v o g u e
m a y n i n e t e e n t h 2 0 2 0
This time of the year, you could have counted on bumping into designer Vinita Chaitanya somewhere on the streets of Brera in Milan. Instead, the Bengaluru-based designer is cocooned in her holiday home, set on a 30-acre coffee estate in Coorg, where her closest neighbours are at least a 30-minute drive away. “We built it about 10 years ago and we decided to call it Slow Life,” says Chaitanya, when we speak during the lockdown.
It’s the longest haul in the peripatetic designer’s life. “Honestly, I have never spent more than eight days at a time here,” she confesses. Last week marked her two-month anniversary in Coorg. About a week before the entire country retreated homewards, Chaitanya and her husband decided to escape the city and park themselves at Slow Life. “My office was getting a little worried about the virus, so we decided to close it and work from home,” she says, “It was serendipity; just a few months ago I had decided to give laptops to my entire
It’s the longest haul in the peripatetic designer’s life. “Honestly, I have never spent more than eight days at a time here,” she confesses. Last week marked her two-month anniversary in Coorg. About a week before the entire country retreated homewards, Chaitanya and her husband decided to escape the city and park themselves at Slow Life. “My office was getting a little worried about the virus, so we decided to close it and work from home,” she says, “It was serendipity; just a few months ago I had decided to give laptops to my entire
This time of the year, you could have counted on bumping into designer Vinita Chaitanya somewhere on the streets of Brera in Milan. Instead, the Bengaluru-based designer is cocooned in her holiday home, set on a 30-acre coffee estate in Coorg, where her closest neighbours are at least a 30-minute drive away. “We built it about 10 years ago and we decided to call it Slow Life,” says Chaitanya, when we speak during the lockdown.
It’s the longest haul in the peripatetic designer’s life. “Honestly, I have never spent more than eight days at a time here,” she confesses. Last week marked her two-month anniversary in Coorg. About a week before the entire country retreated homewards, Chaitanya and her husband decided to escape the city and park themselves at Slow Life. “My office was getting a little worried about the virus, so we decided to close it and work from home,” she says, “It was serendipity; just a few months ago I had decided to give laptops to my entire team,” says the founder of Prism interior design.
It’s the longest haul in the peripatetic designer’s life. “Honestly, I have never spent more than eight days at a time here,” she confesses. Last week marked her two-month anniversary in Coorg. About a week before the entire country retreated homewards, Chaitanya and her husband decided to escape the city and park themselves at Slow Life. “My office was getting a little worried about the virus, so we decided to close it and work from home,” she says, “It was serendipity; just a few months ago I had decided to give laptops to my entire team,” says the founder of Prism interior design.
The simple life
With site visits on hold, her office, like for most of us today, is Zoom. But Chaitanya hosts her meetings from a spot that must be the envy of anyone on a work call—a place under the plumeria tree, on the pool-facing lounger in the great outdoors, which she now calls “my space”. phone or grab a cup of tea,” she adds.
With site visits on hold, her office, like for most of us today, is Zoom. But Chaitanya hosts her meetings from a spot that must be the envy of anyone on a work call—a place under the plumeria tree, on the pool-facing lounger in the great outdoors, which she now calls “my space”. phone or grab a cup of tea,” she adds.
For many of us, this time in lockdown has meant different things—extended screen time to trawl social media, a window to experiment with fermentation, a time to create our own panoply of baking items or even contributing in the resurgence of knitting, all aftereffects of our time in isolation. For others like Chaitanya, reconnecting with nature, “binge-watching the sky, listening to birds and layering my garden” has become their antidote to these peculiar times. “I cannot believe the breather I’m getting,” notes the interior designer, who is almost as famous as her celeb clientele of Deepika Padukone and Kiran Mazumdar Shaw.
For those who know her well, it’s difficult to imagine this extroverted queen of maximalism living the simple life in isolation. “I wake up at 6am to see the sunrise. And it’s the most exciting part of the day when I come out to see all the birds chirping,” she shares. It’s my meditative half hour in nature, before I even look at my phone or grab a cup of tea,” she adds.
