Raw & Refined

Home to a bachelor and his trio of felines, this Gurugram apartment, designed by Nitin Kohli Home in brick reds, ash greys and ocean blues, is quite the cat’s meow.

- RUPALI SEBASTIAN

Smooth and rough. Slick and rustic. Bold and private. This studio apartment designed by Nitin Kohli and his eponymous studio Nitin Kohli Home (NKH) is an eclectic delight, dovetailing sophisticated finesse with an earthy charm. The mixed aesthetics of the living space are echoed by the hybrid family that resides in the 1,100-square-foot space — “a well-travelled, young-at-heart, mature ‘hooman’ and his three feline companions,” smiles Nitin, whose vibrant and popular Instagram account landed him this job.

The budgeted project was a first for the designer who had built a reputation in the luxury home market. But rather than calling it a challenge, he viewed this more as an opportunity. “The bottom line was to finish the apartment in a minimum possible expense and time,” recalls Nitin. “This was our first project in NKH Condo style, since we launched in September 2019. We had the opportunity to learn about pet-friendly materials that are also easy on maintenance. It gave me tremendous opportunity to work with new materials and I loved going to the ‘basic’ markets for material sourcing,” exults NKH’s head. And therein lay an important takeaway for the design professional in him: “The usage of materials, making the residence pet-friendly through the year, but not taking away the aesthetic appeal… the complexity of it has been quite a journey.”