The Confederate Rose – A Cheerful Concoction Of Classical And Luxurious Interiors | MuseLAB

The apartment is a fairly large 5 bedroom home (including a guest room), with a 1200 sqft living-dining room, an outdoor double-height terrace with a pool connected to the sauna and shower area, a large 800 sqft den, a home office, a pantry, dry kitchen and wet kitchen and a separate staff quarters and service area.

Visit: MuseLAB

The client brief was purely functional; in terms of how he assigned the bedrooms and how he wanted to divide the home into public and private areas with access control and that he wanted a lot of plants and lamps. He wanted the home to be “a vibrant and happy place”. There was no emphasis on colour, style, or a reference bank of images that we had to adhere to. We had the creative freedom to prepare the look book and material palette as long as his functional requirements were met with.

The overall driving philosophy of the interiors was to make the home a cheerful concoction of classical backdrops in pastel shades, customized furniture, vivid patterns, pastel colours, playful artwork, and luxurious fabrics. The colour scheme became a matter of choosing ingredients for a beautifully calibrated visual feast. The other challenge was that we had customised everything in the home

The Confederate Rose (Hibiscus mutabilis) is famous for its dramatic colour changes, with flowers that can go from white to pink to deep red within one day. The idea is that starting from the living room which is all vanilla how the colours change, transition, and deepen as we move from the public to the private spaces.

The layout of this apartment is interesting. A large lift lobby welcomes you and leads you to the main foyer which essentially divides the home into a private area on one side and a public area on the other side. The living room on each floor of this apartment building is connected to a pool and deck which makes the space engaging and exciting. The bedrooms are large in size and blessed with great ceiling height and plenty of natural light which gave us ample opportunity to introduce greens. The primary goal of the interiors was to ensure that the transition spaces are incubators of vibrant colours and patterns. So the lobbies, foyers, and corridors have a larger role to play than them just being a thoroughfare or a means of access.

The primary elevator lobby is a cuboid in volume. The floor has a black and white houndstooth pattern in piccolo tiles. The walls have a soothing bottle grape colour while the ceiling has a classical cove light detail with a rounded molding detail on the periphery. The centre of the ceiling has a cluster of 5 wireframe suspended lights which cast a beautiful shadow on the wall. The wall across from the elevators has a bespoke bench in pleated floral upholstery. To the left of it is a customized wall installation of brass cylinders with mirrors cascading from the top right towards the window. A bird nest fern in a Palasa planter completes the composition. The skirting and the jambs of the elevator portals are lined in solid teakwood. To the right of the paneled double-leaf entrance door is a geometrical console/ shoe storage unit with a white composite top and a body fabricated in dull gold MS sections and perforated sheet.

Both sides of the entrance door that open into the entrance foyer have an applique of veneer in a chevron pattern, painstakingly achieved by orienting the grains to achieve the diagonals. The houndstooth transitions into a black Marquina marble floor in the foyer with walls and ceilings washed in a powder blue. An ornate sofa finished in distressed white PU has a seat upholstered in a tie and dye fabric and a back in monochromatic pinstripe. This statement piece of furniture is set against a mural of customized cement tiles designed by us in collaboration with Bharat Floorings.

The tiles, inspired by the Mughal gardens are in four different colours. When facing the mural, to the left is the public area of the home comprising of the living, dining, and guest bedrooms, and to the right are the private areas of the home comprising of the den along with the four bedrooms belonging to the family. On either side of the foyer is a partition made out of 72 panels of beveled glass in a solid teak wood frame. Each panel frames components of the larger volumes beyond.

Beyond the paneled partition is the large 1200 sqft living-dining room, laid with a golden spider marble and finished in ivory walls. The room is divided into 3 different seating areas, to provide different pockets of conversation within the large space. The ten-seater customized dining table to the right has a top in matte polished solid wood spanning across three fairly large legs finished in a concrete texture and glossy red PU. The seats of the ornate dining chairs in the distressed finish are upholstered with a richly textured fabric in floral prints. Five unique disc lights are playfully lined up above the table in a staggered composition. The tableware is sourced from Fab India and Good Earth with centerpieces from Ikea, Nicobar, and House of Things.

The powder blue wall against the dining table is lined up with a cluster of concrete maze-like murals designed by MuseLAB. Across from this, on the other side of the table is the dining console unit, the undisputed piece de resistance of this space. This 12 footer beast is an ode to the different kinds of woods used in the house. Designed as a stack of photo frames, each moulding is made in a different wood in a natural matte polish, interspersed with a band of teal and red. These mouldings are not only ornamental but also double up as the handle for the drawers. The legs are in a red PU finish while the top is lined up with a teal back painted glass. A collection of ceramic urns from Iqrup and Ritz complete this unique composition.

Across from the dining table is the first set of seating of the informal living area. A unique sofa with a disconnected backrest is upholstered in shades and patterns of blues. This along with a floral upholstered chair, a rug from Jaipur Rugs, the tadpole wall art from Decorkart, and a simple black fabricated center table form the most unlikely of combinations for this bold pocket of the home. Another informal living area is by the poolside window. This comprises of a linear daybed in a dirty pink suede fabric with a salmon bolster. A customized wooden chair with a blue floral print upholstery and hand-knitted blue and white cushions creates another unique seating composition in the living room.

