Customer Reviews

Kelly Hoppen Home: From Concept to Reality

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

My wife and I plan to remodel our place, so we were looking for how-to advice and inspiration. Kelly provided both and much more.

The book has 9 chapters that approach interior design from different angles. Each chapter is extremely clear and well organized, providing practical advice about the planning and process as well as many useful hints about details. There are 9 case studies (one being Kelly's own home in London), complete with a description of what the customer was asking about, what were the challenges, and how she went about meeting them. Each case study comes with a detailed floor plan, a room board that describes the fabrics and colors used, and many gorgeous pictures. These case studies form the backbone of the book and are used to illustrate how she successfully addresses a range of questions and challenges as diverse as fire places, spatial planning, windows, lighting, etc.

The book successfully avoids the common traps of design book and magazines, to either kill you with a never-ending list of boring details, or to fill up the pages with pretty pictures without practical use. Not only is it very educational and useful. It is also makes for a very exciting read.

A funny detail: The Chinese calligraphy on the wall of a sumptuous, custom built wine cellar shown on p. 161, hangs upside down. I sincerely hope that the owners will have a chance to turn it around before entertaining their first Chinese guests.

The pictures and interiors and stunning. The cover picture does not do the book justice. Kelly's interiors are timeless. She incorporates antiques and modern furniture and makes them sing. This is not just a book of pictures - it also describes her own design philosphy and how to do it in your own home - to your own individual personality. It is not a specific how to book - more how to approach your home and develop your own style and consider: lighting, surfaces, space and function, surfaces, texture. The home office and joinery for plasma tv's are first class. All of Kelly's Books are great but this and Golden Rules of Style are her best. Check out her web page for her designs and media press.

Kelly Hoppen is a very talented decorator and in this book she provides not just beautiful photos (the staple of every design book) but very useful information on how to go about decorating your home, using different case studies, and exploring the challenges in each case, and how she went about to solving them. If you are starting a career as an interior designer, or are looking for ideas to decorate your home, you couldn't ask for a better book than Kelly Hoppen Home.

Kelly's designs are simple yet elegant. She chooses clean lines that are not only pleasing to the eye but add an element of order to current day living. Her sense of color is amazing. When the rest of the designers are getting carried away with bright and conflicting color schemes, she stays with soothing and peaceful blends. She is by far our favorite designer and the book shows it so well.

This book is a wonderful gift for young, new home owners to get inspiration from. Elaborate, cosmopolitan and eloquent.

Excellent item from an excellent interior designer.... i like the way she sees things and the way she takes advantage of space!

This book didn't really engage my interest as much as I expected. I have a number of design books, and work in the industry, and for me, this one had a lot of repetition of the same ideas repeated throughout - also, not a broad range of projects to review. Made it about half way through, and then found myself flipping through to the end.

just received this book.... breathtakingly beautiful interiors... this book is user friendly, and informative... lots of ideas for small spaces as well as large spaces... Kelly Hoppen is the best!!! 5 stars for this excellent author and designer...