January 19th, 2018 by OYO Team

Most of us think of Goa as a paradise for the laziest ones among us and for those who don’t want to move a muscle ever. But it’s also heaven for those who want their fill of adventure and don’t want to sit still. And one of the best ways to be adventurous in Goa is to explore the world beneath the sea.

Welcome to this gorgeous 3BHK OYO Home in Dona Paula, Goa, which will inspire you to get up and go diving!

The colours on the wall and the interesting, unique design elements in this house will make you curious about diving, even if you didn’t come to Goa with the intention of going underwater.

“The design of this house draws all its elements from diving,” Harjot, the designer of this unique apartment, says. “You’ll feel a sense of neutral buoyancy in the decor. I’ve tried to create different levels around the house. Being underwater, you see so many things at eye level and above you, so I made the suspended lamps a part of it and even painted the ceiling blue in one room to make you feel underwater.”

If you’ve ever been on a dive, you would’ve noticed the strange effect that light has on water when you’re beneath the surface. That’s another feature that Harjot drew inspiration from while designing this house.

“The play of light in water is very interesting, and it’s an element that I really wanted to use here,” she says. “I interpreted it through tie-and-dye fabric. The colours and textures simulate the way light travels through water. It looks gorgeous and adds a lot of life and brightness to the space.”

The living area of this large 3BHK is spacious and welcoming. It has several design elements that are one-of-a-kind but it doesn’t feel crowded in any spot. Bringing the vastness of the sea into the house, the living room has been designed in tones of blue and has lots of open space.

The seating in the living room has been designed carefully to simulate a specific and special part of a diving experience.

“An interesting aspect of diving is the surface interval,” Harjot explains. “It is the break time between two dives to allow nitrogen to release from the body. This time is generally used for eating, drinking a refreshing beverage, sunbathing, listening to music, enjoying the view, and talking about everything the divers saw. I have tried to simulate this culture in the living room by creating sitting spaces which are like the spaces on a boat. The raised deck which acts as the backrest for the sofa and the large square bed in the living room are part of this.”

The dining area is unique in its own way. The dining table has been suspended from the ceiling which gives it the look of being upside down when the chairs are removed around it. The colour scheme of the dining area and the table are similar to the rest of the house and blends in with the diving theme.

“The dining table was an interesting design challenge,” Harjot says. “While we could’ve gone the conventional way, this dining table adds one more talking point to the house and it makes regular meals so much more interesting when the dining table literally has no legs.”

Keeping this home’s individuality at the core, the rooms have been designed in a manner that makes them all stand out. They incorporate various aspects of diving, including the time spent on the surface.

The first bedroom has the feeling of being in a submarine underwater and will inspire your creative instincts if you’re a water baby.

“This bedroom has a dark blue ceiling which becomes lighter in colour as it moves down the wall,” Harjot says, explaining the design philosophy in this area of the house. “The suspended lamp makes it look like a sea creature is floating above you. Even the wardrobe rods are suspended to look like they’re floating.

In Harjot’s words, this bedroom is playful. Not only does it have enough space for you to goof around, but it also has enough seating for your entire group of adventurers to converge for a game or two.

“The room has been designed in a way that it lets you hang your feet from the really high bed or lie on a hammock bed woven out of cotton ropes,” Harjot says. “This room is the best example of different levels in the house. On the bottom is a single platform bed and then there’s a hammock bed with a platform in the middle and a five-foot high bed on top of it. The railing of the high bed is also made out cotton ropes.”

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to float on a raft on the high seas? Before you run out towards the water, try the experience in the third bedroom where the floor looks like the sea and the bed floats in the middle of it.

“This bedroom will make you feel that you’re afloat,” Harjot says. “The floor is soft and blue, and the bed just floats in the middle like a raft. The windows will make you feel like you’re in a sea vessel just drifting off to an exciting, untouched land.”

The diving theme takes on a different persona in the bathrooms. Instead of being decorated in the colours of the sea, the bathroom ceiling depicts a school of fish above you, providing a view similar to when you would be underwater looking up at the surface of the sea.

While designing this house, Harjot stayed true to OYO Home’s principles of upcycling. While several pieces of furniture were made from scratch, there are a number of elements that were recycled and reused to fit the design theme of the house.

“All the suspended lamps are made from scrap water filter frames which have a very interesting form like an extruded cycle wheel,” Harjot says. “The shadows which they cast on the ceiling compliment the tie-and-dye curtains. Several lamps have been made out of GI plumbing pipes which also ties the whole diving theme together.”

“I used a beer keg from the scrap yard to create a table for the balcony,” Harjoy further explains. “The keg looks like a diving cylinder and worked as a lighter substitute for the same. Even 75 percent of the wood used to make the furniture came from old, dismantled furniture pieces.”

The balcony of this apartment wraps around the house in an L-shape. Instead of having different balconies for different rooms, several doors open out on to the same large balcony which has swings, a hammock, and stools so that you can lounge there for hours.

“I deliberately placed two swings together so that people can swing and chat, and enjoy the gorgeous view of the sea,” Harjot says. “Also, a great advantage for parents is that the kids won’t fight for the swing when they have so many options.”

Image Source: http://bit.ly/2roKqVE

The famous Dona Paula View Point is about 2 kilometres away from this apartment. Named after a historical Portuguese figure, this spot attracts thousands of tourists every year for its spectacular view of the sea.

If you want to relax by the beach, head to Dona Paula beach which is about 1.4 kilometres away from this house. But since this is Goa and there’s no shortage of beaches, you can also go to Dias beach, Marivel beach, or Caranzalem. Try a new beach every day on your holiday.

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Book this OYO Home for your next Goan holiday and live the adventurous dream.

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About OYO Team

We’re people who love to travel and it’s a pleasure to share our experiences from around the world with you here. You’ll see our favourite destinations, quirky stays and budget stay. Also the best wedding banquet halls and the most lit party destinations. You’ll also find insightful opinions about why we travel in the first place and what it’s really like out there. Enjoy the blog and please tell us what you think - feedback welcome!