Papersky Studio Fashions an English Summer Home in Goa
Mumbai-based design consultancy firm Papersky Studio creates a Goan holiday home with an English-countryside-meets-the-tropics vibe. By Amrita Shah
Photographs: Pankaj Anand, courtesy Papersky Studio
Suvidha Gandhi, the founder of Papersky Studio has worn several hats, and her foray into the world of interior design was a slow meandering one. With a degree specialising in Interior Styling from the University of the Arts, London.
Whether it’s styling small spaces or recreating a trend to suit modern day demands, everything in Suvidha’s design process is thorough, meticulous and reflective of her client’s briefing, though she does push the envelope when needed, says the interior firm’s website about Suvidha.
Suvidha’s career path included working with lifestyle brand Good Earth as a visual merchandiser, focusing in home textiles and later collaborating with a Russian designer on interior projects while she lived in Moscow, and subsequently designing and styling sets for the likes of Taj Hotels, D’décor, Asian Paints, Portico and Jaquar on her return.
The staircase becomes the highlight of the house with the wainscoting along the steps adding character to the space.
Given the myriad experiences, it is easy to understand why Suvidha says she learned to design through her senses. She explains that it has always been the softer side of design that she is attracted to rather than the bricks and mortar of a project.
An English Theme
The living room reflects English country home design aesthetics.
Manor No. 9 is one of the eight homes Suvidha has worked on in Goa in the last two years. While she was originally commissioned by the builder to style the interiors, Suvidha had envisioned a neutral colour palette with natural materials. When the villas was purchased by a well-traveled Delhi-based family of three who had lived in the UK for several years, Suvidha was retained on the project and was asked to look at the home with fresh pair of eyes.
The Lobby sets the tone for the design journey.
Suvidha calls herself an intuitive designer, and was able to understand that the family missed their British lifestyle. What followed very naturally was a mood board presenting an English country home theme, complete with delicately detailed cornices, POP mouldings, wainscoting along the stairs and soft pastel shades and floral prints.
The kitchen setting.
The designer’s first step was to change the plan of the house to suit the family’s lifestyle. The dining table in the original layout had been proposed at the base of the wood-clad staircase. Suvidha realized the stately staircase needed to be treated as a statement piece, and decided to de-clutter the area around the ground floor landing. The family tended to spend a lot of time entertaining over meals, so the dining area was moved to look out at the pool. Large French doors with arched transoms along the living area open to the poolside; protected by Mangalore tiled eaves but unhindered by curtains, natural light filters into the room all through the day through these ceiling height expanses of glass.
A House of Collectibles
The master bedroom with all the comforts of a holiday resort home.
Suvidha used a soft eggshell blue, very reminiscent of a pastel English palette, as the main colour throughout the house – on the skirting, doors, door and window frames, stair risers and wainscoting.
In the living space pattered soft furnishings in shades of blue complement the rough greige limestone floor, whitewashed walls and wooden accents.
The couple had collected furniture pieces over the years that were re-upholstered in traditional English floral prints and muted shades of pink, blue and sage – making them a perfect fit for the theme for the villa. The colour scheme and wall treatments carry on to the bedrooms on the upper floors. Understanding that Covid made everyone accustomed to working from home, Suvidha ensured that each of the bedrooms had a study area.
The son’s bedroom.
The clients were very clear that the vibe of the house needed to reflect their travels and Suvidha successfully married all of their collectibles with the English theme of the house creating an eclectic mix. Light fittings throughout the house were customised, as were the fabric frames for the lithographs that adorn the walls.
The Study area adjacent to the bed.
Coupled with the natural materials one tends to associate with Goa – rough limestone floor, white walls, terracotta tiled roofs, a profusion of greenery and brilliant blue skies, the house does seem like tribute to an English country estate in the midst of a tropical paradise.
Project Fact File:
Name of Project: Manor No.9
Name of Design Firm: PaperSky Studio
Location: Goa
Typology: Villa
Area: 3,000 sq.ft.
Date of Completion: December 2023
Principal Designer: Suvidha Gandhi
