A 330-square-foot Thane home transforms into a spacious living environment

Using integrated detailing and shifting flooring patterns and colours, design studio Jetsons deviate the focus from the home’s compactness.

Curated by: Rupali Sebastian
Photographs: Aditya Warlikar; courtesy Jetsons

The site

When the 330-square-foot apartment was handed over to Jetsons, it was in its bare raw form with minimum amenities installed. The lack of space was something that needed most attention. The wall between the kitchen and the living area blocked the majority of the light coming in from the kitchen window and made the kitchen, common passage and living area look even smaller. The bedroom had a bed which was not of the correct size and a small window opening which hardly got any light in the space. To sum up, the place lacked the good quality of light in the given areas and the appropriate furniture pieces that could maximise the use of space.

The brief

The home is one of a young couple’s first investments, and therefore dear to them. The brief, not surprisingly, centred around making the most of the existing space, as well as using yellow—the clients’ favourite colour — in the narrative.

The spatial re-caliberation

“We demolished the kitchen wall that separated the living room from the kitchen to link the two spaces, make the living room appear larger, and create a more open layout,” discloses Jetsons’ founder and principal architect Jeet Soneji. “We also sought to make the most of the space by adding otla seating in the living and bedroom areas, as well as creating small open nooks and corners throughout the property, trying to make each nook a spot to sit and enjoy.”

The material and colour palettes

In this tiny home, materials and colours were used smartly to lend each room its own identity. “The highlight of the house is the use of bold colours with a subtle play in them,” points Jeet. “We replicated the colour play throughout the space in different forms, patterns, textures and materials.” While the living area is suffused in yellow, terracotta and white, the kitchen shifts to a mix of grey, black, beige, blue, white. In the bedroom, light brown, white and yellow create a serene ambience. Birch ply, timber, mild steel, fluted glass, laminate and tiles form the main materials. “The terracotta and white coloured flooring pattern that carpets the entire living area, making it more open in some spots and closed in others, was one of the nicest things that we loved when constructing the entire space,” says the architect.

The space-expanding strategies

Keeping in mind the compactness of the space, the design team used a few techniques that visually make the space look bigger and designed furniture pieces that blend. For instance, they created storage underneath the otla sitting in the bedroom and living area. The TV unit in the living area is made in birch ply which later converts into a vertical storage unit towards the window. In addition, the flooring functions as the main highlighting element, and sees a mix of different patterns. The floor is carpeted with a square screen-printed tile in 5 different designs as soon as you walk in. One side is made of terracotta, while the other is made of white. The pattern is dense at first, then gradually opens up as one moves closer to the living room window. “The living area has a 7” x 7” screen-printed patterned flooring tile which later shifts into a mixed patterned flooring in the kitchen and then further moves into a wooden chevron patterned tile in the bedroom,” reveals Jeet. “This simple shift in the flooring patterns and colours helped us to deviate the focus away from the compactness of the space.”

The spatial flow

The entry jaali and the main door are both in matte yellow with a matte black jaali grill, starting at the main entrance. To create a tiled border for the main entrance, custom screen-printed Portuguese tiles are piled on the side of the doorway.

As you enter the living room, you’ll see a blue shoe rack on the right side, which is flanked by a fluted glass screen that serves as a barrier between the kitchen and the living room. Additionally, a multi-coloured chip terrazzo table top with matte black metal legs separates the functions as well. This is the breakfast ledge with two tall bar chairs, one half painted yellow and the other in wood.

From the inside, the main door has a yellow colour that runs from one wall corner to the main door, giving the impression of a folding colour wall and adding colour to the room. The television unit is constructed of a rich birch ply with a matte PU coating and touches of yellow and terracotta on some of the shutters. The TV unit also folds into vertical storage units and folds against the window wall with a storage unit.

The living room sofa set comes in two colours: a grey day-bed with a tiny backrest and a teak wood leg — which gradually transforms into a brilliant yellow cushioned and curtained otla seating.

As you walk through the kitchen, the communal washroom and access to the bedroom are on the left, with doors framed in a light hardwood laminate on the front and the frame in a wooden pati. Approaching the bedroom, the mix of small hexagon patterned tiles and square tiles in yellow and teal colours of the kitchen flooring give way to chevron-patterned wooden tiles. The bedroom features a small reading nook by a small window, carved next to the closet.