Creating everyday magic

The fundamentals of worldbuilding

Families are cultural units that share emotional cues and memories. Rather than banking on a certain design aesthetic, Smita lent spatial weight to their material and abstract traits. The daughter’s love for art turned into a paint-spattered, vibrant art studio. Their appreciation for local handicraft became the driving force behind its craftsmanship. Their collective shoe collection, amounting to more than 100 pairs? Cue the custom shoe cabinet in the foyer, capable of holding them all. The home accounts for each unique trait, hobby and routine. As Smita affirms, “From the main door to the smallest light fixture, from the art on the walls to the furniture underfoot, almost everything you see here was imagined and built specifically for this space.”

These personalised touches reflect the designer’s firm resolve to infuse even the smallest details with meaning — nothing could feel ornamental. Intent came first, and visuals followed later. “We weren’t interested in fantasy that floats. It had to have weight: local materials, hand-executed details and textures that speak of skill and time,” she enthuses.

A wonderland of craft

With curved brick jalis and hand-painted kolam, Smita’s worldbuilding begins at the home’s very onset. The double-height entrance’s long, angular facade and curves resemble a half-open capsule jutting out of the earth. Sprigs of bougainvillaea peek down from the top of this circular form, waving a breezy hello to all who enter.

Is it Ajrakh? Is it Ikat? A modern Indian print-inspired mural shrouds the double-height foyer, as if the walls have been shrouded by metres and metres of free-falling fabric. But the true piece-de-resistance here, as many would agree (apart from the 100-shoe cabinet), is the mammoth, beaded chandelier. Similarly, a circular mezzanine overlooks the living room, where the dizzying details of the foyer’s mural swap hands with a bare, calming mauve. But the floor rebels against this act of restraint — swirling in deep green circles and black and white stripes of marble.

A cosier subsection reserved solely for the family emerges as one moves upwards. The conjoined bar, dining and lounge are tailored for connection: organic curves, soothing walnuts and greens, paired with minimal ornamentation.

But much like the rabbit hole that enticed Alice to jump in, the art studio’s entrance paints a tempting picture that you can’t resist entering. Its custom double-door entrance is fitted with fluted glass panels and prints inspired by a deconstructed easel. Inside, paint splatters the walls (the young budding artist’s touch), with neon signs flickering above. But this design language switches gears in the meditation space, built with a grey feature wall and metallic flora that illuminate at dawn.

A material exercise in joy

Materiality and colours, albeit faithful to muted pastels and neutrals, are fluid. They switch from space to space. The bedrooms are a befitting example: while the daughter’s bedroom is a fantastical realm with jewel tones, the master bedroom is more sombre but no less innovative — with a minimalist take on exposed wooden rafters lining the ceiling.

But more than the materiality or the palette, the true hero of the space, as Smita insists, is craft. “Craft allowed us to push materials beyond the expected. We worked with hand-cut mosaics, carved stone, glass, and leather — not to create statement pieces, but to build layers that could unfold slowly.” It is this emphasis that makes Pennyroyal Tea unfold like a well-crafted dessert — pleasing to look at, a visual treat you can stare at for hours, and crafted after many, many hours spent in the kitchen/studio. But the effort is well worth it, for as soon as you take a spoon to it (or enter the space), the layers melt into one flavourful kick that’ll have you giddy with joy.

Read more: This Mumbai Memphis home by Multitude of Sins combines art with eccentricity