Designer's Den
SNEHA SINGHI AND RADHIKA SINGHI
Le Cordon Bleu alumnus and founder of the immensely popular Paris Café, 24 year old chef Sneha Singhi’s Ballygunge home is an endearing combination of rustic and contemporary design sensibilities. The interiors, done by Singhi’s mother, designer Radhika Singhi, 43, bank heavily on the latter's penchant for earthy colours, rural handicrafts and textiles, and a knack for ornamentation, inlay work and embellishments.
Glam Factor
The formal lounge area on the ground floor where the family hosts their guests, is quite a contrast to the rest of the house. Sparingly accessorised, the spacious lounge with large floor-to-ceiling glass windows is minimalist yet modish. “Earthy and rustic is my signature style, but I also have a soft spot for Victorian design sensibilities," she explains. The soft colour palette—mostly white, beige, pearl and ivory with touches of pastel pinks and blues gets a touch of opulence from silvered Damask and muted gold textured wallpapers, chic upholstery designed by Radhika and ornate, gilded chandeliers.
Labour of Love
A large chunk of hollow bricks and mortar, picked up from a mound of roadside debris enjoys a glory spot in the family living room on the first floor. “But it’s no ordinary rubble. This one’s steeped in history,” says Radhika. “It’s a fragment from one of the walls of the Writer’s Building knocked down during renovation. I saw it lying by the road and fell in love with it,” she adds. Radhika has ingeniously transformed it into an art installation of sorts by filling up the hollows of bricks with a range of ornate copper figurines and ornaments.