Every house would have a centre of attraction, a place where the family and visitors would love to spend most of their time. At Bibin Varghese’s house in Kanjoor near Kalady, one would find it hard to zero in on one particular favourite spot. The house, at every nook and corner, blends with greenery; every window and grill opens to the warmth of nature.
For Bibin, who works in an oil firm in the Middle East, these mood-lifting sights from his cozy home are exhilarating. What makes him even gladder is that he could give his newborn child the best gift – a beautiful home where the baby can grow up knowing the nature. “Thanks to Shinto Varghese, my designer, who made it all possible,” he says.
He and his wife Anisha Paul, a teacher, had very few demands while planning their dream home — a well-lit, airy four-bedroom contemporary style home with ample space for greenery and a patio for the ground floor bedrooms. “The rest were all Shinto’s ideas, including the décor and furniture,” the couple recalls.
On 17 cents of land, Shinto designed the 3200-sq-ft home on straight line pattern; the exterior walls, roof, patterns on the floor tiles, ceiling, the lights and even the landscape design highlight straight lines. Both from the outside and the interiors, the multi-level roofing in the elevation stands out. The stone and brick cladding on the exterior walls give the home an elegant finish. A spacious parking area with double height ceiling has a check-shape pattern adorning the surface, which, when lit, looks stunning.
What greets a visitor who enters the home is a beautiful foyer, ledges, a brown wall highlighted by plywood paneling, adorned with matching cute décor like antique-framed art works. Adjacent to it is a drawing area noted for the purple sofa and vertical wooden stripes on the wall. At the living space, opposite a huge wall mount TV, lies the cozy sofa in blue, customised by the designer.
Pointing at the centre point of the home, the dining area, Bibin says, “This is where it all connects — the home and the nature.” One look at the space, you know why. The dining space has two of its walls opening to greenery — one a door and the other a wall-size window. The glass doors open to a patio where the family spends their breezy evenings. The patio has green plant pots on the wall and deck flooring.
The kitchen behind the dining space is themed in a rare style – yellow and grey. The multiwood laminated cupboards and white U-shaped countertops add to the grace of the cooking space, which opens to the outer wash-cum-work area that blends into the landscape.
A teakwood-toughened-glass combined staircase takes one to the upper living area where a brown-green mix sofa rests. The hanging lights and stone-clad wall with skylight above add to the charm of the space which houses the master bedroom and a guest room.
There’s an overall wooden texture to the home — the wooden-colour tiles, teakwood stairway, the six-seater dining table, the coffee tables, easy chair in the patio and the high chair resting in the kitchen and furniture in the work area.
The long verandah connecting the living space to the rooms ends with a vertical pergola. With skylight above the double height patio and toughened glass pergola, the home remains well-lit throughout the day.
Anisha says, “We never have to switch on the lights until 7 in the evening. It’s a calm and happy space like what we wished for.”
