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Designed by Kavita Singh, this compact home boasts a voluminous art collection. Take a tour through the space now
It took seven years of hunting for the perfect forever home until art collector and patron Saloni Doshi found hers. “I was privileged to have lived across Delhi, Kolkata and Mumbai in beautiful homes and great addresses, which is why I had a list of criteria. I needed lots of light, space, peace, music, green environs, good energy, car parking and staff quarters,” says Doshi, 41, who runs Space 118, an artist studio and residency space in Mumbai. And this private building in a leafy lane in midtown Mumbai, a stone’s throw away from the sea, checked all the boxes.
At first glance, it looked pretty decrepit—a 1,300sqft flat with 35-year-old broken tiling, tiny bathrooms, two small bedrooms and a low ceiling. But it was her dear friend and fellow art patron Kavita Singh who saw the potential. The flat was gutted to its bare shell and remodelled by Singh, interior designer and founder, Reflections and Kavita Singh Interiors.
The space for one modifies easily for company
What Doshi needed was a beautiful space for one—multi-purpose and modifiable when needed. Over 18 months, false walls were created, the master bedroom was expanded by taking in space from the kitchen and the second bedroom was broken to enlarge the living room to accommodate a modifiable study-cum-guest bedroom. “I entertain a whole lot, but my home is small. So I have two living rooms. And while I barely have live-in houseguests, I still need my guests to feel comfortable. Hence half my living room is an adaptable guest bedroom,” she explains as she shows me her plush sofa-cum-bed. There’s also her BoConcept dining table that becomes an eight-seater when opened and a nifty console or multi-purpose study table, when closed. Flexible shutters that slip into pockets can be opened out and locked to convert the living room into a second bedroom. And a study table that otherwise houses a set of two Dashrath Patel works and a Subodh Gupta installation of stainless steel utensils called ‘Guldasta’ quickly adapts into a home office.
Utilitarian furniture and a clever use of space helped fulfil all of Doshi’s needs. “Saloni had a very clear brief. I just had to make it happen,” explains Singh. Besides her prerequisites to make the space roomier, light-filled and more adaptable, the home also had to showcase Doshi’s expanding collection of art. Singh cleverly designed the flat with tracks all around to enable the hanging and reshuffling of Doshi’s art collection with ease. “Kavita understands my aesthetics and I love the way she’s designed her own home. I wanted a contemporary version of Kavita Singh,” explains Doshi, who started collecting art at age 25 and possesses over 300 works between her home, office and the homes of her family members.
To highlight the art, Singh and Doshi spent a significant amount of time planning the lighting of this home with lighting professional Ricky Shah of Light Alive, investing in Xal and Flos lights from Austria and Italy respectively.
White was a dominant colour to complement the vibrant art
This modifiable living room-cum-guest bedroom also doubles as a study with a sofa-cum-bed and flexible shutters that slip into pockets. The carpet is by Jaipur Rugs and taking centre-stage is a canvas by Kaushik Saha. To the right is a tall Nandan Ghiya sculpture, while Laxma Goud’s bronze head sits on the coffee table. Old brackets have been repurposed as a pair of table lamps
Doshi’s art collection, primarily abstracts, is perfectly highlighted against the natural and neutral palette of the home: white walls, white drapes and linens, white makrana marble flooring, white windows and white French polished door frames with hints of grey veneer and taupe, peach and salmon pink upholstery. The table and bed linen is all customised by Yama Maskara, while the light toned upholstery is sourced from D’Decor and Casa Di Oro.
To make the house appear larger and bring an interesting perspective to the art around, Singh strategically placed large dramatic mirrors on living room walls and wardrobe shutters. A tall standing sculpture by Nandan Ghiya called ‘Joint Family Glitch’, fashioned from a big block of wood cut into 10-15 pixelated pieces, stands in the living room. Nearby, a stunning Laxma Goud bronze sculpture of a woman’s head is nonchalantly placed on the coffee table. “When I met Laxma for the first time in Hyderabad, he gifted me an etching of a woman and called it ‘My love Saloni’. I fell in love with his work and I knew I had to own my own Laxma,” says Doshi.
