The project Umang is a beautiful example of how an old, cramped apartment can be turned into a bright, airy, and joyful home. The word “Umang” means “joy” or “enthusiasm,” and the design lives up to its name by creating a space that feels fresh and full of life.
An Old Apartment Finds New Life In This Joyful Home | Studio SETU
The story of Umang began with a big change. Originally, thick walls divided the apartment into many small rooms. This made the home feel dark and disconnected. To fix this, we started a “de-walling” process. We knocked down the unnecessary partitions that separated the living room, dining area, and balcony.
By doing this, we created one large, flowing “social core.” Now, when you stand in the living room, you can see all the way across the house. This layout doesn’t just look better; it’s more functional. It allows natural sunlight from the big windows to reach the very back of the apartment, making the whole joyful home feel much bigger than it actually is.
Even though the walls are gone, the home still needs some privacy. Instead of solid bricks, we used “architectural cues.” For example, we placed a beautiful screen made of fluted glass and vertical wooden slats near the kitchen. This screen acts like a filter—it hides the mess of the kitchen but still lets light pass through and keeps the ceiling looking like one continuous, long surface.
The heart of the joyful home is the dining area. Here, we chose a “live-edge” dining table. This means a massive piece of natural, weathered wood that still has its original shape and imperfections is used to make the table base.
To make sure this heavy wood didn’t make the room feel “heavy,” we topped it with a clear glass sheet. This creates a feeling of “grounded lightness”—the table looks strong and natural, but the glass keeps the room feeling open.
Umang is not a boring, plain white box. It is full of artistic details that make it feel special:
On the balcony, a giant Mandala pattern carved directly into a lime-plastered wall forms the Mandala Wall. As the sun moves across the sky, the shadows in the carving change, making the wall look different at 10:00 AM than it does at 4:00 PM.
Inside the house, arched spaces feature peacock paintings inspired by traditional Indian Pichwai art. We place these at the end of hallways so that every time you look down a corridor, you see a beautiful piece of culture.
We keep the lighting in the house simple and soft. Instead of using bright, harsh bulbs, we installed hidden black tracks for general lighting and warm, amber-colored glass lamps over the dining table to create a cozy dinner atmosphere. Finally, plants fill the home.
From tiny bonsai trees inside to lush planters on the balcony, the greenery makes the apartment feel like a “breathing sanctuary.” It reminds the people living there of nature, even though they are inside a city building.
Umang is an exercise in restraint and relevance. It demonstrates that high-impact design does not require structural complexity but rather a deep understanding of how light, air, and materials interact. For the modern family, it offers a blueprint for a home that is as much a place of “umang” (joy) as it is a place of rest.
Fact File
Designed by: Studio SETU
Project Type: Apartment Interiors Design
Project Name: Umang
Location: Ahmedabad, Gujarat
Year Built: 2025
Duration of the project: 1 Years
Project Size: 1650 Sq.ft
Principal Architect: Ar. Ishita Agrawal
Photograph Courtesy: Murtaza Gandhi
Firm’s Instagram Link: Studio SETU
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