The 740 sqft apartment, designed by Natasha Naik of Studio Aline, is a picture of sheer elegance and vibrancy.
Image: Ishita Sitwala, The Fishy Project
Home Profile
The Home: Private Family
Location: Mumbai
Area: 740 sqft
Rooms: Living, Master Bedroom, Kid’s Room, Kitchen
Design Firm: Studio Aline
Designers: Natasha Naik and Shahid Merchant
Decor: Timeless Elegance
Every home speaks to the personality of its inhabitants. And who wouldn’t love their place to feel a little more spacious, bright and warm? Studio Aline’s recent project is a true example of designing a home with the clever usage of space and furniture. “The design of this home revolves around maximizing sunlight, minimizing clutter and forming a calm, timeless aesthetic with muted tones and subtlety,” shares Natasha Naik, who co-founded the studio with Shahid Merchant. The design process started with breaking down the walls to make the space look bigger. Wooden flooring tiles and shades of white-run uniformly in the entire house giving it a sense of continuity. This enabled the designers to explore different vibes in each room, yet keeping a sense of belonging in the same space. The apartment also welcomes enough sunlight and cross-ventilation from east and west-facing windows. “We wanted to have mid-century inspired interiors with subtle hints of eclecticism here and there. The overall feel of the home should be timeless,” says Natasha.
Image: Ishita Sitwala, The Fishy Project
The existing layout of the home had divided the entry passage, kitchen and living room with two brick walls. The designers broke down the walls and added a partition made of teak wood and fluted glass. The all-white walled living room boasts of an assortment of carefully designed furniture. The style-icon of the room is the L-shaped sofa that fits in the space beautifully and blends well with the wooden bench and the mustard yellow seat, the oval centre table and the off-white chair. These furniture pieces portray a poetic balance of upholstery and teak wood, and all of them stand on legs, raised from the floor to maximize the visual floor space. The small extension of the living room features a chair cum daybed, adding an additional sleeping area in the home.
Image: Ishita Sitwala, The Fishy Project
The cookhouse perfectly captures the sunlight from the living room. The designer has given a white look to the kitchen with a composite marble countertop, the book-matched Carrara marble backsplash and a white cook-top. The taupe coloured cabinets with copper handle perfectly blend in the white space. To break the monotony of this otherwise minimal space, the designers added a copper sink and faucets. The kitchen fits in it a washing machine, microwave, fridge and extended breakfast counter with bar-style seating.
Image: Ishita Sitwala, The Fishy Project
The real challenge was to make the master bedroom look spacious while accommodating a red oak queen-size bed, side tables, a set of chairs and a table for seating. “We went ahead with a white room, a white wardrobe with mirrored panels which gave the illusion of a bigger space and the wardrobe looked like a feature in itself,” explains Natasha. To complement the white walls, the designers added colours through furnishings and upholstery. The suede headboard in light beige, pink velvet chairs and soft flowing curtains in two-tone colours were added to bring out a welcoming and lively feel.
Image: Ishita Sitwala, The Fishy Project
The kids’ room needed clever planning since the room was shared by two brothers of different ages. The designers wanted to create a playful yet formal space that was accessible to both. The wardrobe separates the two beds, and the wooden flooring merges well with the bed and the wardrobe, seemingly increasing floor space. A huge round mirror makes the space look brighter and more spacious. A single piece of wood forms a long, tapering study table complementing the wooden handles. And the black and white striped headboards and window blinds add that much-needed quirk to this space.
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