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Turning their three-bedroom house into a dream home they enjoy living in, while entertaining family and friends, has been a labour of love for interior stylist Reema Chandhok and her husband Rosh D’Costa.
The couple bought the villa in Dubai's The Lakes in 2021. They have remodelled it to fit a play area for their daughter Mia, eight, as well as a lounge and work space.
Their plan is to extend the ground floor with an entertainment area that overlooks the large lake – turning theirs into the epitome of a “house with a view”.
Ms Chandhok, an associate general manager for styling at Landmark digital, enjoys functional design and contemporary vibes. Her artistic flair and eye for detail are being put to use in bringing out the best in the two-storey villa.
The National takes a look around.
Tell us about your home
It’s a three-bedroom plus study. The only thing my husband asked for was a view and we have a lake view.
There are only about eight houses on this stretch that are built at a height in The Lakes. We get a seamless view because of the elevation so we don't see anything except the water in front of us.
When did you buy it?
We bought it in 2021 after years of renting in Dubai. This is our first home in the UAE.
Why did you decide to buy?
This was our 54th viewing with a single estate agent. After we signed the MOU, I felt we had made the biggest mistake – it was small, dark and I wondered how we were ever going to change this around. We called up the owner, asked for our MOU to be declined and our money returned.
But today I'm so glad the owner refused and so we had no choice but to go ahead. We literally put our heart and soul into turning this around and we're so happy we got there (In Dubai, a minimum 10 per cent of the purchase price is paid on signing a memorandum of understanding to secure the property).
How much did you buy it for?
We spent about Dh4.1million. We’ve had many offers since then. We keep getting notes on our cars every morning asking if we are interested to sell but this is too close to our hearts.
Why did you choose this neighbourhood?
We moved from renting a one-bedroom apartment in the Greens to a two-bedroom villa in the Springs. This area – Emirates Living – is close to our hearts, it’s special. I can't imagine living in a better community. It’s a versatile community and everyone takes their celebrations so seriously. Celebrations become a community affair and that is great for children.
It’s designed for the family. There are so many parks and pools – when you leave you feel you are exiting a green zone. It’s very well located with multiple access points to major roads.
We are really spoilt for choice – we have clinics and schools close by and, of course, salons and a community centre with a restaurant that we absolutely love walking down to.
What renovations have you done?
We are house-proud. We have made several structural changes and put our heart and soul, love, sweat and toil into our house. Our first aim was to build the largest windows anywhere we saw scope for a window. The sunlight brings happiness, positivity and warmth.
We have a lot of natural light coming in to the master bedroom. When we wake up, the first thing we see is a serene lake just outside our window because we expanded that window. We also have a double-height ceiling in our master bedroom and broke the bathroom to build a walk-in wardrobe.
We converted a study downstairs into a playroom for our daughter’s toys and crafts and that is her space when her friends come to visit. It’s separate from her bedroom upstairs because we didn't want to mix play and bedtime.
We have a family lounge space upstairs that my husband uses to watch football and I have a small workspace in the corner that works well.
We reconfigured a bathroom downstairs so the nanny's room is en suite. Repositioning has opened up so much space.
How would you describe your interior design style?
We wanted to make sure that nothing is just for the sake of design, but everything has a story of functionality. When we added a table, we made sure it’s a functional design, modern, contemporary, earthy. Even our kitchen door handles were hand-picked.
It’s individual touches we added like our daughter having her own space, my husband having his own niche. We've found our own nooks within this home and that includes our guests because they become part of the love language of our home.
People start to congregate in the living room but by the end of the evening we are in the kitchen because it's a versatile space and not restricted to just being a kitchen. Every space has been adapted to our style of life, our needs whether it’s entertainment or reading a book.
How long do you plan to stay in the property?
We are getting ready for phase two of renovations so we are not going anywhere anytime soon. We plan an entertainment area that we can open up downstairs in the winter months. We will also enclose the balcony upstairs and increase the walk-in wardrobe space.
