A HOME AND ODE

Iram Sultan and Gautam Baid's friendship becomes the blueprint for the Baid residence in New Delhi where design follows memories, shared interests and the ease of cherished relationships

- TEXT BY IRAM SULTAN PHOTOGRAPHY BY ISHITA SITWALA

Let's call it the chrysalis effect.

In the beginning it is always a project, a site, a caterpillar that blossoms into the proverbial butterfly, a home. And then there is this home, Gautam and Ruchika Baid's home in New Delhi, which was never a project. It is an ode to friendship, to shared dreams, to that magical rhythm that infuses even the smallest corner.

Surrounded by lush green trees, filled with potential, fuelled by our dreams and conversations, the home took shape. Gautam and I met a few years ago for a small he wanted designed. It was during the COVID-19 lockdown that I got a call from him asking if I wanted to be the Art Director for a new furniture brand he was launching.

That is how Sunday Designs happened. Which also meant that we met more and more, a lot of the time with Ruchika and my husband, and formed a bond that words fall short of. It felt only natural that we would design their home together. We dreamt of a home that was visually porous, yet felt like a snug embrace.

It had to be filled with warmth, laughter, conversation, comfort, a sense of belonging, art and people. A house low on big statements and high on personalised, layered, textural spaces. We chose materials and created forms that echoed these emotions. Warm sesame marble floors with a natural pattern of large chips, mingled with toasty wood floors in a mix of scale and form.