At Home With 'Desi Meets Design' Creator Mitesh Trambadia

In the 1970s, Mitesh Trambadia’s parents immigrated from India to Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, where they adopted the design style of the ’70s US into their new home. Mitesh, born two years later, cites that as a part of his design influence. But now, living outside Washington, DC, with a family of his own, Mitesh has turned the trend around, styling his family’s home to reflect their Indian heritage.

“My cultural background is a huge inspiration for my home and what I want to share,” Mitesh says. And he shares generously, on Instagram at Desi Meets Design, where he highlights curated designs with traditional folk art and shows his audience how those traditional art styles can be incorporated into a more updated setting. His home in the DC suburbs is filled with color and light, art and tradition, and a sense of community where all are welcome.

In the search for a new home with more space for a growing family, they had explored “quite a few homes” in all shapes and sizes, Mitesh says. “When we walked in here and we saw the amount of the light the home was getting, and it was really from the high ceilings, I think that just sold us.” Their new home had bare white walls with builder-grade paint. “I just needed to bring in color and needed to bring in personality. Being our first home, I already had so many ideas of what I wanted to do.” But design is always a “work in progress,” he believes. “I think over the first few years, it started coming together, room by room.”

Though Mitesh grew up in the US, he is very familiar with his family’s roots. “A large part of my early childhood, I spent summers going back to India to visit grandparents and extended family there and just was drawn into the culture and the arts that I would see around me,” he says. “A lot was folk art, by the people and for the people, and you would see it everywhere. I wanted to showcase it in a different context.” A gallery wall in the dining area displays a collection of art works Mitesh has collected. “A lot of it is folk art from India, along with pieces that I’ve made inspired by that folk art."

The large, light-filled sunroom is a special space in their home, Mitesh says. The focal point is a large, white swing with a carved back and arm rests and layered with cushions. “Swings are a real traditional feature in a lot of Indian homes," Mitesh says, “Something that I grew up with on my trips home, swinging with my grandparents.” He found a vendor in India that made the swings and could ship to the US. “I jumped on that, not knowing how we’d actually get it into the ceiling, but I knew we’d figure it out somehow.”