The dramatic staircase that steals the show

The dramatic staircase at Mira Kapoor and Shahid Kapoor’s home (Images: Screenshot of Architectural Digest’s home tour, Instagram/mira.kapoor)

The first thing you may notice is the staircase, which is also the Kapoors’ favourite.

Finished in black and made up of bold geometric forms, it is far from purely functional. It acts almost like a piece of sculpture, becoming a visual anchor around which the home’s spaces are arranged.

Story continues below this ad

“The geometric black staircases in this house are used as architectural statements rather than as vertical circulation infrastructure,” Manoj Goyal, Director, Forteasia Realty Pvt. Ltd tells indianexpress.com.

And this is part of a larger shift in luxury home design. According to Goyal, staircases in large Indian homes and duplexes are increasingly being treated as sculptural elements, with designers experimenting with geometry, materials, lighting and finishes.

Raghunandan Saraf, founder and CEO, Saraf Furniture, agrees. “Geometric Black Staircase is a striking example of how architecture can transform a merely functional element into a defining design element of an interior.”

In Shahid and Mira’s home, the staircase does exactly that: it gives the otherwise soft interiors a strong architectural edge.

Story continues below this ad

A calm palette, with plenty happening

“This formal living room is actually a lot of me,” says Mira Kapoor (Screenshot from their home tour with Architectural Digest India)

The rest of the house takes a gentler approach.

Whites, creams, warm wood, black and earthy neutrals form the base, while natural light and greenery keep the spaces from feeling stark. Textured upholstery, rugs and wooden elements add warmth without disrupting the clean lines.

Goyal describes the palette as “a warm contemporary” one, created through “a mix of blacks, whites, neutrals, wood and greenery”.

It is also a clever backdrop for the home’s most expressive elements — particularly its art.

Story continues below this ad

The art gives the home personality

Mira’s love for art is evident throughout the residence. Among the pieces are a striking Yuvan Bothysathuvar work, a sculpture by Radhakrishnan and a commissioned work by Subodh Kerkar.

The formal dining area, for instance, gets a strong focal point from the Yuvan Bothysathuvar painting. But the artworks don’t feel as though they have simply been added to fill empty walls.

“Art has the power to influence the mood of a space. It helps to create a unique sense of a space and makes the space feel complete and collected, rather than decorated,” Goyal says.

Saraf puts it more succinctly: “Art adds an emotional layer to a home. Furnishings define how you use a given space. Meanwhile, art defines how the space is felt.”

Story continues below this ad

That distinction is important here. The house feels collected rather than coordinated, as though the objects belong to the family rather than having been selected from one catalogue.

Even the furniture gets to be playful

You’ll find plenty of playful furniture designs at the Kapoor’s house

The couple has not played it entirely safe with furniture either.

One particularly eye-catching sofa features a paw-like base, while other pieces bring in unusual silhouettes and sculptural forms. They add little moments of surprise to an otherwise restrained interior.

“When a chair or sofa has an unusual silhouette, sculptural base or unexpected detail, it can function almost like an art object,” Saraf says.


But there is a catch: statement furniture works best when the rest of the room knows when to step back.

Story continues below this ad

“Balance is good. If you have a relatively simple palette in your architecture, you can add a few playful, unusual, unexpected pieces of furniture without overwhelming a space,” Goyal explains.

A design rule seems to run through the house: keep the larger picture calm and let a few pieces do the talking.

Look down, and you’ll notice a different world altogether!

The Kapoors have a classy collection of artistic carpets and rugs

Another, quieter design layer lies underfoot.

The rugs around the seating areas rely more on texture and tonal variation than loud patterns, helping define the spaces while adding softness to the home’s stone, wood and glass surfaces.

Story continues below this ad

Anupriya Choudhary, Director, Saraswati Rugs, was particularly drawn to the rug near the sofa.

“I liked how the tonal variation and texture add depth and visual interest without becoming overpowering,” she tells indianexpress.com.

That restraint is particularly useful in a home already filled with artwork and sculptural elements.

“A hand-crafted rug can bring together furniture, art and architecture through colour, scale and texture,” Choudhary says. In luxury homes, she adds, rugs are increasingly being viewed as more than floor coverings.

Story continues below this ad

“It is no longer simply a floor covering; it is an important design and collectable element within the home.”

But this isn’t just a house to look at

Playful lighting at Shahid Kapoor and Mira Kapoor’s home (Screenshots from their home tour with Architectural Digest India)

Beyond the carefully curated living spaces, the home has plenty of room for actual living.

The upper level includes a glam room, guest suite, home theatre and lounge, Shahid’s DJ setup, an open-air gym, a small pantry and an office. The expansive balcony has also been treated as an extension of the living room, with seating and greenery rather than being left as a purely decorative outdoor space.

The family designed the home entirely online over 14 months during the Covid pandemic, making it particularly meaningful to them.

“This house is where the four of us (Mira, Shahid and their two kids) have found ourselves all together; our first one for all of us,” Mira said.

Her idea of home also has roots in her childhood.

“Growing up, my mom loved entertaining. She really is the perfect hostess, and there were always people at our house. That’s the kind of home I wanted to create, full of fresh flowers and enough food on the table. That’s something I wanted to recreate, that feeling of an inviting home.”

And that perhaps explains why the house doesn’t feel overly precious.

There is art, but also comfortable seating. There are statement pieces, but also greenery and open spaces. A dramatic staircase, but plenty of warmth around it.

The new idea of luxury

Perhaps the most interesting thing about Shahid and Mira’s home isn’t its size or even its collection of expensive-looking pieces. It is how selectively those pieces have been used.

Goyal believes luxury housing is moving toward what he calls the “curated lifestyle house”—a home that reflects the person living in it rather than simply signalling how much they spent.

Saraf sees the same evolution. “I don’t see the future in the luxury of personal homes becoming centred in the overfill of rooms with expensive objects. Rather, I see those homes becoming selective in the quality of pieces and how those pieces become instrumental in developing the house’s character.”

And perhaps that is what makes this home memorable.

It doesn’t just look luxurious. It looks like someone actually lives there — someone with an eye for art, a weakness for beautiful objects and, judging by Mira’s description, a very strong preference for a home where there is always something good to eat.

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Architectural Digest India (@archdigestindia)