The colours in the home were not just picked for visual effect; they were drawn directly from the site’s garden, matched meticulously to local flora. Forest greens, soft blush, sage, and dusty pink move from one room to the next, not as decoration but as visual storytelling. Tanya Garg, the family’s eldest daughter and artist, shaped this narrative further—from hand-painted bathroom tiles chronicling her lockdown life to a ceiling mural based on one of her early botanical sketches.
Original text by Ela Das, edited for context.
Set A Mood With Vintage Fittings
The bathroom is a haven of white and gold.
Turtle Arts Photography
A brief by any other name is still a brief, even if it evokes more questions than answers. Fortunately, architects Arun Shekar and Mohammed Afnan, by their own admission, have always been the nosy kind, so when it came to designing a bungalow in Kerala with a fluid brief, the principals and co-founders of Kozhikode-based AD100 design practice Humming Tree weren’t afraid to ask questions. “To be fair, there was a brief, but they were kind enough to give us free rein over the design,” says Shekar. The prompt from the owners, Jacob Pulimootil and Anekha Joseph, was clear: to design a home that looked lived-in.
The architects didn’t subscribe to a specific style. “I guess you could call it a cross between Colin King and Kerala,” jokes Afnan. The pair paid equal attention to interior design and styling. At first glance, the bathroom evinces an effortless nostalgia, but upon closer inspection, the intentionality of the design choices reveals itself. From the exposed washbasin stand to the sanitary fittings, a palette of matte brass sets the tone of vintage chic, further complemented by the light fixtures and the antique-style oval mirror.
Original text by Vaishnavi Nayel Talawadekar, edited for context.
Add An Unexpected Pop Of Red
Ishita Sitwala