When Shalini Ganguli boarded a Kolkata-bound flight in 2019, the London-based designer had little inkling that the trip would be a one-way deal. Ganguli, who was expecting at the time, had planned to deliver in India. What she hadn't planned on, or expected, was a pandemic that would change her life in more ways than one. "I realized I would be in India indefinitely. And then, one day, a few months into the lockdown, I received an email from a family who had recently acquired a property and were

Perhaps it was the pandemic-induced isolation, or their newly minted status as empty nesters, but when one Sydney couple acquired a penthouse overlooking Rushcutters Bay, they were mainly enthusiastic about one thing—dialling up the pizzazz and making up for lost time. And dial it up they did, thanks to Yasmine Saleh Ghoniem of YSG Studio, whom they tapped to give the home a Spanish tapas bar-inspired spin. With larger-than-life landings, glass walls, deep pile bespoke rugs and hypnotic stone s

The very mention of a bed-and-breakfast can conjure up visions of chintzy chairs and lace curtains and fluffy three-egg omelettes that taste like Sunday morning. Bassano is none of that—except for the omelettes, which they will happily indulge. With a charcoal aesthetic and a menagerie of vintage pieces, the Red Hill, Victoria bed-and-breakfast has a voguish-meets-vintage quality ideal for placid days and carefree stays. Once a pair of standalone cabins, the owners, Scotty and Eliza Bemelen, ro

Living in Mumbai, more often than not, can feel exhausting. And yet, the secret to staying sane in a city that is always on the move, as a 30-something couple found out, is to find an escape that sloughs off the din of the metropolis'. "We decided to give it a terracotta spin," says Mahek Lalan, who stepped in to give their apartment an earthy makeover. "We designed an aesthetic rooted in organic tones that nod to the earth. Terracotta was a perfect reference because of its impermanent and trans

There’s something thoroughly Willy Wonka-ish about the Mexican valley town of Tepoztlán. Known for its exotic ice cream flavours, great weather, and otherworldly flora and rock formations, it earned the title of Pueblo Mágico, or Magic Town, back in 2002. So naturally, it stands to reason that it’s a favourite among locals and tourists alike. “With a population of a little more than 35,000, it is a quiet weekend escape for city dwellers and the perfect retirement oasis,” says David Martínez Ramo

As we settle into the living room, it's obvious that the Shahs have a thing for understated luxe. "We wanted the house to look lavish but contemporary, with lots of wooden and marble textures. Now that Dhvani and her sister are married, the focus lay on reconfiguring the primary layout to accommodate just my husband and me," says Dhvani's mother, when Dhvani chimes in, "And I had to figure out how I would create a house that echoed their sensibilities, but also, grow with them as they got older.

Huang Yulong’s “Be My Side” series (2015–20) puts a whole new spin on the term benchwarmer. Each sculpture, available in a limited edition of eight, features a faceless bronze figure seated in a distinctive pose on an aluminum park-style bench. “I took half a year to ‘shape’ the concept,” puns the well-known Chinese sculptor, who uses a blend of bronze and crystals to conjure his anonymous marvels, speaking on a video call. “I was sitting alone on a bench one day, struggling with the idea of ​​

Dominated by brutalist tribal hallmarks, Shah's design objects hold a mirror to the Japanese philosophy of wabi-sabi (an aesthetic concept rooted in impermanence and imperfections). And yet, their identity is distinctly Indian, making frequent references to a sacred and time-honoured Indian form: the lingam. "Revered as an emblem of generative power, the lingam is a form unique to Indian geometry. Its essence is translated to these functional sculptures, lending them a timelessness and ensuring

When you step into The Hyundai Seoul, it’s not immediately obvious whether you’re in a spa or a shopping centre. With zen design elements, a waterfall garden, luxuriant greenery and sprawling spaces, the department store—South Korea‘s largest—puts a whole new spin on the term ‘retail therapy’. The multi-level scheme is courtesy of Toronto-based interior design firm, Burdifilek, who created the store as part of a larger complex featuring offices, shops and leisure spaces, just in case shoppers de

Situated just off the thoroughfare in Tainan City, this home — named Eden Oasis — is well connected to arterial roads yet cocooned in luxurious nature. ‘The home is held in by a U-shaped glass enclosure, making nature a neighbour and offering the illusion of living in a forest as opposed to just off an urban highway,’ says Keng-Fu Lo, founder and managing director of Chain10 Architecture & Interior Design Institute, who was enlisted by the homeowner, a young professional, to give the villa a san

