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A fabulous celebration of prints and colours in a Delhi home
To design our lives as an expression of who we believe we are is the ultimate luxury of today’s times. For all the various components of our lives—the fashion choices, the work we do, the musicians we listen to, the art on our walls, our Instagram grid—everything to seamlessly convey our unique story. I have known Srimoyi Bhattacharya, publicist and founder of Peepul Consulting, for a few years and it is easy to see why some of the most fashionable brands in the country want her to tell their stories. Because she conveys her own so well. Going about town in her fuschia pink Ambassador, a typical day for her involves hopping from business meetings to events—a Raw Mango store opening one day, Bumble launch party the next—and finally coming home to a meal with family in her aqua and red themed dining room. Everything, including her vibrant and colourful home in New Delhi, consistently tells the story of a warm person and sharp entrepreneur who loves a touch of whimsy.
Born to Bengali parents in Paris, Srimoyi spent the first 30 years of her life in the French capital. She moved to Mumbai a decade ago and to New Delhi two years ago with her husband Sourabh Chattopadhyay and daughter Dayani. Srimoyi chose Panchsheel Park as the location of her new home because it overlooked a little garden. “Which reminded me of a French square. Also, it turns out that I have a lot of friends as neighbours in the area!” That list includes American textile designer Peter D’Ascoli, and his wife Cecile, whose curtains hang in her bedroom, because she fell in love with them and in the ultimate neighbourly move, he said she could have his.
When More Is More
D’ascoli’s brand of Parisian printed dresses are Srimoyi’s favourite, along with Saloni Lodha’s blouses in bold colours and Jodi’s floral suits and saris. Why am I telling you about her wardrobe and automobile? To make sense of her aesthetic choices that have united themes: unabashed love of colour and fearless mixing and matching. Take, for instance, the red couch in the living room that sits opposite an orange one, or the green bed in the master bedroom. Then there’s the blue Chevron-print wallpaper on one wall of the dining room, while at the other sits a red Chevron-patterned couch.
The carpet designed by Thiery Journo of Indo-French Label IDLI inspired the unusual colour combination of this room. "Kuldeep from Serendipity helped me in choosing print-on-print hand-blocked fabrics for this casual setting," says Srimoyi. The tall black lamp from Vayu is a nice contrast.
The foyer has furniture from all over. Sofa with floating attached table and console from Baro, Mumbai; coffee table from SotoHaus, Goa; lights from Jaipur and Delhi. "I have thrown in some Suzani motifs in every room and some wink to Bengal," says Srimoyi. Here it's the red painted border on the ceiling meant to look like a traditional sari border.
Srimoyi says she makes all this work inside her six-room second-floor home because she doesn’t overthink her choices. “I connect it all by finding a common colour story. For example, our living room has an Art Deco story which spans from Chinoserie fabrics to 1920s inspired motifs and furniture.” The guest room has a black, white and red story, the dining room is aqua and red, and her daughter Dayani’s room is in shades of pink. “And then I chose red as an accent for every room. On the ceiling of the foyer you will see a red border as my little wink to the Bengali sari. The bedroom feels very French because I have boudoir-style furniture everywhere, and the pieces are very gilded. So basically, you’ll see a mix of my Bengali-ness and my French-ness in every area.”
Bohemian At Heart
Every inch of the floor in every room in Srimoyi’s house is covered in kilims, which are an obsession. And having recently fallen in love with wallpaper, Srimoyi decided that instead of paint she would go with wallpaper as the starting point for the décor of each room. Modern Bengali art, recent purchases from a gallery in Sri Lanka and family photos are on almost every vertical surface that will have them. A floor-to-ceiling library takes up an entire wall in the foyer. “So, it’s official, in my home you can barely see the walls and you can barely see the floors,” she laughs.
"We fell in love with this home for its stylish fireplaces and here we decided to enhance it with a chevron wallpaper from Nilaya by Asian Paints," says Srimoyi. All soft furnishings are from Serendipity. Shweta Mansingka's giant fruit stands out beautifully in this dining area.
"This part of the bedroom is all about Paris-Delhi and 'la vie en rose' for the bedroom," says Srimoyi. From the tableau with a view of Paris rooftops to the resin green vase against it from Fleux; the 90's style pebble-shaped tables from Iqrup + Ritz in Delhi; curtains by D'Ascoli; the balti vase from IKKIS.
Srimoyi sits in front of a painting by Priyanka Ugadedara from Saskia Fernando's gallery. "Our home is filled with furniture from BARO because of our love for Mid-century style and Srila Chatterjee's joyful mixing of many genres and love for all things Bengal," says Srimoyi.
Srimoyi jokes that her house is like a flea market. And while the globe is her shopping destination, Paris and Sri Lanka are favourites. There are enough tchotchkes in this home with anecdotes of travel and discovery to last many dinner parties. It is not surprising then that she loves entertaining, and nostalgia is her favourite décor flavour. “I feel that my general attraction to objects is for something that not only defines a city I travel to but feels slightly vintage. So, if you notice, my house has nothing that is overly contemporary, everything in it is playful and has a story.” All those stories truly and luxuriously building a narrative on the life and times of Srimoyi Bhattacharya.
The salmon to orange hues are some of the colours for the living area combined with brass design objects and Bengal art.The chest of drawers covered with ikat fabric is from Sarita Handa. The lithographs are from Somnath Hore with a small sketch by Nandalal Bose. On the left is a teapot with a face by Jogen Chowdhury.
A celebration of Bengal and Art Deco, this black and white vignette includes a striking light by Wolf, decor objects from Delhi and Sri Lanka a candle stand by Kalyani Saha's label Rezon. "All anchored by our beloved Jamini Roy painting and chinoserie curtains by D'Ascoli," says Srimoyi.
"The master bedroom is perhaps the room with the most French style influence and I went quite classical," says Srimoyi. The bed and hand-gilded armoire is by Arun Tandon, the poppy bed cover is by Brigitte Singh and the wallpaper is from Nilaya by Asian Paints.
Like all the rooms, the guest room also has touches of red.
