What’s the one thing you’ll never find in the home of Kelly Hoppen CBE? A frilly, floral cushion. The legendary interior designer tells us about her personal style and why her chic, pared-back aesthetic remains as popular as ever.
There is a ‘Country Kelly’ and then there’s a ‘City Kelly’, though the country home is a kind of play on a country home. It’s got a lot of vintage stuff – and it’s modern mixed with old – but I love that.
But I could immediately see what I needed to do. I just wanted to be in it. In the end, we did it up in about six months… I’m not someone who hangs around.
It was the smell, the way it felt and the way people felt in it. It was about how we used to lay the table, eat with people, the places where my grandmother would crochet with me. Everything about that house was what I wanted to put into a bottle and give to other people when I was designing their homes.
Then, when I moved rooms at the age of 11, my mother said I could design my own bedroom. What I created was a space with a cream shagpile carpet, chocolate-brown felt textures and trims of chrome, white plantation shutters and louvred doors, and I added a cool retro stainless-steel chair and this big, almost sort of Tom Dixon light hanging. Now, where did I get that at such a young age?
Though people can do a great job recreating my style; that’s why I have my homeware collection with M&S. I’ve recreated a lot of what I do for the high street and it does really well because people love that kind of look.
As the Chinese used to say about calligraphy, it’s not the calligraphy itself that counts, it’s the space around it that’s important. That’s what I keep in mind when I design. I do a lot of interiors for clients who want something a little different to my usual style, and I can do that, but it’s still got the Kelly Hoppen edge. It’s all about finding that balance.
It works. Some people prefer maximalism and have cushions with flowers and frills on them. That’s my worst nightmare – you’ll never find that in my home.
This morning, I headed into the studio to work on an idea that I had while I was walking in the mountains this weekend. That’s how design comes to me, much more so than through looking at what other people do.
There are so many more important things in life, like health and happiness and laughter and family – these things override all of that.
Calm is about the colours, the textures and the way you lay things out. It’s about the flowers, the music, the lighting. Ordered is about whether you’re tidy or messy, and whether you’ve got good enough storage – or if you’ve got a system where you can put things away.
Then I train early and that gets my serotonin levels up – that’s my ritual, really. In the gym this morning, I was thinking, ‘Yes, I feel really good. I’ve got a lot to be grateful for.’ You’re only as happy as your children, so as long as they’re happy, you can be happy too. And take care of yourself – that’s important.
M&S x Kelly Hoppen is available to buy at M&S