The formal living room comprises of a pair of comfortable sofas in an ivory suede fabric with customized cushions. Two armchairs in a blue distressed fabric complete the seating arrangement; the legs of these chairs are in the same red PU finish as the dining console unit. The central coffee table is a heavyweight in a silver metallic finish with rivets and leather handles on the drawers.

Resting on the 8’x10’ Free Verse by Kavi wool and silk hand-knotted Jaipur Rug, the table is strewn with a Tom Ford book and accessories from Nappa Dori, Jaipur Rug, Address Home, and House of Things. Floor lamps, table lamps, and customized side tables in the dull gold finish are a part of this whole which is placed against beautiful moldings on the ivory wall. Wall art designed by MuseLAB in a golden mirror-finished and circular shaped bent metal dons the center of the wall. 

The powder bathroom lobby comprises of a sideboard Booffeeh from the Nefertiti collection of MuseLAB. The walls of the powder bathroom are applied with a wrap-around pattern in piccolo tiles. A cylindrical pedestal basin is kept against black mirror shutters. 

The Kitchen has 3 components to itself – a pantry, a dry kitchen and a wet kitchen. The overall aim was to create a kitchen that doesn’t scream ‘kitchen’, avoiding cold/shiny surfaces and making it into a comfortable space that the family spends most of their time in. Hence the dry kitchen comprises of a large breakfast bar in a pristine ivory countertop supported with 5 balustrades that make up the legs (designed with re-configurable modules).

This top cascades into a service counter with a small sink; the shutters for this are clad in a light green colour back-painted glass. Rust fabric dons the seats of the wireframe like bar stools. The white cooking surface climbs on the verticals and the underside of the overhead unit as well, framing a bespoke black and white patterned backsplash in a back-painted glass. The built-in appliances frame the entire workspace, almost creating a photo frame like effect. 

A pair of sliding doors in sage back-painted panelled glass lead to the home office also painted in the same colour. A white composite stone forms the top surface of the table. The Architectural Wall hooks designed by us become appropriate accessories for this small space.

Taking inspiration from the confederate rose that is known for its dramatic colour changes we looked at creating this interesting intimacy between people and colour. The den space of the house is designed to be a multi-functional space. It works both as a home theatre and a living space with furniture designed as modular elements to allow for flexibility and change in the arrangement of furniture as per the need of the inhabitants. It cultivates a certain interaction within the space. The composition and application of the classical wall moulding here appear on the wooden panelling in a chocolate-dipped hue; it resonates with the same panel graphic which is embedded throughout the house. The den is sprinkled with plants and accessories including the ‘Carpet of Souls’ rug designed by MuseLAB.   

The guest bedroom is strategically placed with a corner window overlooking the pool area; the media unit with a camel beige composite stone top is designed such that it extends to become a desk. This room was to function as an independent hotel suite. Provided with a PU finished white wardrobe and a landing counter with a built-in mini-fridge, the walls of this room are in light mauve. The customised bed with a spotted fabric headboard is against a panelled wall. The bed sheets, duvet and throw from Surprise Home have pops of mustard and satin greys. The customised curtains have a graphic that is formed when the curtains are drawn.

The private foyer at the other end of the den is similar to the primary lift lobby with the houndstooth pattern on the floor, the bottle grape colour on the walls, and the blue painted ceiling. A cluster of wire-framed lights has been suspended from the center of the ceiling. Across from the glass-paneled double door is a bespoke laser cut metal bench with blue velvet fabric. This foyer leads to the four bedrooms, a service room, and a storeroom. On the right is a large 5’ x 7’ wall art of a rug designed by MuseLAB from the step-well series in a 4” wooden frame. 

The youngest son’s room and their daughter’s room are identical in terms of areas. For both the rooms, the classic panel graphic is behind the headboard and on the wall opposite the window. The ceilings are white and the floor is in the golden spider marble. In the youngest son’s bedroom, the palette comprises of ivory on the walls, the dark wood veneer on the furniture and teal accents on the media unit and bedside tables. The bedside table towards the wall is part of a wooden study table with a desk chair upholstered in a bright mustard fabric.

The day bed made in a wooden frame is upholstered in royal blue velvet fabric with mustard yellow piping sitting on an olive green Jaipur rug. The bedsheets/ duvets were also customised with Surprise Home and showcase a palette of greys and mustard. A low chair by the window side is set against the graphic of the customised curtain – here the base is ivory and the prints are in mustard and bluish-grey. The powder blue colour on the frame of the bed also continues on the panel behind the study table while the teal accent continues inside the walk-in wardrobe as the colour of the recessed handles and the colour of the vanity shutters in the bathroom.

A melange of colours in shades of grey, blue and green are in 4×4 piccolo tiles which form the floor of the walk-in wardrobe that continues into the dry area of the bathroom. The vanity top is a white composite stone. The shower and the tub are in a singular space behind a glass partition. The bathroom walls are in a continuous wrap-around pattern composed of light grey1x2, 2×2 and 2×4 piccolo tiles. The floor and the ceiling of the shower area are in an ash grey wooden vitrified tile, while the bathtub sits within a white composite stone. 

