Tips To Give Your Apartment A Fresh New Start

Refurbishing projects have an appeal of their own, finds out architects Huzefa Rangwala and Jasem Pirani, of MuseLab, as they give a Mumbai apartment a fresh new start while ensuring its old treasures enjoy a prominent place in the new design.

- Carol Ferrao

A perfectionist (read: passionate) client, an airy, well-lit 4-BHK Mumbai apartment, a treasure trove of art collectibles and books — lots of them — and a shared design sensibility are the key elements of the story we're about to unveil. MuseLab was trustingly handed this residential project by a new client out of pure merit, thanks to their digital presence that impressed them from among the sea of firms they came across online. “After they found us, it was a call on our landline, an introductory meeting on site, three calls to our previous clients — who thankfully recommended us — and we were on board,” explain the firm's principal architects Huzefa Rangwala and Jasem Pirani.

Both architects were impressed with the apartment’s “extremely positive vibes,” mainly the great cross-ventilation and natural light that flooded the space all day long. They noticed right away that the plus-shaped, 700-square-foot living cum dining space had a lot of potential. Their role would be to “reimagine the space planning-wise, and also use a lot of the existing furniture and art (collected over the years from various travels) whilst meeting the client's brief.” Specifically, they — the matriarch of the home — wanted a formal living area, a dining room, a den or a sack-out space and a very large library since everyone in the family is an avid reader. “Apart from this, we had to create a utility room which was the heart of the house for the client, a stickler for perfection herself,” add the architects. Two of the bedrooms also needed a makeover, but, the other two rooms and the kitchen were excluded from the scope of work.