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  The bay windows in the living room offer beautiful views of the landscaped gardens

Every morning, at the crack of dawn, visitors of the feathered kind come calling on Shharyu and Ranjan Chopra's home. They strut and preen as they stroll on the lush lawns. 'There's nothing like waking up to peacocks in your garden every morning,' says Shharyu Chopra, the woman behind Zorba, Mehrauli's hotspot alternate venue that hosts high-profile events, music concerts and more.

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  A statue of a meditating monk that Shharyu bought from Hanoi in Vietnam sits pretty in the passageway of the courtyard

Shharyu and her husband Ranjan, CEO of Team Computers, an IT company, live in a designer home that seamlessly, yet unobtrusively, opens into Zorba via the back lawns. The Chopras moved to this house about three-and-a-half years ago and Shharyu went ahead and gave it her own distinct stamp.

Her home speaks about her love for nature as the property sits at the centre of a one-acre plot surrounded by well-tended lawns. 'When we moved in here from Uday Park, we brought along about 200 plants,' says Shharyu.

A few steps at the main entry lead to a long, pillared passage that's flanked by well-manicured gardens on one side and a garden with a swimming pool on the other. This ends in a wide, sun-lit courtyard with passageways running along it. The four bedrooms, the drawing and dining space and the kitchen are all located around this courtyard. These rooms open into the courtyard on one side and the back gardens on the other. A tulsi plant growing on an elevated platform in the middle of the courtyard nods in the afternoon sun. 'We light a diya here every evening,' says Shharyu.

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  A pillared passage that's flanked by manicured gardens and a swimming pool leads to the inner courtyard of the house

The passageways of the courtyard have inadvertently become the chill zones for the family. There are cosy corners filled with chairs created by American interior architect Karim Rashid and a bench from French brand Bleu Nature. The Chopras and their nine-year-old son, Paranjap, spend many lazy afternoons here.

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  The interiors of Shharyu Chopra's home reflect her passion for plants and exude a contemporary feel

'Sometimes we enjoy brunch here. The beautiful recliner that I got from Indonesia is perfect for relaxing,' says Shharyu. A piece of furniture that stands out in this area is a chair with a back designed like a huge human face. Called the Nemo chair, it's created by Italian designer Fabio Novembre. Shharyu purchased this from a furniture fair in Milan.

Shharyu settled on cutting-edge chic while putting the interiors together. Since the house was already constructed, she gave her own little touches to the interiors like finishing the existing chimney in the living area with slate tiles. But she had decided that minimalism was going to be the key element in her home.

'I wanted to create interiors that could reflect our design sensibilities and where I could indulge my passion for plants,' she says. And the house offers enough elbow room for her eight rescued dogs.

The drawing room exudes a contemporary feel. The grey walls are complemented by wooden flooring and are the perfect foil to the pristine white sofas. 'I picked up most of the furniture from Milan's furniture fair about three years ago,' says Shharyu. And that includes the white leather sofas, the side-seaters, the centre-table and a designer lamp-post which stands in one corner of the drawing room.

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  A recliner from Indonesia and a leather chair with a back crafted into a mammoth human face, from Milan, are among the Chopras' prized possessions

The living area has bay windows and clear glass doors on three sides — for a purpose. 'Since we have a beautiful lawn, I thought it would make for great views from our rooms,' says Shharyu.

A leather chair placed in the far corner of the room sits on what looks like a carpet with two holes in the middle. Shharyu bought this intriguing floor-covering in Istanbul and explains that it's actually designed for draping over double-humped Bactrian camels!

The dining room is located behind the living room and flaunts yet another conversation piece — the dining table, which is made out of asymmetrical wooden planks.

'I saw two huge Sheesham (Indian Rosewood) planks at a furniture workshop in Sultanpur — which I bought and roped in a friend, who had them polished, joined and converted into a dining table. There's a big oval gap between the two planks — which is just the way I found them,' she says.

Shharyu ordered Sheesham benches from a local shop which now do duty around the dining table. But leather chairs are around to accommodate more people.

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  Bucket–shaped chairs from Italian brand Riva 1920 are the statement pieces in the cosy spaces around the courtyard

The dining room leads into the kitchen, which in turn opens into the back of the house. The couple has created a shortcut to Zorba and they can access it without actually stepping out of their home. All they do is follow the paved way from the kitchen that leads right up to the back of Zorba.

The Chopras have used part of the lawns around the house to set up a well-equipped gym and sauna.

Ranjan's office is located right across the gym. The compact space is functionally done up with a sofa set, a flat-screen TV, a stack of his favourite music CDs and magazines. Shharyu says: 'Ranjan rates out of this room. It's a simple space meant purely for official purposes and meetings.'

She says: 'I always wanted my home to reflect my love for nature. And it just couldn't get better than this.'

Photographs by Rupinder Sharma