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Welcome to Villa Miguelito — a tropical dream home brought to life by Katie, a landscape and interior designer from California, and her husband.

What began as her husband’s idea to build a family retreat in Bali quickly turned into a creative passion project for Katie — a space where natural textures, thoughtful details, and tropical beauty come together effortlessly.

Set among jungle and river views, this 5-bedroom, 6.5-bath villa feels warm and grounded, filled with moments that make it truly special.

🌿 Design Highlights:
• A calming yoga shala with a gong, Moroccan lanterns, and kilim rug cushions
• A striking two-storey void with a glass ceiling to welcome the light and a living tree at its heart
• A kitchen made for baking and connection, with reclaimed teak cupboards and a huge island
• Floor-to-ceiling windows that open onto the river and jungle beyond
• Luxurious bathrooms with bathtubs overlooking the surrounding nature, and rain showers framed by trees
• A covered BBQ and dining pavilion, perfect for long, lazy afternoons

Outside, Katie’s love for plants and natural materials takes centre stage. Elephant ears, bougainvillea, lotus bowls, and frangipani trees wrap aro
Transcript
00:01Hi, I'm Katie. Welcome to Villa Miguelito. Come and take a peek into my paradise.
00:12So Villa Miguelito, it was my husband's idea to build in Bali.
00:19One of my goals was to create this paradise, this just respite, retreat with lots of the tropical vibe,
00:26using as many materials from the earth as possible.
00:35In the kitchen, we have a special vintage dish from China.
00:41We have these tiles that are the local lava rock.
00:49The sconces here are from a local shop.
00:54This cabinet over here is from a wonderful woman.
00:57Her name is Noor, and she just knows how to make magic.
01:01She came and she created these covers that look like they belong to the entire cabinet.
01:08I certainly didn't want to see appliances out and bold in the kitchen,
01:12so we used the same teak that we used everywhere else in the kitchen
01:16to cover the refrigerator and freezer doors.
01:19I had to have my coffee maker.
01:21It's just been a piece by piece.
01:28So we've got this open kitchen, and I'm a huge baker,
01:31so I had to have this great big countertop and space to do that.
01:35And then we found this beautiful table.
01:37You can get comfy, you can nap here, you can do whatever you want.
01:43Just back to back on this banquet, we have the family room right here.
01:47We're on this river, this magical river, and we just have the jungle all around us.
01:53We use these reclaimed teak mirrors from Lucas.
01:57The dining chairs are all from Lucas.
01:59These are vintage, spinning tops.
02:01We're here in our own paradise.
02:02We're here in California.
02:07My background in landscape design.
02:10I've flipped many houses in California.
02:12I worked on interior architecture, interior design, interior decor,
02:17and you'll see through the house how all of this just came together.
02:26All of these windows open up and become open wall.
02:29This is the living room.
02:31We wanted to have a nice little serene space over here.
02:36And then we also wanted a living room that would be big enough to house many, many people,
02:41and everybody can relax.
02:43You can sit on the floor and relax.
02:47This window came about because I love a Mondrian window.
02:51We had this stone wall behind us that has natural water coming through.
02:56So I was able to use all of these local plants like the leather ferns and the staghorns
03:02and drop in some palms.
03:09In an effort to bring outdoors indoors, I saw this great opportunity,
03:14with our two-story void area, glass ceilings.
03:18We got light.
03:19So we planted this here.
03:21It was a little baby.
03:22They grow very quickly.
03:23And they're just amazing.
03:24The canopies and how they open up.
03:27And it just makes me so happy.
03:35This is one of my husband's favorite spaces.
03:38We call it the smoking patio.
03:40And they had these little portraits and we just loved them.
03:46This house is a five bedroom, six and a half bath space.
03:51And every bedroom is faced to the outdoors.
03:54So the guest rooms are very simple.
03:56We've got beds here that are king size beds.
04:00But should people want twin beds, these platforms separate.
04:04The artwork here is a local artist and she's actually out of Spain.
04:16One of the bedrooms is also the media room.
04:19Here, come on this way.
04:20I'll show you.
04:25We've created this massive couch.
04:27It was definitely custom made.
04:29It was set up so that you could have, I don't know, six, eight people relaxing together.
04:34The wall back here is just very big and white and we have a projector.
04:39This piece pulls out and can also be more seating.
04:43This is the room the kids will want to sleep in.
04:49Just outside our cinema room, we have a covered barbecue area.
04:53The barbecue area was built to be a full kitchen.
04:56One of the reasons we did that, we have actually three full kitchens in this house,
05:00is because as a retreat center, we wanted to be able to have barbecues.
05:05We wanted to be able to have health and wellness retreat.
05:08This lighting fixture here is something that Marta designed.
05:14You'll meet my friends later, Marta and Maria.
05:17She designed it and had it fabricated locally.
05:19She's just got an amazing eye for things.
05:27The garden and pool area were a total adventure for me because I'm using materials
05:31that grow on the other side of the world from what I'm used to.
05:34So it was fantastic.
05:37Originally, it was crazy.
05:39There was a sunken living room outside.
05:41The barbecue was way over there.
05:43There was a bridge across the pool and I just thought, no, no, no, no, no.
05:46Let's simplify.
05:48The pool is definitely long enough that my husband's happy to swim laps all the time.
