Inside Archana Puran Singh and Parmeet Sethi’s Madh Island Home

The bungalow sits amid dense greenery, with a garden that wraps the house in shade, birdsong and filtered sunlight. In a city where space is negotiated inch by inch, the luxury here is not scale alone but breathing room that’s visual, physical and emotional. French doors open straight into the garden, windows frame trees instead of traffic and almost every room has a direct relationship with the outdoors.

That openness carries through the house in other ways too. Rooms are arranged for gathering, conversation and celebration. Everyone’s had a hand in shaping them – Archana, Parmeet and their sons – and the result is a home that feels joyful through and through. Parmeet describes it best. “Har ghar kuch kehta hai”, he says. “But our house doesn’t whisper or speak. It laughs.” Archana agrees. For her, this is a home that says love, laughter and joy live here and that anyone who walks in is welcome to be part of it.

Our style guide breaks down the decisions behind that feeling with ideas you can adapt to bring the same warmth and ease into your own home.

Grounded and Lived-In – A Style Guide to Archana & Parmeet’s Madh Island Villa

Archana and Parmeet’s bungalow is shaped by a series of clear decisions. Light comes first, materials are chosen to last and rooms are designed around everyday use. Our style guide breaks these choices down room by room, with ideas that can be adapted to homes of any size:

Pro Tip: If you’re drawn to a particular architectural style, adapt it using materials available near you. Local stone, clay tiles or regional wood often weather better and add authenticity, especially in villas and bungalows exposed to the elements. These materials also tend to age more gracefully than imported alternatives.
 

Pro Tip: When planning a bedroom lounge area, keep the scale intentionally compact – a pair of armchairs, a low sofa or even a deep window bench works better than oversized seating. Pieces like the Kennith Accent Chair from the Luxe Edit by Nilaya work especially well in corners, near a window or beside a dressing area, creating a quiet spot to read, unwind or get ready without competing with the bed. Layer soft lighting, curtains or rugs to visually separate this area from the bed and ensure there’s easy access to power points for lamps and screens.

Pro Tip: In living rooms that see constant use, keep wall colours deliberately understated. The walls in this home are finished in “Arctic Ice” from Asian Paints’ Nilaya Arc Pearlescent range, a lime-based paint that lends the space a breathable, soft quality. “It’s calm,” Archana says. “It’s timeless. And it lets everything else breathe.” Lime-based finishes absorb and diffuse light rather than reflecting it harshly, which helps larger spaces feel softer through the day. This also gives you flexibility to change furniture, rugs or art over time without having to repaint the room.

4. Install a Skylight to Let Light Shape the Room

In villas and holiday homes, where space allows for architectural interventions, bringing light in from above can completely change how a room is used. Skylights make spaces feel larger and more open without adding square footage, creating an upward visual flow that lifts a room beyond its footprint. They let you see the sky and weather in a way that regular windows simply can’t match.

As evening sets in, the mood shifts subtly with layered artificial lighting. A fixture like The White Teak’s Anisora Spanish Alabaster Pendant Light adds a warm, diffused glow that complements the skylight rather than competing with it, ensuring the room feels cocooned after dark. “I wanted the room to feel open and airy,” he says and the skylight does most of that work.

Pro Tip: Skylights are best planned early, especially in standalone homes. A restrained, striped wallpaper (available in the Nilaya Once Upon a Time Wallpaper Collection) is an effective way to introduce patterns in bedrooms without visual noise. Used in soft blue-grey tones, the stripes add height, movement and a sense of order, especially in rooms shaped by strong architectural features like skylights.

Pro Tip: In larger homes, avoid flat, uniform walls. Use panelling, wallpapers, lime-based paints or textured finishes to add character and depth. Textured wall paints such as Royale Play Opaco Matt Texture and Royale Play Velour Texture introduce surface variation, helping walls gain depth without looking newly finished.
 

Large openings from the living room keep the garden visually and physically connected, making it feel like an extension of the house rather than a separate zone. Designing the garden this way changes how a home functions. Instead of one primary living space doing all the work, the outdoors becomes another place to sit, read, talk or unwind. In villas and standalone homes, this approach spreads everyday activity across the property, easing the pressure on interiors and making the house feel more generous overall.

Pro Tip: When planning a garden for regular use, think beyond the landscape. Create clear access from key rooms, add durable flooring, comfortable seating and weather-resistant finishes. During the home tour, Parmeet points out that the bungalow’s exterior walls – finished in Asian Paints Apex Ultima Weatherproof Exterior Emulsion – have weathered more than two decades. This is not a scripted claim, just an honest reminder that good materials, chosen well, tend to last really long.