Dining by Design with Kelly Hoppen

Kelly Hoppen started her business at the age of just sixteen. Her success would be amazing anyway, age non-withstanding, however knowing that she began as a child, in my mind, makes her success - and she herself - all the more fascinating! She left school at the age of 16, was offered her first project shortly thereafter and by the age of 17 was set up with her own design practice, already responding to an affluent clientele. Who does that? Not many, that is for sure! So it is of no surprise that Kelly is a woman on many a would-love-to-have-dinner-with lists!! Dining and Design with Kelly Hoppen? Yes, please. What time should I arrive?

Kelly's thoughts on dining or the dining experience mirror the reasons I started this series, "Dining has so many different facets; it’s about entertaining, it’s about creating a stage set but most importantly it’s about getting people around a table and having conversations."
Kelly developed her aesthetic and passion for design while viewing show flats with her mother, the person she describes as her hero, and one she draws much of her inspiration and entrepreneurial genius

“She gave me a rope and slowly let it out, and from that, there grew a confidence in my own taste and abilities.”

 As she told the London Telegraph:

"I have always been obsessed with interiors. Even when I was very young my mother would ask me what I wanted to do at the weekend and I’d say I wanted to look at show houses. After my father died of a heart attack, I left school at 16 and was offered my first interiors job through a friend. By 17, I had a studio in Lots Road, Chelsea, and a business.”

World renowned and one of Britain’s most influential style gurus, Kelly Hoppen travels in circles that are much different than my own, however her aesthetic, style guides and advice can be translated to any home. With a furnishing and accessories line, KHome, a signature line of chinaware, paints, furniture, carpet, fabrics, bathroom accessories and wallpaper, this is a style icon with dining, design and life stories I will gladly pull up a chair to listen to. I invite you to grab yourself your favorite beverage and pull up a seat at the table with Kelly and I too!

What is the most memorable dinner affair you’ve been to and what made it so special?
There have been so many memorable dinners that I can't choose just one. I absolutely love hosting dinners at my house; it's all about having a great group of people, great food and music to make it special! [And what type of music, you wonder. Yes, I asked! Anything from Aretha Franklin or Motown would be likely. Surprised? I was.]

When you arrive at a dinner party, what is the first thing that you take note of?
For me, entertaining in style is always about decorating your table well, putting together a great playlist, filling your room with scent and above all, making the evening fun. So these are the things that I would probably take note of – I like to enjoy myself and have a good time with my friends and guests.

What Kelly also loves is chocolate and vodka, she revealed in a 2010 interview:  "Pleasures? Vodka and chocolate. You make your own low-fat jelly and just add the vodka. It’s like having a pudding but it’s laced with vodka.” Noted! I now know what is needed when inviting Kelly over to dine! Apparently a delight she learned from Victoria Beckham so I guess I know what to serve when I have the Beckham's for dinner as well!! I guess I've been living in the dark as I never even heard of vodka jelly. Not sure I'd get the mix right, I may be inclined to order a kit here.

We have experienced a trend, where people are often utilizing dining room space for alternate uses. Do you feel every home should have a [formal or informal] dining room?
Every home should be comfortable, and have character; after all it is character that makes your house your home. So I don’t feel that every home needs a dining room. There are always other options if a dining room is not possible. For example, I think the ‘American kitchen’ layout - open-plan kitchens - which open out onto a dining room or sitting room are great and very welcoming, as they allow everyone to integrate within the same space – no-one is left alone to cook in the kitchen.

When designing dining rooms, what informs your aesthetic and design plans for individual clients?
The majority of the people for whom I design do not have separate dining rooms, as they prefer integrated dining room-kitchens or dining-living rooms. In all of these spaces, however, I maximize the versatility of the design, so that each could be set up for all sorts of dining and, in some cases, other uses.

A table in a kitchen zone is never just for eating, and it is truly the main gathering point of the room. I always advise my clients to make the most of every inch of space in their home. You need to make sure that you will be able to move around the outside of the chairs when people are seated; lighting is also key, as are the furnishings and table dressings.

I rarely specify matching tables and chairs, as I am drawn to contrast and balance: the masculine and the feminine, the bold and the subtle, the old and the new.

If I was coming to dinner at your house, what could I expect?
I serve my guests their food on Kelly Hoppen Taupe and White plates [of course], and drinks in William Yeaon Purple glasses. For table decorations, I love to use low Perspex troughs and float flower heads in a little water, baby cacti look great as well.

What are Perspex troughs, you ask? Clear lucite containers.
Kelly fills with fruit or nature elements.