05:53The pergola is just iron that was rusted out and we soldered it together
05:59and created a very organic structure.
06:01We've got bougainvillea growing on it.
06:03We brought in these amazing frangipani trees.
06:06And then we've got these massive, it's called alocasia.
06:10They're the elephant ears that you'll see in just a minute.
06:13We have an outdoor shower because we wanted people to be able to rinse off
06:16and then just go sit and enjoy a barbecue or something.
06:19They have lotus flowers growing in these beautiful bowls, which I just adore.
06:24And we've had ceremony here and it was absolutely beautiful.
06:28So the people from the local community come each morning and bring blessings to the home.
06:33And everything feels like we get to do it the way people do in Bali.
06:43So let me show you the upstairs.
06:46Come with me.
06:53We're on the way to the master bedroom.
06:55You're going to have to notice that we've got these fabulous terracotta sconces.
07:00And then you can see the Madagascar almond growing up and into the void area here.
07:05Something else that I find very special is that we have our old pieces of the man and the woman
07:12together
07:12because it's always said to be a blessing to have a man and a woman at an entry
07:18as we have downstairs by the front door.
07:29So welcome to the master bedroom.
07:31This space has just had a lot of reiterations.
07:35And then I decided just to create this big open space.
07:38Originally, there was a bed and a whole built-in something.
07:40And then it was a sunken living room here.
07:43And we just wanted comfortable flow.
07:45We did not want to miss a step in the middle of the night.
07:47You know what I mean?
07:54Noor, she had shipped in this headboard from India.
07:58And I believe it was a prince or a king's bedroom.
08:02It may be folklore.
08:04I do not know, but we love to believe it.
08:07Again, it's a bedroom and I wanted to warm it up.
08:09So we put the beams in the ceiling.
08:11We also have these wonderful chairs here that are incredibly comfortable.
08:17It's a chair and a half because my husband and I like to share a chair.
08:24Now you're in the master closet.
08:26This is the wardrobe area.
08:28I overpack every time I come.
08:30People can't believe how much I bring.
08:32And my husband can pack in a backpack.
08:34But we had to accommodate both of us.
08:36So we found vintage pieces to go with new pieces.
08:40And this cabinet here is a vintage piece.
08:43I don't really know the history of it, but I fell in love with it the moment I saw it.
08:47The color is beautiful.
08:48They just had to have it and I knew exactly where it would go.
08:51So we get to enjoy it here in our wardrobe.
08:55So the master bathroom had to be something very special.
09:03We hang out in our bathroom a lot and I'll be in the bathtub.
09:06Alan will be sitting beside me and we'll be having a nice relaxing talk.
09:10That kind of thing.
09:10And we have the trees and these doors open wide.
09:14And so you've got all this natural air.
09:16Sometimes butterflies are coming in while I'm in the tub.
09:19I love Buddhas.
09:20I just do.
09:21It's just a kind of cozy warm place.
09:24The shower is very large and the tiles came in Gien Yard.
09:37This is one of my favorite areas in the house.
09:40This is our outdoor terrace attached to the master bedroom.
09:43The view is insane.
09:45And then our chaise here are sectional.
09:49I insisted on having chaises so that we can actually sleep out here if we feel like it.
09:54The fountain adds just a nice touch of the sound of water.
09:58The gardens up here have grown in beautifully and the chandelier just adds a touch of mood.
10:04When it's raining we have these roller blinds that come down and you can be outside.
10:11These are the guest bedrooms upstairs.
10:13They're all set up very similarly.
10:16Every room has the sliding glass doors that they can open and they've got their own terrace here.
10:21And then there's also a private entry on the back corridor here.
10:24We've just got a lot of flexibility around here.
10:32So this is a typical bathroom in our guest room.
10:35It's set up for everybody to have their own space.
10:38We've got these amazing bathtubs right in the window.
10:40So you can get in the tub, enjoy the view, and we've planted the planter boxes so you can have
10:44some privacy.
10:45And then these stone tables I had to bring in, I saw them in one of the yards where I
10:51had gone to look for the plant material.
10:52So we put these wood bases on the shower floor and it just really warms it up.
10:58It's a much more comfortable environment.
11:00Every bathroom has a rain shower and a handheld so that you can just be as comfortable as you'd like.
11:13This was a dream of mine, this space.
11:17And it was not in the original design of the house.
11:20I asked for a yoga shala.
11:21I'm a big yogi back in the States.
11:24And in the past when I've come, I've insisted on going to yoga every day before doing the work that's
11:29necessary to put a house like this together.
11:32Supernatural materials.
11:33It's plant material that I, I had no idea these would grow so large.
11:38Light fixtures, I just adore.
11:40I wanted to bring some Moroccan vibe into the house.
11:43We found this incredible vintage gong.
11:46We, I got my wind chimes, more lotus flowers up here.
11:51And then this, these little cushion, our Killam rugs that we got from a little shop nearby towards Dembassar.
11:58It's just been such an incredible journey.
12:00And to finish off in the yoga shala just makes me so happy.
12:04This is a total paradise for me to come up here.
12:07We've got the fountain that you can sit with.
12:10The meditation, the bamboo blowing in the wind.
12:13It's just heaven.
12:23Thank you, Bali Interiors.
12:25Thanks for taking a peek into my paradise.
12:27See you soon.
12:28You're welcome.
12:37You
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