Afragrant lemon bush, figs, brinjals, chiku and gourd flourish in pots on the sunny, first floor terrace. Overhanging branches of a mango tree growing in the garden below threaten to offload ripe fruit at your feet. A grapevine along the peripheral wall makes it super-private and a space hidden from prying eyes. A stone figurine which the couple picked up from Nagaland stands guard at one end of the terrace garden.

Fashion designer Pallavi Mohan and her garment exporter husband, Sidharth, love the outdoors. A very green terrace garden in their Sadhna Enclave home in south Delhi stands testimony to the fact that they spend a lot of time surrounded by nature.

While Pallavi and Sidharth occupy the first floor of the house that sits on a 500sqm plot, the ground floor is the domain of Sidharth’s mother. Three dogs — Pepe, a bulldog, and two lolloping golden retrievers, Limo and Lord Snow — give them company.

“I moved here after our marriage 11 years ago as it was Sidharth’s mother’s place,” says Pallavi. Gradually, Pallavi gave the house her own designer stamp by breaking walls to create larger rooms or to replace them with glass for an open feel.

The airy and well-lit apartment opens into the living room-cum-TV lounge on one side and a dining area on the other. A bar, the couple’s bedroom and terrace complete the compact flat. The dining area has a double-height ceiling which makes the space seem larger.

Across the entrance door, the staircase that leads to the second floor makes a loud statement. The landing wall and the wall under the staircase has been designed as a splendid ‘book wall’. The entire wall has been covered with shelves that are crammed with novels, cookery books, travelogues, fiction, non-fiction and more. “This was created in 10 hours flat. These books were kept in the room on the second floor which now has my wardrobe. We had decided to throw a New Year party. Since we needed the space, we called a carpenter to make these bookshelves. And that’s where the books have stayed ever since,” says Pallavi.

There are many stand-out elements in the house. Like the wall, the dining table, too, catches the eye. A stout trunk of a tree has been used to create the base of the table which is topped with a glass-covered, thick wooden slab. “We get our furniture polished once a year for a beautiful veneer,” says Pallavi.

The dining space overlooks the terrace and the greenery outside. “I always wanted open spaces around me. So, the attempt has been to make each room overlook a green area,” says Pallavi.

The couple’s bedroom too is airy with large windows running the entire length of a wall and overlooking the Ashoka trees which were planted by Pallavi’s mother-in-law on the ground floor. The two focal points in the room are a rocking chair which the couple picked up from a furniture fair in Delhi and a rack that’s choc-a-bloc with toys. “We always pick up small toys from the places we travel to,” she says.

The living area-cum-TV lounge is as comfortably appointed as the bedroom. The single-seater and two double-seater sofas upholstered in brown leather go well with the Italian marble flooring that runs through the house. “Our house had to be dog-friendly so we decided against fabric,” says Pallavi who recently organised a two-day exhibition of her Autumn-Winter 2016 collection in Calcutta.

The bar is more like a complete room furnished with a well-stocked bar cabinet (obviously), sofas, an upholstered love-seat and a large double-door fridge. However, the eye is drawn to a Bob Marley artwork on wood and a small wooden plane which the couple picked up from a flea market in Paris. An entire wall in the room was broken down and replaced with glass panels. This overlooks the glorious mango tree which spills its fruit on the terrace.

There’s just one room on the second floor and it’s reserved for Pallavi’s wardrobe and footwear. Rows upon rows of shoes — Louis Vuitton, Prada, Dior, Jimmy Choo, TOD’s — are placed neatly on the floor.

“We wanted a place where friends and family could drop in and feel at home. A place where they could put their feet up on a table without getting worried,” says Pallavi. The couple’s home is outfitted for warmth and comfort.

Photographs by Rupinder Sharma