Sassy Socialite to Modern Granola: the evolution of designer Sondra Bakinde.
Eight years ago, Sondra Bakinde woke up from a socially-conditioned catharsis of excess and luxury. She was an in-house interior designer at a leading New York City showroom by day and by night a Manhattan socialite. Growing up in New York, her life was defined by beauty and wealth, obsessed with everything beautiful, and consequently achieved undergrad and graduate degrees in studio art, interior design, and art appraisal from Tulane and Christie’s. She's since become an accomplished interior designer, painter, glassblower, and lover of everything classic.
It was about 10 years into her career when Sondra recognized the deep, dark underbelly of the beast that is the interior design industry. She watched designers and architects routinely fill homes, offices, and hotels with toxic and harmful substances. In a world of seemingly beautiful furnishings that contain toxic chemicals and damaging materials like formaldehyde, she was hurt on a fundamental level. Her loyalty to health and wellness has been integral to her development as an artist and has paved a road to holistic revival. She felt like a fraud, like she was selling a lie.
Disenchanted by mainstream manufacturing, Sondra began to research eco-friendly furnishings and dived deep into the world of LEED and green standards. She knew that to fully follow her dharma, she would have to leave her city and industry and begin a journey of development for herself and the birth of her own atelier. She spent the next two years traveling the world.
Her adventure started relatively locally, at Niagara Falls. There is something magnetic about the power of water that draws millions of spectators every year, she noted. She stood there with the cold spray on her face and the breeze in her hair for what felt like an eternity. She felt alive.
Next, she headed to Plymouth, Massachusetts, where the first American settlers landed. She was struck by the simplicity of the shaker-style homes and the longevity of confident construction. Homes should be built to last and the interiors designed to grow with the people within.
By the new year, she was in Paris and the French countryside. From the cobblestone Hausman streets to the countless Museums, she spent months wandering the country with her sketchpad, meandering down the Champs Élysées and drawing what she saw and felt.
Spring brought her to Cameroon. As she flew over the sprawling Sahara, she felt small. She spent weeks touring the country and when she arrived in Omeng, the small jungle village where her husband was raised, she felt like she was finally home. Mud Huts arose from the landscape like sprouting plants. Nature was abundant and humanity was one with Gaia. Thinking back to the concrete jungle which she called home, she felt at peace.
For the next months, Sondra hiked through the jungles of the Virgin Islands, practiced yoga on mountain tops, island-hopped on sailboats, explored the fjords of Norway, embarked on overland adventures up waterfalls until finally landing in London, Salisbury, and Stonehenge.
Not surprisingly, she soon found herself back in Milan—the land of furniture, fashion, and finance—for Salone del Mobile. Hesitant to return so quickly to her old life, she instead ducked out to Switzerland on the Berni Express.
Sondra's journey was defined by inspiration from nature and tranquility. The colors, the palettes, and the textures all came together to reaffirm her immense love for natural design. Once she arrived back in the City, she started LYTE Design Studio in an effort to offer her clients interior design and lifestyle consultation in accordance with a natural and healthful aesthetic and form. LYTE, or "Limit Your Toxic Exposure," became the mantra for her new life and work. LYTE is a team of industry leaders, each specializing in niche services and lifestyles that provide clientele completely holistic approaches to living. LYTE Design Studio combines all aspects of interior and exterior design with a re-imagination of the self-focusing on health and wellness.
This was her journey, and she wants to make it yours as well.