A house of love

Actor Manav Gohil felt that the best wedding gift for his wife, actress Shweta Kawaatra would be a home. So, he went all out to book a spacious 3BHK for her at Malad.

Actor Manav Gohil felt that the best wedding gift for his wife, actress Shweta Kawaatra would be a home. So, he went all out to book a spacious 3BHK for her at Malad. Manav says, "My role ended right there. Shweta has done the entire interiors of this house. Right from designing the furniture to choosing the knick knacks, it's her baby." Well, aesthetic, eclectic, and functional are some of the words that best describe the couple's beautiful home. We take you in for a better look:

HOMESOME TWOSOME: Shweta and Manav pose in their living room that has a pair of African paintings

Home-buying is... a time consuming experience. I was looking for a house for nearly a year before we finally bought this place at the end of 2004. Shweta did most of the house hunting; in fact she must have looked at nearly 100 flats. We went through brokers, references and sometimes we would just drive into a construction area. Finally, we zeroed in on this one.u00a0

Arranging the finances... wasn't a problem, even though I didn't have much money when I booked this flat. However, my papers were in order, and I got a loan from HDFC, that had also financed my earlier flat. I couldn't make the down payment at one go, and had to clear it every month. In fact, my EMIs are still on.

Doing the interiors... took us more than a year. The recurrent theme is wood. We have wooden doors, custom-made furniture, seating area, cabinets, drawers etc. The entire carpentry work took more than eight months.u00a0 We used the balcony space to make an extended seating area in our living room. A small area close to the kitchen was converted into a study space.u00a0

The du00e9cor is... very eclectic. Shweta says, "We lived in this empty house for six months before deciding on the interiors and the du00e9cor. As a result, when I went through magazines on interiors or went shopping for knick knacks, I knew what would fit in where." I have used a mix of warm and light colours for the rooms as some of the du00e9cor items are pretty colourful. The items are bought from all over the world. Paintings, curios and plants add character to every room.

My favourite corner... We love each and every corner of this home. In the evenings, we like to relax in the second bedroom, which has a nice balcony with plants. Or else, we spend time in the extended seating area chatting over some coffee.

urmimala.banerjee@mid-day.com