Walking into designer Kelly Hoppen's apartment home is a genuinely jaw-dropping experience - it is a vast loft-style space, but still manages to be cosy and welcoming, writes Gabrielle Fagan When people first walk into my home, they do have that sense of 'wow'," says Kelly, (pictured left) beaming delightedly as she shows off this blueprint for urban contemporary style. It has a state-of-the-art kitchen area, gym, 'zoned' living areas and roof terrace. Upstairs via a spiral staircase there's a snug' den and sanctuary bedroom.

But she is honest enough to admit that the project has been a learning curve for her - appropriately perhaps as the flat was once part of a Victorian girls' school.

"The whole experience has given me even more insight into the pitfalls people face when designing their own homes," Kelly explained. Initially she wished she hadn't bought the property.

"I hated it because it was so huge. For months I convinced myself I would do it up and sell it on, but slowly I came round to it. Now I absolutely adore it. The moral of that is trust your first instincts. They often remain true, though it is difficult to remember that when you are elbow-deep in builders' dust!"

Kelly, always busy creating dream homes for celebrities, also confesses she left herself too little time for the project.

"If I made one big mistake with this project, it was rushing it. Interior designers with their own homes are like the cobbler with his shoes - we never give quite the same care and attention as we do when designing for someone else.

I designed the whole of my apartment in an afternoon."

It reflects some new developments in her style - using furniture as a statement. "Before I used to play with fabrics to create visual shock - now I like to do similar things with the forms of furniture and objects. I love taking antique and vintage finds and placing them against the clean lines of stark contemporary pieces."

In her own space it appears she's moved away from her signature look - modernism and sleek perfection - as she has highlighted the irregularities of the period architecture and left the floorboards, windows and beams unchanged.

In other ways, it is classic Hoppen, with a subtly contrasting dark and pale scheme of neutral colours, white and taupe, and contrasting textures.

Kelly says: "I took inspiration from the vintage look that's so popular in the fashion world."

She hung a Perspex bubble chair in the open-plan living area to "add fun and character to the space - for me that chair makes the room."

While creating what she calls her "ultimate dream" apartment, she reveals: "What I have learnt is that everybody likes too many different things. There are so many great products and ranges out there that it is easy to lose one's way - people think they can have it all."

Helpfully, she has revealed her design secrets and top tips in her new book, Kelly Hoppen Home: From Concept To Reality.

It opens the door', not just to her own home, but also those of her celebrated clients and has interior solutions to suit every size space from compact to grand. Here we offer a few of Kelly's tips to help you design your own dream home.

STYLE Style influences come from all over the place - travel, restaurants, fashion, history, nature. She advises collecting pictures, cuttings and fabric samples and paint charts that inspire. Kelly says: "You can love a million different styles, but the only way to get a look right is to edit down and down."

The best way to do this is to make room boards - where you pin and arrange everything you like on to a large board, one for each space you are designing.

8TIPS: Don't get fixated on one fabric, instead try to build up a tonal palette of colours. Design the look of the whole room before you decide which fabric is for sofas, curtains, and cushions. Photograph furniture and other objects you plan to integrate into the room so you can decide more easily whether they will fit or have to be discarded or stored.

LIGHTING Good lighting can transform an average room into something truly wonderful, Kelly believes.

She says: "Successful lighting means having various light sources, which create pools of light exactly where you want them."

Use lights to accent objects or artwork, to wash light across a stone floor or plaster wall, to throw a soft shadow effect on dark wooden surfaces or highlight a focal piece of furniture.

8TIPS: Lighting doesn't have to be placed centrally in the ceiling. You can often achieve a better effect with lighting positioned to the sides, which sends beams across a room. If you want a central light make a statement with a stunning chandelier or sculptural pendant. In her flat, Kelly has lights placed at skirting height that send a wash of soft light across the floor.

ACCESSORIES Cushions and throws are an easy, inexpensive way of adding texture, colour and luxury. Kelly says: "I never tire of finding great combinations of fabrics and embellishments to use on cushions, and they can transform the look of a room in seconds." Buttons or stitching are another opportunity to bring in textural contrast but don't overdo it. In a mix of large and small cushions, confine ornamentation to the small ones as they will be in the front.

8TIPS: One of her signature looks for cushions is banding (left) - using removable band of contrasting material e.g a coarse linen cushion banded in deep velvet. "Take the banding off and you have plain linen, which is summery and relaxed. Add the banding and you have a more wintry, cosy feel. Swap the banding for a more masculine texture, such as leather, and you instantly create a more edgy ambience."

12:20pm Tuesday 22nd January 2008

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