The request was not out of the ordinary for designer Lisa Kanning. Her clients had been on vacation in Turks and Caicos when she received the call that they were thinking about purchasing a home on the island. “I hopped on a flight the next day,” says New York City–based Kanning, who had worked on the couple’s home in Philadelphia. “We spent a day or two looking at homes, but this one had the greatest potential.”
The request was not out of the ordinary for designer Lisa Kanning. Her clients had been on vacation in Turks and Caicos when she received the call that they were thinking about purchasing a home on the island. “I hopped on a flight the next day,” says New York City–based Kanning, who had worked on the couple’s home in Philadelphia. “We spent a day or two looking at homes, but this one had the greatest potential.”
The location of the single-family home with an adjacent caretaker’s cottage was ideal. Situated oceanfront with expansive beach and water views from nearly every room in the home, the property, named Terrapin Villa, boasted a house with an open layout and a floor plan that seamlessly combined outdoor living with the indoors. As frequent entertainers, Kanning’s clients wanted the decor to be as easy as the layout was for hosting guests. And for them, that meant starting from scratch.
The house came fully furnished and dressed in what Kanning calls a traditional island aesthetic—dark, carved wood, wicker accents, and bold, oversize, floral patterns—but the homeowners were looking for something different for their island abode.
“My clients have a much more modern, funky sensibility,” she says. “They wanted color but in a more modern sense.” Though it was a departure from the interiors of their Philadelphia home, which skew more traditional with a modern touch throughout, Kanning knew that minimal furnishings with clean lines would allow the breathtaking views to be the main attraction. After living with the existing furnishings for some time, save a few updates that Kanning made while they were in limbo, the clients finally decided to renovate the home and essentially “gut it,” says Kanning. “They wanted to get rid of the dark wood and the heavy look and create a lighter, easier aesthetic.”
Once the home was renovated, a move which included the addition of classic Spanish mahogany wood trim throughout, Kanning had the interiors painted white. The paint choice would serve as the ideal blank canvas to showcase not only the newly-installed clean-lined modern interiors and bold hues, but also the stunning water views. “We were inspired by the colors from outdoors: blues and corals— everything you’d see if you looked outside,” says Kanning of the color palette. “Using those colors really maximized the indoor-outdoor feel the clients wanted.”
Knowing that the homeowners and their guests would spend most of their time in the main living space, keeping the seamless flow from inside to out was of the utmost importance. So Kanning designed multiple seating arrangements overlooking the expansive lanai, which lines the entire back of the villa. Back-to-back sofas by HBF Furniture are swathed in a durable, neutral fabric and are separated by a console to allow for plenty of seating and easy conversation.
Island Rebirth
Hurricane Irma ravaged the Caribbean in late summer, 2017, leaving many of the islands—Antigua, Barbuda, and the British Virgin Islands to name a few—completely devastated. Turks and Caicos was also hit badly by the category 4 hurricane; however, it recovered quickly and most of the island’s top resorts are now open. One of the highlights: the Gansevoort Villas & Resort. The six stunning villas are now available for rent and boast sleek, modern interiors with infinity-edge pools, sunken outdoor fire pits, over-the-water swimming platforms, interior courtyards with waterfall feature, and exclusive access to the nearby ninety-one-room Gansevoort Resort.
To add pops of color, throw pillows in blues and corals and varying textures were added while white coffee tables and accent swivel chairs also by HBF Furniture complete the look. 
In lieu of a formal dining room, Kanning created a dining area that bleeds into the family room. “Most of my clients want more informal dining, especially in secondary resort homes,” she says. To highlight the space, Kanning added an inset concrete seating area, which she covered in a bold coral wall-covering. The designer finished the space with a large wood table, all-white modern-line dining chairs, and a custom light fixture by CP Lighting.
To complement the mahogany architectural detailing inside, Kanning added Spanish cedar on the exterior trim work and pergolas to create a seamless transition from inside to out. Chaises and other outdoor furnishings in a similar wood complete the look.
After a large renovation and Kanning’s installed modern look, the home is now more modern and accessible to its stunning setting. “Updating this home made all the difference when it comes to the views and landscape,” says Kanning. “Before, the interiors distracted from those views. Now, they are the primary thing you see.”
Kanning created two separate seating areas to make for seamless entertaining. A custom headboard swathed in a vinyl fabric serves as a stunning backdrop to the space. A rich coral, woven, vinyl wall-covering is dramatic in the dining nook. The homeowners wanted an oversize kitchen island to fit several people so that “no one is relegated to the kitchen by themselves,” says Kanning.
Article by Homebydesign.