Name: Archana, Srinivas & Mallika
Location: Bangalore
Size: 2900 sq. ft apartment
Years lived in: 4 Months
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Today we make our way back across the globe for our second house tour from Bangalore, India, this time visiting the spacious and traditionally decorted home of Archana, Srinivas & Mallika. Their sun soaked home is one optimized for the family's outdoor living lifestyle, with a terrace influenced by traditional South Indian porches and an interior warmly decorated with custom made furnishings which evoke memories of ancestral homes of India's past. It's a magnificent home whose richness is tempered with a studied eye for moderation, where colour, form and negative space all play a part in creating a home that is livable and aesthetically engaging all at once...
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AT Survey:
My/Our style: Traditional South Indian.
Inspiration: Our love for the rich heritage of art, crafts and tradition of India.
Favorite Element: The Eastern sun. Since the largest part of the house faces east, the first rays of the rising sun streaming into our home every morning, brightens every corner of our home and our spirits too.
Biggest Challenge: Incorporating a traditional bungalow-like style into a penthouse in a high-rise apartment building.
What Friends Say: “Reminds us of our ancestral house”. Guests from other parts of the country refer to a visit to our home more as an “Appreciation of South Indian culture”
Biggest Embarrassment: The master bedroom closet. It’s almost like being in a manufacturing assembly line and needs a layout change which is our next remodeling project.
Proudest DIY: Block-print motif hand painted on ceramic wall cladding in the master bedroom.
Biggest Indulgence: We are an outdoors family and so it had to be our terrace where we intended spending most of our time. The feel and touch is that of a traditional South India porch with carved stone pillars, a tile roof with carved wooden beams and a canopy shaped like lotus petals. The coloured glass windows and doors were also carefully selected from antique hubs of South India.
The terracotta bulls seated on the parapet and the wall friezes were specially made for this place and even the Athangudi floor tiles were customized and handmade by traditional artisans from South India.
Best advice: Go with your heart, make it a labour of love but also be grounded in realism especially while working the execution piece with your contractor.
Dream source: The Antique hubs of South India for the doors, windows, pillars and furniture.
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Resources:
Appliances: Hob & Chimney:Faber
Refrigerator: LG
T.V: Samsung LCD
Furniture: Most of the wooden furniture & chests in our home are restored antiques. The crockery cabinet was custom made by Wood Décor, Bangalore. Rest of the furniture has been custom-made in traditional style.
Hardware: Locally manufactured, acquired with the help of our carpenter.
Accessories: Accessories in our home have either been picked up during our travels or have been dug out from old trunks from our parent’s ancestral home. Furnishings are from Yamini, Bangalore.
Lighting: Wall mounted lighting from BVK Iyengar Road. Table lamps are from Fabindia & Roots in Bangalore.
Rugs and Carpets: Fabindia and Zeba, Bangalore
Tiles and Stone: Mangalore terracotta tiles for the terrace roof and black granite for the kitchen and bar counters.
Window Treatments: Windows facing the terrace have traditional coloured embossed glass.
The woven blinds are from Nicora, Bangalore
Beds: Custom made
Artwork: Tanjore paintings acquired from traditional artists during our travels, Folk art paintings and illustrations from various craft fairs and art festivals, acrylic on canvas paintings by upcoming artists.
Paint: Asian Paints Royale Emulsion
Flooring: Vitrified Tiles from Kajaria and Somany and handmade Athagudi Tiles.
Other:
(Thanks, Archana, Srinivas & Mallika!)
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Photos by Archana
Orange is just the best color ever!
view rexrayfan's profile
Gorgeous!!
view MSN's profile
I like the swing seat.
view hrhprincessfiona's profile
I'm sure this place looks way better in person. In the photos it looks a bit heavy to me. But I love the tile and the outdoor spaces are fantastic.
view peachpie's profile
They had me at swing seat. The furniture is amazing; it's funny to me because if you look at this while sitting in a typical North American home, it's almost awesome-furniture-overkill: each of these pieces could be by themselves the pride and joy of your house. The painted tile trim is beautiful, too.
view wally3's profile
Love the colors and fabrics.
view vvn's profile
I really appreciate some explanations with the pics, esp. when it is in another country. Maybe there are some things obvious to Indians but not to Americans that I would love to know about.
Love the orange walls and wonder if the walls were picked specifically, like all facing East, or was it just random. Your place is lovely and I can imagine the outside area is a wonderful place to relax.
I dont remember the kitchen or bathroom but maybe it has been a long day.
