STYLE
F AV O R I T E T H I N G S
Lisa Loushin Kroskin’s
FAVORITE THINGS THE DESIGNER’S PICKS EMBODY HER TWO WORLDS: EAST MEETS MIDWEST. BY CHRIS LEE
IT’S NOT SURPRISING THAT LISA LOUSHIN KROSKIN, OWNER OF HAUTE KITCHENS
and Interiors, is best known as a kitchen designer. She loves space planning and making the most of every inch, plus she’s an accomplished cook. And now that most kitchens are open to other spaces, her business has naturally evolved to encompass the rest of the house, too. Her affinity for kitchens began early in her life’s journey from Seoul, South Korea, where she spent the first 10 years of her life, to Babbitt, Minnesota, where she spent the next 10. Her Korean childhood ended suddenly and tragically when she lost both parents to cancer. She and three of her five siblings (aged two to 18) were adopted and — speaking no English — began the transformation to landlocked Minnesotans. She recalls the shock of switching from flavorful, colorful Korean cuisine to oft bland Iron Range/Scandinavian fare. “Our diet was white on white, and seasoning was optional,” she says wryly. “As I got older, I figured out I needed to learn to cook.” Loushin Kroskin wasn’t set on a design career. In fact, isolated in northern Minnesota, she had never heard the term “interior designer.” But her mother, observing her penchant for redecorating her room and rearranging furniture, encouraged her to consider the field. It was a perfect fit, and she’s been practicing her craft for more than 30 years (the past 14 as a mostly solo act). Along the way, Loushin Kroskin realized her background helped shape her adaptability. “Which, as a designer, translates into adapting for my clients,” she notes. Her unique East-meets-Midwest experience also informs her favorites.
1 | Space to Design “The kitchen, by far!” she exclaims. “Cooking is how I decompress at the end of a busy day.” She passed this passion on to her children, and when her grown sons visit from Duluth, they make meals together. Designing beautiful kitchens makes the most of her talents. “If you’re a cook — or even if you aren’t — you need the space to function really well,” she adds. She also loves the hard materials that go into the hearth of the home: cabinetry, fixtures, hardware, stone and tile.
One of her favorites is French artist Denis Lebecq, whom she and her husband discovered in a Carmel, California, gallery as they drove the Big Sur coastline.
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Artful Living
PHOTOGRAPHY BY STEPHEN VOEGELI AND DREW GRAY
2 | Artist