The daughter’s room is also set in an ivory shell. The large media unit in wood and coral also doubles up as her study table. Her wooden dresser with a teal back painted glass top is placed against a full-length mirror with rounded corners on the paneled wall. A low chair sits on the Shape-shifter rug.

The headboard fabric is unique – the abstract floral elements are filled with colors which also become a part of the palette of the room. The curtains here have a graphic in plum and lime green. The walk-in wardrobe floor is in a fun yellow customized printed tile. The shutters are clad in a coral back-painted glass. This floor continues into the dry area of the bathroom. The walls are in a wrap-around herringbone pattern of subway tiles in various textures and shades of warm greys.

The eldest son’s bedroom is a junior master suite. The entrance mini foyer flooring is in black Marquina stone. The sideboard which also acts as storage has shutters in a sage perforated metal sheet. A plaid sofa in a light orange print complements the grey armchair with legs finished in a sage PU, both these are placed against the ivory mouldings. Floating tables rest on a Hatsu rug. The study table is in the dark veneer finish; this along with the bed rests against the sage wall.

The headboard is in tan leather and the Surprise Home bed set has hints of light greys and rusts which is also seen in the curtain and the bench by the bed. Art and curiosity are strategically placed in the room along with indoor plants. The bathroom floor tile is a printed chevron pattern. Inside the bathroom, the wall tiles are a glossy subway tile placed diagonally to achieve a wrap around. The vanity shutters in a pumpkin orange colour match the finish around the wardrobe mirror. The built-in bathtub which doubles up as a shower cubicle is lined up with teal Piccolo tiles. 

The master suite mini foyer is in the black Marquina finish. The ceiling, which continues to the walk-in wardrobe, is in a veneer finish contained within a wooden framework/ moulding detail. The entrance sideboard is in a rich rouge red colour with a veneer top and sides. The main sleeping area comprises of an upholstered bed in bluish grey plaid fabric with accent pillows and bed covers in suedes and satins. The solid grey sofa has a headrest in a red and ivory printed fabric. A geometric rug by Hatsu in deep red and ivory is part of this composition. The curtain motif is in light and charcoal grey. An armchair by the window side is in a grey fabric with tufting on the backside.

The study table in wood has a red back-painted glass top which the media unit is fabricated with shutters in copper-finished perforated steel. The panelled walls are painted in a greyish blue colour, which continues as the colour of the back-painted glass shutters in the large walk-in wardrobe. The flooring of the walk-in wardrobe continues into the master bathroom, which is a burst of red, pint and white piccolo tiles. An exotic Brazilian grey marble forms the vanity countertop and the basin wall is a Tetris like pattern in 2×2 red and white tiles. The rest of the walls are in a reddish-pink 1×1 tile. A geometric chandelier is above the vanity area.

The bedroom foyer lobby is one of our favourite spaces in the home. It is unlike any other transition space. The houndstooth pattern in black and white Piccolo tiles forms the perfect monochromatic carpet to lie on and stare at the 5 wireframe chandeliers suspended from the bluish-grey ceiling. The bottle grape colour on the walls forms the perfect base to receive the framed MuseLAB rug from the Step Well series. This transition space is unlike any other foyer that one would simply pass through; it is a space that one would want to pause in, relax, absorb the colours and patterns and then move on.

The materials and textures of the house are layered to create an enchanting space. A quite ivory shell represents timelessness and longevity and forms a large part of the backdrop for this potpourri of colours to take centre stage. The den is the only space where the ivory is replaced with dark veneer panels and a black floor. The colours are the soul and spirit of the house. They appear and reappear on various surfaces, objects and even in fabrics and accessories across the home creating an emotion that is specific to that particular space. The application of these unusual shades is a resultant of the amalgamation of colour and vibrancy, tradition and contemporary, indulgence and restraint which is manifested on the various elements of the home.

Given that the home was extremely versatile in terms of its design language, we were not restricted by a particular style of accessories. Hence we devised a definitive strategy to curate accessories on and for various surfaces of the home. While rugs were sourced from Jaipur Rugs, Hatsu, and MuseLAB, we also reached out to a lot of online platforms like Address Home, House of things, Spin, Decorkart, Ikea, Intro, Natty, White Teak, and Bent Chair among others. Along with these, we also used several accessories designed by us at MuseLAB. 

The client also likes to be surrounded by plants, so we identified indoor plants like Raphis palms, Fiddle leaf figs, Dracena Dara Singh, Golden and green sansevierias, big Anthurium, Areca palms, and Philo Golden mosaics which were placed in planters from Palasa.

FACT FILE:

Firm: MuseLAB

Lead Architects: Huzefa Rangwala& Jasem Pirani

Design Team: Namrata Tidke, Akshaya Mestry, Bhakti Loonawat, Jeet Soneji, Disha Vanzara, Mariyam Pardawala

Area: 7000 sft

Location: Koregaon Park, Pune

Photos: Sameer Tawde

Website: http://www.muselab.in/

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