Designer Kelly Hoppen looks East for serenity at home

The entrance hall
CNN's Elsa Klensch takes us on a tour of interior designer Kelly Hoppen's London row house

In this story:

• A Buddha in the living room

May 22, 1998
Web posted at: 11:03 p.m. EDT (0303 GMT)

From Correspondent Elsa Klensch

LONDON (CNN) -- Interior designer Kelly Hoppen believes our homes should be as cosmopolitan as our lives, and hers has been particularly influenced by the East.

She likes the serenity, the mix of textures, and the antiques that she uses constantly in her work and in the London row house she bought eight years ago.

"I think we all live a very sort of mad life," she says. "It's very nice to come home and not have everything shout at you. You should feel very calm when you come home."

The dining room

In her entrance hall, Hoppen has a statue of a praying monk across from a row of exotic, single-stem flowers.

The entrance leads directly to the dining room, which is set up as a multipurpose room.

"I think the dining room sort of has that function, that it is an extra hallway, and then at night it can turn into a formal dining room," Hoppen says.

She covers the large dining table with textured fabrics that she designed in bold green and black and based on the Japanese kimono.

A Buddha in the living room

A gigantic Buddha watches over the living room.

The Buddha watching over the living room

"He's been a very lucky mascot for us," she says. "It took about eight people to lift him, and for about six months I thought I made a mistake, because he was so important. When I walked into the room it was like 'Sorry, did I disturb you?' But now I don't sort of notice him. He's just there and very powerful."

Hoppen uses silks with velvets and linens in the living room, where the textured chenille sofa fabric makes "the room come alive," she says.

Hoppen's bedroom furniture is "a perfect example of East meets West," she says. "The bedcover is very much Richard the Lionhearted, with all the bands. The bed head is very Victorian, using velvet and linen."

As for the bathroom, which is all white and has a stripe running around it, Hoppen says, "I just think it's quite amusing."

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