Small businesses have a special place in our heart here at The Glam Pad, and today we are delighted to welcome Brooke Kennan, Founder of Kinderbrook Home, for a Q&A and a peek inside the exquisite homes that inspired her boutique.
Kinderbrook Home is a labor of love born from Brooke’s passion for timeless style and quality craftsmanship. After decorating her family’s Duchess County retreat, Kinderbrook Farm, Brooke was inspired to create a line of heirloom-quality porcelain that captures the essence of traditional country living. The name “Kinderbrook” holds special meaning for Brooke. A portmanteau of “children” in German and the small stream flowing through her property, it reflects her upbringing in Millbrook, New York, where she and her husband spent weekends immersed in nature. While Brooke and her family reside in a beautiful Brittany Bromley-decorated New York City apartment during the week, the couple purchased Kinderbrook Farm while expecting their second child so their little ones could have access to the same pastoral lifestyle they enjoyed in childhood.
We simply adore her timeless upstate countryside aesthetic… Welcome, Brooke!
Q: What inspired you to start Kinderbrook Home, and how do you describe your personal aesthetic?
A: I started Kinderbrook Home out of a love for pieces that feel timeless, personal, and collected over time. I’ve always been drawn to the things you find in your mother’s or grandmother’s home and closet, beautiful objects and clothing that never really go out of style. I wanted to create a brand that captured that feeling, with pieces for both the home and wardrobe that you could live with, wear, and eventually pass down.
I would describe my personal aesthetic as traditional with a sense of playfulness. I love old-world details and beautiful craftsmanship, but I also like incorporating elements that keep things feeling fresh and a little unexpected. I’m much more inspired by the past than by trends.
Q: Tell us about your beautiful home, Kinderbrook Farm, and do you have a background in interior design?
A: Kinderbrook Farm is our family home in Dutchess County, New York. We live in New York City during the week and spend many weekends and holidays at the Farm. I love having the balance between the two.
I don’t have a formal background in interior design, but I’ve always loved interiors, antiques, and collecting. Both our apartment in the city and the farm have evolved over time, and I think that’s what makes them feel personal. We love picking up pieces on our travels and letting the layers build organically rather than decorating everything at once. Both homes are very much ongoing projects, and I’m always moving things around, adding something new, or finding a place for the latest treasure we’ve brought home.
Q: What did the process of decorating Kinderbook Farm entail? What was your vision for the project?
A: My vision for Kinderbrook Farm was always to create a place where people genuinely want to spend time. I wanted friends to come for the weekend and immediately feel at home, a house filled with dinner parties and long evenings around the table, and somewhere our whole family could gather for holidays. Most importantly, we wanted to create a home where our children love spending time.
Hosting and entertaining are such a big part of what brings our family joy, so we really kept that in mind throughout the decorating process. I wanted the house to feel beautiful and layered, but never too precious. Our New York City apartment is more formal, while the farm has a more relaxed sensibility.
Q: How does your passion for beautiful interiors influence the products you select for Kinderbrook Farm?
A: I think my love of interiors influences everything we create for Kinderbrook. Many of our products are inspired by things I wanted for my own home but couldn’t quite find, whether it’s a beautiful basket for the garden or market, a special piece for the table, or something you can wear from breakfast through dinner. I want everything we create to be both beautiful and useful, pieces that become part of your everyday life and only get better with time.
Q: Who are some of your favorite interior designers (past and/or present) and what books do you currently have on your coffee table?
A: I’m constantly inspired by both contemporary designers and the greats. Brittany Bromley, who I worked with on our New York City apartment, is a favorite. She has an incredible ability to create rooms that are polished but still feel warm. She helped us when we first moved into the apartment and has continued to come back over the years as our family has grown, our needs have changed, and my own style has evolved. I especially love the way she mixes color, pattern, antiques, and more formal elements without anything ever feeling overly decorated. The apartment feels very New York to me, formal, but still comfortable enough for our everyday life with three boys.
Henry & Co. has also helped with several rooms at the farm and has an incredible talent for creating layers and making a room feel collected over time.
