KBDi has lost one of its founding fathers in Simon Hodgson. Simon passed away on Wednesday, after a short illness at the very young age of 62.
Simon was one of the founding directors of KBDi, back in 2005 & 2006, and we are all in debt for the work he did for KBDI over the first nearly 20 years of our existence.
Simon’s journey started as a young “Kitchen Designer”, full of enthusiasm but not much else, as we all were back then. He quickly fell in love with the design process and the opportunity it gave him and all of us to improve his client’s lives and their homes. He progressed rapidly over the years within this fledgling profession and came to realise fairly early that this fledgling industry needed regulating.
To that end, he joined the HIA’s Kitchen & Bathroom committee for some years; then, when KBDi was being formed as a specialist industry body, he was one of the first to put his hand up to help with its formation.
Simon was a director of KBDi for eight years, and throughout that period and thanks to a lot of the work he did, KBDi grew and began to become a very respected, professional, and supportive body as a nurturing place for young designers across Australia.
He was one of the reasons KBDi became the “go-to” organisation for designers who wanted to be more involved in the domestic Interior Design world and cabinetmakers who wanted to learn about design. Simon made friends wherever he went through his honesty, commitment, work ethic, and, most of all, his ability to connect with people.
He subsequently joined the board of ACFA, the Australian Cabinet & Furniture Association, and because of his now intimate knowledge of both organisations, he was able to help facilitate the recent merger proposals for both bodies to join forces to create a much stronger future for our professional.
It also has to be remembered that he and Melanie Gardener, his beloved partner, worked together to create AIDT (Australian International Design Tours), and every single one of us can thank him for enabling us to visit all of the leading trade fairs in Europe, while also opening so many doors for us to be able to visit every major manufacturer in Europe worth visiting. These activities really added to our knowledge base as designers and specifiers. I think it’s fair to say that our Australian Industry would not be quite as modern and up-to-date if he had never “taken us all to Europe”.
Then, for those who couldn’t go regularly, while he was working for these various professional bodies, Simon and Melanie published “The Kitchen & Bathroom Blog”, which we all read assiduously. Thank you both for further educating us all over these recent years.
Simon really was a person who never wasted a minute and made sure that everyone who came into contact with him went away knowing (to paraphrase our good mate Ron Redman, one of Simons’ great friends), that they had just been with an inspirational, caring, loyal & humorous person who had received his devoted support.
You will never be forgotten. RIP Simon.
I hope the golf courses are good up there! 😊
Rex G. Hirst, CKD Au., RBP-L
Former President, KBDi
Managing Director, Lets Talk Kitchens & Interiors