Kim Kneipp
Melbourne-based interior designer Kim Kneipp leads her team across residential, commercial and wellness projects—leaning in to the emotional language and healing power of design.
Photography: Lisa Cohen
Walker Street by Kim Kneipp.
‘There is an addictive, humbling thrill to help create transformation in someone’s life through the considered scaffolding of a beautiful space,’ shares Kim Kneipp.
Hello Kim—can you introduce yourself?
Kim: Hi! I’m Kim Kneipp, a Melbourne-based interior designer. I love the emotional language of space and its power to heal and transform. I have a sensory-based design process that I call ‘design acupuncture’, which draws from the traditional Chinese healing craft of finding balance and energetic flow between the elements of fire, earth, metal, water and wood.
Our interiors embrace the beauty of transience and imperfection by combining a wabi-sabi use of natural materials with a discerning eye for luxurious detailing. We work on residential, commercial and wellness projects, layering local narrative with curated nostalgia to create a calm and connected sense of place.
Tell us about your career trajectory—what led you to where you are today?
After over a decade working as fashion designer, I found myself disillusioned with the high turnover and waste in the industry. At a time when sustainable fashion was not yet commonplace, I stepped away from having a fashion label to becoming The Sustainable Stylist. A personal stylist with a difference, I would alter and refashion people's wardrobes, teaching them how to style their existing clothing and taking them shopping to Australian-made or second-hand clothing stores. Part of the service was organising their wardrobes and introducing new systems to make the daily ritual of dressing easier, more enjoyable and less wasteful. It didn’t take long before I started turning up with power tools to install new wardrobes and rearranging first their bedrooms, and then the rest of their houses.
My confidence for working on other people’s spaces quickly grew. I transitioned from personal styling to interior styling, incorporating the same sustainability principles and methodology I had developed for fashion into my approach to interiors. This transition led me to an incredible opportunity to work on the creation of an eco retreat in Red Hill, in Victoria, followed by an invitation to become the consulting stylist at Peninsula Hot Springs in 2012.
I spent the next nine years consulting to the Hot Springs, collaborating with architects, pool designers, landscapers and their inhouse teams of carpenters, plumbers, electricians, hydronics experts and joiners (to name a few!). This become the best vocational training course I could have hoped for, providing invaluable lessons on the possibilities, practicalities and limitations of design, with real-time feedback and teachings accompanied by my endless curiosity, study and research. What began as a styling role, expanded into providing design direction, interior design and brand development across all touch points of the company. The expertise and philosophy I developed for creating wellness spaces has been wonderful to extend into all of our residential and commercial projects.
As an interior designer, what’s the best lesson you’ve learnt along the way?
I’ve taught my team that it’s more than okay to not have all the answers. I believe in asking lots of questions and have no qualms telling our collaborators and clients when we don’t (yet) know something. Being willing to do the research and learning is what keeps our work really interesting and allows new ideas to enter into the mix. In an industry where challenges are inevitable, I see the role of an interior designer as being a professional optimist and ongoing problem solver. We understand that on any project, if something can go wrong, it invariably will, and we have to be ready to come up with solutions.
When did you first understand design as a form of expression?
I had an alternative childhood in tropical North Queensland, living with a community of acupuncturists, alternative therapists and artists of many descriptions (need I mention that I was born in the late 70s!). Collectively, the community owned a commercial pottery, a luxury cabinetmaking company, a hardware store, a glazing business, a not-for profit acupuncture clinic and a natural soap company. For anyone who remembers the TV show Family Ties, I was the Michael J Fox of my childhood, getting a job from the age 12 so I could buy my own clothes, designing a piece of joinery for my bedroom with a drop-down desk that housed my stereo and suspension files (I loved filing my homework!) and wishing my public high school had a more formal uniform as I really wanted to wear a tie to school! I had good grades and wanted to study law or international business at university, but my hippy parents noticed my penchant for op shops and dress-ups and had me study fashion.
It took me until my 30s to understand how to put all of the ingredients of my childhood and adulthood together—to unite the creativity with the healing, and to move from fashion to interiors. Now I collaborate on a daily basis with the same sort of creative trades and industries I grew up working in after school for pocket money.
What drives your creativity?
Like many creatives, I used to be driven by the existential need to know myself and to figure out how I made sense in the world. By the grace and necessitude of motherhood, a whole lot of good therapy and the unapologetic joy of now being a woman in my 40’s, that existentialism has been replaced by a drive for connection and collective transformation.
