Kym Lackmann, Principal Designer & Director of Melbourne-based practice, Luxe Domain, has always had a fascination with people and their stories.

Born into a stylish family with beautiful homes, wonderful art and unique pieces of furniture, Kym’s style has been shaped by a variety of influences, from living in London and travelling in the former USSR, to earning her pilot's licence on a rural Victorian property.

For two decades Kym has woven her magic through many residential, small commercial, and relocation projects. She is known for a warm and refined style, a superior level of client service and care and exceptional results.

Kym’s book, The Art of Luxury Downsizing, showcasing many of Luxe Domain’s projects, teaches downsizers how to create the home of their dreams in their new apartment or townhouse and with the increasing popularity of 'sea or tree changes' Luxe Domain's unique design approach is equally beneficial.

Image:"I love to create sophisticated and comfortable homes."    Source: Kym Lackmann

Recently, Luxe Domain partnered with the team at Kay & Burton Concierge, a curated network of qualified professionals, skilled-and-reliable tradespeople and creative talent to meet all their client’s property-related needs.

WILLIAMS MEDIA spoke to Kym about her career in design.

You have said, “I believe your home is your personal sanctuary to be filled with the items that matter most to you…collections, treasures and interests are valuable elements...that make the space uniquely yours." How do you describe your design aesthetic?

I have tried hard not to develop a ‘particular style’ or design aesthetic simply because my purpose has been to articulate my clients’ style. 

At the start of our projects we establish which of our clients’ possessions hold the most significance for them, or whether they’re wanting to start afresh. We then try to pick up on style, philosophy, or colour preferences, which will help to spearhead the look and functionality of their new interiors.

Image:"What I love about older pieces is that they help to ‘ground’ a space and add a lovely patina."   Source: Kym Lackmann

I feel it’s so important for their spaces to reflect elements of their autobiography. This allows us to mix their curated collection of possessions with newer finishes, light fittings, furniture and accessories. What I love about older pieces is that they help to ‘ground’ a space and add a lovely patina. Sometimes it can just take one exquisite piece of artwork or an outstanding antique to really make a room.

Consciously or unconsciously, our homes are the starting point for our lives, so whilst I love to create sophisticated and comfortable homes, I want their spaces to feel ‘young at heart’, and I want my clients to be able to live their lives with confidence and a lightness of being. I also want them to know what it is to bathe in the joy of living in custom designed spaces.

What attracted you to join Kay & Burton Concierge’s team of trusted referral partners?

Kay & Burton are so highly regarded in the real estate industry and at Luxe Domain we certainly align with a similar clientele. Over the years I’ve built firm relationships with their agents and we share a passion for excellent client-centric service. So, when they developed their Concierge service it felt like a natural fit for us to partner with each other.

What was the inspiration for your book, 'The Art of Luxury Downsizing’?

When apartment living started to emerge as a trend in Melbourne, Sydney, and Brisbane, I saw an opening in assisting people with their downsizing move, given it could potentially be a very stressful and exhausting process. 

Image:Cover - 'The Art of Luxury Downsizing'  Source: Kym Lackmann

By 2008 we had already extended beyond designing interiors for our clients’ new spaces. Our services included helping sort through inherited items in storage, selecting pieces that would transition to apartment living, and selling or donating excess items.

For many of our clients, time is of the essence…often they have their own parents to manage or are busy with their own careers, while adult children are often too busy or not within easy distance to help.

I wrote ‘The Art of Luxury Downsizing’ to provide a luscious ‘how to’ guide to help readers in their downsizing journey. As well as showcasing many of our projects, the book provides valuable tips and gives an understanding of how energising downsizing can be, including steps to be taken to reduce the anxieties attached to moving.

Image:‘The Art of Luxury Downsizing’ book launch at My Bookshop by Corrie Perkin, May 2019. Source: Kym Lackmann

With the ’new normal’ of working from home, have you noticed a shift in what clients are looking for? 

Yes, I definitely think this has been one of the defining moments of 2020. With people keen to continue working from home 2 or 3 days a week aesthetics, functionality and fit out of a home office have become much more important and there is a greater awareness of how their home works, particularly if partners are also at home. 

Image:"purpose designed home offices, with custom joinery, an integrated desk and storage cabinets"  Source: Kym Lackmann

Some clients are re-imagining two or three under-utilised rooms of their current house into purpose designed home offices, with custom joinery to showcase book collections, an integrated desk and storage cabinets. This re-designing of spaces can make an existing home come to life with renewed beauty and functionality.

Covid-19 has made us all more interested in having access to greenspace, nature, and the sea, resulting in the large increase in people moving from the city to country, regional and coastal areas.  While our unique ‘Luxury Downsizing’ process, featuring Lifestyle Discovery, Empathetic Editing and Personalised Décor, is popular for apartments it can also be hugely valuable for people moving to the coast or the country.

With an extensive portfolio in residential, small commercial and relocation projects do you have a favourite? 

This is a tough question, each project has its own unique journey and outcome. There is a point when you know you’ve won a new client’s confidence. Once this happens there is a blissful ‘flow’ where everything comes together easily for all parties. It’s terrific when clients are open to new ideas, excited to change their aesthetic and keen to update their furniture. Transitioning from one home to another, they feel they’ve ‘evolved’ and their lifestyle updated. For us, it’s incredibly satisfying when you hear, ‘This is exactly what we wanted’.

As a designer and a creative, it’s very satisfying when we’ve been challenged by a project and we’ve been able to create an incredibly pleasing result.

