The project brief was to design the living room and foyer of a residential rental space in Santacruz, while respecting the boundaries of a rental property and making enough space to house four thousand books collected by the client over her lifetime.
The space needed to feel cosy for the client while remaining welcoming to children and adults. It accommodates book reading sessions, book exchanges, and film screenings. The client specified pre-owned slotted angle racks for the book shelving. The design keeps the shelving from making the compact space feel boxy. The team had complete freedom to use colours, update lighting, and curate objects collected by the client from around the world.
Axislabs
A repair and retrofit project that transforms a compact 200 Sq ft, rented residential living room into a vibrant, semi-public micro-hub. This multi-generational space welcomes children and adults alike for book readings and film screenings. Exploring the seamless transitioning between an intimate reading room by day and an immersive film screening space by night.
By avoiding permanent structural modification and respecting the constraints of a rental property, the design relies entirely on modular inserts. To anchor the space sustainably, the design breathes new life into discarded components. Existing industrial slotted-angle racks, procured directly from the client’s storage, fabricated with a coat of fresh paint and repurposed as the main stack. The framework is balanced by an aerial intervention. Cantilevered shelves hang from the ceiling on galvanized iron (GI) wires, allowing the design details to work within the structural constraints.
The tiled wall up to a certain height remains untouched, with a subtle treatment that keeps it from drawing attention. Wooden drawers sit beneath the black marble seat near the window. They provide additional storage while making efficient use of the space.
A wooden frame with frosted glass showing silhouettes of the books kept inside. Similarly an acrylic box on the shelf with multiple sliding doors serves as play while one searches for the book. The ceiling is painted green with casing capping as mouldings on its perimeter to hide electricals. Extending from the outer edge to the track lights to hide those wires too.
Illumination plays a critical role in shifting the room’s atmosphere. Custom handmade table lamps made with 3d printing, nepalese handmade paper and fabrics cast a warm, moderate glow, providing a soft focus that visually expands the compact room while creating a welcoming ambiance that beautifully blurs the line between home and public. The space is curated with a collection of books and objects collected by the client around the world.
The foyer, positioned between the bedroom and the living room, serves as the critical transition from the public hub to private family space. To manage this boundary a delicate linen noren curtain is introduced, creating a soft visual blur between the inner personal spaces and the main community room. Above, a backlit stretch fabric ceiling utilizing the exact same linen serves a clever dual purpose, diffusing a soft glow while seamlessly concealing the structural beams overhead.
To avoid irreversible civil work and modify the foyer’s existing tiled walls, an overlay of floor-to-ceiling pinup boards is done, serving as display walls which keep the whole foyer changing visually as the pinups are replaced.
Fact File
Designed by: Axislabs
Project Type: Residential Interior Design
Project Name: Library house
Location: Santacruz (E), Mumbai
Year Built: 2026
Duration of the project: 2.5 Months
Project Size: 200 Sq ft.
Project Cost: 2.5 Lakh
Principal Designers: Deep Desai & Yajat Biyani
Photograph Courtesy: onthemoveisland & Nihar Gondhalekar
Firm’s Instagram Link: Axislabs
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