Mithila Palkar's new and cosy Mumbai home is calm and charming enough to be an escape from the city bustle. The cute and comfortable 700-square-foot house is designed by Mithila's best friend of 10 years, Rutuja Tuluskar. In an interview with Architectural Digest, Mithila said,“Since Rutuja started studying design, I knew that my first house would be designed by her".
For the designer, it was about delivering everything that the client; her friend, wanted. “It was a very fluid process. We are not just best friends, but we share an aesthetic sense. Anyone who knows her knows that she is a warm, kind person. And I wanted to capture her personality, no filter,” says Rutuja.
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Describing the inspiration she built her personal space from, Mithila shed light on how Bombay houses are small. “My grandparents live in a Portuguese-era home, and this is where I spent a lot of my childhood. Built in the late 1930s, it is full of open spaces.” True to her words, she maintained enough space for light and ventilation, and the largely whitewashed palette did justice to it. Light wood, white terrazzo flooring, and grey tones allowed light to dance through the space.
From small interventions, such as a charging disc tucked away nearby in the bespoke end table of the living room or the inclusion of storage in the loft and duct spaces, use the entirety of the space as efficiently as possible. Mithila's bedroom is aligned with Vastu principles, where one should not wake up facing a full-length mirror—the bed now boasts a stunning view of the seascape while a sliding mirror tucks away into the wardrobe.
From the outline of the sofa continuing to the kitchen counter or door details that reflect on the ceiling, the craftsmanship speaks volumes throughout. For Mithila, the home had to be her safe space, her peaceful haven away from the hustle of her everyday life. The earthy tones, seamless lines, and soft forms lead to a certain wabi-sabi minimalism that brings instant comfort to the space.
In her house, everything has a meaning. The beautiful cane comes from Mithila's memory of an old cane rocking chair in her grandparents' home. While terrazzo echoes the flooring of her parents' home. She feels her most comfortable self near the breakfast nook by the open kitchen. For Mithila, this might be a small space, but surely it's a homely one.
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