For the lighting, I always use my own small candles, which come in either black or white, which is great as you can match them to your arrangement.

My entertaining style is relaxed and I always try to ensure that the evening is fun. That way it does not matter what you serve! Cooking has never been my strong point!

In sum, Kelly has given us some real and easy gems to incorporate into our own dining by design, whether it be for a special dinner or thinking about the overall design of the dining space:

• Incorporate nature elements;
• Use items from the garden, that can be incorporated into the dinner, eaten, reused and/or cooked another day;
• Create a sensory environment - sight, scent, smell, taste and touch all contribute to the dining experience; and
• Create a space and environment so that it is conducive to enjoy the people you are with and the surroundings you are in!

In Kelly's words,

"Table design is so important; it is like setting the stage for communicating with friends and family. The art of conversation around a table has diminished and one should change your table/settings so you don’t get bored."

I think this is so true, particularly in the technological era we live in. Have you noticed it harder to keep your kids attention? Make that dinner space and time something they want to tune in for; make it a ritual that builds, strengthens and maintains relationships.

I highly recommend Kelly's book, “Ideas: Creating a Home for the Way You Live” and that you check out her iPhone and iPad app, Home Style by Kelly Hoppen, which offers some simple design guidance and video tutorials to create chic yet functional kitchen features and elegant table settings. And please do tell; what will you do differently when designing your next dining affair or space, after reading some of Kelly's tips?

Thank you for sharing a seat at the table with us!! Join us for more design icon tips for Dining by Design, with those YOU (my readers) have listed as being on your to-dine-with wish list here every week!

Bon Appetit! ~ Sarah

Dining by Design: People, Place and Palate

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to have dinner with your favorite "icon", whether they be a celebrity, author, design icon or other public figure? Have you been to dinner at a friends home and been awestruck by the warmth, intimacy and creativity they invested to make the evening so special? What is it that they do differently? How do they add their own signature style? What do they talk about? Expect? Serve?

Several months ago, I started posing a Question of the Week on Fridays on Twitter. A recent question brought about rapid-fire replies.

I was intrigued by the response and conversations that followed. As I read each one, I realized that despite our multiple connections and ability to reach out to other 24/7/365 - thanks to technology and social media channels - people are still longing for more personal connections; a disconnect that Toyota did such a fabulous job poking fun at!

With that in mind, I decided to delve a bit deeper, and thus the decision to start this blog series, “Dining by Design” was born. You know, it is proven that a “family that dines together, stays together”. We all eat dinner everyday; but do we make the most of the experience? Are we creating opportunities to create a place for connecting, laughing, learning and sharing meaningful conversation….

Ok, so we can all agree that really isn’t a prime example of typical dinner conversation. Funny, classic dining scene, though, one must admit and with a well-designed interior too!

In designing spaces for clients, one of the most critical elements is to ensure that the home functions well for the family that resides there. Are designers’ personal experiences and views on dining reflected in the designs they create for their clients? These are the things I started thinking about and some of the questions I asked in order to gain insight on how we all handle, participate and view the dining experience with family and friends as it relates to a life well-lived.


Interior Designer, Jan Showers via

What better way to start such a fabulous series than to reach out to those you identified as tops on your to-dine-with wish list. My hope was that they would be welcoming to the idea and that they most certainly were; as well as humbled that so many had considered them in such a place of honor! 


Interior Designer, Barry Dixon via

I’m thrilled to share these amazing interviews with you – charming, lively, humorous and inspiring. This is about much more than design. Get ready to get personal! Each post with invited guests will reveal intimate, soul-filled and sincere interpretations. Family stories, history, heirlooms, occassional recipes and what each individually feels is most important for great dining: people, place or palate!

I know you are dying to see some names, so here is an inaugural reveal......drumroll, please: 

Barry Dixon 

Brandon Smith (@dcoopsd)

Charlotte Moss (@CharlotteMossNY)

Courtney Price (@courtneymprice) 

Jamie Herzlinger (@JamieHerzlinger) 

Jan Showers (@JanShowers)

Kelly Hoppen (@IMKellyHoppen) 

Martyn Lawrence Bullard (@MartynBullard) 

Mary Douglas Drysdale (@maryddrysdale) 

Matthew Patrick Smyth 

Meredith Heron (@meredithheron) 

Michael Boyd 

Patti Johnson (@PJohnsonInt)

..... and there will be many more! Exciting, right? I know, I feel it too! Believe me, it's a temptation to want to serve them all up to you at once but they are better spread out, like courses in a well-planned meal, so you can savor every juicy bit!

It’s has been so much fun, figuratively, sharing a seat at the table with so many through these interviews. Now, many of your favorites are on my future must-have-dinner-with list too!!



