MUSEUM OF MEMORIES

Sunayana Rao designs a home, which is as culturally rich yet down-to-earth as its owners

- TANVEE ABHYANKAR

We find true happiness in the things and memories we hold dear. For those who have lived in many places across a culturally rich country like India, collectibles from these journeys become priceless they become a part of them, and naturally, an extension M of their home. This was the case for Prem and Shobana Rao, a couple in their late 60s and mid-70s, who, along with their son Nitin, moved frequently due to Prem's job postings until it was finally time to settle into a home that would be theirs, for good.

A friend of Nitin introduced the couple to Sunayana Rao, founder of Soul Space Design Studio. "The house needed to suit my parents' lifestyle and reflect their experiences," explains Nitin. The couple's love for vibrant colours, rich regional textiles, and traditional decor was impossible to overlook and had to be at the heart of their 7,000 sq ft home. Here, their collection of curios and artefacts became the decor elements awaiting the perfect canvas-to bring it all together, Sunayana proposed the theme of tropical modernism.