This is my Dutch friend’s home in Mumbai, India. I’ve had a privilege to know Rachel thanks to my middle daughter as she has been in the same kindergarten class as Rachel’s son and lucky for me, we have been neighbors. Rachel has been one of my very first friends I made in Mumbai and ever since she has been wonderful. Unfortunately for me (and I’m pretty sure for many other friends of hers), she’s moving back to her home country and she’s been packed out this week. I’m very sad to see her off because she was the one who invited me to her beautiful home for a play date for my daughter and introduced me to her friends when I still didn’t know anyone in Mumbai.
Her apartment might be one of the very first homes I visited in Mumbai. She had just moved into our building from another area in Mumbai. If I remember correctly, within a couple of days she unpacked and made her home look like a home she’d been for a while. When I first saw her place, her warm welcoming interior decor gave me an incentive to decorate my place to make it look like home. What I find unique about her home is that she has many traditional Indian items which are decorated with her own touch to blend very well with her modern style. I especially love the way she decorates flowers in a South Indian bronze uruli (urli) she uses to decorate flowers (please scroll down). It is beautiful.
Rachel bought flowers for the photo shoot. She’s thoughtful like that. She said after one day, the flowers were looking down and sad, so she decided to put just the flowers in a bowl filled with water to let them float. It’s a lovely idea to decorate with flowers.
URULI/URLI
It’s really nice to be welcomed by flowers at the door.
Rachel went out of her way to prepare for our tea get together with her another friend and me. I loved the spread!! The beautiful chocolates, Indian pistachio cakes, sugar almond puffs and cheese puffs are from Celejor (I will feature Celejor soon), my current to-go cake shop and chocolatier all thanks to her!
The reality of expat living hits me every summer. The tough part to me is that we have to bid farewell to our friends every summer. I have done this many times, but it feels harder in Mumbai because I’m sending off so many friends this summer. At the same time it’s exciting to see our friends get excited about their new adventures and stages of their lives. A positive side of this expat living is that we can stay in touch with our friends through social media and see their children grow up even if we live so far away. If we are lucky, we might even have a chance to visit our friends.
A lovely post about a lovely friend with a beautiful home. Here’s to new adventures and sharing the love across time and space on social media and beyond! X
Beautifully put! Let’s cherish the time and space we’ve shared! Thank you for the comment!
wow! astonishing!!!! thanks Kaho for sharing this. I love almost everything at her home. I am proud that my husband is half dutch 😉 all the best wishes for your friend.
Thank you, Miimii!
You have put it so beautifully . I am going through the same feelings as my dear friend tina( who actually knows you from jakarta) is moving from dhaka . I guess this the reality of expat life ! Love your blog !
Thank you so much for the sweet comment! I wish your friend the best of luck in the future and I hope you’ll make many new expat friends next year!
Kaho, I can not stop thinking of the dinning table over your friend home. I love this kind of design and chairs color. Do you have any idea whether she designed here in Mumbai or in another place?! Thank you ver much again on the wonderful blog.
I believe the furniture was provided by the landlord. Thus, I’m sure the table and chairs were designed here as it’s so hard to import furniture. Thanks for your comment!!
Thank you 🙂