Project Type : 2 BHK
Project Area : 1600 sq. ft.
Project Location : Bangalore

The home owners were looking to make a home that brought in some freshness in the midst of the concrete jungle that they lived in. In an ever bustling city like Bangalore, they wanted a place to go back to, that felt tranquil yet evolved from their quirky taste.

In a high rise building that they bought an apartment in, where outdoor spaces are compact and openness to the environment and landscaping was a challenge, the only way to bring in the impression of nature was to style the house with a contemporary tropical approach. When they onboarded us to design the home for them, we knew very well that the home needed a colour palette of the real tropics that breathe life into the space. Bold shades that tightly connect to the elements of nature and use of materials like wicker and timber would bring about a rich look to the design.

We created our version of the contemporary tropical style where unadorned details and clean lines rendered the home tranquil and added accents to play up the progressiveness of design that made the home look chic at the same time. The end result – a home that’s simple, breezy, and naturally relaxing.

This 2BHK home opens up into a petite foyer space where we intentionally kept the furniture minimum but did not shy away in detailing the lone unit with intricate patterns made with vegan bone inlays. The stark black base colour of the console and the high contrast white patterns made the console look super interesting. To bring in the warmth of the tropics, we designed the ceiling with banana fibre cloth framed neatly in timber trims. Another engaging element is the clay wall decor above the console. We customised the set from a specialist creator, who carved out snippets from the life of the clients as they wished to see. Such an interesting little story packed into this small space that is only a prelude into their life really.

Looking into the living, what we wanted to achieve was a mood shift. We wanted a zone that was everything bright and cheery – completely in sync with the personalities of our clients. The view from the foyer is rich in terms colour and is designed with abundance of elements that keep the eye moving around. A large mirror framed with live edged wood welcomes you into the living, multiplying light into the foyer and working up a charm with its mere presence. At the rear end of the living, we gave the plant loving clients a bit of the tropics with wallpaper framed into segments. This brought in the greens and prints that complimented the solid coloured upholstery we chose for the furniture here. A beautiful burnt orange sectional takes much of the space and we paired it with a single armchair in a colour blending with the tropics. The bold choice of colours brings in a freshness that we did not want to underplay. We chose to have a coffee table that worked well with the bright colours and black was a natural choice. And the cherry on top literally was the wicker winged fan that did complete justice to the style of the home.

Behind the living is the dining zone and we designed this place to balance the burst of bright tones in the living. The dining area had 2 doors on one wall that led to the guest room and powder bathroom. We wanted to avoid these visual disruptions on the wall so we panelled it out with camouflage doors that helped us achieve a seamless looking wall. While moodboarding the space we knew we wanted a muted stone top for the dining table and have simple looking chairs to pair with this. However, to ensure the setup still looks quirky, we customised a fabric with lush flora for the chair upholstery and designed solid wood legs for the dining table where we manually chipped out elongated pieces to give it a look that’s raw and rustic. The modest set up here had pompous chandelier looking down at it – a statement piece we custom created in collaboration with The wicker story. The massive cane piece was done with a shape that flowed into seams like a river, covering almost the entire length of the dining table. And the impact is impeccable.

At one corner we also had a bar unit and its design was inspired by the unruly foliage of the dense woods. Looking beautiful in black (we stained the wood texture with black) we carved out tropical leaves from the top in varying shapes and hues, detailed gorgeously, making a pretty handsome statement. Our final detail here went into the curtain design where we added a black stripe running through it and bordered it with wooly tassels that looked like fur.

The petite kitchen is designed in theme. We made unconventional choices of using a blue stained wood grained finish, paired with a raw looking wood finish. And things take a bold turn with the stark black scalloped backsplash we decided to use. With a compact space at our disposal we tried to maximise every inch of it, packing it with accessories that enhance the functionality. Interestingly, we took the storage above the counter to be ceiling high to make appropriate vertical usage of the space and to increase its accessibility we custom designed a foldable ladder that is built into the base cabinetry that unfolds open when needed.

We also had a little balcony attached to the dining area and no compromises were made to make this look its equal part to the home. We reworked on the flooring to give it a dark base for the beachy bamboo accents to be highlighted beautifully. The floor tiles were chosen in a combination of a heavy patterned centre with a simpler border with both patterns having little floret inlays working beautifully together. A swing, bamboo armchair and live edge wooden end table make up the furniture, filling up the space yet working just perfectly for the family to spend time together in balcony against the backdrop of the sky and the cityscape.

As we walk into the Master Bedroom we go past the closet space to then go to the bed space. The closet area has a single line of wardrobe that end with the dressing mirror. We chose to bring in banana fibre on the closet shutter and detailed it with wooden beading. This gets in the tropical warmth in the space.

Moving further in, the room opens up to a beautifully done corner where we designed a chaise and tufted it with the most gorgeous opera mauve colour. Standing purposefully behind it is the handcrafted spindle base floor lamp and an area rug we customised, which completes this cozy set up. We love working up little details that really paint a picture about the occupants and hence we opted to custom make dainty details of plants and flowers on the sheer as well. The natural light passing through the sheer plays beautifully with this embroidery. We also decided to colour block this entire zone, wall and ceiling, to separate the area from the bed zone. We wanted the wall behind the bed to speak of tropics and landscapes, but wanted to tone it down to keep the space looking restful. So we dominant subtle shades and some greens, we got an artist onboard to paint us the mural. In front of this gorgeous backdrop is our bed where the headboard is done in a darker mauve tone and we included concentric stitch details around the border. The night stands next to it on either side are contrast pieces in black designed to attribute the space functionally. Right in front of the bed sits a chest of drawers that are an extension of the nightstand design and add in that extra storage one always needs. What also really gives us a deeper insight into the life of the clients, is the wall decor we commissioned for them. This one has a fabric base that incorporates delicate stitches to form a picture. It speaks of the client’s love for Greece, sea, coffee and good times. This decor wraps the room in the other corner and adds perfectly to the master bedroom.

The other bedroom works as a multifunctional room where it houses the entertainment unit, has a cozy window seat that works as a reading nook, a sofa cum bed makes the space as a convertible bedroom , and it has a study desk as well. But even with so many elements packed in this room, the room is everything fresh and pleasant. The reason – we kept the furniture clean lined, used the prettiest powder blue to coat the walls and ceiling making the room look tasteful.

We designed the entertainment unit with tambour shutters in wooden flutes and to match this style seamlessly, we made louvered shutters for the wardrobe framing the window. The study table is a simple desk where we used banana fibre at the leg base, bringing in homogeny throughout the home. We added a massive mirror framed with wood and banana fibre and this sits right opposite the window, maximising the light immensely, thus making the room feel brighter and bigger.