In a pocket of London, behind the brick façade of a standard townhouse, lies acclaimed musician Anoushka Shankar’s dwelling. It’s an area that holds the story of her life lived throughout continents.
Having grown up in numerous components of the world, Shankar had a transparent imaginative and prescient when she began designing this area. She wished her dwelling to replicate all sides of her identification—British, Indian, Californian—and to really feel, in her phrases, “totally like my dwelling, in all methods, culturally and in any other case,” she instructed Architechtural Digest. The result’s an area that’s wealthy with jewel-toned colors, grounded in London’s traditional structure, and softened by parts that recall California’s ethereal lightness.
Regardless of telling herself she wouldn’t purchase a “doer-upper,” she laughs, admitting she ended up with precisely that, a stupendous, historic dwelling that wanted greater than a recent coat of paint. “As is the character with these previous homes, we needed to do loads various beauty issues,” Anoushka explains. “However in the long run, I really feel prefer it’s our dwelling. And that the electrics aren’t going to burn us down, which is nice!”
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The house represents a rising nest for her household. In comparison with her earlier houses in areas like Clerkenwell and Shoreditch, this new place feels extra suburban, extra settled. “It appears like a delicate transfer in the direction of an actual household dwelling for me and my youngsters,” she shares. “It’s a correct London townhouse. It feels very grown-up—however I kind of really feel like I’m pretending at being a grown-up.”
Nonetheless, the home fits them completely. Not like vertical metropolis flats, this area offers every individual room to breathe. With a number of flooring, there’s sufficient privateness in order that when her youngsters are being notably noisy, she will be able to retreat elsewhere. “That’s very nice,” she says, smiling.
One in every of her favorite corners is a ground-floor room that doubles as a recording studio and inventive workspace. From her seat, she will be able to look out over the backyard, a view that evokes the extra introspective facet of her artistry. “I like coming into this room for considering and dreaming,” she displays. “The colors and light-weight listed below are comfortable, very conducive to lovely ideas.”
Shankar has been dwelling on this home for just below a 12 months, and although it’s nonetheless comparatively new, it feels proper. “I noticed a number of homes on the time,” she recollects, “however this was the one which felt heat and welcoming, prefer it wished us to be right here.”
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From textiles that nod to her Indian heritage to the sun-soaked palette impressed by her time in California, Anoushka’s house is a fantastically layered area that tells her story with out saying a phrase.