Bold and Chic: Mathanki's Splash of Color in Mumbai.

You know I love turquoise, right? When I first saw Mathanki's aqua wall, my jaw dropped and I nearly fell off the chair. This has to be the chic-est apartment ever. When you see the whole home-tour (and I will be posting most of the pictures this time, simply because I cannot bear to edit them out!---so get ready for a picture-heavy post!) I hope you will realize how beautifully thought out and well-executed the whole look is. I'm using the word again-- très chic!! The person behind this transformation is Mathanki, a marketing and advertising exec., who blogs over at "By Two Kaapi N' a Bit of Art".

Now those of you who know Bombay, know it is a tiny city, packed to the gills with people!! According to one wikiAnswer, the size of Mumbai city is, get this, 3 feet by 3.5 inches!! Made you smile, huh? Those of you who have lived there also know that since space is at a premium, as in any other happening city, you need to get creative while doing up your Bombay box. This is how Mathanki describes their challenges and experience:

"Quirky, chic, yet practical- that's what we set to achieve as we began designing our 800 square foot apartment in Mumbai. Apartments in Mumbai are tiny, so we needed to create an illusion of large space by breaking down walls and opening up spaces. We converted the second bedroom to an open study- cum bar, opening yet again to our kitchen and dining.

Although we didn't go overboard coloring every wall, we did want bring in a bit of color in every room. For the living room, we went for a rich dark chocolate texture 'art' wall, which would provide a good contrast to all the framed artworks and prints we plan to put up. The brick wall brought in enough color to the study. As for the aqua- there is no story, except it's my most favorite color! I find my bedroom wall most calming- reminds me of the oceans, reminds me of nature. Aqua unlike most colors is neither too bright and jarring to the eye, nor is it too dark and depressing."

 I think they have achieved what they set out to do. To perfection!

Aqua wall! 'nuff said.

To achieve the aqua wall:

"Regarding the aqua wall, it is a pretty simple technique. We painted the base wall smooth with a darker blue, and for the second layer- very rough brushing over in a lighter blue."

The perfect curtains! I love how they pick out the turquoise and yet let the light in with their sheer gorgeousness!

Approach to the bedroom. Notice how shiny and clean the floors are? That's the way floors are in India--they're usually made of materials like cement or marble or granite---anything that's easy to clean and hardy--its more practical that way. Like having carpeted or wooden floors in colder climes is more practical.

Details.

(Click on any picture to embiggen.)

Night stand/shelving.

They carried the aqua into the master bath, but toned it down with some earthy tiles. Love that sink! Love everything here, actually!

Another view.

The stunning dining space and view!

The kitchen: 

That backsplash! *quick intake of breath*

Sweet details in the kitchen: 

It opens out to the bar/study/lounge: 

Other view of the study:

Exposed brick, books, space for the laptop.

Her gorgeous living room:

Modern. Urban. Indian.

Love it. Mathanki, you have a gorgeous home and the creative genius shows through!! 800 square feet of glam if you ask me! Thank you for the knock-your-socks-off home-tour!

One last sweet detail:

You know I'm a sucker for green, right?

All images courtesy of and copyrighted to: Mathanki.