Interior Designer, Martyn Lawrence Bullard via

I hope the series whet’s your appetite with great ideas and inspiration to make your personal dining experiences more memorable, creative and fun!

See you back here for more Dining by Design next week and each week following! In the meantime, leave a comment here on the blog and tell me, who would you invite to dinner?

     

Bon Appetit! ~ Sarah

Living with a Toddler in your Living Room

Michelle, from Peas Out Mama, shares her journey into toddler-dom and the unfortunate results on her home decor. But she's on a mission to find a way to bring life back into her living room. I'm looking forward to seeing what she comes up with! Thank you, Michelle!  

It wasn't going to happen to me. I wouldn't let it. Once a child entered my life, my space, I would retain it. My living room would be mine. Toys R Us would not explode in there and have its way with my furniture and accessories. Mostly that's been true. My son's toys are pretty much confined to his room, which is not to say they never make an appearance elsewhere throughout the house, but to his room they return at the end of good days. And at nearly two years old, he knows it.

Parents have different philosophies about designing their kids' rooms, where the toys should go, and how to use living room space. I say whatever works for you works. For me, I like my living room to be ours as a family, yes, but mostly it's a place for me and my husband to unwind -- a place where our son hangs out and plays sometimes too. But it's not his playroom. He doesn't have one of those.

As a child, I played in my room. That's where my toys were. And somehow, magically, they all fit in there. The same goes for my three older brothers. I suppose that upbringing translated in my philosophy, if you'd call it that. We don't have anything uber-fancy in the living room, so if an accident were to happen, I wouldn't bawl my eyes out. Much.

I love the series Kirsten Krasen featured on 6th Street Design School. Dubbed "Good Design Kids in Mind," the series featured kid-related design questions answered by none other than a team of talented designers. With posts like "Incorporating Kid's 'Tacky' Stuff in Your Home" and "Can Kids and Nice Things Coexist?", the series offers real-life, honest advice. I'm fortunate that I don't yet have to incorporate tacky, but the question of my toddler's coexisting with nice things looms large. And for now, my answer is Sort of, but not totally.

This little creature called toddler is actually quite good with furniture -- not a climber (yet) -- so I consider myself lucky there. But you know those beautiful things (um, accessories, I think they're called by the outside world) that usually go on coffee tables, end tables and whatnot? Yeah, those had to go. They'd all be toast at the hands of a toddler. 

See this stack here? That'd never fly around these parts. Or maybe I should say they would fly -- onto the floor in a chaotic mess. Kudos to this fam with two toddlers who don't wreck that stack! The stuffed animals on the chair, though? Very cute and seems to fit this room's style perfectly.

eclectic kids design by media and blogs Aesthetic Outburst via Houzz

I also really like the toys on the floor in this pic. Very sweet and playful. Still, those books scare me a little.

eclectic kids design by media and blogs Aesthetic Outburst via Houzz

Back to my accessorizing dilemma. I recently put the question out to my blog "likers" on facebook, asking whether they have coffee tables or end tables in their living rooms, and if so, what's on them. Seems we're all in the same boat more or less. Some of my favorite responses:

from KS: "I do! With bumpers on the edges. lol It's quite the decorating statement.  Um, crumbs from lunch and a Little People truck on top. A preschool laptop and Magnadoodle underneath. Do those things count? ;-)"

from JF: "Just put mine back in. I had one of those upholstered microsuede large ottomans that functioned as a coffee table too. [On it]: At the moment, a truck, a sippy cup, and a 2 year old. Usually, nothing. Pre kids, I liked to think I was stylin with accessories. Now? Not so much. They'd just be used as weapons or something to bang on the table."

from HB: "I also have the leather ottoman coffee table, and it currently houses two sippy cups, one pair of shoes, a snowsuit, and a rather grumpy dog."

from KK: "Yes...however it doesn't hold cups/plates..it hold cars trucks and cute little tushies!!"

from EL: "Yes we have a coffee table in both our living room and family room. Our living room is gated off from the toddler, family room is not. Neither coffee table has any decor on it. Toddler uses family room coffee table as a diving board for jumping onto the couches."

I think it's pretty obvious we moms are rockin' the design world!

So...(sigh)...my tables are bare. And sad. And boring. Which makes me sad. And which got me thinking... What if I could figure out a way to use my son's stuff as accessories? Yup, accessorize with toys. On purpose. For real. You know, so if he touched stuff, it'd be cool. The idea came to me one day after noticing a stack of my son's books on our end table. They looked pretty cute. And now I'm on a mission to accessorize. Wanna see what I come up with? Check out my next guest post!
   

