Shabnam Gupta Sketching Luxury in Design

Colour us impressed as we dive into Shabnam Gupta’s design journey in this exclusive conversation. She is a rare designer who makes a statement with the bold and the beautiful. From bright shades that exude liveliness to nude shades that offer nuanced highlights, her residential and commercial projects are attention grabbers. This is why celebrities like Kangana Ranaut, Parineeti Chopra, Raveena Tandon, and Rajkummar Rao chose her to do up their homes.

by Vidhi Narula

Shabnam Gupta believes in blending the room’s aesthetics with the purpose it serves. Whether it’s an office space in subdued shades or a brightly put-together living room that instantly conveys the host’s personality, she takes pride in aligning the style of the rooms to that of her clients. Shabnam’s expertise also lies in contrasts as she chooses show-stopper pieces to dress up subtle corners of the house. The interior designer takes us through her unique journey and design sensibilities.

How did you discover your passion for interior design?

From a young age, I have been interested in decorating spaces. I was 16 when I coloured the walls of my room black from a predictable pink that defines a teenage girl’s room. Later, I started assisting my father in his international marketing division where I had to take his clients shopping at all the gorgeous Indian home stores. For me, that’s when I realised I loved surrounding myself with things of beauty.

Good design is not only about expensive brands because luxury means different things to different people. The commonality is that everyone seeks the comfort of being able to be oneself.

After working with a couple of firms, I realised that I did not like to conform to the way things were done. My ideas were always radical and out of the box. I had conviction in my craft, which led to the birth of my interior design firm The Orange Lane in 2003.

Peacock Life was launched much later in 2010, more out of angst, when after having spent a few years in the industry, I figured that access to well-crafted home interior products is limited to a very niche segment of society. It was out of that rebellion that Peacock Life took birth.

What does your creative process entail?

Over the years I have learnt that good design is not only about expensive brands because luxury means different things to different people. The commonality is that everyone seeks the comfort of being able to be yourself. Hence my process is very tailor-made. I believe each space brings solace of a different kind to different people.

Luxury is about how a space makes you feel. It could be an impactful piece of art in a fairly simple space, vintage ceilings with sentimental value to disrupt an otherwise fairly modern space, or a super comfortable luxurious sofa against an aged finished wall texture. Luxury is what makes you comfortable in your skin.

Kangana and Irrfan have been the most free-spirited clients who gave me carte blanche to do things I like.

Shabnam Gupta

When we create spaces, it is this entire mixed bag that we try to get into a project to make magic.

We do a detailed client profiling with a questionnaire other than decoding them in person in terms of their lifestyle and requirements of how they foresee living in their space and their expectations from their home. All of this helps us customise the language and material palette for individual clients.

Your favourite projects/clients?

We have been blessed with amazing clients, celebrity or otherwise. Kangana and Irrfan have been the most freespirited clients who gave me carte blanche to do things I like. Despite their strong personalities with individual statements, they let me create my version of their personal space.

Irrfan was a highly sensitive person, a small incident happened when we handed over the project. There is a water body in the middle of their living room. While he was sitting in the finished project for the first time and soaking it in, he asked us to reduce the sound of the water flow as he felt it could be torturous and drive a person crazy with the gurgle of the water. We, of course, immediately got it done.

However, there have been some negative run-ins too. In my entire career span of over 2 decades, I have only dropped 2 projects. There was this very big film star who was not only impossible to please, but also very high-handed with my team members, something that’s non-negotiable for me. I decided to bow out despite being at the final stage of completion. But otherwise, I have been extremely fortunate, as my clients are now my friends.

What’s your advice on luxury interiors?

Luxury interiors have moved from opulence to comfort. In my opinion, the key trends are neutral shades, a nudeon-nude colour palette that allows you to think, and natural textures which lend a lived-in feel with the luxe part coming in through subtle details.

Do not be afraid to be who you are, draw inspiration but do not try to mould your style into something that is not you. Experiment with colour, believe in yourself, be bold, and mix the old with the new. Remember that lighting plays a very vital role in the design, get as much natural daylight as possible. And a trick that always works is to have tons of plants to liven up a space.

What’s next?

We have been working on quite a few projects actually! There’s a private seaside bungalow in Juhu, a couple of holiday homes in Alibaug, a multi-storeyed private home in Pali Hill, a cottage in Mahabaleshwar and a few vacation homes in Goa that we are working on, and our flagship Peacock Life store in Hyderabad that will soon open its doors! We are also creating a retail experience soon to be launched in Karjat. v

Colour is my heart, it’s my happy place.