COUNTRY COOL

In the Cotswolds, designer Kelly Hoppen has reimagined an old country barn into an open-plan family home imbued with her trademark minimalist neutral style and a charming mix of vintage and new pieces from her personal collection

- PIET SMEDY

INTERIOR DESIGNER KELLY HOPPEN AT HER NEWLY TRANSFORMED FAMILY HOME IN THE COTSWOLDS. THE LARGE ARTWORK, ‘STACKING’, IS BY CARSTEN BECK

THE MINIMALIST AND SERENE LIVING ROOM FEATURES CREASED LINEN TEXTURES MIXED WITH VINTAGE BAMBOO AND A TOUCH OF VELVET, PROVIDING AN ELEGANT YET RELAXED BASE FOR CUSHIONS AND ACCENT PIECES

Kelly Hoppen knows what she wants – and what she does not. It is, after all, her decisiveness, coupled with an infallible eye, that has made the Cape Town-born, London-based designer a global authority on interiors. What is more, she has the books to prove it; her latest, Kelly Hoppen’s Essential Style Solutions for Every Home, out last month. When it came to reimagining a charming countryside barn into a spacious, light-filled bolthole, she delivered in style.

‘I did not want it to be half-and-half as I am not a cutesy, country-interior person,’ she says. ‘I wanted Belgian creased linen with vintage looks, and that is what we have. It is a little mixed throughout, but I still have the rows of Hunter wellies and a Saint Laurent khaki jacket hanging in the hall.