Kelly Hoppen Style

Chapter One: Space; Kelly explains the first steps that an experienced interior designer would take and runs through the checklist of questions to ask yourself in order to make an accurate assessment of how to design the most beautiful and useful room for you and your family's needs. Areas covered include budgeting and scheduling the project, how to prepare floor plans and the things that are guaranteed to go wrong! Chapter Two: Rooms; Strong design can be appreciated at a glance and real style never ages. Kelly considers the golden rules of successful design using examples of bathrooms, kitchens, living rooms and bedrooms, drawn from her fabulous portfolio of projects. Chapter Three: Colour and Texture; The focus is narrowed as Kelly gets down to basics explaining her principles on how to use colour and introduce texture into a scheme. Fabric and paint swatches accompany each of Kelly's designs to show exactly how each room is decorated and to help you create your own "room boards". Chapter Four: Fabrics; Choosing fabric can be nerve-racking as both plain and decorative textiles for curtains and upholstery are expensive. The feel of the fabric is as important as how they look and Kelly encourages us to get out and touch the samples in the designer's books. Fabrics also need to be the right weight and durability for their intended use so "the rules" discuss the merits of everything from hardwearing chenilles to delicate voiles. Chapter Five: Furniture; The hunt for stylish furniture with classic appeal is on. Kelly explains how to select a few choice pieces to produce the "wow-factor" and shows how to place them in a room - the rule here being that there are no rules. She also reveals her top-ten favourite furniture designers and describes the pleasure and pain of commissioning one-off pieces. Chapter Six: Soft Furnishings; Damaged by a slightly dowdy image, soft furnishings are given fresh appeal by Kelly and her talented team. This chapter is packed with wonderfully simple ideas for blinds, cushions and upholstery, not forgetting the golden rules that help make soft furnishings a successful part of the scheme. Chapter Seven: Accessories and display; Kelly has a natural aptitude for selecting and displaying the right pictures and simple objects. She explains her tactics, taking a series of tabletops, mantelpieces, shelves, cabinets and walls as working examples. She discusses how and where to buy old and new pieces and emphasises the importance of including fresh flowers in contemporary vases, candles and fragrance as part of the Kelly Hoppen look. Chapter Eight: Kelly's Directory; The "must-have" sourcebook for every contemporary interior designer.