I love how the spaces we inhabit have the ability to transform the way we feel about ourselves and affect how we relate to others. It really is a privilege to be able to work with so many talented builders, craftspeople and artisans each day and to have clients who appreciate my sensitivity and sensibilities. The trust that clients place in me provides a wonderful creative drive.
Why is this your dream job?
No two days are alike and this suits my endlessly curious mind. I get to climb ladders, rearrange furniture and get dusty sitting on site floors all while wearing good outfits. I have wonderful staff who I laugh and learn with every day and a host of great suppliers and collaborators who enjoy my brand of silliness. I’m in the privileged position of creating beautiful spaces with lovely people for lovely people, supporting the skills of other lovely people. While it’s also stressful and definitely not all lovely, I revel in the challenge and the invitation for personal growth.
“I truly believe good design is made from the sum of its parts—with a layering of elements, materials, colours, textures and light to create a calm sense of balance.”
What influences your work the most?
Each project is primarily influenced by the client and my understanding of their spoken and unspoken hopes for how they want to inhabit a space. Then I become a bowerbird, drawing influences from a complex tapestry of sources to weave together a unique storytelling for each project.
I regularly find inspiration in the decorative detailings of Eileen Gray, Frank Lloyd Wright and Charles Rennie Mackintosh, and am endlessly influenced by an appreciation for Japanese design sensibilities across many design industries—Isamu Noguchi’s sculptures, the genius fashion trinity of Yohji Yamamoto, Comme des Garcons and Issey Miyake, George Nakashima’s soulful understanding of timber and the writings of Jun’ichiro Tanizaki. Across continents, I’m inspired by Axel Vervoordt and Colin King and their exploration of wabi-sabi style, and Ilse Crawford’s sensual understanding of space.
Do you have a favourite material to work with for your designs?
This question is like asking me who is my favourite child! I truly believe good design is made from the sum of its parts—with a layering of elements, materials, colours, textures and light to create a calm sense of balance. However, given I don’t think I could create a space without using wood, maybe that’s my answer?
How would you describe your personal aesthetic—does it cross over to your work?
My personal style is what I would call ‘deco Japanism’… a combination of the natural materials, organic colours and imperfect textures of Japanese design combined with the streamlined and curved decorative language of the Art Deco era. I love the interplay of matt with shiny, earthy and luxe, spaces that feel calm and considered yet able to host a fun dance. There is a definite cross-over of my personal aesthetic in all of our projects, with different aspects dialed up or down in response to the client’s aesthetic and what will suit the site.
The most rewarding part of your job is…
There is an addictive, humbling thrill to help create transformation in someone’s life through the considered scaffolding of a beautiful space.
And the most challenging part…
While we mostly work alongside really wonderful trades, we still come across men on site who find it very challenging to have women directing a project and calling the shots. This is even harder for my staff who are younger than me and were very fortunately not raised with the same level of workplace inequality that was simply the norm for my generation of females. It’s amazing to watch my team get stronger, more empowered and able to cut through when someone doesn’t show them the respect they deserve. It’s also great to be able to choose to simply stop working with anyone who doesn’t align with our values.
One solution with our clients on a current project is to respond to the builder’s acerbic over-explaining with haiku text exchanges. These little 5-7-5 syllabic solutions turn a challenging situation into a fun linguistic challenge, reminding us that we’re renovating a home filled with memories, not just a house with steel lintel delays and increased floorboard costs.
What’s a good piece of advice you would give to someone starting their design career?
Ask a lot of questions and don’t be afraid of making mistakes. Immerse yourself in all facets of design, not just interiors.
What’s the first design element you notice when you walk into a room?
I’m first struck by light or the absence of light. The interplay of light and shadow affects the way materials and colours look and sets the tone for the emotive experience of a space. If a space is darker and more textural, I understand the invitation to quieten down and go inwards, to revel in the smaller details; a light and bright space reminds me to take in the bigger picture and prepare myself to be open.
What are you most excited about that’s coming up for you this year?
I’ll be finishing the renovation of our new family home this year as well as two client homes that have been in the planning for the last three years. It was a slow process getting these client projects into construction and they’re both going to be very beautiful.
I’m also looking forward to the next phase of works of two commercial bathing projects we’ve been working on—one a brand-new facility and the other an adaptive reuse of an existing hotel. We also have some collaborative product projects brewing away in the background. It will be great to give these some more attention soon! Watch this space.