Small Spaces: This 900-square-foot Bengaluru home is renovated for WFH

Designed for a young couple by Taarini Jouhari of 5FT. Apart, this 900-square-foot Bengaluru home makes space for two workstations, an entertainment room, and a quaint bar for date nights.

When you look on paper a 900-square-foot house might sound like a small space; especially when you have two bedrooms, a study, a

kitchen

, and an entertainment room in there. With the challenge of working around this tight space while making it look roomy and ensuring functionality, Taarini Jouhari, founder of 5FT. Apart started working on this Bengaluru home. Speaking about the homeowners, she says, "The client is a young couple in their 30s who work from home, which is why they love spending time in the living, dining, kitchen and

balcony

. They were clear that they didn’t want anything too bold (i.e. a pop of colour), instead, they preferred earthy and neutral palettes. Since they were already living here, they wanted to reuse some of the furniture. Hence, we looked at repurposing and

upcycling

a lot of existing furniture.”

With that in mind, they decided to play with hidden spaces and elements. They drew inspiration from the Japandi style – with a focus on slow living and emphasising practicality. Jouhari adds, “The initial space was very small and boxed in, and we wanted to create a more open and freeing space, bringing in more light. The arches helped us create that illusion.”

With a pop of colour or anything bold out of the picture, Jouhari picked arches to bring in that subtle and understated element of fun. They also needed to design something fluid and connecting, and arches were their obvious answer. She adds, “It was a wonderful way to keep the space open, while also sticking to the neutral colour palette. The rounded element was evident throughout the house – from the arches, tabletops, mirrors, and even the headboard.

The entrance is arched on one side to maintain the theme of this Bengaluru home. They also redesigned the main door to bring in the black wood element. As you turn left, the dining table is followed by the crockery unit. On the left is the powder room, which was carved out of an unused part of the home. “We designed the door as an arch here, bringing in the black border detail. This also worked as an entrance to the kitchen. We further played with the arch aspect, by rotating it 180 degrees for the mirror,” adds Jouhari. The dining table and chairs have been re-purposed – they reupholstered the chairs and changed only the top of the table to terrazzo stone, which they also used on top of the crockery unit. The powder room and kitchen both have the same printed tile to individualise the spaces.

It was important for them to connect the common areas, especially the foyer, living and dining since one of the core concepts was to create a fluid, seamless space. They used a naturally polished wooden cornice on the long wall. Their aim for this was not merely decorative, but instead to create the semblance of a grid. One part of this grid was used for the shoe unit, and another was for the foyer mirror. The vertical cornice was incorporated behind the sofa to add a visual balance to the space. The table at the centre of the living room was a mix of terrazzo and wood – a subtle way to introduce the terrazzo material into the space.

The two key inputs Jouhari had from the client were that they both work from home and that they liked a space where they could entertain their guests. Keeping this in mind, she decided to dress up the balcony by making it a multifunctional space. She says, “This was somewhere they could grab a coffee, have a meal, work, or even be used as a bar. We added a table that folds upwards for when one would want to use the entire balcony and opens up when one would need the table/bar. The rafters on the ceiling hold the wiring for the lights above. The wood used is a similar polish as the rest of the home retaining uniformity.”

As for the study, she wanted to ensure each of them has a private space. The house originally had a laundry room that she decided to convert into a study. “We broke the wall and added in an arched sliding door. This gave the space some privacy while the fluted glass still allowed light in. We wanted to brighten up the space. To do that, we used a printed floor tile and continued the shade of blue onto the wall. The natural wood finish continues onto the furniture, following from the door,” explains Jouhari.

For the second study, they decided to convert it into a multi-purpose room which would double up as a TV room. Here Jouhari decided to use a fitted cabinet. On the left, she incorporated a puja tray that could be pulled out when in use and the right cabinet folds down into a

study table

. They retained everything as white and used natural wood to keep it visually light.

Given that the couple already lived in the apartment and had a decent amount of furniture, Jouhari decided to retain as much of it as possible. For the master bedroom, she decided to keep retain the colour scheme. With the wardrobe, they used the grey and cane colour scheme to make it softer on the eye. She adds, “We continued the arch detailing with a curved bay window seating and bookshelf – where we incorporated a storage space, bookshelf and has a pull-out tray. The cane detailing is repeated on the headboard. We only changed the headboard, while keeping and repurposing their old bed.”

For the guest room, they added small rounded side tables and a headboard with curved corners as an ode to the arched detail of the home. “By giving the repurposed wardrobe a fresh look with new shutters and adding colour, the space brightened up,” concludes Jouhari.