Ahmedabad-based architect and interior designer Arpit Shah is young, fun and full of ideas, and this family home in Gandhinagar is imbued with the upstart's energy and dynamism. He's grown up enough to know what mum and dad need in a house, but youthful enough to know what kids want, too. This quick tour of one of Shah's projects shows that a creative mix of spaces keeps a home alive.
The main living room maintains the warm colour palette and classicism at work in other public areas of the home, and features built-in storage, mood-enhancing light features and a sky fan to keep the breeze blowing while you relax in front of the media centre.
Commissioned by a young family in Gandhinagar to design their second home after the arrival of two more children, Shah has gone to a great deal of trouble to ensure his designs for the home take into account the personality and history of the family. The inscription just inside the front door greets and farewells family members as they come down the hallway.
Visual artistry is at work everywhere in this house. The back door's classical elegance is embodied in a frond-filigree design, matched with a screen door with a nautilus shell motif. Given the maritime theme, the vintage high security padlock seems very much in place!
The bedrooms in this Indian family home are a highlight of Arpit Shah's inspired design, each bursting with individuality and colour. This larger double bedroom has a quirky colour scheme and multiple points of discreet dimmer-controlled lighting for the ultimate in R&R.
Now this is one way to create kids' bedroom storage space that the little ones are going to love! First, make multiple interlocking shelves as dynamic as a lightning bolt in form, with plenty of nooks and crannies to hide all the best toys, and then paint it in a Buzz Lightyear colour palette! An exciting home for a new family, these kids' bedrooms and nursery spaces take the cake.