SONAM KAPOOR AHUJA

Intensely intimate. Filled with art. A little bit of London. Plenty of India. Some velvet Rose Uniacke and gorgeous de Gournay on the walls. Magic finds from Paul Bert Serpette and solid wood floors. Love, laughter, and life. Imagined, curated, and choreographed by the actor herself, under the expert eye of Rooshad Shroff | A Rana Begum on the wall. A Jeanneret desk for the husband. And a B&B Italia sofa for naps, ideas and conversations. Ten minutes away from her sumptuous Notting Hill home, she set up a creative studio, a workspace with a very different interiors story, yet signature Sonam still

- COSMO BROCKWAY

When Sonam Kapoor Ahuja first started dating Anand Ahuja, she also fell in love with the setting of his London perch. Notting Hill is one of the last truly bohemian ‘villages’ left in the city and the couple set their hearts on a home among one of its leafy stucco squares. Lockdown offered the actor an unexpected opportunity to roost. “Suddenly I was living a very local life with no planes or premieres,” she recalls, “running in Hyde Park, foraging for olive oils in Portobello market, and bonding with neighbours at this surreal time.”

The backdrop to this enforced pause has been a jewel-box apartment perched high up in a grand period townhouse. It is flooded with natural light from windows gazing onto a private garden, used by the square’s residents and brimming with lofty sycamore trees and Victorian palms. Sonam’s vision for this atmospheric pied-à-terre has been brought to life with Mumbai-based architect Rooshad Shroff. “He is a maestro at curating a space towards an individual’s tastes,” muses Sonam of her collaborative choice, “We began with laying a foundation of rich textures and jewel tones together.” This luscious palette was taken even further into transporting realms with walls covered in de Gournay’s ‘Early Views of India’. The trumpeting palm trees, chhatris, and pavilions sing a romantic song of Sonam’s homeland even on the greyest of Anglo-Saxon days.