Kelly Hoppen's essential tips for designing a home workout space that 'supports a genuine sense of wellbeing'
Her professional advice as an interior designer demonstrates how intentional choices help encourage movement and wellness
If you don’t have time to make it to the gym as much as you’d like, you might consider turning a space in your home into a functional gym and relaxation room to enjoy workouts at home.
Often, people settle for simply installing a walking pad, some dumbbells and other equipment and calling it a day. But Kelly Hoppen has offered a masterclass in why wellness spaces should be designed with the same thought and intention as other important rooms in your home.
Whether it’s focusing on the right layered lighting to promote peace and energy or understanding how proportion and openness promotes movement and a sense of calm, Kelly shared her professional advice that offers subtle but notable tips.
In the first interior shot of Kelly’s carousel, wide, double doors open onto a thoughtfully zoned room, complete with exercise machines. With plenty of space between each item, and the use of neutrals on the floor and walls helps to open the area up – creating a sense of spaciousness and airiness.
It’s a subtle design tip, but clever nonetheless. It’s easy to imagine how darker colours here or filling the space with side tables or low lighting could create a more compact, cluttered aesthetic - the exact opposite of what you’d want in a wellness space.
Earlier in the year, Kelly spoke to The Times about her belief in the calming effects of neutrals. She told the outlet, "I’ve maintained for 48 years that neutrals are better for your wellbeing and your mental state".
She added, "The air that you breathe, the lighting that you have in your home, everything around you is all there to support your nervous system, 100 per cent".
This ideology is at the core of Kelly's showcased designs. In each, a palette of muted tones, natural textures - including white marbled floors - and eye-catching forms, including distinct light features, create a space that’s as stylish as it is serene, offering an easy way to blend design, function, and wellbeing.
Where Kelly might include darker colours, it’s done with contrast in mind. A low, dark glossy table contrasts with soft, neutral-looking leather sofa beds in one image. With soft lighting and everything kept to one level, things feel clean and symmetrical.
This also demonstrates the benefit of soft curves. All of the furniture and details promote rounded edges rather than blunt, angular, sharp lines to help promote a natural flow.
Another tip worth noting, especially if you have less space to work with, is creating a central focus and designing around it. In Kelly's example, there's a pool table placed near a natural source of light.
However, it would be so simple to turn a small corner of any room into a dedicated wellness space by placing your workout machine near a window, and expanding the light with a cleverly placed mirror. The convex mirror in Kelly's example will catch any light and open the room even more.
