Hot Take
December 9, 2021
Hot Take: Designer Nike Onile Shares What She’s Coveting Now
Designer Nike Onile made her mark with The Apt by 800 Sq Ft, a shoppable apartment concept in Toronto. She now leads Studio Ode, and has a feature exhibition in the city’s 2022 Nuit Blanche festival. “There’s value in creating safe spaces that pour back into us,” says Nike.
Here, Nike Onile shares her design preferences and predictions.
Mood you’d like to create in a house: A sense of wellness and security.
Current inspiration: Marrakech. It has a vibrancy that rings so loud your body remembers it well after you’ve left. The Jnane Tamsna hotel is a must-stay.
How you decorate for the holidays: A cozy but minimalist winter vibe accented with scents of bergamot and black spruce, and ’90s holiday albums playing on repeat.
Design motto: To create spaces that feel full, each of the senses must be nourished.
Lush yellow upholstery and high-contrast art ground Community restaurant, which Nike designed in collaboration with Danielle Nicholas Bryk.
Key influence on design trends: Round, soft-edged feminine forms, plants with personality like homegrown avocado trees or ficus Audreys, and comfortable minimalism — spaces that feel light and spacious but lend themselves to lounging.
Pictured above is a rowhouse in Toronto’s Cabbagetown neighborhood designed by Nike.
If you could only buy one more thing for your home: I’ve been eyeing the Ame lounge chair by Toronto’s Studio Paolo Ferrari and Japanese textile artist Hiroko Takeda (pictured). If there’s a chair that personifies the life of the party — envious hair, wondrous tales of sleepless nights under the stars in the Sahara — it’s this one.
Into: Natural fibre statement pieces such as Caralarga wall hangings and Ben & Aja Blanc’s mirrors.
Over: Fast-fashion interiors, all-white kitchens and shades of gray.
Nike has her eye on the high-gloss Luco table (pictured), which is anything but boring with its vibrant colorways. It’s also handmade in France.
House & Home November 2021