Inside Mehek Malhotra's Maximalist Home in Dehradun _ AD Folktales

When I rented out this home, it came with empty walls and three sofas. It was pretty much like a blank canvas and it had endless possibilities, so I was so excited. The brief that I gave myself was that I need to carry all the homes that I've lived in before and bring elements from those times of my life to here. That's what inspired literally everything that's on the walls, on the floor, in the fabrics and also the cats. Come. Hi, my name is Mehak Malhotra. I'm an art director. I run Giggling Monkey Studio and I work with a lot of cool companies to make a lot of cool things. Welcome to my home. When I took the decision to move, I know like I had to sort of realize and take into account that it's not just me who's moving, it's also both of my cats who are with me in Bombay, Gaga and Chicky. I was kind of worried about how they would respond to like this huge space because they've never been in a place with stairs in it. I think of all the worst outcomes first, so I was like, what if they're running and they fall down the steps? But then that's the first time I saw them climb up steps and it was kind of funny to see them go up and down the steps every day. Seeing them enjoy this space has allowed me to enjoy like this space so much more. So we're a happy family of three cats. Home for me is a very, it's a very open-ended concept because I have grown up in different cities all of my childhood years. I belong to Dehradun. This is where I was born and a lot of my family is here. So after spending close to 10 years, let's just go back home and that's how I moved back and now I feel at home, I think. The most important aspect of the home to me which has made me realize that I might be a houseplant is sunlight. I enjoy the way the sun moves around the house in different seasons. When the sun sets, you are able to see like this whole painting of like colors on the walls. Everything in the home is illuminated differently throughout the seasons. That's something that made me realize the passing of time and that was really beautiful. While art is inspiring to me when I collect it, but the home itself has inspired. Paintings in this house which are all WIPs because I love starting them and I take all of my life to sort of finish them. So I have this big thali with ingredients for a chutney but I use my creative freedom to put two mutters in it because I wanted to play on the concept of two peas in a pod. The reason why there are so many WIP paintings is because the nature of the house, it's like a plant. It's growing in different directions. It grows when you nurture it and I think I grow as an artist when I nurture this house around me. Bye AD, it's time for me to have my disco party.