“The things we love have a way of finding each other”

Naturally, in the design of her own space, Pavitra engages enthusiastically with questions like these, and inspires even more. Buffeted all day by sea breeze, this high-rise Mumbai apartment is home to her and her husband Paul, their four sons, and their prodigious collections of art, textiles and books. Another flat in the complex has been transformed into a guest suite, where the couple frequently hosts artists, historians, wildlife conservationists and friends from different facets of their very full lives.

Books, prints and textiles collected with love over decades speak of a shared devotion to history. The objective was to create a setting where Paul and Pavitra's individual and shared passions could find expression, but also interact in ways that tell new stories. A wall in the dining area, for instance, is dominated by a 19th-century mezzotint engraving of the fall of Tipu Sultan, its moody tones contrasted with the bright pop colours of a sculpture set right beside it.

A prized part of Paul's collection of historical engravings, Storming of Seringapatanam by Sir Robert Ker Porter narrates a pivotal moment in the Subcontinent's history through the eyes of the outsider. The ceramic piece, on the other hand, is by one of Pavitra's favourite contemporary artists, the Sri Lankan sculptor Ramesh Mario Nithiyendran. By its simple juxtaposition with the 200-year-old engraving, the Yellow Spikey Figure offers a counter-narrative with its joyous, irreverent blending of global cultures.

As with all homes designed by PRD, there are moments of quiet delight that reveal themselves slowly: the way the evening sun slants into the den, illuminating the golden landscape of Jethro Buck’s Wild Things; a delicate fringe of fraying silk from a patch of upcycled jacquard on the ottoman; two shades of the same wall colour - Chocolate Mauve from Asian Paints - that gently transition you from dining to living area.

Paul's collection of modern masters and indigenous artists interact in unexpected ways with Pavitra's archive of contemporary work. The iconoclastic defiance of FN Souza finds resonance in the fierce feminism of Shakuntala Kulkarni; the dreamlike worlds of Badri Narayan seem akin to the fantastical realms of Rithika Merchant; the meditative still-lifes of KH Ara contrast with the intricate, hypnotic panels of Gopa Trivedi's miniatures. These connections are not planned, but spring organically throughout the home.

For Pavitra, textiles are living, breathing repositories of the stories we carry with us. Precious pieces of fabric gathered over decades of travel are used in surprising and stylish ways. A brilliantly coloured Ethiopian men's shawl runs along the centre of the aged teak dining table; vintage Suzanis spotlight the often-overlooked genius of women embroiderers; in one of the bedrooms, a patch of test fabric from a Japanese block-printing studio serves as a one-of-a-kind throw. Grounding these diverse design stories are the Yarkandi carpets used in nearly every room — distinctive for their rendering of natural motifs in elegant geometric patterns.

Classic textile art, motifs and traditions form the heart of each of the four bedrooms. Wrapped in textured grass cloth wallpaper, the master bedroom is an oasis with pools of deep blues and jewel pinks. The juicy contrasts of the ikat weaves find a cool counterpoint in the indigo throw, the turquoise of the Pichwai, and the oceanic tones of Rithika Merchant's Bateau 1 & 2.

In another bedroom, ikat-inspired wallpaper and a block-printed headboard are in organic neutral tones, with drama arriving only through the colours of an African kuba cloth throw. The 'tiger bedroom' wears its stripes proudly with custom wallpaper in warm tones offset by earth-red wainscoting; the fourth bedroom draws from chinoiserie tradition, its hand-painted birds and flowers forming a heady backdrop for the provocative art of Arpita Singh and Amina Ahmed.

One floor above, the guesthouse is a more intimate space. The front door opens into a passage dominated by a Pichwai painting and leads directly to the dining table. One half of the living room is a formal seating area; above the custom leather sofa hangs the first painting Pavitra ever bought: an ethereal sketch of a mermaid by Badri Narayan. The other half is more inward-looking, anchored by a large takht piled with cushions and two well-stocked bookshelves within arm's reach. Tying both halves together is the romantic wall colour, Dhundh by Asian Paints, a stormy monsoon grey with just a blush of pink.

The bedrooms here are equally considered. In the master bedroom, patterns are layered upon patterns - a Jamshed Jamewar striped wallpaper by Sabyasachi for Asian Paints, a Pichwai in restrained colours, an heirloom sari on the headboard, a Suzani as a throw - but the final effect is one of serene harmony.

In the other bedroom, a classic Mughal hunt scene wallpaper, one of Pavitra's own early designs, sends antelopes, tigers and peacocks leaping across a green background. Surprising details accumulate quietly around it: a bhujodi textile on the bed, pale green silk curtains, contemporary art above a handsome, antique wooden desk.

Something old, something new. The rhyme, it turns out, was never really about weddings. It was about the art of making a home from everything you are: the inherited and the discovered, the loved and the sacred.