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"Kelly Hoppen, one of the highest-profile designers in the United Kingdom, has no shortage of work, yet she enjoys being her own client\u2014which is just as well. Her current 2,500-square-foot Georgian townhouse, located a few cappuccino caf\u00E9s away from Portobello Road&amp;#039;s antiques market, is the second gut renovation she&amp;#039;s done recently (MH, Feb &amp;#039;07). Undertaking her own projects &amp;quot;makes me a better interior designer,&amp;quot; she maintains, &amp;quot;and feeling vulnerable about spending buckets of money really keeps me in tune with my clients.&amp;quot;  The glamorous Hoppen clearly has fans in high places. The Queen recently honored her with an MBE (member of the Order of the British Empire) for a 25-year career that has yielded designs for everything from Learjets to corporate boardrooms. But living spaces are her forte and her passion. (The introduction to one of her many books reads, &amp;quot;To all those who love their homes and pour their hearts into them. I know exactly how you feel.&amp;quot;)   Leisurely meals are another passion, so her inviting dining room blatantly caters to creature comforts. Lighting is easily dimmed, not only promoting relaxation but flattering faces and food; Christian Liaigre seating for at least a dozen food-loving cohorts is covered in smooth leather. Then there&amp;#039;s the visual stimulation. Guests seated on one side of the table face a terrace that winds down to her back garden. Floating shelves command an adjacent wall, where rows of Buddhas, talismans, books, postcards, photographs and stacks of books catalogue Hoppen&amp;#039;s friends, family and travels like an open diary.  Hoppen has endowed the expansive entry-floor kitchen, which forms an L with the dining room at the back of the house, with multiple personalities.  A functional cooking island dominates its front section and doubles as an informal eating space. By night, thanks to its proximity to the entry hall, the island conveniently serves as a cocktail bar for incoming party guests.  The rear section of the kitchen is the official &amp;quot;backstage&amp;quot; of the dining room, but its sleekness belies its utilitarianism. A work counter stretches along the entire length of one wall and faces a large, customized cabinet. With its glass front reflecting light that comes from two directions, the huge cabinet, with clear, touch-opened doors, seems lightweight, and because it is built short of the ceiling, it appears to float in the space.  Given that custom cabinetry is so expensive and site specific, Hoppen categorizes it as the &amp;quot;couture end of interior design.&amp;quot; As the founder of the Kelly Hoppen Design School, which opened in 2003, she&amp;#039;s now used to delivering pithy statements like these. Hoppen&amp;#039;s an intuitive designer, so it initially went against the grain for her to articulate and analyze her work.  &amp;quot;Many moons ago I went to a career adviser and was told to give away any knowledge that I&amp;#039;d accumulated,&amp;quot; Hoppen says, explaining why she established the school and why she writes books that are as instructional as they are beautiful. &amp;quot;Besides,&amp;quot; she adds, laughing, &amp;quot;people have been copying me for years, so I thought I may as well show them how to do it!&amp;quot; Click here to see the gallery for &amp;quot;Met Home of the Month: December 2009&amp;quot;.   According to Hoppen, one should always think of a home&amp;#039;s bathrooms as elegant living rooms and, if space allows, each one should have an upholstered armchair, bench or chaise to soften all the hard materials. Even if space is tight, she advises clients to buy a tub they can stretch out in, and she designates it as the focal point, rather like a fireplace in a living room.  Every bathroom has to function as both locker room and spa and facilitate a quick power shower or a sybaritic soak. Hoppen&amp;#039;s standard bathroom illumination\u2014mood-changing directional task lights and easily dimmed ambient lights\u2014addresses multiple needs, but she&amp;#039;s just as likely to end a tense day by shutting off all the lights and filling the room with candles.  &amp;quot;I work amazingly hard,&amp;quot; says Hoppen, &amp;quot;but I feel as though I have a blessed life.&amp;quot; Many would agree. Her design school is thriving, and her retail shop, the Yard, which also functions as a studio for young artists, is a destination spot. Her portfolio includes successful lines of home furnishings from candles to carpets, fabric to furniture; her next book is in the works; and her recent television appearances were cut short when QVC sold out of her damask bedding ahead of time.  A client recently called after Hoppen had finished installing her house and said, &amp;quot;I feel I&amp;#039;ve lived here all my life.&amp;quot;  &amp;quot;That&amp;#039;s the greatest compliment anyone could pay me,&amp;quot; says Hoppen. &amp;quot;The glamour and glitz are fine, but at the end of the day, a comfortable place to come home to is what it&amp;#039;s all about for me.&amp;quot; What the Pros Know Even on the grayest of London days, Hoppen&amp;#039;s house is filled with natural light that she calibrates with graphic plantation shutters. The desired mood of a space or room, along with its designated function, shapes Hoppen&amp;#039;s internal lighting schemes, and she decides on them early in the design process, when she is conceptualizing furniture placements. &amp;quot;Without the proper lighting, even spectacularly well-designed rooms will appear flat and uninteresting,&amp;quot; she cautions. Hoppen uses dimmers extensively and strongly favors concealed lighting that accentuates fabrics and furnishings; she also is drawn to lamps and ceiling fixtures that are sculptural in their own right. Her lighting plans include her garden. &amp;quot;I treat any outdoor space that I can see from the house as if it&amp;#039;s another room,&amp;quot; she says. The designer has also come up with a trick to warm up the cold light that is cast by eco-friendly bulbs: she aims them at a gold or bronze surface. Click here to see the gallery for &amp;quot;Met Home of the Month: December 2009&amp;quot;. Click here to see the resources. 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