A Barn Style Home : Dichotomy of Contemporary Design | Designer Vaanar

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A Barn Style Home : Dichotomy of Contemporary Design | Designer Vaanar

Inside Story

Situated on the outskirts of Raipur city in India, this barn style home is a dichotomy of contemporary design. Traditional concepts, paired with modern materials, resulting in a bold twist to the classic Barn. Tucked away from the road and accessed by a scenic driveway into the Nirvana estate, the house is enclosed by tall bamboo trees and lies in the centre of lush green paddy fields spread across 13 acres. The very conception and planning of this barn house entails the hidden knack for experiments. From coloured glass doors layered by classy/vintage furniture to aluminium inlays on matte grey flooring paralleled with white walls and 24-foot-high ceilings, is a pure play of design and improvisations.

Natural light and the surrounding view of the paddy became the canvas for our creation and are very central to the design. An open deck running on all 4 sides facilitates its sight. The home experiments with traditional designs and elements, augmenting them in modern staples such as exposed ceiling and wall finishes, Moroccan flooring, accentuated by a mix of classic and contemporary furniture. Every room in the house is adorned by unique artworks, each an every-one of them done by ourselves. The classics like oil on canvas, Phad, Sandpainting have been created by Seema over the years, while Neo expressionism out of recycled metals, Pop-art and wood craft are done by me and my brother Aditya. With multiple places to sit and relax, it is an oasis for mind, body and soul.

Entrance
The two-tone color of the house instantly catches the attention, inviting to its dramatic entrance, which is lined up with Seema’s extensive Bonsai collection. The grand staircase leads one to the bright red door adorned with moulds emanating Chinese warriors, set the ball rolling to its fascinating design story.

Drawing room
Entering in, the space looks grand and breezy. Tall windows adjacent to the main living peeping into the floor above, conveys the living as a continuum of space. With natural light striking the white walls and giant windows looking out, the space seems closely connected to its surrounding landscape. Hovering above is A very unique chandelier, composed of bamboo, rattan and bottle gourd pendant lamps sourced from different parts of India.

Room with a Yellow door
This hand painted door, ornamented with designed woodwork and traditional motifs, is an entrance to a space of blues. Finessed with a combination of vintage furniture in teak, earthen floor and a timeless Phad painting, it lets go of its grip with the exposed ceiling, bordered with neo classical moulds. Sliding door opening up to the open deck overlooks the expansive fields, embodying tradition and lightness.

Kitchen
Every element in this area has a story of its own. The 87-year old glass cabinet, refurbished to be green to the low-lying dining with cane-chairs with brass details on one side and white leather benches on the other side, is all about breaking the monotony. An Austrian candelabra on the dining, raw exposed ceiling highlighting old cement moulds, is an exemplary mix of materials. Next to the glass windows lies a gas lamp from the 80’s now converted to planter, to further elaborate on the story.

Guest bedrooms
One of the most profound concepts that this home has brought back in the modern mist is colorful and hand-painted doors. Still widely used in rural India, here a break-out from the current minimalist, the hand-painted door is ready to introduce the alchemy it beholds.

Throughout, contrast is an essential aspect. With vintage furniture standing over spanish flooring seems as natural of a transition as the view outside overlooking the mango orchards. The design dichotomy is emulated further with the exposed ceiling and the sandpainting of a sailing ship, one from his Seema’s collection dated 1986.
The combination of pastel green with neo classical moulds and grey is very new. A hand painted almira along with a customized bunk bed is a minimalist yet refreshing touch to move on from the usual farm furniture, adding a hostel-like feel to this space. Aligning them all is an aforementioned terrace to access the rest of the barn.

Reading Area
One finds this dramatically fanciful seating next to a large triangular window overlooking the landscape of paddy’s on the southern side of the estate. The vividness created with the palettes of exposed brick wall and high ceiling in dark surrounded by elements of green is fascinating. With Chet Baker classics playing in the background, the space seems fluid with retrofit cane furniture paired with tan leather seats over a traditional rug in Pattu style. Juxtaposing the barn house is a white khat to laze around watching rain gush over the harvest outside merging the inside-out.

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Wide-Rhythm
Going up through the stairs, neutral tones and pops of colour create a visual symphony that keeps the eye engaged yet relaxed. The tri-bearing trusses add a unique character to each of the sub-spaces subtly absorbing the electrical fittings. Part of this loft also hosts a tactfully placed magnanimous projector. The owners love to host parties and cook for guests. The terrace-like access to this living space justifies the solitude engulfed design, and yet lives a part of the hymns of the house, inviting a conversation between the indoors and the outdoors.

It is enriched with 3 generation heirloom treasures such as the dahej peti converted into a coffee table alongside a red wooden charpoy overlooking the fields outside. An original and a very intriguing concept is a partition fixture made out of cassettes and old vinyls, emphasizing our love for art and music, and has been used as a canvas for a display of creativity.

Common Bath
Enter through the barn style door, this bathroom itself requires a feature of its own. The bottle green tiles and its combination with white hand cut tiles is a fine example of top notch workmanship and merges subtly with the checkered floor. The cabinet here is another refurbished vintage piece from the 70’s.

Note – The entire project, from conceptualization to realization of both the exteriors and interiors are done by me and my team which includes, my brother Aditya and my mother Seema.