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The Kōrner Approach

A letter from Yukie,

In my childhood, all I wanted to do was sit in the corner and build dioramas out of empty boxes of soap, cookies, seasonal gifts… that my mom would keep for me. I made a world of sea, a world of safari, a world of… homes. I'd apply what my ikebana (Japanese flower arrangement) teacher would say: "There's no right or wrong. You place things where they seem the happiest to be."

I haven’t always chosen the easiest way to go. My life can be brutally hard from time to time. It can be chaotic to the point nothing feels in order. But I know after these storms pass, when I look back, it's a meaningful part of my story. I design the stage of my life intentionally. So the background of my chaotic life is always tasteful. And I always have a quiet corner where I can sit calmly to ground myself, to remind myself that I'm already in this beautifully happy life.

I do the same for my clients' homes. So many of you wait — thinking you'll design your home once life slows down, once everything finally feels in order. But there's no more perfect time to start designing your life's background than now. Embrace the mess, and we'll incorporate it into the design. So it can leave beautiful scars and patina. So you'll collect those tender moments in your memory. So you'll have a corner to return to, sit quietly, and enjoy the beautiful life you're already living — and go on to make more of those moments.

After all, I've been building worlds from corners my whole life.

Come find yours.

— Yukie

A woman with short hair wearing a denim jacket and a watch, sitting by a window with her head resting on her hand, smiling at the camera.

Wherever she goes, Yukie makes a home — anchored to nothing, at home everywhere.

Yukie Hikita Kuznets was born and raised in Hokkaido, Japan, in a family steeped in Japanese tradition — tea ceremony, flower arrangement, calligraphy, and the rhythm of seasonal celebrations. From this, she absorbed an instinct for the beauty of negative space and the beauty that lives in the pauses.

Adventurous by nature, she moved to San Francisco and found beauty everywhere — in the air, around the corners, in people living their lives with struggle and grace. San Francisco became her home away from home, and it's where her heart still lives and designs with passion, even after relocating her family to St. Louis, Missouri, to care for her husband and two children.

Begin Your Design Journey

With Yukie, by designing moments of peace and glimmers of joy within everyday life.

Kōrners of Joy, Designed with Intention

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