A quaint ambience… engaging exteriors with the interiors showcasing some beautiful furniture, furnishings, artworks, lighting and accessories. Welcome to Hermosa Design Studio in Jaipur, a treasure trove for the contemporary millennial home maker.
Text: Deepa Nair
Photographs: Monisha Ajgaonkar, courtesy Hermosa Design Studio
The goddess of beauty… that’s what Hermosa translates to in Greek. That the name resonates well, and is no high claim, is revealed when you enter the recently opened lifestyle store in Jaipur — Hermosa Design Studio — and find every inch of it dipped in utter loveliness. At once, we also realize: here is someone who understands the pulse of design and the needs of the New Age customer. “We had a furniture business ongoing since 2012,” informs Mugdha Bhagchandka, creative lead at Hermosa Design Studio. “We were into institutional projects and custom residential projects back then. Hermosa was born in 2017 when Pranjal Agarwal became the CEO of the company. He realized the need for giving the business a retail format after recognizing a gap in the market.”
“Our research shows that home makers in tier two cities were looking to incorporate global trends in home decor and did not have access to them in their own cities. They either had to travel to New Delhi or Mumbai. Studies showed that tier two cities have the space for big houses and the spending capacity, while the people are well-travelled and have refined tastes. Hence, we felt the need to get a luxury home decor store to their cities to make it convenient for them. Our target cities after Jaipur include Raipur, Ahmedabad, Pune and Indore. We started with Jaipur because of the city’s rich heritage and culture, which also sees great craftsmanship. We wanted to imbibe all these key elements in our flagship store and hence we zeroed down on Jaipur,” says Pranjal.
The creative heads at Hermosa wanted to create an iconic, landmark building in the area and devised an engaging design for the facade. Clean and minimal, it sees a unique jaali-like pattern that mimics peacock feathers in a rustic millennial pink — both being native to Jaipur. The brand colour, teal, is prominent in the rest of the building.
Even before they embarked on the hunt for the right space for the store, the design team was sure that they wanted to build it like a typical home — so when someone enters the store they can visualize how their living space would look with the products weaved in tactfully. Their quest for the right location brought them to a 10,000-square-foot house which underwent some hardcore refurbishing. “The earlier structure was boxy so we had the work on the structure in various formats to account for the stepwell room area, the arches in the hallway and even the staircase. We changed the structures of the original house to add a unique sense and softness and give it a modern look,” says Mugdha.
What helped in the revamp/design stage was that Mughda and her team were very sure about what they were planning to achieve in the end — their research and strategy was thorough and clear. “When we were brainstorming for the interiors and architecture of the store, we had a clear mindset of using the cultural and traditional motifs of Jaipur and incorporating them in the store as a whole.
The den is a cosy space which is blessed with an abundance of sunlight. Highlights of this area include the Hibbiki console, which is inspired by the Japanese cherry blossom; the hanging Medusa light, which is made from wires and can be moulded in any style like Medusa’s hair’ and the bar cabinet, Deco Vic that has beautiful geometric pattern with custom triangles. The geometric cabinet unit for your entertainment and the statement chair with foot rest are other great additions to this space.
Being in the Pink City and having our manufacturing set up here, it was an obvious choice not to let go of the craftsmanship which Jaipur holds so proudly. The design aesthetic of the store as a whole is a modern and contemporary take on traditional and cultural heritage of the city, may it be the arches, stepwells or even the colour story used,” asserts Mughda.
After the revamp and the spatial demarcations, this home-like store was divided across three levels. And just like most large-format houses, this one too sees a living and dining area, a master bedroom, teenage and toddler spaces, a den and a kitchen. In the basement, the store offers a one-stop shop for commercial spaces like hostels and hotel rooms and office spaces.
Additionally, Bistro Quaint, which serves gourmet coffee and modern local dishes, has also been accommodated in the store. Offices for the in-house interior designers and support staff, pantry and washrooms are also part of this three-storeyed structure. Interestingly, a cosy corner, and a more striking one at that, has been reserved for designer Nikhil Thampi who had created a gorgeous 20-piece collection of furniture and home decor products exclusively for Hermosa. What makes this space special is that the team decided to showcase Nikhil’s bold and powerful clothes too along with the furniture in this area.
As for the rest of this home store, Hermosa has anything and everything that one may need to spruce up their interiors. From furniture to rugs, wallpapers to decor items, this all-inclusive store has a lot to offer — in fact, they are also open to customization.
The dining space is marked by a huge art piece — The Trippy Man — which is inspired by the movie Inception. The dining table is made from exotic veneer coated with poly raisin and is accompanied by two striking dining cabinets. The lovely copper chain light in an elliptical shape illuminates all these pieces of furniture.
“We also have a fragrance bar and a consultant for the same to suggest which perfume you should opt for. We have a lot of unique products which are handmade using sustainable materials. One of the key elements we sell through our store are eccentric decorative light fixtures,” adds Mugdha.
