Living and Dining Room – Manzil

Hello, and welcome to this gorgeous new home in what promises to be an amazing new year. I’m starting it with a new project reveal, and that’s a fabulous start, me thinks. This is the first time I haven’t picked a name for a project. The clients had decided to call their home ‘Manzil’ long before they met me. But let me first invite you into the living and dining room of Manzil. And then we can discuss it all at leisure.

Living and Dining Room of Manzil

This home belongs to a family of four who are all very fond of traveling. They have travelled over 25 countries together, and the plans for their next vacation are probably in the making as I write this. They are modern and forward thinking in their outlook with traditional values at heart, and they wanted their home to reflect that.

And that is what we do best. Add a little bit of ethnicity to modern vibe, Indian patterns and motifs to contemporary furniture and a bit of bright to pretty pastels. So proud to share ‘Manzil’ with you today. Here’s a modern Indian home with so much heart and a whole lot of soul.

The Plan

The main door of the home opens into a very small foyer, from which you enter the living and dining room. The space next to the foyer was earlier a powder bathroom. The client did not want this extra bathroom and we decided to break it down and make a small bar area instead.

From the foyer, you walk through the dining area into the living area at the far end, which lies alongside the large floor-to-ceiling windows.

The Foyer

Standing at the main door, you are directly facing the bar area of the home. We didn’t want the bar to be the first view of the home, so we used a partition to conceal the bar unit behind it.

The foyer itself is really tiny, as is obvious from the plan. We couldn’t fit in a seating area here.

It does, however, have a natural niche which we decided to make the most of. This storage unit to fit neatly into the niche.

The partition wall of the bar and the shutters of the storage are all designed to look like fabric panels. Behind the two panels on the right, is a ton of storage for shoes and household essentials.

The Bar 

Just around the corner, tucked away behind the fabric panel partition, we have the bar. The home owners love their coffee as much as their wine, so this serves both purposes. It’s where they have their coffee every morning and sundowner in the evenings.

Between the drawers below and the shutters above, there is plenty of storage for mugs, different coffees, glasses, bottles and all bar accessories.

We used this beautiful mosaic tile running down the centre of the bar counter. Though we picked it primarily for design, the fact that it makes for a water proof surface on most of the bar counter is an added bonus.

The bar area is behind a wall with no source of natural light. We went with mirrors on the storage shutters and backsplash so that all lights are reflected and the corner does not look dark and heavy.

The Dining Area

As you step past the bar, you walk into the dining area of the home. With textured walls, large jharokhas and glittering pendants, this area is the show stopper of the home.

This small window on the wall beside the dining table is the only opening on this side of the home. The clients were very certain they wanted to leave this window open for cross ventilation.

We decided to use a jharokha to frame that window, and then duplicate the jharokhas along both the dining walls reminiscent of rows of windows in old havelis.

Once we had those in place, these gorgeous pendants…

… and the textured walls with specks of gold, fell into place to complete the story.

The Living Room

The living area is on the far end of this space. We don’t have a television here, which allowed us to put seating all around to make a cozy circle.

There is a comfortable three-seater sofa on one side…

… with a pair of deep, cozy chairs on the other.

While all the other pieces of furniture have simple, straight lines, this exquisite bench carries forward the haveli vibe from the dining area into the living.

The Colours

The clients were looking for a vibrant, happy space but wanted to use soft colours across the home. We decided to go with pastels as the base and they picked this lovely rug to begin with.

The peach and green became a starting point not just for the living and dining room of Manzil, but for the whole home.

The peach rug made the perfect back drop for this green inlay coffee table. The table itself has a simple, straight line structure with a heavy motif design… once again a blend of modern with traditional.

We used greenish-grey upholstery for the sofa seat with a vibrant peachy-green motif on the back.

With the intricate carving on the bench we stayed with a soft peach for the upholstery here.

On the opposite side, white chairs keep the living room looking light, with peach embroidered cushions to add some punch.

The grey walls help keep things soft in the dining area, while making a darker backdrop so the white jharokhas can stand out.

The bench and the chairs opposite are again in a light textured fabric, with the peach, floral end chairs adding some colour to this area.

The greenish grey and white mosaic on the bar again ties in with our colour scheme.

As does the pretty fabric on the foyer panels.

The bar and entryway also align with our light peach-green-grey vibe beautifully.

Before and Afters

Here’s a look at the foyer before…

The paneled shutters in front hide a whole lot of storage, while the panel on the left conceals the bar from the entrance.

We broke down the powder bathroom you see in this pic…

To fit in a compact bar area.

The living area…

… awash in soft peaches and greens makes a happy, welcoming space for family and friends.

And finally, the dining area with the oddly placed window…

… which we framed with the jharokha to make this exciting dining space.

Get The Look

A whole lot of beautiful furniture, furnishings and accessories have gone into making this dazzling living and dining room of Manzil. I’m sharing a few here for now, but remember to follow our furniture and furnishing round up posts. They are always more complete and extensive with listing our finds and sources.

| – 1 – Butterfly wall mirror | – 2 – Acero mosaic border | – 3 – Dining jharokha | – 4 – Long leaf door handle | – 5 – Table Lamp | – 6 – DIY dry flower arrangement made with Dried Palm Leaves, Pampas grass and Artificial white flowers | – 7 – Kasbah rug | – 8 – Floral cushion cover | – 9 – Roma armchair | – 10 – Waterfall coffee table |

When we were ready for handover, the client gave me the name plate to be fixed at the entrance. It had been made years before they bought this home. They had bought it for their dream home, which they had decided then that they would call ‘Manzil’.

The most extraordinary part… though the client didn’t remember all through our design and selection process, the colours were peach and green.

This ends our tour of the living and dining room of Manzil. But it is only the beginning of our journey through this beautiful home… and I promise you it’s an exciting one.

So while you write to me with your thoughts and comments below, also remember to sign up here so you don’t miss any of what’s to come.

Until next time,

.

Photography: Biju Gopal of @bizou.photos 
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