Abhilasha Ojha accompanies designer Punam Kalra on a tour of a home under renovation, where disparate elements come together.
Having battled Delhi’s nightmarish traffic for close to an hour, it is a relief to finally be seated in a quiet home in Faridabad, done up by interior designer Punam Kalra, who runs a popular design studio in the city, the IM Center for Applied Arts. Kalra and her husband, Deepak, are responsible for the creation and renovation of homes not just in Delhi but also in other parts of the country. From large-scale residential projects to commercial buildings, Kalra says, she loves engaging home-owners in conversations and translating their visions into personalised spaces.
The home where we are so comfortably seated is one still under renovation. There are gaping holes where there should be lights, bare walls where texture is yet to be introduced, and other empty spaces. However, this is thus an opportunity to see work in progress; grand plans for a home (spread over 500 square yards) getting translated into reality.
The driveway is lovely, immediately drawing our attention to a tree sculpture done in fibreglass, in dull gold and silver. “Having spoken to the owners of this home, I understood that they wanted to touch upon some traditional aspects like creating a Vaastu-compliant home with traditional symbols like the auspicious Shree Yantra,” explains Kalra. She remembers that the first time she came to the residence, it didn’t adhere to even the basics of Vaastu, the ancient Indian “science” that governs all architecture. So, in the Brahma-sthan (the purest point of the home), the owners had a powder room, there was a bedroom where there should have been a temple, and so forth…
The owners had already started tearing down walls and stripping off staircases when Kalra came in with her inputs. “I wanted to create an immediate impact. For that, I realised, there were three main elements I must use,” says Kalra, who shows us an impressive wooden door at the entrance, done in beaten brass with large bolts. What we also notice is a giant wooden screen on the first floor that breaks the monotony. “Instead of the ubiquitous fibreglass, we thought out of the box,” she explains, as we admire a living room where different seating arrangements come together to create an impressive look. There’s a side table in polka dots next to a floral-patterned sofa set, the curtains are in shimmery silver for a rich look and, on the walls, we spot a Gogi Saroj Pal — well, in an unlikely corner, if you please.
But it’s criminal to see a Souza battling for attention somewhere on a side wall. Kalra insists that much work remains to be done in this otherwise plush home, described by the designer as “modern, dressy and detailed”. From the dining area (with a couch on one side of the dining table), to the living room with a gold-leafed panel that runs from one end of the wall to the other, the effect is fairly impressive. The gold look is muted and there are different finishes in gold, copper and silver which come together to create a simple yet stylised look.
In Kalra’s view, a home should vibrate with good energy. And it’s the good vibe that, she’d like to believe, she has bought into this home. I suppose we will still have to come back for the complete picture.