The response to the store from the Pink City is overwhelming as Hermosa is one of the few offering global trends and unique contemporary designs. “We have had visitors from other cities coming to customize furniture pieces from the studio and we are looking forward to opening many more stores in India,” informs Mugdha on a parting note. See you soon in Mumbai then Hermosa!
CONCEPT
To create a store which replicates a home, so that every customer can imagine the products they want to purchase in a home set-up.
FACT FILE
Project: Hermosa Design Studio
Location: Jaipur
Area: 10,000 sq ft
Principal designer: Mugdha Bhagchandka
The reception is a welcoming space with bright yellow chairs and a teal chesterfield sofa for seating. The green rack with potted plants also adds to the warmth of the space. The flooring used here is walnut pecan wood.
The simple reception desk dons the brand colour, teal. The monogram of Hermosa, which is clearly visible here, has a delicate geometrical pattern in a jaali format, in a
modern outlook
At the hallway, the designers wanted to create the feel of walking into a palace, albeit a modern one. Therefore, instead of going for full arches, they extended them to alternate half arches which finally go towards to a wall which has mirror work done by local craftsmen. A closer look reveals a wall featuring a chevron pattern made from beaten glass — meticulously put together piece-by-piece. The brand’s monogram is also engraved into the wall in copper.
The mood of the living room is chic, Parisian and light which was consciously chosen as the designers wanted the furniture and rugs to shine through here. The wall treatment echoes the jharokhas of Jaipur’s Hawa Mahal. The design team played with its shape and structure to create this modern look. The millennial pink hue also adds an essence of the city.
A view of the hallway which sees a combination of siege green, silver mist, millennial pink and pineapple yellow on its walls. The flooring here is custom-cut Armani grey marble with white and golden lines sourced from the Kishangarh quarry.
A cosy corner on the mid-landing of the staircase to the upper floors set against French windows. A favourite of Mughda, this space has a beautiful high back chair in lilac velvet set under a gorgeous Victorian crystal chandelier.
An island counter with a breakfast nook announces the kitchen area. The shelf has various crockery and home decor accessories that have been handcrafted and are on sale. Hermosa can customize kitchen solutions according to a customer’s needs and budget.
The ambience is relaxing in the bedroom with velvet adding softness and texture to the entire set-up. The grey mounding on the wall was consciously used as it would form a neutral hue for any bed which would be displayed here. The artwork on the wall is titled Orchestra of Man, while the rug used here is a beautiful bamboo silk carpet. A wide range of furnishings — like bed spreads, pillows and comforters — are displayed close by.
Hermosa specializes in creating theme-based nurseries and toddlers rooms. One can choose from five themed nurseries, or customize them. An example of their workmanship is seen here in the lovely crib with a canopy, the functional drawer sets and cabinets, the mama and baby day bed, and a lilac feeding chair where the mother can feed and nurse her young child. The store has a collaboration with an organic linen brand for children, Masilo.
A special zone is created for designer Nikhil Thampi who has conceptualized a range of furniture and home decor products for Hermosa. The brand decided to introduce Nikhil’s maverick clothes in the display too on brass railings, which is extended to the brass-cut jaalis that act as partitions. The flooring used in the Designer Collective area is epoxy flooring in grey with hexagonal cement tiles infused in between to create an interesting pattern and to break the monotony.
Designing for a teenager is a challenge and the store has two design sets — Nautical-and Frozen-themed. The matching sets of furniture, the cupboards and the study desks all have elements of the two themes, may it be boats, oars and anchors for the nautical theme, or the frost and snowflakes for the frozen one. As most kids love to paint their walls, the creatives here have incorporated animal print stamps throughout the walls here — these stamps are derived from the native flora and fauna of Rajasthan, but with a fun twist.
Bistro Quaint is a cafe accommodated on the first floor of the store. The design team has incorporated Rajasthani motifs and patterns keeping in mind a contemporary perspective and colour story. The engaging Wall of Keys was actually an idea from Pranjal — for every house the studio completes, they hang a key on the wall!
The store has received many compliments for the Stepwell Room which is inspired from the step wells in Rajasthan, Chand Baori. Here, the steps form display areas for different products, while the grey flooring represents the water. Hermosa calls this their experimental art space as they showcase accessories from some amazing brands like Kira The Label, The Fifi Studio and Quilt Avenue.
The goddess of beauty… that’s what Hermosa translates to in Greek. That the name resonates well, and is no high claim, is revealed when you enter the recently opened lifestyle store in Jaipur — Hermosa Design Studio — and find every inch of it dipped in utter loveliness. At once, we also realize: here is someone who understands the pulse of design and the needs of the New Age customer. “We had a furniture business ongoing since 2012,” informs Mugdha Bhagchandka, creative lead at Hermosa Design Studio. “We were into institutional projects and custom residential projects back then. Hermosa was born in 2017 when Pranjal Agarwal became the CEO of the company. He realized the need for giving the business a retail format after recognizing a gap in the market.”
