Inside a contemporary Coimbatore home inspired by a Chettinad heritage villa

As two individual apartments merged to form this unique home, the designers reworked the internal spatial configuration to create a cohesive space. “We eliminated many bottlenecks, transforming some bathrooms into bedrooms and vice versa, because we had to take into account the neighbours,” explains Manie. In this new layout, with a spacious central hall that leads to the kitchen, dining room, living room and lounge, the designers have layered their distinctive design vocabulary.

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“We started with the entrance with our Chettinad influences,” says Ram. A typical Chettinad home would have a main entrance and a secondary entrance at the back, a feature the designers have borrowed for this apartment. “We have retained the dual entry points of both apartments here, with extravagant Burmese teak doors finished with a rosewood stain adding gravitas and majesty to the entrance,” says Ram. Carved with astonishingly intricate work, including the ‘Ashtalakshmi’ (8 Lakshmis), a goddess worshipped by the family, the doors lead you into a space where more is more, and where the eyes wander, to find more to discover.

The walls are intentionally white, as the designers consider the ceiling and floor to be their primary canvas. “Complementary textures, patterns, and colors run throughout the home in the floors and ceilings,” Manie notes. A traditional Chettinadu palette dominates, with a colorful spectrum of greens, blues, golds, reds, and yellows complementing the warm tones of the wood. Delicate patterns snake across the walls and moldings, drawing the eye in. Intricately patterned tiles take over the floor, anchoring this language of polished maximalism.

Vignesh Sivakumar

Vignesh Sivakumar