Kelly Hoppen: ‘You can always push to be the person you want to be’

Interior designer Kelly Hoppen CBE, 66, talks to Joanna Ebsworth about her morning routine, the power of rest, and how weight training has helped her to maintain the bones of a 20-year-old.

Words: Joanna Ebsworth. Images: David Venni.

I get up early every day, around 5.30am, and do a little bit of mind work first. Next, I sit on the edge of the bed and turn this way and that, stretching like an animal does, before getting up to have my hot water with lemon and then my coffee while chatting with my partner. Then, I’ll train, which I do four or five days a week at home.

I nearly overslept this morning, but whereas in the past I might have panicked about that, now I sit and think, ‘No, I’m going to stretch, and I’m going to take a minute. I’ve got time.’ I just think you become wiser over the years, and you get into a flow and a rhythm. I’d rather take 10-15 minutes to myself first thing, then rush brushing my teeth, having a shower and getting dressed. But you must work out what works for you.

I take my health very seriously and I’ve exercised ever since I was 16. I love weight training, Pilates and walking, and I love to be fit. I think you can always push and try to be the person that you want to be, and that’s just the kind of brain I’ve got. I had a problem with my back a year ago, so going to visit Integra Training two times a week in East London has been a real labour of love.

Your whole nervous system – your body and your brain – are inter-connected, so I’ve learned a lot from doing that. And they have completely aligned me, so I’m back training like I used to with my three other trainers – Peter Coby, Efua Baker and Blanka – who I alternate to get different types of workouts.

I’ve been doing weight training since I was 18. I hated cardio, and it never did what I wanted it to do, but I figured out quite late in life that weight training is better for creating the shape you want. All this running and jogging and jumping around just makes you hot and sweaty, when actually, it’s what you eat that changes your shape.

Bodybuilding is very good later in life for your bones. I went and had a DEXA scan to measure my bone density, and they said to me, ‘You’ve got bones of a 20-year-old’, so it must be all that training. I was quite chuffed with that, it’s just a shame I don’t have the face of a 20 year-old to go with it! I also get a kick out of the serotonin boost weight training gives me, and I like the way it helps you look when you’ve got your arms out.

If you don’t like to train in the morning, try Mel Robbins’ 5 Second Rule. The idea is you count backwards from five to one and then immediately act, rather than lying in bed waiting for your subconscious to talk you out of it. It’s funny, because I’ve always had a similar thing, which I’ve talked about for 30 years, in terms of counting, where you count to 10 before you answer somebody, so you answer in the best way.

I think that Mel is fantastic, and she’s definitely on my bucket list of people I’d like to meet because I prefer learning things from people directly rather than reading stuff constantly or Googling the life out of things.

Speaking of counting, I’ve always counted my macros when I’m training for something specific. But generally, I’m all about eating everything. I think good health is about eating healthily, having downtime and finding balance. The only thing I can’t eat is gluten, which I haven’t had for 30 years, and I don’t eat red meat, but I eat chicken, fish, yoghurt, fruit and lots of vegetables.

My daughter once said to me, ‘Don’t have skimmed foods, have real foods’, so I enjoy everything in smaller portions. I do a lot more cooking now since being on ITV’s Cooking With the Stars. It was terrifying at the time, but I look back at it and I realise I’ve learnt so much, and that I’m not scared to try new things. Deciding to do it was a moment of madness, but I absolutely loved it and I’m really glad I did it.

I love to sleep, so I get loads of sleep every night. My partner and I are not out every night doing stuff. Maybe we used to do that, but we are real homebodies now. We like to entertain friends and family at home or go to the country on weekends, and I’m very good at switching off and doing nothing.

I can stare out over the mountains or over a field for hours – just in my own head, imagining and creating – and I also love spending time with my grandson or my daughter to completely switch off. I think you have to have rules, so if my phone pings during downtime, I’ll ignore it; I know if it’s something really important, that person will call me. The older you get, you realise what you like to do, so you don’t settle for anything else.

I’m a very happy person and I have been for years. Looking after my mental health is just a part of everything I do, so I don’t need to compartmentalise it. I’m a little bit into things like manifestation, and there are days where I’ll just kind of talk to the angels and say, ‘I might need some help today.’ But there’s not a time and place I go to every day to do things like that. I’m more ad hoc.

I’m lucky because I’m surrounded by lovely people and I’m very open, so we talk about everything. I don’t wake up unhappy and I don’t struggle from anxiety. Well, sometimes I do, but I’ll talk about it and then just kind of move on. I’m quite good at that, and I think it’s a choice I make.

I’d say my lifestyle is calm and controlled. Some days are busier than others, but my work life is very structured, and I always go into the studio three days a week. I work from home on a Friday, and on Mondays, I have what I call a “red day” where I try to do other things to do with my work but not be in the studio.

Recently, I had a day up in Stratford laying out my new M&S X Kelly Hoppen collection, so it was done exactly how I wanted, then I was racing back to the studio, visiting a new client in Knightsbridge, having some lunch and then heading back into the design room. But it’s all the things I want to do, and having a good morning routine always sets me up for the day ahead.

I have zero interest in retiring. Naturally, I’ve changed the way I work over the years, so it works for me, but I’m never going to stop working – my brain is too active! I would hate to be one of those women that sits around and has ladies’ lunches. Occasionally, I’ll go out for lunch with some girlfriends as a treat, and I love it, but then I want to get back to work.

I love challenges and being given an opportunity to do something out of my comfort zone because it’s new and it’s exciting. But you need balance in life to be able to not think about work all the time. If you are struggling to do something, it’s because you are swimming upstream. You’ve got to swim with the stream and find the flow.

I’d long wanted to provide beautiful items on the high street at a very high quality but affordable price. I could not have picked a better brand to do that with than M&S as they are an incredible company to partner with: I’ve designed my range all the way up until the end of next year! We’ve got some exciting things launching, with a whole other category that’s part of the home segment but different, so that’s exciting. The range will kind of cross over into food and fashion, because everything to do with the home is connected, like with health.

I’ve been saying for 40 years that it’s better to wake up seeing neutrals. You can go back over every interview I’ve done, and I’ve always said it. And people have laughed and ridiculed me for saying it, but now they’re finally agreeing. I create homes for people to feel good in, which will always help your mental health.

Of course, the way people struggle with negative mental health and the way they overcome it comes in a million different formats. We’ve all had moments where we feel a little bit like we’re struggling with stuff, and you’ve got to find your own mojo and what it is that works for you. For me, the minute you put your key in your front door, no matter where you live or how you live, that should feel like home. It should be the place where you feel good.

The M&S X Kelly Hoppen collection includes more than 170 products and is available in stores and online at marksandspencer.com.