Starting as a feel-good project during lockdown, Tilly Barber’s bespoke furniture brand Monde is rewriting the rulebook for modular furniture with a sustainable edge. Made locally in Melbourne with recyclable materials, each sofa is tailored to the needs of each customer. For Tilly, the lockdowns heralded a new chapter in more ways than one. Not only did it present a wellspring of new ideas, but it also freewheeled her – rather serendipitously – into a new career in product design. Her furnitur

With her “Transitional Objects” series of soft sculptures, Gabriela Noelle has reconceived childhood imaginary friends as zany, swish avatars. She took their name from English psychoanalyst Donald Winnicott’s term for the comfort objects held dear by young children. But unlike the companions he was describing, quickly outgrown by their juvenile inventors, Noelle’s creations have no expiration date. “They exist in an alternate dimension where they can only be seen and felt when liberated from th

Beside the historic Mazgaon Dockyard in Mumbai rests an apartment that mirrors it in look and feel. There’s the same salty air, the same seaside breeze. The sunlight falls almost identically, as though in topological agreement with the walls within. But that’s where the similarities end. As you venture deeper inside, you’re swept up in a sea of another kind — one of eclecticism, bright accents and monochrome backdrops. Refined and rustic sit on the same plane, and Art Deco elements share the sp

Clapton is one of those East London districts that often goes under the radar, with a spirit that straddles breezy and bold. With a glittering trail of restaurants and bars, an unmissable weekend market on Chatsworth Road, and a canal that sidles past it, its part-zen, part-zappy character was what caught the attention of one London family. Having set their hearts on an unassuming Victorian terraced property, they quickly realised that they’d need to enlist an architecture firm to give it a thor

The villa tips its hat to Uttarakhand's time-honoured wood carving traditions, in the way of artisan-cut timber frames at the entrance, Kumaoni wood leitmotifs, and hand-carved ornamental details. "The material palette of timber, slate, and local stone builds on the lexicon of the region’s Kumaoni vernacular," says Arora. Remarkably, the interior design scheme mirrors the experience of a treehouse, thanks to classic hand-crafted woodwork underpinned by modernist angles, clean lines, and contempo

Mallorca is the sort of island most people wouldn’t mind being stranded on. Because really, everything about it screams exotic: From the reddish soil and luxuriant olive groves to the cars and streets and people. Camp Roig 31 embodies that exoticism—to the point that it’s hard to imagine it was once a drab 1900s warehouse for crops and meat. The charmingly renovated townhouse, situated in the heart of Alaró, at the foothills of the Tramuntana mountains, has earned a modish rusticity, thanks to J

“The object of art is not to reproduce reality, but to create a reality of the same intensity,” Alberto Giacometti once said. There is something about Japanese artist Izumi Kato's oeuvre that perfectly exemplifies Giacometti's quote, leading the observer into a neverland full of humanoid creatures with alien features, who, even, and especially, with their distorted guises, exude a fantastical spirit that is equal parts terrestrial and celestial. The artist’s largest-ever single canvas at auctio

There's something about the first floor that whispers of the wild. Parrot green tiles vivify the passage, while the colours of the coastline are channelled in the blue-and-yellow oxide bedroom floors. The landscape continues in the four-poster bed and the clay ceiling tiles, eventually culminating in a petite al fresco garden. Not to be outdone, the bathrooms showcase similar palettes: While one has rubble-like natural cladding in the shower area, a stone basin, aqua blue accent tiles, and a sky

When the clients, with whom Thomas has crossed paths almost ten years prior, came knocking, no one could have predicted what would happen next. "The lockdown meant that we had to conceptualise the entire project remotely. No site visits, nothing," rues Thomas, who orchestrated everything from her Bangalore-based studio. But as far as concerns went, the lockdown was the farthest thing from the clients' minds. "They were more worried about how, or whether, we could maintain a bare minimum palette.

