Indian Real Estate

Space, transparency, comfort and warmth are the four things that strike you when you enter Sunilla and Nilesh Eti’s home. Raised on a 600 Sq. yards expanse, the Eti home combines the construction style of the traditional Kerala homeand the linear patterns of Japanese homes. “We always wanted a house that would bring the beauty of the garden inside. We have actually brought the courtyard into the house so that we get to enjoy the beauty 24x7,” says Sunilla. A walk around the house actually gives one an idea of how the entire outer garden has been brought into the house. Beautiful plants adorn the house and the glass doors open up to the courtyard, giving the entire house a fresh green feel.

Practicality is another aspect that is unique to this home. It’s been divided into two portions, the formal and the casual, so that privacy is maintained even when the inmates are entertaining guests. A ‘bridge over waters’ separates the four-bedroom house. Constructed in the Japanese style, the floor level bridge is made of wood and the water below is illuminated by underwater lights, definitely a sight not to be missed at night time. Moreover lots of pebbles have been used to add to the look.
Though the entire house, including the flooring has been done in white, never does the decor have a drab, monotonous feeling.

“The decor is minimalistic because both of us hate clutter. And to give the white a break we have used red furniture in the living room, much to the displeasure of Nilesh. But we have used silk instead of leather to give it a subdued look. Diffused, halogen lights illuminate the house and a hidden yellow halogen light highlights the outline of the ceiling. A lot of earth lighting has been used to give the house a warm, yet subdued feel.

This family of three, which includes Eshaan, their eight-year-old son believes that every meal has to be enjoyed in the midst of nature. It’s not surprising then that their massive dining area faces the green patch. The table is in glass with wenge polished chairs.

Their bedrooms reflect their personalities and the beds are very contemporary with long, wooden headboards. Here again bright coloured bed linen has been used to add some brightness. Going by the recent trends, green patches have been included in the restrooms too. Eshaan’s room is unlike any child’s bedroom. No cartoons here because “Eshaan is in the growing years and we didn’t want him to stay stuck with the toons,” explains Sunilla. This is the only room that has leather blinds with a wooden floor.

Giving another angle to practicality is Sunilla’s kitchen. The Dado is done up in steel for easy maintenance. A little pantry space houses all her crockery and cutlery.
Combining the added advantage of practicality, this beautifully done house is definitely full of surprises.

You may not realise it but papers, documents, bills and reference material occupy the maximum space and tends to get retained even if you haven’t used them for more than six years. It’s bad Feng Shui too.

However it’s necessary that you retain some of them for future reference. The trick is to label them and arrange them in separate files. Put them into new file folders, and label their contents.

* Discard all the reference material you have gathered over the years, unless you have done the research yourself and put down notes. Most of the reference material is available on the Internet.

* Do not keep receipts and bills for no more than three years. If you are into any kind of business, retain the records for no more than six years.