Kelly Hoppen at WOW!house 2025: A Living Room of Light, Texture, and Quiet Luxury
people • designers
Kelly Hoppen CBE, one of Britain’s most influential interior designers, brought her signature calm-meets-glamour aesthetic to WOW!house London 2025.
Her living room installation, created in collaboration with Visual Comfort & Co, explored lighting not just as illumination but as a sculptural design language. shaping atmosphere, rhythm, and intimacy. With restrained palettes enriched by bold textures, asymmetry, and tactile detail, the space blended quiet luxury with a sense of lived-in storytelling. In this exclusive Designeers interview, Hoppen reflects on the inspiration behind her WOW!house room, her creative dialogue with Visual Comfort, and how she continues to evolve her iconic minimalist yet emotionally layered style.
Words: designeers
AUGUST 2025
WEBSITE: kellyhoppeninteriors.com
INSTAGRAM: @kellyhoppen
DESIGNEERS
Three words to describe this living room?
Kelly Hoppen
Comforting, curated, and chic. My WOW!house 2025 living room was designed to feel lived-in and soulful, blending comfort with a refined sense of quiet luxury.
DESIGNEERS
What was your guiding vision for the WOW! House Living Room, and what feeling did you hope to evoke as visitors stepped inside?
Kelly Hoppen
My guiding vision was to create a living room at WOW!house 2025 that evoked comfort with a touch of quiet drama. I wanted guests to feel as if they’d stepped into a personal story, not just a show space. By layering textures, asymmetric lines, and curated objects like records and books, the room told a narrative that felt intimate and timeless.
DESIGNEERS
This space is a collaboration with Visual Comfort. How did lighting influence your design process, and what role does it play in shaping the Atmosphere?
Kelly Hoppen
Lighting was fundamental. Working with Visual Comfort & Co., I treated lighting as a design language — not just illumination. Sculptural fixtures created rhythm, warmth, and definition, while directional lights and reflections added depth. The result was a room where sculptural lighting defined character and atmosphere, elevating every texture and form.
DESIGNEERS
Your interiors are known for their restrained palettes and textural richness. How did you evolve that signature style within this Installation?
Kelly Hoppen
My interiors are known for restrained palettes and layered textures. At WOW!house 2025, I introduced red accents, eclectic fringing, and asymmetry for a fresh, contemporary energy. The palette remained neutral at its core but was elevated with contrasts and handcrafted details, balancing restraint with personality and quiet luxury.
DESIGNEERS
What’s one material, texture, or detail in the space that most people might miss but you love?
Kelly Hoppen
The red vase by Corsi Design Factory is a favourite, it looks like glass but is actually resin, bringing playful texture and surprise. And the small Visual Comfort table lamp was intentional: it casts a subtle, beautiful glow that completes the atmosphere.
“My vision was to create a space that exudes comfort, but also carries a sense of quiet drama.”
Kelly Hoppen
DESIGNEERS
What was your creative dialogue like with the Visual Comfort team? Did any particular fixtures or finishes inspire part of the scheme?
Kelly Hoppen
The collaboration with Visual Comfort was seamless and inspiring. The Canto Grande fixture became the anchor for the room, its sculptural elegance set the tone. From there, we layered statement pieces with softer ambient light, striking a balance between drama and intimacy.
DESIGNEERS
What was your biggest indulgence or “design treat” in this space?
Kelly Hoppen
A record player — it brought nostalgia and comfort, turning the living room into a space for memory and interaction. I also love the Yin Yang seat from The Sofa and Chair Company, which is sculptural yet soft and inviting. Both elements highlight my belief that design must be functional, emotional, and stylish.
DESIGNEERS
After decades at the forefront of interior design, what does the WOW! House represent to you today, creatively and personally?
Kelly Hoppen
Designing for WOW!house London 2025 was a rare chance to create with absolute freedom. My inspiration included my grandfather’s office in South Africa — the warmth of wood panelling has always stayed with me. Bringing that memory into this project was deeply personal. WOW!house allowed me to design without a client brief, showcasing creativity at its purest.
Kelly Hoppen’s WOW!house 2025 living room was not simply about aesthetics, but about presence, how a space can hold memory, intimacy, and drama while remaining serene.
By treating lighting as a design language, she offered visitors a glimpse into the future of interiors where form and function meet emotion and storytelling. For Hoppen, the project was a rare opportunity to create without boundaries, distilling decades of experience into a single room that glowed with quiet confidence. It’s a reminder that the most powerful interiors are not just lived in, they are deeply felt.