The New Delhi-based designer takes cues from darkness to create playful and immersive meta-luxury spaces As I sit across from him in his New Delhi studio, it’s hard to differentiate between Sanjyt Syngh the person and Sanjyt Syngh the designer. “It’s not a job for me. It’s a way of life. Even when I’m in bed, I have a sketchbook and my laptop at arm’s length. I am constantly designing. The best ideas come to me at 3am when I am curled up in bed and it’s all dark,” says the New-Delhi based desig

With a smorgasbord of picture-postcard backdrops and multipurpose zones, Sakshi Malik's Mumbai home in Worli looks like an Instagram handle come to life. "That's the way we designed it," says Nikita Dhoble, founder and principal designer of her eponymous design firm, who, along with Meghna Kakar of Behold Design, was tapped by Malik for a comprehensive redesign. "For social media content creators, good backgrounds are par for the course. So we created distinct zones where she could film various

Effusive and spunky, and famed for her disarmingly satirical Instagram reels, it's hard to imagine that Kusha Kapila could be scared of anything. "It's the dark," she declares. "That’s what terrifies me.” In the swell of morning light that fills her bedroom, I almost miss the sensor-triggered spotlights that flick on as she hops off the bed. “Those keep me excellent company when I decide I need a trip to the bathroom in the dead of the night.” Much like the lights, the rest of the house seems cu

The aesthetic is muted, the decor minimalist, and within its restful confines, the homeowners far removed from the fanfare and footlights of showbiz. Inspired by the classic New York loft, this pad owned and shared by actor Alia Bhatt and her sister Shaheen is steeped in neutral hues and imbued with a charming old-world air. “Given that Alia travels a lot, hotels are a mainstay of her lifestyle. Thus, I envisaged a cosy home that would bring her back to her roots, yet be high on style and luxury. The house is designed for entertaining and spending time with family and friends,” says Richa Bahl, founder and chief interior designer of her eponymous design firm Richa Bahl Design Studio.

At the door of actors (and newlyweds) Aditya Seal and Anushka Ranjan Seal's new Mumbai duplex, the nameplate is conspicuous by its absence. What is not is the cheery (LED) baby seal that takes its place, animating the wall and nodding to its namesake owners. “It's fun to watch people guess," says Anushka. "Those who get it, get it. And it makes for a great conversation-starter." But the unlikely sea creature isn’t the only thing setting the entryway apart—because if the peach-toned front door (a

The corner of LA’s 11th and Broadway is a glittering pastiche of fashion boutiques, sports complexes and Deco architecture. So the fact that the Downtown LA Proper Hotel still manages to take pride of place here, is a bit of a minor miracle. Or not. After all, with design maven Kelly Wearstler at the helm, the 148-room destination hotel’s pizzazz hardly comes as a surprise. Still, the American designer has done justice to the building’s colourful legacy—from its state-of-the-art private club in

Aditya Ghosh is a man of many talents–he is an aviation entrepreneur (and the former president of IndiGo), a restaurateur, an investor, a motivational speaker, an art collector, a dad, and perhaps the best-kept secret of all, “a die-hard fan of Suits,” laughs Sreya Seth, founder and chief interior designer of her eponymous design firm and a long-time friend of Ghosh. So the fact that Ghosh's Gurugram office carries a curious likeness to that of Harvey Specter (one of the show's main characters)

When Arctic Monkeys drummer Matt Helders purchased this 1950s house in Los Angeles, it was nothing like the home he had dreamed up in his head. The mid-century architectural hallmarks were charming. The natural light, not so much. And so, to help achieve his vision—and some extra sunlight—Matt roped in Los Angeles-based interior designer Corinne Mathern (who subcontracted the project to Landmark Building), known for her balanced, collected aesthetic. For a property that would swing between stud

Built in 80s for a close-knit family, the original home served as a childhood home for the client, a noted cinematographer, known for his work in Sacred Games and Newton. So when it came to commissioning a renovation, he was particular about preserving its heritage. The client lives with his sister and mother. When he was growing up, theirs was the only house in the vicinity that offered a view of the hills beyond. And so, the terrace became the home's centrepiece—the most cherished space by the

Gently enveloped between the Sahyadri mountain range and undulating open land, lies this earth-rooted family abode. “The structure is reminiscent of the forts on the horizon, and revels in its ability to become one with the land,” says Puran Kumar, founder and principal architect of Studio PKA. “It was designed as a weekend retreat for a well-known film industry personality and his family, to serve as a reprieve from their bustling city life. In this vein, we ventured out in search of a tract of land that would not only capture the essence of the place but also inspire, delight and satiate their creative endeavours.”