What do you find are the biggest challenges in winning a client’s confidence?

It can be a suggestion that challenges their existing ideas, like using wallpaper or a contemporary fabric on an antique chair.

Many clients have trouble going past the white walls of a new apartment but if they can be convinced to paint the walls a colour or hang wallpaper it creates a superb ambience and they can’t believe the difference.

Curating long held possessions and selling or donating the excess can create deep levels of stress for the downsizer. When this is resolved is often a real turning point and they can focus on the design and aesthetics of their new home.

Image:"It can be a suggestion that challenges existing ideas, like using wallpaper or a contemporary fabric on an antique chair"   Source: Kym Lackmann

Recently, I introduced a client to our inventory and collections team, part of our ‘Empathetic Editing’ process. It involved a very large wine collection that needed to be catalogued, sorted and divided into those to be sold or stored. There was also a stamp collection, a vast library of books and National Geographic magazines and many pieces of antique furniture to be sold. As soon as the client understood how our team could help, the anxiety immediately melted away! 

With almost 20 years in the industry, and curating clients’ existing belongings what ‘trend' in your opinion, has stood the test of time, and remains permanently popular?

Artwork and furniture that are excellent examples of a period usually stand the test of time. When featured on their own these pieces really elevate a room, and invariably mix successfully within a modern or contemporary context.

Furniture made with exquisite and tactile timber will always do well and gorgeous lamps from various periods…mid-century, art deco, modernist or even older ones will somehow find a place in a beautiful home.

Image:"Furniture made with exquisite and tactile timber will always do well."  Source: Kym Lackmann

Old and beautiful fabrics still have wide appeal among those with a design sensibility. I’m often surprised when I feature a vintage fabric on Instagram how many people respond with great enthusiasm.

Good design, no matter what period, will last. Mid-century furniture continues to be so popular, while Georgian furniture remains relevant because both of these styles have clean lines and are easily integrated with modern architecture and design.

Investing in the services of people, wonderful artisans and trades who have knowledge and care can create a legacy that can be passed on.

Repurposing and manufacturing items will in turn care for the environment. I hope these are trends that will last and help guide people in their choices. I’m a big believer in creating a comfortable and inviting home minus the extraneous; filled with furniture, art and accessories, new or old pieces, which are loved and hold special meaning.

Image:"I’m a big believer in creating a comfortable and inviting home minus the extraneous." Source: Kym Lackmann

What is the most interesting brief you’ve been given by a client?

I met with a client who wanted me to create an incredibly expensive and showy ‘man cave’ in the basement of his very large house. To incorporate his various sports cars behind floor to ceiling glass panels adjacent to a lavish drinks bar, a cinema room, a gym, a trophy room, again all behind glass, etc.

Did you take on the project?

No I didn’t! I found it difficult to ‘connect’ with the client himself. I genuinely love ‘masculine’ finishes; leather, different timbers, brass etc and have many male clients for whom I have enjoyed creating sophisticated and fun spaces while discovering elements of their personality to help create their unique and bespoke environment.

Another was a project in Italy during 2012-13…it was incredibly interesting and very gratifying, despite a number of challenges. I worked with a delightful German trained, Italian architect who had holidayed with her family in Sydney years before. It was a large project involving lots of research and furniture design, changing many of the existing finishes; floors, walls, window furnishings and using the most wonderful fabrics, large rugs which were designed in Australia but shipped directly from Iran and working with the furniture makers in the northern regions of Italy.

What advice would you give a newly qualified designer or someone looking at becoming a designer?

Have confidence in what you’ve learnt from your studies and in your own innate sense of style. Many people will need your help to articulate their style. 

Don’t be in a desperate hurry to tell potential clients what you can do, rather listen carefully to the outcomes they want and need.

Treat everyone well throughout your career. You need your curtain hangers, electricians, suppliers, rubbish removalists etc, as much as they need you. Your trades and suppliers are the people who make you look good, so be sure to nurture your relationships with them.

Source: Kym Lackmann

What is something that would surprise our readers about you? 

I always wanted to fly airplanes, and when my husband and I moved to a house on his wheat and sheep property on the Victorian - South Australian border, Pinnaroo Aerodrome was virtually in the next paddock so I seized the opportunity and earned my pilot’s licence. I had a vision of flying to properties north of Mildura for interiors consultations for remote station owners but starting my interiors business was put on hold as I fell pregnant and the farm was increasingly busy with additional cropping.

Image: "I did renovate our own farmhouse" Source: Kym Lackmann

I did renovate our own farmhouse, and help neighbours with their interiors but it wasn’t until we moved to Melbourne that I was able to start Luxe Domain.

Where do you live now, and where would you live if you could live anywhere in the world?

Since moving back to Melbourne, Miles and I have been living in the Hawksburn area in foodie central! Luxe Domain’s studio is 3 minutes’ drive away in High Street, Armadale. So, I feel very fortunate indeed.

Where would I live anywhere in the world? I know it’ll sound terribly predictable but I would have to say either in London, Paris, south of France or northern Italy. There is still so much in these places I want to see and learn about, so it would be great to live in each of these areas for a period of time. I love picking up on local knowledge and soaking up the atmosphere. 

But I love Australia. We’re so lucky to live here and for me the Australian bush is pretty hard to beat. Yes, I would love to travel more but I know that I’ll always come back home. After long periods away, I love boarding a Qantas flight and hearing an Australian accent, and when I arrive home, I love hearing magpies and currawongs calling, and the smells and sounds of the Australian bush.

Related reading:

Kay & Burton Concierge