A Place called Home (Home Tour)

Today’s post revolves around the excitement of owning and setting up that special first home! And mind you, excitement is not the only emotion that one experiences…..there’s an element of disbelief and elation that you can now decorate a place to your heart’s content (without having to worry about something as trivial as putting 'x' number of nails in the  walls of a rented home to hang your favorite pieces of art or paint the walls in a rainbow of colors should you like that). Then there is the panic and self doubt phase, when it comes to laying down the decorating plan, making you wish you had chosen interior design as your profession.  And then, comes the anxious phase to get it all done asap, so that you can enjoy binge watching your favorite show on the weekends and not worry about wandering through furniture stores testing couches, fabrics and colors…..you get the drift don’t ya?

Well, our home owner today has surpassed all the above and has created a strikingly sophisticated but functional space for herself in San Jose, California. Anusha Venugopal is a software engineer by profession and defines her personal décor style as “mid-century modern with bursts of color thrown in for that Indian touch and a homely feel.” One look at her home and you can tell so much about this lovely lady. She likes things clutter free, organized and is very passionate about travelling, photography, baking, gardening, and entertaining. Her decor style has been vastly influenced by her mom and TECD, “My love for home decorating is something I believe I got from my Mom (who has beautifully decorated our house in Bengaluru). Growing up I’ve seen my Mom set up our home with great attention to details, balancing the needs and comfort with her personal style and I can proudly say that I have got all those qualities from her.

I’d also like to add, that while I was looking for décor inspiration to tap into for my own home, I came across TECD via Pinterest and instantly knew, that there were a lot of décor tips that I wanted to implement in my home. So after a year + of working on putting my first place together, I can thankfully say that the result is exactly what I wanted! ”

The staid elegance of the clean line furniture pieces that Anusha has chosen for the living room is balanced by introducing vivid shades of fuchsia and tangerine to the mix. The West Elm grey couch finds its rightful place after a 6 month long hunt for the 'perfect couch'. Anusha has taken inspiration from TECD to go with a neutral couch as the base and has then pilled on colorful cushions to dress it up. The accent chair in a shade of flamingo pink mimics the throw cushions on the couch, giving the place an edgy result. As for the Buddha and coffee table tray, they traveled all the way from Bengaluru (Anusha's hometown) to add a touch of zen to this space. 

Talking about the significance of how a home should ideally reflect ones roots, Ansuha says, "Having my home showcase my roots is really important as it keeps me connected to where I come from, and what I’ve grown up learning and loving and furthermore what I hope my life would always be!"

Anusha says that rather than buying art, she'd rather adorn her walls with meaningful pictures that remind her of good times. I think that is a clever way to introduce her love for travel and save big bucks by creating your own art. Seen above are pictures clicked by Anusha from her travels to Tahoe, Bali, Paris, Prague, Amsterdam, Egypt, and Puerto Rico. She says this gallery wall, gives her the freedom to add more to it as and when the opportunity arises.

Here's a close up of the home office that's neatly tucked away in the corner. Knowing the space limitations, Anusha cleverly looked around for desk designs that advocated small space solutions. After much research, she paired a West Elm desk and chair with some lively accents, to create a sophisticated work space to indulge her on days that she needs to work from home or catch up on her mails and bills payment.

A mid-century modern shelf proudly displays Anusha’s travel finds and few other treasured memorabilia, while keeping the other table surfaces clutter free. When asked what were the challenges that Anusha faced while designing her space, she shares, “To be able to strike a balance between a clutter-free home and one which is filled with things that she loves and treasures! “It is but natural that everyone would have a lot of stuff - some junk and some memorable stuff - to be able to decide and keep the ones that really matter and get rid of everything else was a very important and challenging aspect for me.

Along with this, finding the time to decorate was another challenge. Since I work full time, weekends are the only time I get to even think about decorating. So its been a long but happy decorating journey to bring my home to its current “finished” state.”

Like the rest of her home, Anusha’s kitchen is no different. It echoes’ Anusha’s design philosophy of how good design should be stylish and have a purpose. Anusha says, “I absolutely love my open and spacious kitchen where I unwind and wash away all that I may have endured during the course of my working day by cooking a hearty meal.” Anusha added this versatile cabinet from Wayfair to serve as a bar unit. By keeping the cabinet in the same wood color as the kitchen cabinets, it makes the space seem larger and ties everything together beautifully. Love how the wood inlay details on the glass, adds visual interest. A bevy of mugs, colorful cups, family photographs, knick-knacks and a happy fiddle fig complete this corner.

