A Cafe’ Themed Home in Bangalore

Today, we are touring Deepa Ghankot’s cafe-themed home in Bangalore. This home has been designed in a semi-industrial and eclectic style, with predominant touches of natural and raw elements. We wanted a space that was authentic and minimalist, yet young and urban. Thus, we gravitated towards using natural elements like brick, wood, chalkboard walls, upcycled décor items etc. False ceilings, extensive use of plywood work (the only place where we have plywood is the kitchen, all other furniture including wardrobes are in either solid wood or iron), use of bulky furniture etc. find no place in the home. Considering that we are in our early thirties, we wanted to add elements of pop and quirkiness, which find reflection in the industrial décor and pop furniture interspersed throughout the apartment.

The living room sets the tone of the entire apartment. Exposed red brick walls are used throughout the apartment to give a raw, natural feel to the space. Track lights have been used to provide bright and focused lighting as well as a contemporary industrial touch. The semi-industrial coffee table in sleeper wood is a cynosure of attraction in the room. Adding another raw element in the room is a simple coir rug sourced from Kerala. A tripod lamp adds to the young and urban character of the room. All the curtains and sheers were sourced from Philippines.

We wanted to keep the dining room as spacious as possible, and as such eliminated the use of any bulky furniture or décor items. The live edge dining table was designed and custom made by us and is paired with an eclectic selection of chairs. The chairs are again multi-purpose as they can easily fit into the study or living room with ease, if need be. Notice that just a sheer has been used in the dining room to increase natural lighting in the space.

The entry way to the master bed room from dining again has a red brick wall and a coir rope décor, sourced from Kerala. Raw, minimalist and bright is what defines the master bed room. Lit by track lights, an exposed and raw brick wall forms the head board wall in the master bed room. We wanted to use solid wood as much as possible and got a custom made solid wood almirah. The master bed room also contains a sleek study illuminated by an industrial lamp. Just sheers have been used for the window in the master bed room to ensure maximum light to the room.

The exposed brick wall in the master bed room is given a twist as it gradually progresses from an unfinished and raw texture to a cleaner finish. Heavily influenced by the Japanese philosophy of “Wabi-sabi”, we wanted this wall to constantly remind us that life in itself is a work in progress.

An industrial lamp sits atop the sleek solid wood study table in the master bed room.

This is a full-length custom mirror in the master bed room. This sleeper wood mirror was designed and custom made by us. The mirror stands on its own with no dresser and is a statement piece on its own.

One of the bed rooms was converted to a home office with a sofa-cum bed to be used in case of additional visitors. The home office has a peppy pop look and stands out from rest of the rooms in the apartment. Chalk board finish was given to an entire wall that is used for our brainstorming and ideation sessions. The home office also contains a full length book shelf.

A mono-tone kitchen with a colour theme consistent with rest of the apartment was conceived. The kitchen back splash tiles were changed to one with a lot more character and with earthy, Spanish influences.

A unique character of the kitchen is the custom made, eclectic cast iron handles. This is again consistent with the use of wood and iron throughout the apartment.

Balconies are indeed our most favorite place in the apartment. This is a view of the living room balcony (one out of the generous four balconies in the apartment). We’ve generously used upcycled items in the balcony which has added to the raw nature of the home. The tyre and ladder planters were made by us from a discarded tyre and waste wood respectively.

About Lofte Designs:

The Lofte Designs is a boutique interior design firm based out of Bangalore. Started in May 2016, The Lofte Designs aims to bring unique design elements to every day homes in Bangalore. The Lofte Designs is run by Deepa Ghankot, who spent about a decade in technology consulting before pivoting to her true love – crafting homes that truly stand out.

Image Courtesy: Lofte Designs