Meet Kimille Taylor | Interior Designer and Decorator

We had the good fortune of connecting with Kimille Taylor and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Kimille, what role has risk played in your life or career?
Risk taking is central to my work – you can’t be creative without risk! I consider myself a risk taker for sure and absolutely believe strongly in the Latin proverb that Fortune Favors the Brave. It was a risk to leave my corporate life and strike out on a new career, it is a risk every time I try something new for a client. It is the only way to grow… but its hard and can feel scary.

What should our readers know about your business?
I’ve been working for myself for 15 years this September. It is a big milestone and a great time to reflect on these excellent questions.

I have always set big goals for myself and that has been an important motivator and guiding light for the dark times that inevitably come when you’re in business for yourself. There have been more ups and downs than I can count and each of them have given me valuable information which is critical to knowing oneself better, knowing one’s clients better, and knowing the business better.

It has not been easy at all and only recently after 15 years are things starting to come together and I find myself more and more in a state of flow. I am able to communicate my needs easily and clearly and able to understand my clients and their needs more clearly too. As a result I am getting better and better projects.

I am so proud of all of the work I have produced and really look forward to 15 more years of learning and creativity.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
Telluride is a magical place. Even my jaded, been-there-done-that New Yorker friends LOVED it when they came in last summer for our wedding.

After breakfast at The Butcher and the Baker, walk through town take the gondola on Oak street. It’s free and amazing. You can orient yourself and understand the lay of the land. Ride it to the top of the mountain and wander around the Mountain Village core – there is always something happening there. If you get hungry take the shorter Gondola to the Mountain Village Market and look for the taco stand, El Rhino, for a quick and easy lunch. Yeah, you’re sitting near the grocery store parking lot but that’s ok.

Walk the river trail to town park and back. A cocktail and dinner at the New Sheridan Chop House is a must.

I love to tube along the river so pop your tube in at Town park and ride to the gondola, repeat until lunch and then sit at Oak for a terrific grilled chicken sandwich or the salmon salad.
Want something heartier? White water rafting with Telluride outside is great. Do the upper river tour that will drop in at Deep creek, and take out in picturesque Placerville. The tour floats right past my house in Placerville so be sure to wave and say hi!

Time for some shopping? There are many options for great clothes and shoes – Two Skirts, Scarpe, Society and Sublime have everything you could ask for. Try Cosmo for dinner – sit at the bar or the front of the restaurant.
Maybe you can catch up on a festival? The mushroom festival is coming up and I am really excited for that.

Fishing – get yourself a license and gear up and hit the incredible San Miguel River.

You could hike every day for several weeks and never hit them all – but a few of my favorites are Keystone Gorge, Wilson Meadows and Jud Wiebe.

You might be lucky enough to hit one of the many festivals Telluride offers annually – art and architecture is a favorite, as is cars and colors, the mushroom festival, Mountain film, and of course Telluride film festival. You will likely see a movie star!

Telluride Gallery of Fine Art represents many wonderful fine artist and jewelry makers. Stop by for some sophisticated offerings.

For some culture check out the Ah Haa school for the arts – maybe you can take a quick ceramics workshop or a printmaking class!

Maybe a chamber music happy hour at the Transfer warehouse, enjoy the accomplished musicians and the incredible space

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I love the description of this shoutout! It’s so so so so true – people love to say, oh I did this all on my own but it’s really the sum of our experiences that make us who we are…..

My creativity and love of home has always been encouraged by my parents. Growing up my mother and I loved to drive around our colonial town and look at all of the beautiful houses. I find myself still doing this wherever I go and now do it with my daughter! They encouraged my love of art and supported me in my choice of Art History as a major in college.

Something else that I think is important is that they gave me space. This space allowed me to develop my own aesthetic and creative identity through museums, books, movies, travel, antiquing and shopping.

My story wouldn’t be complete without a shoutout to Sean Johnson who hired my with zero interior design experience and I left his firm as the studio director. Again, he gave me a lot of space and autonomy. He taught me everything about the business and I left after 4 years to start my own firm.

Website: kimilletaylor.com

Instagram: @kimilletaylor

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m33LAQoJxlE&t=40s

Image Credits
Emily Minton Redfield David O Marlowe Jason Schmidt Marsha Lebedev Bernstein