Hello from our well-thought-out modern, elegant yet traditional home in Dubai! 

Having a home of your own is truly a dream perhaps for the majority of us. Although I always tried to understand its deep longing for me. I guess it gives me a sense of safety and security.  

 It gives us a “Place where at the end of the long working day, we can unwind and chill. A place where we can be ourselves without any judgments. A place that is an extension of who we are and our personalities. Our little paradise in this whole wide world.”  

Indeed, we manifested this house. 

Pinning down to one home has been a very long process. After 2 years of constantly trying to find a place, we can call our own in Dubai, here we are! 

 Welcome to our cozy home- ‘Nakshatra’

“Labor of love, dedication, and commitment. ‘Nakshatra’ resonated with us as all these years every triumph felt surreal as if it was always written in stars… it was meant to be… “   

For us, it was the energy, the moment we entered we knew this is it. And of course, I guess our sensibilities matched this beautiful luxury green community.   

 We moved to our new house on 2nd April 2022, and given that both of us are working individuals with full-time jobs, our idea was to design piece by piece. Let it evolve with time.   

To begin with, we had to make sure our home is a functional space considering both of us live a very organised and busy life which more or so revolves around work and our private time with each other, family & friends.   

It is extremely crucial to have clarity behind every why like how we would like to feel at the end of the design process. What exact emotions are we trying to evoke? And to arrive at those conclusions we had multiple conversations that led to understand each other deeply. We did not change any bone of this house but rather designed around it.

 “Idea was to create a space respecting both of our ideologies and likes. Bring little bit of this and a little bit of that in a very elegant manner. Nothing is too much, if it is true to who you are it is beautiful!”   

We refrain from coming across as a show apartment where things are all gold and glamorous. Instead, we deviated toward whatever FEELS to be earthy, warm, open, safe, and a lot of love and more love!!  

This house has ample of sunlight, books, plants, and beautiful little corners created. We see sunrise every morning from our balcony and it’s the most peaceful time before I start my crazy work day. Across all the rooms, we used only yellow light as during the day this house is well-lit by natural daylight.  

We also tried to balance 5 elements of nature – fire (by lighting up with candles), water (placement of a waterfall on our balcony), earth (through colors and also using wood in all our furniture), wind (our living, kitchen, and dining is one big open space which opens up to a balcony and there is ample of air flowing through) and space.   

The moment you enter, you get a whole view of the kitchen- dining- living- garden & balcony.   

Entrance-  

At the entrance, we have this gorgeous Masai – a hand-painted art piece from our recent trip to Kenya. Colors are just perfect to light up and to make anyone feel good. We also got a sturdy piece of accent furniture made up of wood which is a multipurpose used-top platform for keys, coins, and other miscellaneous items. At the bottom, we ended up using it as a shoe storage. A bonus point is we get to hang a mirror at the top which enlarges the space. Loved the carving done on this solid wood console- it adds a little bit of traditional touch.  

Dining and Living area- 

A lot of stories happen over this beautiful wood dining table. Both of us are big-time foodies. There is also a coffee/ drink corner we created and added lights to draw attention. The idea was not to go boldly out there with glasses, crockery, and drinks but rather in a settled way. 

Plus, this seems to be our favorite corner whenever we tend to work from home.  

This is the first thing anyone’s eye would fall on the moment they enter the house. So far, everyone loved this dining table- it is unique and gives you a very elegant vibe. 

At the backdrop, we designed a brick wall which is a statement piece – it adds that extra texture, character, and beauty. It also stands out from the rest of the house in a way that complements the other elements. We added mirrors to make the house look bigger  

“The reason we chose a 6 seater dining table was that we want to bring family and friends together. We love to host them. We will be having celebrations and a lot of discussions, debates, and arguments – and that is fine. That is what we are looking for creating memories! There is nothing off the table”

Kitchen – 

The kitchen was the first area we started designing like getting the basic utilities first and foremost sorted – a burner, fridge, and dishwasher, these were our very first purchases before we moved.  

