Kritika Kamra wanted her Mumbai apartment to feel nothing like a film set. Instead of filling it with posters, photographs, or vanity mirrors, she envisioned a calm, lived-in space that reflected who she is away from the spotlight. Working with interior designer Purva Agrawal, Kritika transformed her rented apartment into a warm and functional home that balances comfort, creativity, and personal style.
Architectural Digest India spoke to both Kritika and Purva and gave audiences a tour of the apartment.
Inside Kritika Kamra’s Mumbai Apartment
“I may be an actor, but I didn’t want my posters and pictures splayed across the walls…I don’t even have a dresser with lights. I spend so much time in trailers that I needed this house to be my homely oasis. You won’t see the actor side of me here,” Kamra told AD.
The collaboration began when Kritika reached out to Agrawal via Instagram. “She reached out to me on Instagram,” Agrawal recalled. “She wanted to redo her home, and the before-and-after makeovers I was doing for rental homes, without any kind of structural changes, caught her eye.”
Although Agrawal had not set out to specialise in rental homes, she said many clients with two- to four-year leases want spaces that feel personal. “That’s a long time to stay in a space that doesn’t echo one’s personality or style!” she remarked.
Kritika was clear about what the house represented for her. “This is not my family home-my parents don’t live with me-and I know this is not a permanent house. For me, this is the house of my 30s. And that’s what I told Purva-I want this to be the house of my 30s,” she shared.
She chose to stay because the apartment was spacious, well lit, on a higher floor, and close to work. “I didn’t want to move out of the house, but I wanted it to feel new-more like a home.”
Her brief to Agrawal was to design a space that felt modern, layered and free of obvious celebrity markers. She also wanted to include textiles from Cinnabar, the handloom brand she started during the lockdown.
Agrawal said the vision was clear from the start. “The house was well designed the first time I saw it, and I could immediately read Kritika’s personality across the décor and the way she’d done up the space.” The goal was a relaxed, European cottage-style home with neutral colours and flexible corners that could also work for digital shoots.
Kritika’s love for Indian craft is visible throughout the home. “Purva and I are both fashion people-but she completed studying it, while I dropped out to pursue acting!” she joked. She pointed to the ikat wallpaper in the dining area and added, “She understood my love for Indian textiles and things that are handmade, and my hometown is close to Chanderi.”
Agrawal designed a wall display using dyed swatches from Cinnabar’s Chanderi fabrics, along with suzani cushions and kilims. “The challenge was to not make it look like a store in any way,” Kamra noted. The three-bedroom apartment includes her bedroom, a guest room, and a media room that also houses her art collection and doubles as a shoot space.
While Agrawal usually gives clients a questionnaire, Kritika skipped it. “But it was easy to understand a starting point,” Agrawal said, explaining how they focused on opening up the living area, adding seating, and introducing a bar counter in the kitchen. Kamra said the change has made entertaining easier, with enough space to host friends comfortably.
Most of the makeover avoided heavy construction. Apart from changing the balcony tiles, updates included new cabinet fronts, rearranged layouts, and reupholstered furniture. The shared takeaway was being mindful while renovating a rental. “Not spending too much on things you can’t take away to your next space,” they said, while also noting that good design doesn’t always have to be expensive.
On the personal front, Kritika recently began her forever journey with Gaurav Kapur. The couple got married on March 11. The wedding ceremony was set against a beautiful theme inspired by sunset tones and golden-hour hues. Instead of opting for a grand traditional wedding, the couple chose a quiet registrar ceremony at home.
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