Kevin A. Roberts
David Kent Richardson says he’s upping his game. “I’m cleaning house,” he says of David Kent Richardson Decorations and Interior Design (1923 Marconi,314-577-6927, dkrinteriors.com), the eclectic shop and interior-design studio located on The Hill.
He’s worried some customers are confused by his “uncontrollable buying and schizophrenic taste.” Schizophrenic may well be the word. Among the beautiful items packing his store are rusty tractor hoods ($395 each), which double as interesting sculptures. “What can I say? I’m a red-neck who happens to have a bit of taste,” Richard-son jokes.
Three 19th-century bullion-stitched African caftans ($700 each) are available in rose, caterpillar green, and buttery gold. (The pink one has a hole in the back from wear, Richardson points out, and the name Casablanca—presumably its provenance—is watermarked inside.) Rough zinc vents ($695 each) from an old barn are stacked against a table loaded with fine dinnerware, including a Tiffany stuffing spoon ($700) and a silver-plated food dome ($695). Elsewhere, a 50-year-old locally made statue of Jesus ($1,200) faces a pair of mannequin legs ($95). “I just had to own them,” Richardson says of the legs, “but I’ve got to stop buying Jesus.”
In addition to overseeing the store and his interior-design business, he designs VIP—Very Important Pillows. Averaging $145 a piece, the cushions are made on-site from hand-loomed and -dyed textiles. They’re everywhere in the store, stuffed on shelves and fetchingly tossed on chairs, including two leather channel-back chairs from the ’40s ($1,500 for the pair) and antique Chippendale-style chairs in turquoise ($895).
One particular must-have item of note: a dental chart of teeth ($95)—for some, a deal at twice the price.
