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A gorgeous, high-end day spa, cafe, and boutique in West Hollywood, with absolutely no pretension? Welcome to Kinara.
What happens when a Yugoslavian skincare expert teams up with a renowned French restaurateur? Kinara Spa, Cafe, Cadeaux is born. Friends Olga Lorencin-Northrup and Christine Splichal opened Kinara, the Hindi word for "on the edge," in West Hollywood, CA, in October of 2002. Lorencin-Northrup, an esthetician with Ole Henriksen for 15 years, decided it was time to open her own spa and start her own product line. Splichal, co-founder (with husband and master chef Joachim Splichal) of the famed Patina Group (which includes Patina, Pinot, Nick & Stef's, and Zucca restaurants and Patina Catering), wanted to create her own spin on spa cuisine and offer unusual, high-end home products in the boutique. Visitors to Kinara are welcomed into a cheerful, energetic, hospitable atmosphere, set against a perfectly edited assortment of expert treatments, fine foods, and beautiful products that come from the owners' years of experience and devotion to their fields of study.
Creating an interior evocative of Eastern Indian, Balinese, and French decor, interior designer Caroline McLean realized the owners' dreams of a fun, colorful, festive atmosphere. "We wanted it to feel more like the tropics where it's warm, relaxing, and upbeat," says Lorencin-Northrup. "While I appreciate Zen decor when it's the real deal, we are far from Zen and so are our clients."
McLean followed this approach in the decor. "We didn't want to be too careful or too serious," says McLean. "We didn't want the design to feel stuffy. It's fun, young, hip, and chic." The 5,000-square-foot location is a palette of warm earth tones on the walls with bursts of reds and tangerines or blues and greens, depending on the room....