The simple life
With site visits on hold, her office, like for most of us today, is Zoom. But Chaitanya hosts her meetings from a spot that must be the envy of anyone on a work call—a place under the plumeria tree, on the pool-facing lounger in the great outdoors, which she now calls “my space”.
For many of us, this time in lockdown has meant different things—extended screen time to trawl social media, a window to experiment with fermentation, a time to create our own panoply of baking items or even contributing in the resurgence of knitting, all aftereffects of our time in isolation. For others like Chaitanya, reconnecting with nature, “binge-watching the sky, listening to birds and layering my garden” has become their antidote to these peculiar times. “I cannot believe the breather I’m getting,” notes the interior designer, who is almost as famous as her celeb clientele of Deepika Padukone and Kiran Mazumdar Shaw.
With site visits on hold, her office, like for most of us today, is Zoom. But Chaitanya hosts her meetings from a spot that must be the envy of anyone on a work call—a place under the plumeria tree, on the pool-facing lounger in the great outdoors, which she now calls “my space”.
For many of us, this time in lockdown has meant different things—extended screen time to trawl social media, a window to experiment with fermentation, a time to create our own panoply of baking items or even contributing in the resurgence of knitting, all aftereffects of our time in isolation. For others like Chaitanya, reconnecting with nature, “binge-watching the sky, listening to birds and layering my garden” has become their antidote to these peculiar times. “I cannot believe the breather I’m getting,” notes the interior designer, who is almost as famous as her celeb clientele of Deepika Padukone and Kiran Mazumdar Shaw.
For those who know her well, it’s difficult to imagine this extroverted queen of maximalism living the simple life in isolation. “I wake up at 6am to see the sunrise. And it’s the most exciting part of the day when I come out to see all the birds chirping,” she shares. It’s my meditative half hour in nature, before I even look at my phone or grab a cup of tea,” she adds.
On her social media feed, these birdsongs are easy to come by—a magpie robin whistling against the green vistas or the hornbill babies crying for their mother’s attention. “I’m becoming this eccentric nature person,” she laughs, “I’ve started identifying birds by their sounds.”
On her social media feed, these birdsongs are easy to come by—a magpie robin whistling against the green vistas or the hornbill babies crying for their mother’s attention. “I’m becoming this eccentric nature person,” she laughs, “I’ve started identifying birds by their sounds.”
Tropical wonderland
Her other preoccupation these days is pottering around the garden, where she monitors how the sun tracks the plants. “I do a lot of gardening now; I never thought I had green fingers,” she tells me. “A lot of the time that I would spend in the office or answering client calls or doing site visits, I’m now unconsciously spending in the garden.” Her schedule has changed tremendously: here, she packs her morning with some laps in the pool (her workout for the day) and after winding breakfast, takes her spot by the lounger by 10am for work calls, before her mind starts to wander in the surroundings: “It’s crazy but I’ve actually started marking daily to-dos for the garden,” she says. She has bookmarked accounts—@arnemaynardgardendesign, @baan_botanica, @sharonsantoni and @swallowsanddamsons—that inspire her every day in her green pursuits. “I look at plants more carefully now, and I’ve started layering my garden by seeing what plants work best where and how much sun they need.”
I have only seen it on Instagram, but her garden looks like a tropical wonderland. And since interior styling is in her DNA, in her hands plants like bird of paradise, tiger’s claw, heliconias and monstera palm transform into grand art-like installations. Every passing week, Chaitanya records freehand quarantine styling hacks (from table setting to carpet layering to floral dressing) around different corners of this home. Some of these can help elevate an at-home birthday (last month, she celebrated her mom’s 83rd birthday and then her daughter Diya’s 30th birthday in Coorg) beyond its lockdown potential.