Anusha’s bedroom impishly combines colors and patterns. She’s confidently chosen textiles in an invigorating blue hue and has tempered the room with accents in a very sunny shade of yellow to give the room the levity it needs. A hint of whimsy is added with some literally décor and a cheerful yellow night stand that she scored from Home Goods. Balancing the night stand on the other side is a dresser from Ikea that houses Anusha’s massive collection of necklaces. The overall look in the room, is clean, minimal and relaxing, just the way Anusha likes it.

Anusha seems to make the most of the great weather all year round in San Jose, all thanks to her patio (her favorite place in the house). Here she enjoys her cups of chai and home-baked almond cake. She’s successfully learned the art of container gardening and has home grown herbs, cherry tomatoes, lavender and other blooms adding color and fragrance to this outdoor space. A pair of colorful Suzani Terai folding chairs from Anthropologie add the spunk to this space and look perfect against the peach colored accent wall.

Here's what Anusha had to say about what the word home means to her, "Home is a place that reflects who I am and what I strive to be - “full of life, positivity and happiness” ! We wish Anusha all that and so much more!!! Thank you Ansuha for letting us tour your lovely home. 

Until we meet again, here's to the joys of decorating!!! 

(Image Credit: Prasad Sawant. Image Copyright: Anusha Venugopal. The images may not be used without the prior written permission of Anusha Venugopal and TECD)

Keeping It Elegantly Eclectic (Home Tour)

With creamy white walls and an open arrangement in the floor plan, the home of Aninda and Mayank in Delhi, is an enviable balance of tranquility and décor drama at play. Working with an overall white color palette, accomplishes a designer feel and brings about a relaxed, sophisticated vibe. The couple has expertly used pops of color in the home to bring in the much needed contrast, visual interest and happy vibes. Mayank is an investment professional while Aninda is a multidisciplinary creative. She is a jewelry designer and the founder of Studio Azzurra, a mosaic artist and a décor blogger at Sunshine in My Cup. Together they share their home with their adorable and energetic three year old son (who has both his parents tightly wrapped around his little finger:)

Starting with the doorway, we are introduced to the fact that  it is the little details that makes a house a home. The brass knocker you see dressing up the door was picked up from Kerala. Step in and the decor in the foyer further asserts the fact that creative risks definitely pay-off if one has the vision and makes the effort to execute it in a planned manner. Over to Aninda to fill you in on her side of the story, "When we bought this place a few years back, our son was still very young, so we decided to wait for a year till we could find the time and mindset that remodeling a house deserved. I used this time to collect our thoughts and inspirations for what we wanted our home to reflect, while my husband went about meticulously planning the execution details. The combination of his left and my right brain, allowed us to execute ideas to our satisfaction, without engaging an interior designer. We essentially imagined it to be an extension of our personalities, a place that mirrors our love for travel, books and Indian crafts, with an underlying global ethnic vibe to it."

I say, the couple deserves a  huge round of applause for the final design outcome! It is both functional, looks radically different from anything that I've seen before and  totally complements the many facets of the home owners interests. More of the design story from Aninda, "We wanted our space to radiate a sense of calm, so we went with white walls. This also provided the perfect canvas for our many colorful collectibles, allowing them to stand out against the light background. The white jali partitions merge with the walls, yet help gently define the living, foyer and dining spaces better. Rounding off the wall edges to give them a curved smooth finish helped us achieve an overall softer look. While it may not be apparent in the images, this seemingly small detail lends a beautiful finished look to the entire space. Tons of plants and fresh flowers are also a staple in our home."

This particular image that I had seen on Aninda's Instagram feed, got the ball rolling for this home tour. The image had niches imitating the silhouettes of the iconic Indian arches, jali style partitions used to transition from one room to another and little pockets of color that added to the visual landscape.....I knew I had to reach out to the home owners, as there was so much more to this space. And I am so glad I gave into my intuition! 