Thanks for sharing.
view sassydo's profile
beautiful! thank you for sharing. i particularly love the outdoor areas
view tabithacat's profile
This is just gorgeous! We were just recently in Bangalore and felt that the city was very sterile and modern unlike the rest of India. However, your home is clearly not what we saw!
view crewtag.com's profile
The outdoor spaces are beautiful. Your home is truly stunning. The colors, the art, all of it. The one thing I would miss from my American home is a cushy sofa.
view kelleyk's profile
I just .... WANT TO LIVE THERE!! Oh, wait ... I have a job in NY .... WHAAA [sobbing] ....
view Jane's profile
Love it!...I am a regular lurker on your blog...even earmarked a lot of shots to steal in the future...
I am ready to give 10 years of my life for a veranda like that!
view saba's profile
Love the space and the outdoor area. Lovely home.
view LoriSF's profile
Fantastic Arch! I love everything about your new home! The colors and attention to detail are simply amazing and I love the feeling of warmth that is apparent in every corner. One can see how much you love your home and decorating it.
shalini
view atraveler's profile
those outdoor spaces are really great.
so refreshing to see a space that isn't trying to be a MCM time capsule or an ikea shrine.
view red.door.read.'s profile
Absolutely beautiful! Like everyone else, I am completely taken with your outdoor spaces. The entire apartment is beautifully furnished and decorated; I really loved the wall colors and bright textiles.
Both of the Bangalore homes we've seen have been fantastic; very refreshing change from the usual AT house tours.
view Sydney's profile
Absolutely beautiful and inviting. I find your home so completely stunning. Thank you for sharing.
(And I agree with SYDNEY above about both Bangalore homes and the refreshing change.)
view Elizabeth II's profile
love, love, LOVE the colour!
view rouquinne's profile
This makes me want to pack it up and move to Bangalore!
view medusa12120's profile
hey if ever you want to do an apartment swap and stay in our home in Jackson Heights, NY ... do let me know! What a lovely lovely home.
view pdesign's profile
WOW - Soooo beautiful
view VeryDelishVeg's profile
Your home is gorgeous!
view Brandyjane's profile
Lovely, soothing and so tropical. Cool and clear interior to keep the light and heat out.
view click212's profile
Thanks a lot each and everyone for your lovely comments.
sassydo~
Four main walls facing West were chosen to be highlighted with orange.
The ornate door in the living room has been restored from a demolished traditional south Indian home.
Most of the paintings in our home are traditional Tanjore paintings along with folk art picked up from upcoming artists.
Block-print motifs in the Master bedroom has been hand-painted by me.
Most of the furniture in our home are restored antiques.
If there is any specific thing you are keen on knowing, would love to answer your query.
Do drop by at my interior design blog www.rangdecor.blogspot.com
view Archana Srinivas's profile
How refreshing. Gorgeous, happy place. I also enjoyed reading a post that was beautifully written with good grammar and spelling.
I absolutely love the orange throughout.
view WendyJ's profile
Wow!
I've never thought such a traditional (and orange) house could be this fresh, light and airy..
Well done!
view inaku's profile
I saw the first picture and entered the slideshow without bothering to read the details. Every photo made me wonder how you could have transported a 21st century home through the centuries. A glimpse of the kitchen and the home office were the only give-aways that this couldnt have been an ancestral home tucked away from Time.
Beautiful home. I am amazed and impressed with the thought put in each nook and corner of your house.
The porch is my favourite place. I can imagine my grandfather lounging on the easy chair reading the newspaper sipping tea and my grandmother at his feet making garlands.
Thank you, Archana, Srinivas and Mallika for displaying your love for the South Indian heritage. Bravo!
view mridula's profile
Loved your home! I feel a sudden urge to visit my grandmother. :-)
view baybelle's profile
This house has soul and the guardians have translated that energy beautifully into the home of a young family. Amazing - and refreshing - house tour.
Congrats to AT for tapping into Bangalore's zeitgeist.
view EAM's profile
Proudest DIY: Block-print motif hand painted on ceramic wall cladding in the master bedroom.
You have every right to be proud - such a simple little thing transforms a horrible wall of beige tile into an attractive feature, at almost no cost! Most people (myself included) would have spent thousands recladding it.
view Blandwagon's profile
Sooooooooooooooo beautiful!!! Thank you for sharing this.
AT- please feature more homes from other countires.
view Cheryl503's profile
This is such a warm and livable home. I really love the patchwork / colorblock quilt on the bed.
Though there are so many antique pieces in the home they don't feel old-fashioned and heavy the way so many chunky old pieces can. I think the modern, spare stylings of the decorative objects and bold color choices go such a long way to bring the past into today.
Love it!
view easnyc's profile
i love seeing the traditional styles of other cultures!
view chromaspace's profile
Lovely!
view Carlita's profile
Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful! The eastern sun, orange walls, plants, a swing, decorated furniture, what more can one ask for!
view ShirleyZB's profile