“In this home, the materials are the art,” says Pooja Bihani of a recently completed 5,000 sq ft project in southeast Kolkata. It’s a line that tells you a lot about how the Spaces and Design founder thinks. For Pooja, interior architecture is less about decoration and more about how material, light, and detailing work together as one cohesive story. The result, however – and perhaps inevitably – is a home that feels deeply decorative. Not by design, but by consequence. A rich material palette, layered colours, and custom architectural elements born from an obsessive curiosity about the materials themselves – turn each room into a hypnotic composite.

Wood was the starting point. Drawing from West Bengal’s long, intimate relationship with the material, Pooja set out to honour its artisanal heritage and material integrity, while pushing it into something contemporary. The clients, a young family of three, were aligned from the outset: the home should be material-focused, but executed with a fresh, modern sensibility. The challenge she set herself was an exacting one – every area had to showcase wood differently, without repeating forms or finishes.

The entrance makes the first statement. Set between colourfully ribbed wall panels, a charred wooden door – treated using the Japanese Shou Sugi Ban technique to bring out its grain – is both resilient and visually striking. It was a risk, but one that paid off – as did the ombré finish credenza that followed, achieved through an experimental three-day polishing process using hand-mixed stains. The two pieces became the home’s key anchors, with the credenza in particular unlocking something larger. “Once we achieved that layered polish, it gave us the confidence to push craft further across the home,” says Pooja. “It set the tone for everything.”

From there, wood was never treated the same way twice, reading soft or bold, raw or refined. A wrap-around totem – a personal favourite of homeowner Shreyesh Soni – in the living area transforms ready timber into sculptural beads through woodturning. Fluted panelling and trims shift in different configurations. And inlay work surfaces where detail is demanded. “Each space called for a distinct emotion and expression – carved, charred, fluted, or polished,” notes Pooja. While the balance required to hold so many variations together was, perhaps, the hardest part, it was certainly well rewarded. “It’s the woodwork people notice first,” says Shreyesh.

With the wood’s presence established, every other material was chosen to respond to it. Varied marbles and stones play between backdrop and focal point – the chequerboard marble flooring in the living room adding levity beneath the panelling, while the powder bathroom’s green-washed walls and floor are moody and enveloping. Metal finishes appear sparingly, adding contrast without competing. Furniture and lighting follow the same logic, with many pieces custom-made and slipping seamlessly into the design language. Colour, meanwhile, takes on a Bohemian spirit – moving through the home in layers of midnight blue, rust, sage, and mint, yet always allowing texture to lead.

Part of what makes the home feel so alive is that it even surprised Pooja herself. “We were excited to explore something new,” she says, with the materials, it turns out, having ideas of their own. The charred front door, for instance, defied expectations with how beautifully it aged and softened in the light. “The process taught us patience,” she shares. “Good craft takes time, but the result is always worth it” – a philosophy this home embodies with aesthetic fervour.