A house becomes a home through the way its spaces come together. It becomes a place to belong through the quiet unfolding of what lies in-between. In this Pune apartment, there’s room for that in-between. Muted walls, softly lit corners, gentle transitions, and tactile thresholds create a calm that is difficult to name. These in-between spaces give the home a quiet sense of ease. The Japanese call it Ma — the space that gives shape to things. The silence between notes in a song. The stillness that lets a room breathe.

A Pune Apartment Where In-Between Spaces Create a Slower Way of Livingin-between | Alkove-Design

The Quiet Pause

Based in Singapore, the Gadre family wanted their 1,480 sq ft 4BHK apartment to feel like a restful retreat. The home was designed as a place to unwind whenever they returned to India. A home with simplicity at its core — something quieter, slower, a step away from the pace of their everyday lives. Ninada Kashyap, Principal Architect at Alkove-Design, explains that the design began with a search for cues that could bring tranquillity into the home. The aim was to create a residence that also felt like a peaceful getaway. “We chose to work with the idea of a pause — a kind of exhale. A stillness that holds space not just for living, but for slowing down. We decided to look for meaningful ways of curating the interstitial spaces through this lens.”

The interiors begin with a neutral palette of primal oak and ivory limewash. This restrained canvas allows the in-between spaces to unfold gently. Arches and clean lines punctuate these transitions, giving them a sense of definition. In the living area, silver-grey stucco forms a soft backdrop for the room. Slender wooden arcs add a subtle rhythm, while diffused sunlight filters through rippled glass to reach the seating area. A wooden checkered partition echoes the simple lattice of a traditional shoji screen. It quietly separates the living and dining spaces without severing them. Here, the grid is not a boundary, but a breathing threshold.

Everyday Pause

Just beyond the living area, the kitchen and dining unfold with natural ease. The dining space doesn’t vie for attention — it simply renders itself as a nook, whether for a quick bite or fleeting conversations. The transition between kitchen and dining holds a kind of warmth, where the in-betweens aren’t just spatial, but also auditory. A hum of exchange, a pause shared. The kitchen flows from here effortlessly, dressed in greys and whites — in a meditative zen.

Drifting into the private quarters, the bedrooms offer a tender connection to nature— a heady concoction of sights, sounds, and ethereal light. The guest bedrooms rest in fresh greens and earthy ochre, while the master bedroom grounds with rust orange.

The bedrooms blur the boundaries between inside and out, where birdcalls mingle with the city’s hum — all absorbed from a sun-soaked perch that feels vividly alive. “Careful detailing brought the in-betweens alive — through a play of light and shadow.

Quiet In-Betweens

Fluted transitions along the window seats caught the sun and danced with shadows, while recessed surfaces behind the bed added quiet depth — becoming natural resting places for art, as if they were always meant to be there. We wanted to craft a home where the in-betweens struck a chord — the kind that makes you pause, maybe even sigh,” reminisces Komal Mittal, Principal Architect at Alkove-Design.

The breeze beckons you into yet another room — one where the home finds equilibrium — a space that allows both work and repose. It’s here that the home’s quietude truly settles in — where you can wander in with a book, curl up with a cup of coffee, and rest beside a balcony laced with greens, without a care in the world. Through the day, shadows shift softly across the room — cast by fluted details and leafy silhouettes — tracing time in quiet, poetic intervals.

The Beauty Between

As Jun’ichirō Tanizaki wrote, “We find beauty not in the thing itself but in the patterns of shadows, the light and the darkness, that one thing against another creates.” It is through such subtle gestures that the home begins to emote with its inhabitant. For a family seeking a peaceful getaway — a place to pause, to return to themselves — these gently articulated in-betweens offer more than refuge. They invite a slower, more sensory way of living — one that attunes the everyday to gentle rhythms and tactile beauty. The House of In-Betweens lingers, like the silence between two notes — quietly alive, quietly theirs.

Fact File

Designed by: Alkove-Design

Project Type: Residential Interior Design

Project Name: The House of In-Betweens

Location: Pune

Project Size: 1480 Sq.ft

Principal Designers: Ar. Komal Mittal & Ar. Ninada Kashyap

Photograph Courtesy: Pulkit Sehgal 

The Firm’s Website Link: Alkove-Design

Firm’s Instagram Link: Alkove-Design

Firm’s Facebook Link: Alkove-Design

For Similar Project >>> This Aesthetic Courtyard House With Lush Landscape Design Offers A Calm Aura To The Users