Haveli Living Room

Our living room is the largest room in an open-concept house and is viewed centrally when one enters the foyer. This is consistent with the concept of the chowk, the central space in a traditional haveli. It is thus suited to be the showcase of White Elephant Haveli. There is also a panoramic view onto the backyard. All of this demands attention to decor.

Originally, our living room was kind of minimalist contemporary, with Salema couches from EQ3 (see below right). These are essentially apartment-sized sectional units that we pieced together, and they did not fill the large 22' x 22' space, though we did love them. We also found that despite being upholstered in microfibre, their beige colour made them difficult to keep clean. It was time for the living room to follow suit with the rest of the haveli.

An obstacle to redoing the living room was the cost of replacing our couches, which would probably have run almost $5000 for two full-size couches and an ottoman. By pure chance (Googling around the internet) we saw a set of couches on sale at Leon's, a discount furniture chain we normally would not visit. However, this set (called Anon and discontinued a week after we bought it) had a distinct vintage and sumptuous look that would match our haveli style, even though, strictly speaking, couches are alien to Indian decor. Moreover, they were inexpensive ($1800 for two 97" long sofas and a large ottoman) and payment was spread over a year. We found that these couches really fill the room nicely and that guests love to throw themselves on them, as they really are like daybeds in size and comfort. Average-sized people look like children on them and large men look small! The olive green hue is, incidentally, easier to keep clean.

Framing the entrance from the living room to our haveli dining room, we have a large urn and and two matching jharokhas (ornately carved window or mirror frames from Haveli Home in Toronto). Given the handcarved nature of woodwork from India it is difficult to find two-of-a-kind items, but we were fortunate in this case. Originally, we simply wanted to hang one jharokha in our hall, but we tried it on a whim over our wall sconces and loved the look. As can be seen, we replaced the existing contemporary sconces with a pair in chrome (maillechort) imported from Morocco via Tazi Designs. Rounding out the room are a coffee table with a surface of carved lotuses (from Wood Sense Interiors) topped with two marble lotus flowers (Haveli Home), a 5' x 8' hand-tufted wool rug from Sanskriti ($400), and a lot of sequined and mirrored textiles by Trish Mahtani at Rang Home Decor on Gerrard Street.

As mentioned in the post about our dining room, the rug in our living room has its own story. It was purchased because it matched the dining room, but when we purchased our coffee table and green couches, we tried it out in the empty floorspace and it not only fit perfectly but its pattern essentially matched that of the sofa pillows!

And, finally, given that the entire back wall of the living room is essentially made up entirely of glass, we needed a way to beautify that, choosing red, mirrored drapes from Rang, topped with glass-beaded lanterns from Wood Sense for the clerestory windows above covering all the chakra (or rainbow) colours. Since eight drapery panels were needed, Trish came up with an ingenious way to provide us with enough fabric, mixing solid burgundy silk with the mirrored fabric, as can be seen. They remind us of a movie theatre or Broadway stage.













We are now completely satisfied with our living room with its combination of vibrant red and mellow green. The space is incredibly dramatic, while at the same time highly comfortable and inviting. Guests are reluctant to leave once they settle on the couches, and frankly, so are we!