I also love following the work of dear friends: Scott Francis, Alexander Wilson, Annabelle Moehlmann, Darren Henault, Kate Ives Design, Ariel Okin, and Macaulay Sullivan. There’s something really special about knowing someone personally and then seeing their personality and point of view come through in the spaces they create.
From afar, I’ve long admired Tom Scheerer, Casa Gusto, Robert Kime, and so many others. I’m always drawn to designers who create rooms that feel personal and collected rather than overly decorated.
Our coffee table and bookshelves are quite literally piled with design books and magazines. Cordelia de Castellane’s books are favorites. Her approach to gardens, interiors, and style is perfection. I love architecture books, especially anything by Gil Schafer, as well as Ashley Whittaker’s The Well-Loved House and Christopher Spitzmiller’s A Year at Clove Brook Farm. Brittany Bromley’s book, Relaxed Elegance, is particularly special to me because our apartment is featured in it. There’s also always Cabana, both the books and magazines, Mark D. Sikes, and so many more. There are books everywhere in our house, and I’m constantly going back to them for inspiration.
Q: What are some of your favorite tips for entertaining, and do you have a favorite hostess gift recommendation?
A: My biggest entertaining rule is that the host sets the tone. No matter what might be happening behind closed doors, or what inevitably goes wrong at the last minute, stay calm and enjoy yourself. If you’re relaxed and having fun, your guests will be too.
And never overlook the lighting…candles, candles, and more candles! The right lighting can completely transform a room and instantly set the mood.
For a hostess gift, I love bringing something thoughtful that doesn’t create extra work for the host. Of course, a Kinderbrook basket filled with flowers, or a few favorite things is always a fun and personal gift.
Q: Do you have a favorite recipe you could share with us?
A: I have to admit, I don’t cook! We joke that I’m front of house and my husband is back of house, and it’s a division of labor that works very well for us. I love setting the atmosphere and making sure everything looks beautiful… and perhaps most importantly, making sure everyone has a drink in hand, and feels at home.
Q: What are your goals for Kinderbrook Home over the next five years?
A: I launched Kinderbrook less than two years ago, initially as a home company, and it has already evolved so naturally into a lifestyle brand, which has been incredibly exciting. Over the next five years, I hope to continue growing both the home and wardrobe collections thoughtfully, while staying true to the timeless, collected feeling that inspired Kinderbrook from the beginning.
One of my favorite and most unexpected parts of building the brand has been the community around it. I love meeting customers at trunk shows and events and hearing how they make the pieces their own… how they wear their caftans, where they take their baskets, or how they use their bone inlay boxes in their homes. Seeing Kinderbrook become part of people’s lives is incredibly rewarding and has also helped shape how I think about what we create next.
I’m excited to explore new categories, collaborate with brands and artisans I admire, and continue bringing the Kinderbrook world to life in new ways. As we grow, I want to maintain that personal connection and make sure everything we create feels special, useful, and like something you’ll want to live with for years.
Q: What do you enjoy doing in your free time?
A: Free time might be a generous term with three young boys! Growing up I used to love riding horses, but now most of my time is spent with my family, which is actually part of why I started Kinderbrook as a passion project. It gave me an outlet to exercise my creative side and have something that was entirely my own, while still keeping family at the center of my life.
I also really value the time I spend supporting organizations that are meaningful to me, particularly the Alzheimer’s Association, Memorial Sloan Kettering, and the Dutchess Land Conservancy.
When I do find some free time, I love having friends over, long lunches and dinners, working on the house, traveling, antiquing, and discovering new places. I’m constantly collecting ideas and inspiration along the way, so even my ‘free time’ has a way of finding its way back into Kinderbrook.
Q: Anything else you would like to add?
A: I feel incredibly lucky to be building Kinderbrook and to have met so many wonderful people along the way. One of the greatest joys has been seeing the pieces take on lives of their own in other people’s homes and wardrobes. I’m excited to keep creating, and let the brand continue to evolve organically. It still feels like we’re just getting started, which is perhaps the most exciting part.
Thank you, Brooke, for joining us today and giving us a glimpse inside your beautiful world!
To learn more and to shop the collection, please visit Kinderbrook Home and follow @kinder.brook on Instagram for ongoing inspiration.