A CHANCE FOR YOU TO WIN BIG IN MY BLOG COMMENTING CONTEST: $200 Prize!!

Would you like an extra $200 in your pocket?  I'm offering a fantastic contest and wanted you all to have an opportunity to win!

THE RULES OF THE GAME:

The Prize:  $200 Visa Gift Card (value = $200 USD)

Entry Requirements:  Leave a minimum of 5 unique (can not be the same on each posting) comments on 5 different blog posts, listed  and linked to at the bottom of this note. Additional details about commenting are marked with an * below.

Start/End Date:   10.23.10 thru 10.29.10 at 8PM (Eastern Standard Time)

Qualifications: Entrants must be in the United States or Canada. We are unable to include entrants from other countries.

Winner: The winner will be selected using an electronic random generator, however, I have also included a special caveat.  Please note that I will select one comment that I consider to be the "best" and that persons name will be entered 5 additional times, thereby increasing their odds at winning.

How to Play:

1. Read some of the posts from the list below.
2. Comment on a minimum of 5 different posts, individually.
3. Complete by October 29th. All who have commented on atleast 5 of the blog posts listed below, between NOW and Friday at 8PM, will have their name entered in to the drawing.
4. *Comments MUST relate to the post, be more than a few words, and at the very least a sentence. Comments should obviously be reflective of the content of the post, show value, offer varying viewpoints and/or simply speak to what was of interest to the reader*
5. To emphasize point #4 even further, I will be selecting a "best" comment and the author of that comment will have their name entered an additional 5 times. ("Best" does not necessarily translate to flattery.  To be considered "best" I will be looking for comments that offer additional value and viewpoint to the topic).
6. Winner will be chosen and announced by 5PM on Halloween.   [Please see very bottom for the not-so-fun legal notice pertaining to this contest]

Everyone can find something fun to do with a $200 Visa Gift Card! Enter the contest today and start thinking about the ways you will spend that money!! Be sure to leave your email address (it is not published) that is best to reach you at so that if you are the WINNING NAME I can notify you on Halloween!!

Thank you and good luck!! ~ Sarah

LIST AND LINKS TO BLOG POSTS
Organizing Inspirations: The First Step in Designing Mama's Home (Guest Post)

log Bites: Have You Noticed the Turquoise Trail?

Tuesday's Tips: Party Planning

Blog Bites: Autumn Tablescapes

Interior Inspirations from My Web Favs: Material Girls

Making the Bed: A Guide to the Basics of a Comfortable Rest

Your Guide to Decorating without Color: All-White, Done Right!

Bringing Harmony Into Your Home

Shed-tastic! Your Great Escape is ...where?

Let's Talk: Cash or Credit?

Get In Gear...Or At Least Get It Organized

Interior Inspirations from My Web Favs: Apartment Therapy

Entertaining Alfresco, Part II: Functional Elements

Dining Alfresco in Your Own Backyard

Interior Inspirations from My Web Favs, Part 1: Houzz

The Essential Elements of Spa-tacular Bathrooms

Designer Nurseries Shift Into High Gear by Going Neutral

Finding Your Perfect Mate Part 2: The Styles of Sofas

Chairity: Give them a Second-Chance!

Pride in your Picasso: Decorating with Kids’ Art

Finding Your Perfect Mate Part 1: The Sofa Basics

Add Wow To Your Walls: A Guide to Art Work and Photographs

The Secret To Getting What You Want: A Guide to Buying Carpet

Too Many Toys? Tips for Getting Your Child's Play Space Under Control

Six Ways to Feng Shui in the Kitchen

Make Your Entryway Inviting

Feng Shui in the Bedroom: A Room to Restore You

Go Green with Fabrics!

Slipping into Slipcovers

Refresh, Revitalize, Renew: Upholstery

Sitting Pretty- Outdoors!

Adding Playfulness to Your Room Design

What Does it Mean to be Green?

Jackie Blue Home

LEGAL NOTICE:
Winner will be notified on October 30th, 2010 and has until November 7, 2010 to claim their prize. If winner does not claim prize, a new winner will be selected on November 8, 2010.

We reserve the right to pull comments that we feel are inappropriate, malicious, contain profanities, deemed as spam or are meant in any way to cause harm to the sponsor.

By submitting an entry or accepting a prize, here permitted by law, each winner grants Storibook Designs, and those acting pursuant to the authority of Storibook Designs, the irrevocable right to print, publish, broadcast, distribute, and use, in any media the entry and winner’s name as news, publicity or information and for trade, advertising, public relations and promotional purposes.