Residential space
A living room has to do more jobs than any other room in the house: television, conversation, guests, occasionally sleeping. Deciding which of those it is really for is most of the design work.
Before anything is drawn
The default in most flats is sofas against every wall with a large gap in the middle. It makes the room feel like a waiting area and it makes conversation across the gap awkward. Pulling the seating in, even by a few inches, changes the room completely.
A single ceiling light flattens everything under it and makes the room feel like an office after dark. Layered light, a general layer plus a couple of pools at seating height and something washing a wall, is the cheapest real upgrade available to any living room.
When the sofa position is dictated entirely by the TV wall, the room only works for one activity. There is almost always a layout where the television is comfortable to watch and the seating still works when it is off.
Before any layout we work out which of the living room’s jobs is the primary one. A room built around conversation is laid out differently from a room built around a screen. And a room that hosts twelve people twice a year should not be furnished for twelve people all year round, which is how households end up with a formal sofa set nobody sits on.
Most living rooms in Mumbai flats have one strong daylight source and one ceiling light. The daylight is worth protecting: sheer layers at the window rather than heavy drapes, and seating placed so nobody is looking straight into the glare. After dark, three layers do the work. A soft general layer, pools of light at seating height for reading and conversation, and one accent that gives the room somewhere to look.
Seating and light. A well-made sofa with a serviceable frame outlasts three cheap ones and can be reupholstered. A good lighting scheme costs less than most people expect and changes the room every single evening. Feature walls, panelling and large media units are enjoyable, but they are the first place to cut when an estimate needs to come down, and we will tell you that when we hand you the estimate rather than afterwards.
The room itself
Specification
Come prepared
These are the questions that decide the design. Having answers ready makes the first meeting worth twice as much.
ResidentialDiningUsually not a room at all, but a zone that has to feel deliberate rather than left over.
ResidentialBalcony & UtilityUsually the most wasted square footage in a Mumbai flat, and the cheapest to turn into something.
ResidentialBedroomStorage, darkness and quiet. Everything else in a bedroom is decoration.Draft wording.This page was written by us from your brief rather than by you. Read it, change anything that is not how you work, and we will set it exactly as you want it.
Let's begin
Tell us about the property and what you want from it. We will come back with a plan and a detailed estimate.
