Mumbai Houzz: A 900-Sq-Ft Colaba Home Gets a Retro Makeover

No clutter, a neutral colour scheme and an old-world charm underline the design of this Mumbai apartment

Aditi Sharma Maheshwari 4 December 2017

Houzz India Editorial Staff. I am also a blogger and I contribute short stories for anthologies that cover new Indian writing. I am a full time dog mom, I draw/sketch sometimes and am a big Jazz & Blues enthusiast.

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Houzz at a Glance
Who lives here: Jaya Ramchandani, her mother and brother
Location: Mumbai
Year built: 2014
Size: 84 square metres (900 square feet); 2 bedrooms; 2 bathrooms
Interior designer: Ravi Vazirani, founder, Ravi Vazirani Design Studio

A non-cluttered look and a restrained colour palette help create an illusion of more space in this small apartment. “This house, on the 29th floor of an old highrise in Colaba, belongs to a friend, Jaya Ramchandani, who lives here with her mother and her brother. It wasn’t renovated since the ’80s, almost as if stuck in time. The first time I visited the house, it reminded me of my childhood days, the summers of the ’80s, filled with Rasna and Parle G … it had such a vintage, throwback vibe. The budget was tight while the brief was open and flexible. I decided to maintain the old-style charm and give it a slightly current appeal,” Ravi Vazirani of Ravi Vazirani Design Studio says.

Photos by Suleiman Merchant

ravi vazirani design studio

The front door of the home opens into the sun-kissed living room. The panoramic view of the sea and the flooring that reflects its colours take centre stage. Less is definitely more here and the simplicity in form, space, materiality and detail radiates a Zen-like appeal.

The room has just a few pieces of carefully chosen furniture. A small study unit abuts the neutral coloured couch. The large wood-and-metal TV unit is painted a soft green in Duco finish to match the floor, cutting down its visual bulkiness, and making the unit look light.

The entire home sports exposed mild steel (MS) pipes that act as electrical conduits, to avoid the costs of false ceilings. As a bonus, the patterns and accents of the creatively set out conduiting form a unique feature of the home. “The basic casing patti [the angular white plastic casing usually used as conduits] was given a miss and the MS pipes were laid out in a neat, clean way, reflective of the ’80s style, adding to the aesthetic appeal of the space,” Vazirani says. The panoramic view of the sea and flooring that reflects its colours take centre stage in the living room.

“Driven by the need for the home to be budgeted yet chic, we went ahead with an industrial decor style. Although there were a lot of structural renovations that needed to take place here, the budget didn’t allow us the luxury to take on a lot. So we just went ahead with what needed to be done. We redid the windows to expand on the views of the sea and sourced a lot of furniture from Chor Bazaar. If I had to define it, this home’s redesigning was like a marriage of need meets design; form meets function.”

Flooring: Bharat Floorings; paints: Asian Paints; lights: Ikea

ravi vazirani design studio

The study table was repainted and placed close to the window for a sea view. Here, too, the exposed conduits add a touch of vintage charm to this living-room vignette.

Here’s how you can create beautiful vignettes in the bedroom

ravi vazirani design studio

“The corner next to the window is accentuated by an old-style chair, which can be replaced with a jhoola that can either be suspended or removed from the beam above,” Vazirani says. The white shell of the home allows ample sunlight to bounce around the room, making it seem like a large, airy and rejuvenating space.

ravi vazirani design studio

The green-and-grey geometric flooring continues into the dining room too, giving a seamless grace to the home, making all areas seem like one open space. This is the one defining feature common to much of this otherwise single-toned, neutral home, lending colour, character and unity to its spaces.

The door in front of the seating area leads to the kitchen. The non-bulky dining area allows plenty of walking space around it and makes the room seem larger than it really is. “The pendants suspended above were sourced from Chor Bazaar,” Vazirani says.

Dining table: Le Mill; reupholstered dining chairs: Godrej

Wondering what your dining table style is?

ravi vazirani design studio

The white walls and the clean, straight lines of the furniture and lights make the wall portraits stand out. “Jaya is a wonderful photographer and most of my interior designing work incorporates the use of a lot of art, too. So we decided to use her pictures all over the house to give a warm, lived in, familiar look to all areas,” Vazirani says.

ravi vazirani design studio

A small corridor leads to the two bedrooms. The doors of the bedrooms and kitchen are in ribbed glass. “I chose to use this material so that light could pass through the doors and illuminate the dining area. Given its location in the house, the space does not otherwise receive a lot of natural light,” Vazirani says.

ravi vazirani design studio

The neutral-toned bedroom has an understated tranquil vibe that is reflective of a bygone era. Take, for instance, the Chandigarh chair, vintage switches (sourced, again, from Chor Bazaar) and the tiny wooden stool that together kindle an old-world spirit. “This space is completely tiled in Kota stone – a material I tend to use a lot. We also needed to use it because there was so much seepage in the house and this is the only material that can suit such conditions,” Vazirani says. A large window here, covered with smart, striped blinds, overlooks the serene outdoors. The only colour that peeks out from the monotone scheme is the teal bedding.

“I’ve noticed this funny pattern in my projects where some of the works that I least expect to get attention and feedback get a lot of it. This is one of those; it’s also a project that’s very close to my heart,” Vazirani concludes.

Bed linen: Yamini

Read more:
Houzz Tour: Actor Parineeti Chopra’s Home is Comfortable & Quirky

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