A Mumbai apartment filled with colours of nature

Eight Degree Design House fills this dream home for a retired couple with bright warm light and colours of nature.

Curated by: Deepa Nair
Photographs: Anish Padalkar; courtesy Eight Degree Design House

The brief

A retired couple met interior designer Chrisann Rodrigues, who heads the Mumbai-based Eight Degree Design House, with a simple and well-etched out brief. They wanted their 750-square-foot apartment in suburban Mumbai — located on the 13^th floor of a high-rise and overlooking the beautiful Borivali National Park — to transform into their dream home. The couple wanted this apartment to be a refuge from the hustle and bustle of Mumbai, not just for them, but also for their extended family who were frequent visitors.

The design intent

The overriding design concept was to envelope the apartment in colours of nature (as the couple ordered) taking inspiration from the lush green landscape of the park along hues like beige, yellow, salmon and even pink. “Our holistic approach allowed us to completely transform the space to a warm, nourishing and comfortable space for the entire family and extended family to enjoy,” says Chrisann.

The civil intervention

The design team integrated the living-dining and balcony into one seamless space, which brings in natural light abundantly into all these areas. After this reworking, the entrance opens up into the living-dining room, with the kitchen right opposite the dining. A small corridor serves as the entryway to the powder washroom and the two bedrooms. Additionally, all the existing finishes were ripped off for new wall treatment and finishes.

The design highlights

The house is filled with memories… in the form of pictures from family albums, which are framed and displayed on the walls of all the rooms. Some furniture and wall treatments were specially designed for this project — the arm Chair in the living Room has a Houndstooth pattern in yellow, which was sourced from Bharat Furnishings; the wallpaper in the guest bedroom has a custom print from Design by Metamorph and an antique wardrobe wallpaper from Life n Colors which graces the show-stopper old wardrobe in the master bedroom.

“The main concept for this space started with the client sharing a picture of an antique wardrobe that she wanted to bring into this home. This was the only old furniture piece that she wanted to bring in. We decided to make it the highlight of in the master bedroom by changing the old mirrors on the shutters to wallpaper, and re-polishing it to match the wooden tones of the room,” explains Chrisann.