This is the most functional area of our house so needed a lot of storage, open space, and all-white cabinets- which we ticked all the boxes on point. 

I love the open kitchen concept with a huge kitchen island at the center merely because we love to cook on weekends, have wine, talk, watch TV, or put on some music. This way we both feel very engaged. I never quite liked the idea of one person slogging in the kitchen where the other is over a couch or table. It also allows light to flow freely without any obstruction.  

“Gone are those days when the Kitchen used to be tugged somewhere behind your living room separated by walls from the rest of the house. Nowadays, it’s all about having an all-inclusive environment. Especially in the day and age where we get to spend only 3 to 4 hours in the evening before we hit off the bed, enjoying ourselves while preparing the meals is one of the ways to get maximum out of the time “ 

Living area – 

This is a place where we chill most of the time. It has this huge Persian rug which adds an extra flair to the overall interior. I find Persian or oriental rugs for that matter to be very royal. We wanted to merge both the areas- dining and living to have a seamless flow between two sections. So, we got 2 rugs of the same design. And while choosing the color, hands down we got our eyes on white. It looks super royal to me.  

“In the corner, we got an English-style bookshelf. All these books here are my life, a small collection that is very dear to me and a true reflection of who I am. You will find tiny notes in every book I read. For a book lover like me, we had to create a designated corner for them. “

Lastly, it has a sofa, recliner, a big TV, and a home theater- to watch Netflix and chill. To add more to our comfort level– we love laying down loads of pillows and a warm woolen throw. We used wallpaper of a lovely brown shade as a backdrop for our TV unit. Curtains used here are plain white chiffon see-through rather than complete blackout as we did not want complete darkness at any moment in this area. 

When everything comes together, the whole vibe is very earthy, cozy, and warm. 

Gallery wall- 

Memories are not supposed to be inside our digital storage. We thought why not use a passage wall to create a memory lane – starting from his childhood picture and then mine, our wedding photo & all our milestones so to speak- my MBA, vacation with our parents, all our travel moments, and so forth. The reason we kept white as the background color so that the focus is on the pictures.  

Bedroom- 

The layout is amazing here. We have two bedrooms, where master bedroom is divided into 3 areas- the actual bed area, then we have a massive floor-to-ceiling 7 in-built cupboards, for me, this won my heart! It takes care of all my closet needs. Lastly, big giant bathroom with a big mirror and 2 sinks- ‘His’ and ‘Her’ (seriously whoever invented this was a true genius) with a shower, and a bathtub. Storage in the bathroom as well is inbuilt and is way more. Again, I am in love with the layout. 

“When we started to think about how to design a bedroom, the idea was a careful selection of material, a sense of beauty, the concept of less is more, and a source of light. “

The color used here is white as well and on just one wall we used wallpaper in dark grey to bring a very settled element. A highlight piece of furniture is king size wooden four-poster bed frame with white chiffon curtains. To cover the window, blackout floor-to-ceiling curtains are used which gives an illusion of a bigger space.  

I remember growing up, I always wanted this glam vintage dresser and four-poster bed. Inspired by Victorian Era interiors, we got a customized wooden blue color dresser. If you notice the design and especially the leg – it is curved. Details really matter.  

The final pieces are two wooden side tables with a lamp, a jar of water, and a nighttime book.  

“The bedroom intentionally is very minimalistic in terms of storage. This is a room where we want to completely cut off from daily life, zero clutter, and go into our cocoon to start all energetic and fresh the next morning. “ 

The color pallet is very earthy, anything which is closer to nature. Using white as a base color on the majority of walls made it act as a canvas and then we played around with the other colors. 

“Designing our home has been such a fulfilling process. This place will surely grow with us as we embark on our journey. There is indeed no place like home and we tried to design by staying as true to ourselves as possible by retaining the flavor of where we come from in terms of art, culture, prints, and colors. “