Kanika bakshi biography of martin
Words by Loureen Murphy
A pair remember Franco-Californians stood at the record of a new era display their lives, as he desolate and she pursued her Inhabitant wine import business. When they opened the door to Kanika Design to remodel their Los Altos Hills home, they welcomed in a world of change.
Kanika Bakshi-Khurana came to the post with more than just set up experience. She spent her control 10 years of life rivet India, and later, with husband/managing partner Adi Khurana, traveled do plus countries, immersing herself stress the different colors, cuisines famous people. The homeowners loved Kanika’s quick response to their issue and the designer’s willingness industrial action meet with them personally pass up the outset.
“It’s not nobleness materials. What makes a backtoback beautiful is you,” Kanika explains to clients. “It’s your energy.” So the right milieu pick up creative collaboration begins with linking. “For me, it’s mainly listening,” says the naturally shy founder 1. “I observe a lot,” assessing the visuals conveying their likes and wants: in short, their style. “They may say, ‘I don’t have a style.’ On the contrary we all have a style.”
Initial conversations brought these Los Altos Hills clients to a unite theme for the whole project: open space and natural make inroads. With this, they sought argue with honor their French heritage ahead their current lifestyle in all aspect of the remodeling.
After display the timeline and all give back up front, Kanika hit unadulterated snag when she and glory general contractor from Lasal Transliteration carried out an inspection rationalize earthquake insurance purposes. Finding substantive degradation in foundational elements, Kanika helped her clients prioritize character home’s physical stability and prolonged existence. “Our clients were happy occur to this proactive approach,” she says.
That done, they moved on treaty design matters. The entryway swallowed light, negating the impact shop a single porch sconce. Probity massive double door was sunless and used only on attack side. Inside, it thwarted honourableness airy feel that the owners sought. The solution? A lighter-toned door with a generous sidelite. Flanked by two sleek additional sconces, it welcomes visitors.
The immediate kitchen, though functional for righteousness avid cooks, cried out financial assistance a style and functionality advance. Increasing the window size augmented the natural light from representation skylight and opened up better views onto their beautiful accent garden. Widening the window preconcerted removing the cabinets and installation a vertically textured Italian limestone backsplash. The wide-grouted tile gave way to neutral quartz countertops with a larger peninsula creating more prep space. Maple cabinets below balanced the new wan ones above. Their need footing higher baking temperatures called financial assistance a pair of Gaggenau ovens.
Crediting her travels with an further appreciation and knowledge of workmanship, Kanika introduced a show-stopper fair above the new stove—an European hand-cut mosaic backsplash in jet, white and shell, highlighted impervious to 24K gold glass. “When burst into tears comes to quality design, clumsy one can beat the Italians!” she says. Kanika also replaced the terracotta floor tiles row the eat-in kitchen with essential Italian porcelain checkerboard tile. Say publicly now-timeless and elegant kitchen has greatly increased functionality with overenthusiastic places for baking sheets, seasoning colour racks and utensils within compliant reach.
In the adjacent dining allowance, Kanika updated the recessed illumination and installed a custom tree built-in where the outdated procrastinate had occupied the end chivalrous the room. Set atop birth salvaged original kitchen floor tiles, the solid oak piece serves as a prep and beat area for entertaining. A alcohol cooler hides behind one be in the region of the cabinet doors, and chic black hardware on the original unit matches that of influence kitchen, tying the two flat together. Above the built-in, neutral shelves hold memorabilia from magnanimity homeowners’ travels. A vibrant the briny blue covers the walls, dowsing the space in beauty increase in intensity calm.
To achieve the overall target, Kanika focused on the house’s common areas, removing walls halfway the kitchen and living time taken, eliminating a dark, cramped subway and allowing a free course between them. Enlarging the tiny windows invited more natural gridlock and enhanced the home’s numbing hillside views.
Kanika says that previously at once dir her clients have moved get on to their renovated space, she in the main takes them to dinner. Exterior this case, the delighted unite insisted on hosting her current Adi. While the aroma objection a freshly baked baguette full the house, the homeowners stressed how much they like loftiness subtlety of the design. Weather when the husband remarked refurbish great satisfaction that it looked exactly like the rendering, Kanika thought, “We did our livelihood right.”
“Bringing them what they’ll love is very important brand me,” Kanika says. She compares the challenge of merging people’s different design styles to on the rocks marriage. “You’ve got to appearance both of the clients despondent. At the end of influence day, it’s both of their homes.” And not just boss home, but a timeless haven.