Wood warms the walls of Cavalli's studio, enveloping the observer in silent strands of contemplation. Glimmers of greenery peep through a diminutive opening behind the antique desk, created with the modules of the wooden bookcase. An area reserved for music takes pride of place, presenting a Larix piano bar and a Riverside sofa and ottoman in milk white leather. “The desk is one of my favourite pieces in the new house, and one of the very few items not created by Visionnaire. I found it in an ol

Situated just off the thoroughfare in Tainan City, this home — named Eden Oasis — is well connected to arterial roads yet cocooned in luxurious nature. ‘The home is held in by a U-shaped glass enclosure, making nature a neighbour and offering the illusion of living in a forest as opposed to just off an urban highway,’ says Keng-Fu Lo, founder and managing director of Chain10 Architecture & Interior Design Institute, who was enlisted by the homeowner, a young professional, to give the villa a san

The villa tips its hat to Uttarakhand's time-honoured wood carving traditions, in the way of artisan-cut timber frames at the entrance, Kumaoni wood leitmotifs, and hand-carved ornamental details. "The material palette of timber, slate, and local stone builds on the lexicon of the region’s Kumaoni vernacular," says Arora. Remarkably, the interior design scheme mirrors the experience of a treehouse, thanks to classic hand-crafted woodwork underpinned by modernist angles, clean lines, and contempo

We explore developments in the smart home industry that will fundamentally shape a new era of residential design. If you've experienced the joy of a bag of Cheetos®, it's likely you're familiar with the telltale orange dust it leaves behind on your fingers, rendering you temporarily handless until you take a trip to the sink. But what if the dust never left? What would it take to live a productive life hands-free? The answer, evidently, lies in a marketing experiment by parent company PepsiCo i

Like most old Goan homes, Casa Gracia has architectural features that nod to its colonial heritage. Its 2-feet-thick walls, built in laterite stone and mud and finished in lime plaster, are an unmistakable emblem of pre-independence Goa; as are the pitched roof profile and colonial-style red oxide flooring. So naturally for Santimano, retaining them was non-negotiable. "Lime plaster is a material that allows the home's mud-stone walls to breathe. And its imperfect finish only adds to the wabi-sa

The Convent Saint-François, located on the French island of Corsica, looks like a modern-day, Mediterranean version of The Sound of Music—with everything besides Maria and the von Trapp pack in attendance. Old it might be, but there’s absolutely nothing old-fashioned about this 1,000-square-metre castle-turned-convent that dates back to 1480. So much so, that a copper honeycomb veil sits over the structure like a second skin, channelling a fantastically outré flair. “It had lain partially ruine

In the backwoods of Hyderabad, on a downland of rolling grass, rests an A-frame farmhouse that appears to have risen from the depths of the earth. And yet, it's far from down-to-earth. Its contemporary arrowhead roof and triangular proportions could easily have you mistaking it for a tee-pee-style cabin in the Californian outback. “The most striking feature of this house is the roof,” says Simeen Quraishi, one-half of Hyderabad-based design studio Moriq, adding, "It is composed of two triangular

When architect Jude D’Souza – founder and principal architect of JDAP Design – and his wife graduated from being long-time renters to proud homeowners, they knew their new apartment had to be tailored to canine needs as much as human ones.

With a decidedly earthy palette, plentiful greenery and free-flowing spaces, this home in Bangalore, India, designed by Greyscale Design Studio, embraces modern design while paying homage to its natural surroundings. “The couple wanted their home to be inclusive, with each space capable of being a gathering point. They were keen for the home to be open to greenery and that each material [should] have a unique significance,” says Ninu Ahluwalia, one of the principal architects who worked on this project.

In the heart of Trivandrum, the capital of the southern Indian state of Kerala, there is a small site that breathes fresh air. “It was being suffocated by other residential projects from all four sides,” says Vinu Daniel, whose firm, Wallmakers, inverted the home’s layout to funnel the interior flow into a central courtyard. Airy and luminous it may be, but those aren’t the only hallmarks that separate this curious home from its cookie-cutter surroundings. Its Rat Trap bond masonry and upcycled

A central double courtyard with a crescent-shaped pool acts as an arterial gateway to the various sections of the home, and presents a dramatic interplay of sunlight and shadows. “The house is divided in half by the pool; with the living room, kitchen and guest spaces on one side, and the bedrooms on the other,” says Kulkarni. Semi-open, louvred walkways fill the courtyard, subtly parlaying into the common and private spaces. “The layout of the home is inward-looking, since it was built on a tig