Kelly Hoppen - House of Hoppen: A Retrospective

A stunning sculptural shelf, Dune 01 (2007) by Zaha Hadid (Editions David Gill, London), floats on the wall like a pool of molten metal below an artwork by Nabil Nahas.

BY SIR TERENCE CONRAN

This is a magnificent book, filled with the details that every designer should consider and which should stimulate their imagination so that they could try and do it better than Kelly very unlikely. Her pages of imaginative details are superb; in fact, I find them more interesting than her full room sets towards the end.

I consider this book important as it clearly defines the difference between a designer and a decorator. The latter usually only takes responsibility for the colour of the walls and the carpet or rug, the sofa and its upholstery fabric, a light fitting or two and a bowl of flowers; whereas, if you look at the detail that Kelly has so admirably demonstrated, it shows the thought a true designer puts into their projects. I also find it interesting that she considers the mood of a room a great idea.

I would also like to compliment Kellys clients for having funded this very profound detail, which I find quite exquisite. Every designer should study this book carefully before they begin their next project. I will!

Forty years! Its hard to believe, as every day has been a joy and never felt like work. My passion and love for design have driven me in such an incredible way that it was only when beginning to write my retrospective book that the magnitude of what I was about to begin dawned on me.

It has been such a cathartic year, choosing and compiling the images I wanted to use from such a vast archive and including new work, literally hot off the press. When I started to look through the images of my past work, I had such vivid memories of every single project that it felt as though it was only yesterday when I had handed them over to my clients.

I have been wonderfully lucky to work with some incredible people, in amazing countries all over the world. I believe my philosophy and design ethos, and what the process means to me, have allowed me to design for like-minded people, and I feel honoured.

My dream was, and still is, to create homes for people to live in, and, foremost, to make people feel as though they have lived in them all their lives, but with the added bonus of the excitement of the new. The smell of fresh paint and the newness of objects as well as the familiarity of the old, placed into a space like art: that is the excitement for me, just making it all come together. For me, designing is like cooking a recipe and adding all the herbs and spices to create the best taste you can imagine.

My book, House of Hoppen, is a mixture of old and new, of forty years of work, and I hope you enjoy reading and looking through it as much as I have enjoyed creating it.

I have always said, If I can dream it, I can design it.

Thank you,

Love, Kelly