
Giles Kime
Executive Editor and Interiors Editor
Giles Kime is Country Life's Executive and Interiors Editor, an expert in interior design with decades of experience since starting his career at The World of Interiors magazine. Giles joined Country Life in 2016, introducing new weekly interiors features, bridging the gap between our coverage of architecture and gardening. He previously launched a design section in The Telegraph and spent over a decade at Homes & Gardens magazine (launched by Country Life's founder Edward Hudson in 1919). A regular host of events at London Craft Week, Focus, Decorex and the V&A, he has interviewed leading design figures, including Kit Kemp, Tricia Guild, Mary Fox Linton, Chester Jones, Barbara Barry and Lord Snowdon. He has written a number of books on interior design, property and wine, the most recent of which is on the legendary interior designer Nina Campbell who last year celebrated her fiftieth year in business. This Autumn sees the publication of his book on the work of the interior designer, Emma Sims-Hilditch. He has also written widely on wine and at 26, was the youngest ever editor of Decanter Magazine. Having spent ten years restoring an Arts & Crafts house on the banks of the Itchen, he and his wife, Kate, are breathing life into a 16th-century cottage near Alresford that has remained untouched for almost half a century.
Follow Giles
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All we are saying is give fleece a chance
Wool month is the time to consider sleeping in bedding sourced from a local flock, says Giles Kime.
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Why bold pattern is a magic ingredient in a scheme
Going large and bold with pattern is a brilliant way to breath new life into a room. Giles Kime explains more.
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How to pep up a featureless room with an injection of drama and colour
Nels Crosthwaite Eyre employed a dramatic wallpaper to inject pattern, scale and colour into a converted building in north London.
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The Three Horseshoes Batcombe review: Touring motorists need more pubs with rooms like this one
The Three Horseshoes Batcombe is a reimagined 17th century pub with fantastic food and rooms is inextricably linked to Country Life, discovers Giles Kime.
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Why the great British pub is better than ever
The numbers show that pubs across the country are shutting down — but those that are still thriving are doing so because they're better than ever, says Giles Kime.
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The dazzling interiors event in London that shows how design has the capacity to transform our experience of our daily lives
This year’s WOW!house brings interior design to life. Our interiors guru Giles Kime picks out some of his highlights.
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How a £25 set of fake pearls made £150k at auction — and were a bargain at the price
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Will the hot tub lose its fizz? There's an alternative that's cheaper, easier and just as relaxing
The outdoor bath offers a more discreet, less expensive alternative to the hot tub says Giles Kime. No wonder people are turning to them.
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The slipper chair: How one of America's great designers produced a classic of armless fun
The slipper chair might have its roots in the 18th century, but it owes its compact, convivial appeal to Billy Baldwin, a giant of 20th-century American interior design.
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Four ways to give your bedroom the luxury hotel treatment
Giles Kime explains how hotels can teach us to be ahead of inspirational design trends and how we can make our bedrooms design masterpieces.
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Confused between decorative and architectural lighting? You're not alone, but help is at hand
At last, says Giles Kime, help is at hand for anyone blinded by the byzantine complexity of architectural lighting.
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Choosing the perfect fireplace: 'If you get the fireplace right, the rest of the room will fall into place'
Fireplaces in richly coloured hues are all the rage, says our interiors expert Giles Kime.
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More heat, less fuel: How modern tech has lit up a new era of log-burning stoves
It’s not only the energy crisis that is creating unprecedented demand for log-burners: clean-burn technology, app-based controls and new designs fuelled by alternatives to wood are also transforming possibilities.
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Why you need a corner sofa — and the ones best for your home
A beautiful, traditional sofa will always have its place — but if you really want somewhere to relax with friends or family, a corner sofa is ideal. Our interiors expert Giles Kime explains more.
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The death of the sitting room, and other design trends you'll see in 2023
Country Life's interiors expert Giles Kime has spent three decades living and breathing the world of design. Here's what he foresees coming next.
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The true secret of great interior design, according to three of Britain's greatest designers
For those seeking to update their homes in the New Year, Giles Kime collates some truly on-the-nose insight from three of the best interior designers in Britain.
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Curious Questions: What is it REALLY like giving up alcohol for a lifelong lover of fine wine?
Sobriety is easier and more interesting than it used to be, finds Giles Kime, who has spent the past year exploring the unanticipated delights of alcohol-free beer.
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Ben Pentreath: 'The minute something is of its time, it will date'
At the heart of Ben Pentreath’s magic is his ability to reinvent the past, as Giles Kime explains.
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10 things I wish I'd known about doing up old houses before I started, by Country Life's interiors guru Giles Kime
Country Life’s executive editor and resident interiors expert Giles Kime shares the lessons he’s learnt from the experience of dragging a succession of houses into the 21st-century.