About the founder

Hina Khalil

For a large part of my life, I was busy being a homemaker and employing my creative juices in managing my home. I have been an avid fan of home decor since my teenage years where I would spend my pocket money sprucing up corners of my home. From the furniture to the little accouterments I use to decorate the house, you will find a touch of personalisation (most of my furniture has been built in front of my eyes employing local carpenters!). It helped that living in Delhi, I was centrally placed from three important industrial towns in the neighboring state from where I would source my personal crockery, glassware and metal-ware. I had built a strong rapport with small artisans and factories in these regions and they too took great interest in the prototypes I would ask to design there.

It wasn't until 2011 that I had my own eureka moment and decided to work on my own range. Interestingly, my husband hails from a small town near Delhi widely known for its ceramic ware. The workers and factory owners treated me like family and helped me develop a lovely range of aromatherapy burners. This was soon picked up by a prominent decor company. I have always maintained that my products are handcrafted, but will never compromise on quality. This one rule helped me expand my business to major luxury home decor brands in India. There was no looking back once I started developing various range- from ceramic to metalware and saw these getting accepted by customers. I realised that designs which were the closest to my heart made my customers most happy. Soon I donned my entrepreneurial hat and made a business model for my company, Kohana Homes (Kohana in Japanese means a budding flower).

I work with 5 manufacturers dealing in mixed media home decor and am currently working on an extensive range of luxury candles that combine traditional Indian designs with fragrances found in spices and flowers in the Indian subcontinent. My designs reflect my rich cultural heritage and derives influence from Indo-Persian art pieces.