Mithila Palkar, Ananya Panday, Ishaan Khatter and more: Inside 6 humble celebrity homes

For someone who lives much of her life out of a suitcase, Aahana Kumra was clear that the home be as un-hotel-like as possible. “I’ve seen so many houses that look less-home, more-hotel. I was clear I didn’t want that. In fact, it’s the first thing I told Shireen—that the priority was to make the home look and feel like a home,” avers the actor.

This would be Shireen Mahna—founder and principal designer of her eponymous design firm, Shireen Mahna & Co.—whom Kumra tapped to give the home a characterful spin. Yet, for all the character she was tasked to add, Mahna’s main challenge lay in convincing Kumra to embrace colour. “She had always imagined her house to be white, but we had to work in mellow tones and accents to give the home a sense of dimension,” she notes, adding, “We also wanted to tell stories. After all, the best rooms always have something to say about the people who live in them.” -Vaishnavi Nayel Talawadekar

Ishaan Khatter’s Cool Yet Chic Apartment

For Ishaan Khatter, the vision was clear: it had to feel like an artist’s abode; something dynamic, young and inspiring to live in every day. “He also didn’t want it to be very formal, so we opted for mix-and-match furniture, plants, and lots of textures to bring about a laid-back vibe,” recalls designer Sarah Sham of Essajees Atelier, who used references from his personal style to create an aesthetic that felt warm yet cool, vibrant but grounded, and considered and chic, all at once.

That it felt like a paradox was what made it fascinating for the designer. “Ishaan is full of energy so it naturally parlayed into the design. Each space looks different.” True to Sham’s words, the home unfolds like a real-life Aladdin’s cave—if Aladdin’s cave had mottled walls and vintage film references. To say it’s eclectic, then, would be putting it mildly: an excerpt from Rudyard Kipling’s poem, ‘If’, highlights one wall, while a corridor with old Bollywood posters looks as though it could have enjoyed a past life in Mehboob Studios. – Vaishnavi Nayel Talawadekar

Aditya Seal and Anushka Ranjan’s Bright And Warm Mumbai Nest

When Anushka and Aditya bought the apartment in November 2020, they had a tight timeline: They were getting married and had only a few months to go. A social media search quickly led them to Disha Bhavsar and Shivani Ajmera of Quirk Studio, whose spiffy signature, combined with the promise of a brisk handover, rendered the deal signed, sealed and soon-to-be-delivered. “The brief was to create a space that was warm, full of light; with textures, muted colours and patterns,” says Bhavsar. “We were clear about steering away from touch-me-not accents and easily dirtied furniture that would make guests feel uncomfortable,” adds Aditya. What followed was hustle—lots of it. The couple jetted off to Dubai with their respective mothers to shop for furniture and artefacts—”We were looking for rounder, softer shapes than the ones available locally,” says Anushka. In the meanwhile, the designers got to the drawing board to conjure up an overarching design blueprint. “It was all hands on deck, from moodboarding to referencing to sourcing,” recalls Ajmera.