(calming music)
- My life as I was growing up was extremely adventurous.
Coming from an Army background,
my dad moved all over the country, every couple of years.
I think we took our home with us wherever we went.
So my sense of home was really more people
than a place, growing up.
(chime tones)
I think as I moved into adulthood,
became a finance professional,
I think the need and the desire to put down roots
grew stronger and stronger with time.
I'm looking for a very calm space.
Something that, you know, would make me feel
like I'm in home every day.
I was very clear that I wanted to completely customize this,
just for myself.
I, therefore, agreed with the builder
that I would take the place, pretty much bare shell,
with absolutely nothing inside
and I would build out everything
according to my style and my design.
I started using the Houzz app,
which I had heard about from my sisters,
while in US for inspiration,
started browsing through photos, creating ideabooks,
basically, you know, trying to find all the things
that could suit my sensibility
and which I felt would look great in a home for me.
I managed to find some very interesting professionals
on there, read through the reviews,
saw the kind of look that they had done
through all the pictures that were up there.
Eventually, I thought the team that I would work
the most well with was Smit and Rajvi.
- Shalini had a lot of ideas in her mind.
- She was like, "I would want these colors.
I would want this. I would want this."
She came to us with an entire ideabook made on Houzz.
It was really thrilling for us,
to know that she was so strong in her head
of how, the design, she wants it.
She had a vision in her mind,
but I think she just needed some help executing it.
- A lot of the very diverse, disparate ideas I had,
we were able to harmonize everything
and bring it together into one place.
I wanted a lot of color.
I wanted some bling.
I like brightness in my every day life
and I wanted the house to reflect that.
As I started working, extensively with Smit and Rajvi,
we were able to communicate and collaborate with each other,
through the Houzz app as well.
- And through Houzz app and the,
and kind of the ideas we got,
we were able to accommodate all that into a design.
- We wanted to create an open, airy look.
So while there are some demarcations in a few walls,
as we look around, we will see that there is still
a lot of open space, which makes the apartment, honestly,
look much larger than it really is.
- When we are short on space in general,
and that's when we came onsite and we saw the apartment.
We realized that to fit in all the ideas that Shalini had,
all the challenge,
the original layout was in such a way that
it hindered light and ventilation and there was,
it's all very rigid.
So what we did is we opened up the entire wall
into a glass partition with a wide door
and you backed it up with a blind.
- The master bedroom, if you see, it has a lot of
textures in it, like the rest of the house.
It is a little more sober, subtle,
but if you go inside the master bedroom
there is like, it's a combination of modern
and rustic style infused together.
Again, as you go into the walk-in closet,
the peach and the pinks and everything is repeated
inside the walk-in, so that's how the connection
of the space is still there, two colors,
but it's different in terms of style.
- So much, I think, of our time is spent,
at least your personal time is spent getting ready.
But I was very clear that I did not want to compromise
on my dressing area and my cupboard space.
So that was really the genesis for
the idea of having a walk-in closet,
which meant, of course,
giving up space for perhaps a second bedroom.
But for me and my lifestyle,
I thought it was definitely the best decision
and in retrospect I have absolutely no complaints.
- She wanted to display her watches and jewelry
and that's when she told us
that she wants an island counter.
Now, to have an island counter in a restricted space
or something, was a challenge to us,
but we made it in such a way
that the island counter itself, she displays the jewelry
and the belongings of Shalini on the top
and the bottom drawers for her clothes.
- I'm a very social person and
I've always had a lot of friends visit,
you know, I entertain so much.
One of my largest dreams in fact to the design team
was that I want a stunning bar
which people look at the minute they walk in.
- The bar is the most distinctive feature in the house.
It was tailored after specific size bottle,
the sizes of the bottles and the glasses.
The bar had to be very opulent and, you know,
had to be an awe-striking feature.
So that's when we played with a lot of light and texture
in the bar.
The center table itself is broken
into four small, square pieces.
When there are more people coming and, you know,
socializing.
They can use each piece of the center table
for their own interaction.
The grid of nine ground mirrors the we've done.
As soon as you enter, it interacts with the person.
Also it adds a depth to the living room.
Even the TV, the television, we made Shalini sit
and we matched it to the eye level
and we got the television just right,
so that, you know, she is very comfortable
at watching television.
- I think we took a decision to make the bathrooms
slightly larger and offer a very luxurious look and finish,
with gold tints in various places in the master bath.
And I think that's another space that has turned out,
you know, beyond my expectation.
- All the wiring in the house is concealed
in a very interesting way.
We had the trillium move the main distribution board
in a way that we can conceal it near the television
and the wires are just behind, right behind the panels.
But also, you can open up that panel
and use it for your WiFi system or music system.
And the wires are all concealed in a very perfect way.
- Finally my dream home was ready
and with great excitement, I moved in here.
It's been awhile now and I think everything that we planned
has, is working beautifully.
Every inch of space has been conceived
for a particular reason, and I'm using it for that.
So I start my mornings in the living room
with my cup of tea and my newspapers.
I spend a lot of time getting dressed for my day,
which I know is going to be chaotic,
so that little bit of peace in the morning
allows me, you know, that quiet time to enjoy myself.
As I inhabit the space, I realize that I've actually made
these four walls into a home.
It is unapologetically all about me
and I think I enjoy every moment of my day here
and I can't wait to come home every day.