12 things that give her tranquility

By Mitchell Owens

Flame-haired, energetic, and globe-trotting, Kelly Hoppen, ironically, is the diva of cool, calm, and collected design, The South Africa-born, London-based whirlwind has staked out a style that is two parts Zen temple to one part2001: A Space Odyssey. Famous for minimalist rooms with deluxe fabrics(devoré velvet, pastel suede), muted colors (nougat, mushroom), and exotic oddments (Ming chairs, vases brimming with papyrus), Hoppen is known as well for her 24/7 industriousness. She recently gave British Airways's first-class cabins a leather, cashmere, chenille, and burr-walnut makeover, designed an Accord for Honda, and decorated 112 Harley Street, a chic boutique hotel that caters to privacy-conscious folks recuperating from the old nip-and-tuck. Hoppen designs products, too: paints for Fired Earth window accessories for Silent Gliss, carpets for Bosanquet lves, rugs for L. Kelaty, and a new furniture collection for Club House ltalia. Still can't get enough? Click on kellyhoppen.com to find her favorite mood-altering CDs or head to your local bookstore to pick up her new A-to-Z design guide, Monochrome Home (Rizzoli). It's all in a day's work for the self-described type"triple-A" personality. So what brings this multitasker inner peace?

1. My daughter, Natasha. She makes me feel whole, and she lights up my life.

2. I could not live without the crudités at the London restaurant and San Lorenzo.

3. My black Volkswagen New Beetle. It's my second home.

4. Big wristwatches, especially my 44-millimeter Luminor Marina by Officine Panerai.

5. Restaurant Benoi in St.-Tropez fantastic Vietnamese food.

6. La Scalinatella on Capri. Very small hotel, beautiful rooms, incredible views. If you go shopping in the evening, the hotel pays and puts it on your bill. And when you get back to the room, the bags are waiting there for you. That's what I call luxury.

7. Black-and-white photography by Lartigue and Peter Beard.

8. Ancient Asian sculpture.

9. Fracas de Robert Piguet. I grew up with this scent because my mother wore it. Thank God it's made again.

10. I can't bear not to be by the sea at least once a year. My most favorite place? Tahiti, heaven on earth.

11. An amazing gold-fringed Tahitian-pearl necklace, made for me by Solange Azagury-Partridge. She is a genius.

12. My black-and-silver Nike running shoes.