This soothing Mumbai home is reminiscent of all things warm and fuzzy

“We want our first home together to be a reflection of everything that we love,” began the homeowners of this serene Mumbai home—a young, newly-wed couple in their early thirties with an adorable labrador, Whiskey. The gorgeous sea-facing home—spread across 2,500-square-feet in one of South Mumbai’s high rises—soon transformed into a haven for their family, friends and most importantly, for their beloved canine baby, under the nuanced design direction of principal architects and co-founders Disha Bhavsar and Shivani Ajmera of Quirk Studio. And indeed, the home is reminiscent of a warm, quiet and soulful hug. Balanced, nuanced and gentle in its treatment, it feels as good as it looks.

“Our biggest inspiration for this home was the surreal, unobstructed sea view of the apartment,” begins Disha. It served as a beautiful, all-encompassing backdrop, creating a captivating stage upon which the inviting warmth of this space unfolds. In a bid to create a home that seamlessly transitions and adapts to everyone who experiences it—while becoming a tranquil sanctuary for the homeowners—the designers opted for an aesthetic best termed as ‘soft minimalism’. “ The design style here is a perfect blend of clean lines inspired by the simplicity, minimalism and functionality of the Nordic aesthetic, combined with the warmth, textures and tonal hues from the balanced and soulful Japanese aesthetic,” elaborates Shivani.

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Soft curves, gentle tones, neutral hues and soothing textures coalesce to create a space where the owners can build their home, surrounded by the things they collected and truly love. “As designers, we had absolute creative freedom on this project, making it a dream to work on,” say the duo, who custom created everything for this home, from the furniture to the lighting, to the wall textures and wallpaper. Much like all their work, they drew inspiration from the architecture and topography of the space. “The language, the treatment and the design style of this home too is a reflection of the warmth and openness of its surroundings,” they reveal.

As one enters the space, a visual vocabulary of softness immediately takes over. A demarcated entry foyer celebrates warm tones that guide the grammar of the entire design. Glimpses of a custom-made wallpaper lead the eye onwards, bringing a tropical zest in monochromes to the space—and if one looks closely, one can spot the homeowner’s dog as the focal point of this mural. Filtering in through gossamer curtains, the space comes alive, awash with abundant natural light through floor-to-ceiling windows.

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Inside, a spacious living and dining room unfolds, with both formal and informal seating nooks set against a backdrop of carefully chosen oak-toned veneer. An openable kitchen abuts this setting, crafting a space that is both expansive for entertaining but intimate with its decor. Right from the entrance, the dark, charcoal tones of the stone-finished floor anchor the design, juxtaposing the light shades of ivory and beige (and a minimal dash of muted sage green) and the textured yet light-toned lime-plaster finish on the walls and ceilings. This contrast eventually went on to become one the designers’ favourite elements in the design, as it allows other elements and textures to excel. Pops of green and sea-blue—echoing the ever-changing hues of the ocean—are introduced in the space through plants as well as mesmerising artwork. Clean lines; simple, functional details and minimalistic joinery form the crux of the construction techniques used here as the entire home weaves together a fluid use of materials and textures.

Four bedrooms become two as the designers alter the configuration to make it more luxurious, creating nooks for unwinding. The master bedroom is treated as one large suite—flanked by its own private lounge, a walk-in wardrobe and a spectacularly designed powder bathroom. The floor here transitions to the inviting shade of oak-finished engineered wood, while the dark tones come in through the wall panelling and soft furnishings for a space doused in minimal yet unparalleled warmth.

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The ivory tones in the bedrooms and the den echo the design language of the space entirely, tethering the design together as a cohesive visual journey. In the guest bedroom, neutral shades take over entirely, while the decorative lighting here and across the home—created and customised specially for this project by Jade Designs in tinted glass and alabaster—adds to the fluid language of the home. The gorgeous powder bathroom with a marble basin counter that boasts an organic, jagged, imperfect edge-detail becomes another standout feature of the design, hand-carved entirely on-site. Another favourite of the designers, this feature truly embodies the love and care that went into this design.

Thoughtfully conceived as a warm, textured space that is perfect for layering memories onto, the designers at quirk Studio captured the homeowners’ wishes perfectly through the narrative of this Mumbai home.