The firsts are always special. Be it one’s first love, job, car or house. In fact, one’s first home is a huge investment that inevitably brings a sense of fulfilment. For actress Rachana Banerjee, it wasn’t any different. Having been brought up in Gariahat, one of the city’s busiest areas, she was reluctant to shift to any other locality. “I scanned the city for apartment complexes with open stretches so that my son Praneel had space to play. I didn’t want him to remain confined within the walls of a house and play indoor games,” says Rachana.

After a meticulous house hunt, in 2011, the actress found what she had been looking for. A 2,000sqft, three-bedroom apartment on the second floor of a high-rise near Triangular Park. The sprawling green lawns of the complex had her at the first sight and offered enough space for her energetic son.

The actress decided to turn the spacious house into a home since her husband travels overseas often on business. “I go by the concept of minimalist interior design. I don’t like to overload my house with artefacts and furniture. That’s why I haven’t hung up my own pictures like many actors do,” she says.

The living room, which is the apartment’s party corner, has a contemporary L-shaped sofa in beige and brown that directly overlooks a huge balcony. “This area serves as a great chill-out zone especially during summers,” she says.

A mini bar in one corner of the living room is stocked with everything from flavoured vodka to Italian wine and miniature single malts. Apart from the sofa, there’s a mini leather sofa with plenty of cushions thrown on it. This small corner is surrounded with miniature showpiece turtles from Singapore and candles-stands picked up from different Delhi markets. Two handmade wooden giraffes from South Africa adorn another corner of the living room.

Since shooting for a TV game show keeps her busy, she uses her spare time to pursue her hobby — gardening. Her interest is evident when you step into the balcony, near the dining area, which has been turned into a green area with potted plants. “I begin my mornings here with a cup of tea listening to the cacophony around,” says Rachana.

The kitchen is a typical Bengali food lover’s playground with Indian, Italian and Mexican spices neatly labelled and stacked in cabinets. Since her shooting schedules keep her busy, the kitchen turns into an experimental lab only when she’s free. “When I pick up the spatula, I cook light meals for the family,” she says.

The dining room, adjacent to the kitchen, has been designed keeping Rachana’s love for space in mind. The six-seater teak dining table serves as the family’s meeting point.

Her other favourite area is her son Praneel’s bedroom that’s decorated in green — his favourite colour. The walls have green wallpaper to blend with the white-and-green cupboard. “This is the happiest corner of my home. After a busy day, once I’m home, I catch up with my son and this is where we hang out,”she says. A corner of the bedroom has a collage of the family’s holiday pictures taken in various countries.

Rachana’s den, by contrast, is decked up in pink-and-white. The actress says that when she’s exhausted, all she thinks about is her cosy bed.

The third bedroom is the family’s entertainment room with a large TV and a comfy sofa. It buzzes with activity on Sundays when the family spends time together. The room has off-white, floral pattern wallpaper and stylish black-and-white curtains. “I don’t like the television in my bedroom. If someone’s watching TV here in the spare room, it doesn’t disturb me,” she says.

Photographs by Rashbehari Das