Her other preoccupation these days is pottering around the garden, where she monitors how the sun tracks the plants. “I do a lot of gardening now; I never thought I had green fingers,” she tells me. “A lot of the time that I would spend in the office or answering client calls or doing site visits, I’m now unconsciously spending in the garden.” Her schedule has changed tremendously: here, she packs her morning with some laps in the pool (her workout for the day) and after winding breakfast, takes her spot by the lounger by 10am for work calls, before her mind starts to wander in the surroundings: “It’s crazy but I’ve actually started marking daily to-dos for the garden,” she says. She has bookmarked accounts—@arnemaynardgardendesign, @baan_botanica, @sharonsantoni and @swallowsanddamsons—that inspire her every day in her green pursuits. “I look at plants more carefully now, and I’ve started layering my garden by seeing what plants work best where and how much sun they need.”
I have only seen it on Instagram, but her garden looks like a tropical wonderland. And since interior styling is in her DNA, in her hands plants like bird of paradise, tiger’s claw, heliconias and monstera palm transform into grand art-like installations. Every passing week, Chaitanya records freehand quarantine styling hacks (from table setting to carpet layering to floral dressing) around different corners of this home. Some of these can help elevate an at-home birthday (last month, she celebrated her mom’s 83rd birthday and then her daughter Diya’s 30th birthday in Coorg) beyond its lockdown potential.
Family mattersHer 27k followers will agree, vicariously watching a day in her life is like a mini outing on Instagram for those of us suffering from cabin fever at home. Here’s an influencer living the charmed life—in a palatial home, a valley view, chic interiors, a plunge pool and in a tropical climate where everything blooms. “I’m so grateful to be here with my entire family. My daughter and mother joined us later, and I’m so happy they could be with us. We had never experienced this space with the full family, and now we’ve all found our routine and carved our personal nooks around the house.” To be clear, Chaitanya recognises her privilege. Stationed in a small town, they grow some basic vegetables at home, and work with their immediate community every time they visit. “During the initial lockdown, when supplies were halted, we helped our kirana store in distributing food to the people,” says Chaitanya, who is also supporting a school in the village.
Giving back to the community
The lockdown also made her think of her design community, and the craftspeople who are its backbone, during this global crisis. With designer Ashiesh Shah, Iram Sultan and Pavitra Rajaram, architect Shimul Javeri Kadri, JSW Realty managing director Tarini Jindal Handa, and communications head, Pareina Thapar, she has recently launched The India Design Fund to rally the design fraternity in raising funds for the craftspeople and migrant workers. “The pandemic is just the beginning, the problems have just begun,” she says, “The idea is to raise funds for them through the year. We are here to find solutions.”
Her starting point was also from this home—where she conducts daily meetings with the five other co-founders to discuss the first leg of the fundraising auction. This month she would have been in Milan after Salone del Mobile, in June she had bought tickets to catch Wimbledon with her husband, and in August, she had planned a family trip to Africa. “I work towards what is in my control. I miss travelling, and my girlfriends,” she says, “I haven’t met a single person beyond my family since I’ve been here, but I’m so happy right now. I wonder what I’m going to do when I get back to the city.” Since travelling is unavailable for the foreseeable future, she’s doing what she can do best for now—put her roots down in her quarantine home.
The lockdown also made her think of her design community, and the craftspeople who are its backbone, during this global crisis. With designer Ashiesh Shah, Iram Sultan and Pavitra Rajaram, architect Shimul Javeri Kadri, JSW Realty managing director Tarini Jindal Handa, and communications head, Pareina Thapar, she has recently launched The India Design Fund to rally the design fraternity in raising funds for the craftspeople and migrant workers. “The pandemic is just the beginning, the problems have just begun,” she says, “The idea is to raise funds for them through the year. We are here to find solutions.”
Her starting point was also from this home—where she conducts daily meetings with the five other co-founders to discuss the first leg of the fundraising auction. This month she would have been in Milan after Salone del Mobile, in June she had bought tickets to catch Wimbledon with her husband, and in August, she had planned a family trip to Africa. “I work towards what is in my control. I miss travelling, and my girlfriends,” she says, “I haven’t met a single person beyond my family since I’ve been here, but I’m so happy right now. I wonder what I’m going to do when I get back to the city.” Since travelling is unavailable for the foreseeable future, she’s doing what she can do best for now—put her roots down in her quarantine home.