Art becomes the talking point in every room
A large canvas by Kaushik Saha, an artist who had done a residency at Doshi’s Space 118, takes centre-stage in the living room. A massive bronze coloured work by Sakshi Gupta, titled ‘Wings’, made of waste metal scrap lies opposite a Rathin Burman artwork in a contrasting texture. It is the gentle layering and unplanned textures that bring the home to life. “I buy contemporary art that connects with me. If I’ve internalised it, it can go on my walls—whether it’s a photograph, a nude, anything. Fortunately, I live alone so I can choose what goes on my walls,” shares Doshi, whose living room television is exclusively used to display some video art.
With a sofa from Colonial Collections lies a set of dining chairs and glass console designed by Kavita Singh. The console, purposed to showcase sculptures (and doubling as a buffet table at parties), is aptly accessorised with a wood sculpture by Karl Antao and upcoming artist Khageshwar Rout’s botanic inspired sculpture in clay, metal and ceramic. Occupying pride of place with them are Doshi's set of prized Zarina Hashmi (an artist she rues discovering way too late in life) —a triptych titled 'Delhi' that represents a series of maps of erstwhile Shahjahanabad. It was procured by Doshi from New York and travelled for three years before it reached her. “I don’t customise my art. I like to visualise it from the artist’s perspective,” adds Doshi. So, while the striking stainless steel filigree—cut and beaten on obverse and reverse—mounted carefully on the living room mirror looks like it was commissioned for this very spot, it is a work by Pakistani artist Adeela Suleman that Doshi flew in from a gallery in New York. This art-focused narrative continues in the master bedroom. Besides the set of two Shilpa Gupta works called ‘Sky’ is a dramatic S Nandagopal sculpture bought on a trip to the Cholamandal Artists' Village. Doshi’s travels have led to many other trendy artefacts from stores like OKA and CB2 in London and New York interspersed around the house.
Concealed storage is key to the home’s clutter-free appearance
A lot of thought went into planning adequate well-concealed spaces for cabinets to store her clothes, shoes, belts, sarees, towels, bed linen, handbags and even the washing machine, steam-iron and kitchen ladder—and make sure everything was clutter-free and perfectly placed. “It’s a comfortable, no-fuss and easy home—a true bachelor pad,” smiles Doshi.
Granite counters and flooring in the kitchen go with the Indian and Italian marble across the house. “I prefer using natural material and Saloni’s aesthetic aligned with mine,” says Singh.
Apart from door knobs, you don’t see handles on drawers or cupboards—it’s all concealed to create a clean look with negligible hardware. Yet, there is a pop of maximalist old-world charm: like in the Ghiya and Goud sculptures, the antique Shiva brass heads, Benitha Perciyal’s iconic Jesus Christ sculpture (of myrrh, frankincense, cedar wood, coal, cloves, cinnamon and recycled wood), and some old brackets from an Ahmedabad home that Singh repurposed into a pair of table lamps.
It’s the small extravagances that elevate this home into a luxurious space. Self-lit wardrobes; ostrich feather cushions; premium speakers by Sonos across the rooms and bath; tank-less instant geysers; Statutario marble laid in bookmatch technique in the master bathroom; and ceiling to floor Versace Gold marble with a beaten brass Viya Home basin in the guest bathroom. Phase cut dimmers and sensible fixtures are key to keeping this home maintenance-free.
A Chinmoy Patel work made out of foam and cloth in the form of cacti is juxtaposed with greenery in the house—another passion for Doshi. “I maintain a lot of plants in my office and in my building compound and, like my art, I reshuffle my plants. And I spend a good amount of time and funds on finding ceramic planters for my home,” she says, adding that Gaia in Mumbai is her all-time favourite. In fact, when she couldn’t place more plants in her foyer for want of space and sunlight, she combined her dual love for art and plants in the most apt manner. She brought artist Manita Singh to handpaint a dramatic tropical forest mural on the entire foyer outside her home—a first for the artist too.