemp’s geometric and organic pattern tips

Despite their differences, geometric and organic patterns work together in harmony to make the statement your home deserves. This is how to mix patterns in a room, the Kit Kemp way.

1. Play with similar colors

Sharing her bedroom color ideas from Room 603 at Crosby Street Hotel (above), Kit discussed the importance of color –and how it holds the secret to a successful pairing.

In the room, the pillows and curtains are covered in embroidered flowers and paired with a vibrant headboard, despite the contrast with the elegant organic pattern they work beautifully together.

‘The relationship is made possible by the similarity of colors as well as pattern scale,' explains Kit Kemp. To avoid the space looking like a fairground the two patterns are balanced by a plain navy linen wall.

Aslong as you are able to match either scale or color, you don't always need both, you can be as creative as you wish with your pattern combinations.

In the room above, while the scale of the patterns is different, the headboards horizontal stripes share the same simple palette of navy and white as the floral wallpaper.

'Keeping colors to a simple palette of navy and white allows these designs to complement each other,' adds Kit.

2. Strike a balance

Alongside choosing the correct color palette, the designer explains the importance of composition and how creating a balance is key to her decorating idea.

Kit reveals that when using prints you should always be asking yourself: "How should this design be seen?" This is what she did when planning the above headboard at
The Soho Hotel.

The softer pinstripe fabric and floral cushions accentuate different shapes and elements of the stunning print. 'They allow playful interpretations of these organic shapes,' explains Kit.

3. Consider the positioning

Kit explains that when curating different patterns, positions is key. Using the example of a room in her Knightsbridge Hotel (above), she demonstrates how the bedroom mirror creates a contrast against the geometric headboard.

‘We see a softer, more natural design cover the opposite wall,’ she says. ‘These prints would fight horribly if adjacent, but a plain linen for the remaining walls encourages cooperation, whilst the mirror subtly connects the designs together.’

With the right colors, scales, and positioning, you can bring these contrasting patterns into your home, the way Kit Kemp intends.

Megan is the Head of Celebrity Style News at Homes & Gardens, where she leads the celebrity/ news team. She has a history in interior design, travel, and news journalism, having lived and worked in New York, Paris, and, currently, London. Megan has bylines in Livingetc, The Telegraph, and IRK Magazine, and has interviewed the likes of Drew Barrymore, Ayesha Curry, Michelle Keegan, and Tan France, among others. She lives in a London apartment with her antique typewriter and an eclectic espresso cup collection, and dreams of a Kelly Wearstler-designed home.