Lights play a lead role in the home and the living room is fitted with remote-controlled mood lights that can change from a vibrant aubergine to a deep red or electric blue; (Above) Mukherji uses cutting-edge technology to create contemporary spaces

Plenty of light (or lights, in this case) and a spacious feel define architect Bobby Mukherji’s flat in Mumbai’s Khar area. And it’s clear that Mukherji along with his actress wife Mahima Choudhary worked hard at creating a snazzy design plan for their 2,500sq ft apartment.

A ‘hospitality specialist’, Mukherji is well-known for giving hotels and high-end resorts a distinctive look. He says: “Having been in the business for so long, we wanted our apartment to look like any luxurious high-end hotel suite.”

Mukherji’s design sensibility — for his projects and his home — veers towards a generous use of steel, glass and silk-wallpapers. “I like to work with cutting-edge technology. The overall look should be contemporary or futuristic,” he says.

His home was originally a four-bedroom flat, which he redid by tearing down a wall between two bedrooms to create the spacious master bedroom. Right now the third bedroom (the children’s room) is undergoing alterations.

One enters the house through the spacious living room with its pristine white leather sofas and its steel and glass centre table. This is where the family chills out and watches movies on the home theatre system with the mood lights switched on for the desired effect. At one end of the living room is a six-seater dining table in steel and glass complemented by chairs upholstered in calf leather. There’s more steel in the kitchen as most of the cabinetry is designed in brushed steel and oakwood.

Lights play a lead role in the home and each room is fitted with remote-controlled mood lights. “At the touch of a button, we can change the colour scheme to suit the mood,” he says. So the lights can change from a vibrant aubergine to a deep red or electric blue.

(From top) The master bedroom is spacious and was created by combining two bedrooms; The house is filled with artefacts — like this wooden horse — that Mukherji collects on his travels; The master bathroom is fitted with high-end chrome fixtures, a mirror with defogging heat pads and a ceramic wash basin

A standing light arrangement is positioned inside the living room close to the balcony. These lights are activated by sensors and they light up automatically when the sensor detects movement. “It is a useful device particularly at night when you don’t have to switch on the lights, as these come on automatically as you move around the room,” he says.

On the right hand side of the living room is the master bedroom that’s dominated by a king-size bed and bright cushions. A sofa (where he relaxes with a book) and a remote-controlled table placed opposite the bed are the other pieces of furniture in the room. An LCD TV is placed on the table, but when Mukherji is working, the television disappears into a cabinet inside the table at the press of a button, giving him a flat table-top to work on.

The master bathroom has a large ceramic wash basin and a huge mirror with defogging heat pads behind it (to prevent condensation on the glass surface). A shower cubicle with chrome bath fittings and a shaving mirror complete the look. Between the master bedroom and the bathroom is an oakwood walk-in closet. The same design story is replicated in the guest bedroom and bathroom.

Like the lighting, Mukherji has paid equal attention to the flooring. Nordic Ash, a light coloured wood, has gone on the living room and bedroom floors while the kitchen and bathrooms have been given Noche Travertine flooring, which is a natural stone. American silk wallpapers have gone on to bedroom and living room walls.

The house is filled with knick-knacks that the couple has collected on their travels and these have been carefully integrated into the home’s design. You can’t miss the Murano glass lamp that he picked up from Venice.

Mukherji says: “I have used high-end technology to make our home only not just cutting-edge but also comfortable.”