A full view of the living room. See, I was right when I said there was so much more to this space! Thota Vaikuntam prints, colors and patterns juxtaposed skillfully, travel finds and other carefully selected Indian decor pieces cohabitate happily to create an impressive space, that embraces refined design and understated style. The overall white palette, was a bold move I would say with a  three year old in the house. But Aninda is quick to point out that the paint is washable:)

This is just perfect, isn't it? The couple tell me that while choosing furniture for their living room, comfortable seating was priority. However, they were keen that they include one statement piece. And with that, they decided that a swing would fit this description well. Let's hear from Aninda as to how this lovely corner came together, "The swings we came across in and around Delhi were all huge, overly carved, bulky pieces.Finally we had to get it custom made to our size and style preference, for it to resemble a traditional 'oonjal'. The lovely brass chain was sourced on our holiday to Udaipur. But lugging these heavyweight chains back to Delhi was a nightmare, a mission only chronic decor loonies like us would undertake!! But I guess it was all worth the effort as this playful piece of furniture becomes a quick favorite with anyone who visits our place! I invariably find people gravitating towards it as soon as they enter our living room."

Aninda tells me that the vintage Shrinathji Pichwai painting was a lucky find and by far her most prized piece of art. The couple came across  it in one of the many by-lanes of old Udaipur. It now occupies a place of pride in the living room niche that is painted a vibrant shade of yellow ocher to offset the charcoal tones of the painting. Brass mirrors and a pendant lamp, bring the right amount of luxe effect to this corner. Another interesting addition is the small wooden boat that was sourced while on a trip to Kerala. With the boat secured to the wall, Aninda now uses it to display a few pots and add a touch of green to this corner.

Simplicity and function rule, the dining room. Amongst the structural changes undertaken by the couple, their biggest challenge was to alter the plan of the house to incorporate a sense of openness. To achieve this, they brought down certain walls to convert it from a four to a three bedroom apartment. The windows were resized to allow for ample natural light and ventilation in the apartment.

The Thangka painting was picked up by the couple on their trip to Dharamsala many moons ago. It's been framed using a saree from Aninda's mother’s trousseau. The Anjali diya from Good Earth keeps the Thangka company and makes for a soulful sacred corner.

 

A closer look at some of the finer details that go into making this gorgeous space. Aninda explains more about the pieces seen in the various vignettes, "I wanted to weave in my love for making mosaics and ceramic pieces into the décor of my home, so you will notice that the house is peppered with a little bit of both. The small ceramic pieces on the foyer console are a mix of pottery bought from a quaint little shop in Goa and those made by me. A mosaic bird bath I made gives company to the bharnis in our foyer, while my mosaic lady rests comfortably on a brightly tiled table in the living room!"

Aninda's never fail decor mantras, "For me decorating is never about buying the uber expensive. The three décor mantras that always work in my favor are:

• Bringing in the potted greens and adding some fresh flowers and watch my room transform instantly. 
• Weaving a dash of color into the décor. To a color obsessed mind like mine, one can never have too much of it.
• Introducing some raw wood textures and brass accents always pull a space together for me."

The kitchen mimics  the same contemporary feel that dominates the rest of the home. Aninda added patterned tiles in earthy shades and a touch of blue-grey to brighten up the space. With a place for everything, the uncluttered work surface makes cooking a stress-free and enjoyable chore.

Clean line furniture and dark wood tones is what sets the stage in the master bedroom. The vibrant energy in the room comes from colorful textiles in sunset hues. Book shelves from the floor to ceiling frame the window. The little sette by the window, makes it the perfect spot to curl up and relax with a good read. Aninda shares, "Both Mayank and I are avid readers and want our little one to grow up surrounded by books instead of gadgets, just as we did. Therefore, we ensured the house is fitted with ample book shelves that could accommodate our large collection."

It was extremely important to Aninda and Mayank that their home have a dedicated space for gardening. Infact, they made the very difficult choice of foregoing a separate entertainment room in order to make space for Aninda's kitchen gardening escapades. Aninda says, "My husband often jokes that it was the lemon tree in the garden that sealed the deal for me on this house. Through our little green patch, we hope to teach our child the importance of getting his hands dirty, observe the often arduous but rewarding process of growing his own food and thereby learn to respect it more."

And more shots of the profusion of color from Aninda's garden! Love all the colorful contrast that Aninda has managed to bring in through painted pots and a mix of blooms.

While we come to the end of our home tour, all I can say is that the images and inspiration from this spectacular home tour is going to stay with me for a while. I know you (like me) want to go back and scroll through it all over again....So I'll leave you to it:)

Thank you Aninda and Mayak for letting us tour your amazing home! We wish you and your lovely family the very best!

(Image Credit: Aninda Singh, The images may not be used for commercial or non-commercial purposes without the prior written permission of TECD and the home owners (Mayank and Aninda)).