An urban residence in Mumbai, designed by Sheena Chhabria is off-set by neutral white with tinges of gold, among many other highlights depicting depth and detail.
“Design is justified when a house is transformed into a walkway of beauty combined with grace and personal style detailed with balancing elements of colour, light, energy and textures,” beams Sheena Chhabria, chief architect of Sheena Inc.
A bookstand in a fluid design satisfies the love of reading of the family members.
Her style of work is hands-on as she personally designs, sources and styles every piece of furniture, besides doing the walls, doors, windows etc; this incorporates a one-of-a-kindness in all her projects. Her recently completed residence in Khar, Mumbai stands as a clear testimony to this.
This 4BHK apartment with an area of 2500 sq ft belongs to a well travelled couple who live in it along with their child and mother. “An important element that I as a designer needed to consider was seamlessly incorporating the tastes of multiple generations in their respective bedrooms while leaving the common areas like the den, living room, terrace, dining area, bar, among others, more serene and multi functional to suit everybody in the house,” said Sheena.
“The brief given by the couple was to involve lots of beautiful elements which would give a sense of continuity to the entire space. My first interaction with my clients made me realise that there was a lot of love involved here and so I included several elements that indicated love, harmony and peace throughout the space,” she explained further.
The entry foyer outside the home gives a preview of the beauty that lies within. The lights mounted on the wall and majestic lanterns are warm, inviting and regal. Inside the home, one is first greeted by a bright red edge table which is the colour of love and a luminous living area which is made to look larger by enclosing the terrace. The entire living space is left uncrowded to allow the owners to fill it up with collectables from their past travels. Not just that, the area is built in a manner to allow the family to also use it for holding parties, practicing yoga and allowing the child enough space to play to his heart’s content.
The terrace, which remains the highlight of the house, gives out a different vibe at different times of the day. The area is essentially given a very spiritual Zen-like feel with an idol of Buddha, an elegant console and flooring which is Satwario marble embellished with angel wings in mother of pearl inlay. It has a glass ceiling and windows large enough to allow enough natural light during the day giving it a fresh feeling. This space opens into the bar. The ceiling has been carved into a classic dome with concealed LED lighting which casts dramatic patterns of shadow and light and turns it into a party area.
The dining area has an angel chandelier with three angels showing different expressions and emotions depicting protection provided from the doors of heaven. “The dining table has two classic legs and two modern contemporary legs; this creates a link between the old world majestic look and a clean straight lined structure and depicts the harmony present between the members of the different age groups,” justified Sheena.
The flooring throughout the home seems to gleam with a life and light of its own, a result of the exquisitely done lighting. The apartment sees extensive use of gold in both gloss and matt finish at different areas like the ceiling in the living and doors next to the dining. Cream and grey reign supreme, with gold tones; these set off the understated elegance of the den and TV room of the house. The neon mirror and the red round couch introduce effective pops of colour. The light fittings, carvings and soft furnishings all further this design element.
“These articles and individual pieces were all manufactured in-house with materials like mild steel and fiberglass. The products were first made in clay, disposable moulds were then created and finally the items were casted with an ideal mix,” said Sheena who remained quite elated by the end result. The designer has followed colour psychology in all the four bedrooms of the house – grey in the couple’s bedroom for modernity, bright colours of neon blue and green in the kid’s bedroom for energy, pink in the guest bedroom for love and warmth and beige and orange in the mother’s bedroom for serenity.
Sheena was aiming for the classic timeless appeal with elements of love and harmony. She has certainly achieved what she set out to do, with every room treated differently and yet the overall effect remaining that of welcome.
Text By Nikita Peer
Photographs Courtesy The Architect
Contact
email: incsheena@gmail.com
