Peep inside, and you'll find a home that's minimalist yet functional, with pockets of whimsy. The interiors have intentionally been kept light, simple, and neutral to temper all the colourful and eye-catching original artwork. You won't find a single decorative panel on the walls or ceilings. For the most part, the interiors reflect a Japandi meets mid-century modern aesthetic, with slight departures in two rooms – the kitchen and the study.
To bring visual interest where elements are stark, mixed woods and mixed metals have been used throughout the home.
The furniture comprises freestanding pieces from the dwellers' previous home in Bombay, fresh pieces that they purchased to fit the new space, and vintage heirlooms from Kolkata.
They have designed their home around their comfort and the comfort of the two most important members of their household. Their cats.
The hall.
As you enter through the front door, you will see a round, 4-seater dining table, flanked on 4 sides by classic Scandinavian cafeteria dining chairs – handmade by carpenters in Kolkata.
A small bar cabinet, a large display cabinet, a standing shelf, and a shoe cabinet skirt the walls around the dining area. The dining room and kitchen, once separated by a common wall, are now open to each other via large sliding windows. These sliding windows, originally conceived to allow airflow between the two spaces is now used most opportunistically by two cats as a speedy overpass from kitchen counter to dining table, and back.
Flanking the dining area is the living room. A Nordic-inspired 3-seater couch sits facing a large TV with a freestanding entertainment unit below it. At night, a carpet is unfurled in this area, waiting to receive the behinds of tired and hungry souls who like to eat cross legged on the carpet while staring at a 65-inch screen. Speaking of the couch, it's brand new. And the day it was unpacked, its sides were used as scratching posts by the same cats mentioned earlier. So, the humans had to be creative and hide the pulled-out threads with scratching mats. Scratch away cats, scratch away.
The balcony.
Lit by the OG gaffer, the Amalfi-esque-bright front balcony offers a view of the Crescent Bay life. Here, a woman missing green thumbs grows the only thing that can survive in her care – the hardy money plant. On occasion, a folding table and some chairs make an appearance here. Primarily to elevate an ashtray and occasionally, wine. Adjacent to the litter box, another scratching post may be found – a mat strategically wrapped around an exposed drainpipe with velcro. The cats have not used it even once.
Invisible grill keeps the flying rats out and the cats in.
The corridor.
Just south of the dining and living areas is a long pathway. Perfectly sized for cat tunnels and throwing threadbare tennis balls. It's also the ideal spot to hang up artwork.
On either side of the pathway, sliding doors have replaced the standard swing doors, to prevent unexpected slamming caused by the overzealous wind gods.
The primary bedroom.
Walk to the end of the corridor, and you'll enter the "master" bedroom (with an attached bathroom). Originally, the floor was a footprint-attracting dark faux wood. It's now a light-hued and easy-to-maintain tile. Plastered with precious memories and original artwork, this is where the house's exhausted inhabitants go to sleep. To the right is a vintage writing desk, seldom used for writing, but frequently occupied by felines. A curious grid and wall-to-wall platform have been constructed above it. Dubbed *The Sushi Loft*, the cat Sushi herself is yet to hang out there. Perhaps it will be used as storage someday.
At the foot of the bed is a blanket trunk that will never contain a blanket. It serves only as a stage for the cat Bamboo to loudly announce his 3am food demands.
To the left of the room is a slim, standing wardrobe that houses all manner of pimple creams and a large bottle of gelusil. The odd perfume may be found as well. Egads! That mirror on its left is not just a mirror. It's a portal to Narnia. Just kidding. It's where chaddis are hidden away. A bona fide walk-in closet, it currently stores clothes, bags, shoes, junk jewellery and the like.
Under the bright wall-to-wall windows is a hammock for cats to languish on. So far, the cat Sushi is keener on using the suspended wires to floss her teeth.
Head out the bedroom and step left through sliding door no.1. Designed for dadimas, mummas, moms, pops, and friends who say they'll visit and then never do – this guest room's got a very cool feature. Is it a bed, is it a closet? Is it a mirror? What in the damned hell is it? It's an *invisible bed*. An engineering marvel that can transform the guest bedroom into a yoga class, a Fusspot photography studio, or the place where you force your husband to sleep because he's snoring too much – it's more than just a guest room. It's rooooom.
Lovingly placed in the guest room are 2 vintage cupboards and a very creaky old chest of drawers, which date back to 1950s Bengal. As well as an Ikea lamp from 2023 Thane.
Another hammock is suspended from the windows here. The cat Bamboo doesn't sit on the hammock. Rather, he sits under it to shade himself from the afternoon sun. The guest room too has an attached bathroom and a walk-in closet. But who really needs to see pictures of water closets and shelves in closets?
The kitchen.
Shimmy out the guest room and walk like an Egyptian diagonally down the pathway into the kitchen. Flat-front Scandinavian cabinets and grey countertops rub shoulders with colonial floors. French café inspired lighting & window treatments hobnob with farmhouse-chic shelving.
Featuring mixed woods, mixed metals, and pops of teal – it’s an attractive but functional kitchen where the cook of the house can make meals and yell out the kitchen window to anyone listening.
Right from the handmade upper cabinet knobs purchased from Etsy to the little retro tissue dispenser – you can tell it's a space that's close to the cook's heart.
The study.
Slide across the pathway from the kitchen and you'll find yourself in the study. Painted a very moody green-grey and sporting new, dark faux-wooden flooring – it functions as the gaming room *cough* home office.
All the furniture is in wood tones with grey and black metal accents. Rather than curtains, blinds have been installed here as these won't get in the way of the wall-to-wall desk below the windows.
A once-red armchair is now light grey and is friends with a boho little footstool. Let it be known that 3 cabinets and 1 lamp have made their way into the room from Ikea. Adorning the walls are photos the dweller has taken himself, although his partner picked out the photo frames because she's controlling like that.
It’s a bit industrial, a bit Scandinavian, and loads quirky. It’s a space in which someone can game, work, game, store important documents, game, display figurines, and game. All in all, it's a teenage gamer's wet dream come true, albeit the grownup edition. Seriously, just look up.
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