7 min read
W hen Aditya Madiraju bumped into Amit Shah at a NYC birthday bash in 2016, he was meeting his fate. The pair immediately hit it off, and their first date was a masterclass in manifestation, skipping the small talk over appetizers to muse over the future, their individual goals, hopes for marriage, and aspirations of one day starting a family. Just two years later, they tied the knot in a traditional Hindu ceremony in Shah’s home state of New Jersey, and in 2023, they welcomed their daughter, Yana, into the world.
When they began thinking about where to plant roots, New Jersey seemed like the perfect place. Close to family, friends, and the bustling streets of New York City, the couple put their pin in the Garden State. In 2025, after massive renovations, they finally moved into their charming 1990s farmhouse, but the interior style is a far cry from rustic-chic.
For someone who holds such a clear vision of what he wants out of life, finding a home for his growing family, which includes his beloved dogs, Adam and Austin, wasn’t so cut and dry. “Before we found this house, we considered building new from scratch,” Madiraju explains. “But we fell for this house's bones immediately, both of us, on the spot.”
Good bones were enough to sell the pair on the 5,800 square foot fixer-upper, but what they thought would be a quick four-to-five-month job turned into an 18-month overhaul. Working alongside designer Milan Michail from Maison Design, they planned out major upgrades, including replacing all the flooring, resizing several rooms, and knocking down walls to improve the home’s flow.
Just like their first date, for their first home as a family, Madiraju and Shah wanted to design with forever in mind. “Looking back, I'm grateful we didn't build new,” Madiraju says. “The existing structure forced decisions we never would have made on a blank lot, and that's a big part of why it feels so homey now.” The couple took their time with their home design, injecting sentimentality and their own personal brand of flair into every detail. They even imported materials across continents, sourcing vanities from Italy, storied prints from India, and authentic Roman clay for their family room.
Madiraju’s personal style is driven by his instincts, so the last thing he was about to do was let trends dictate his home. Each room is filled with handpicked pieces, natural stone, thoughtful patterns, and inspired color palettes carefully curated to bring out the best in the home’s architecture and hard finishes.
Even so, he still wanted to leave room for evolution, movement, and a little bit of chaos to keep things interesting. “I don't chase one look or work off a single reference,” he says. “I collect things over time, sit with them, and a room feels done when it feels right, not when it checks a box on a plan. My husband and I are both calm and a little chaotic at once, so we wanted the house to hold both of those energies, too.”
The entire home radiates with opulence, and that’s because depth and luxury have been built into it from the ground up. Stonework became a staple in the home’s design scheme, making its way from the floors to mantle faces, kitchen countertops, and even a bespoke black tub in the master bath. “We wanted the whole home to feel timeless, and stone gives you a kind of depth you can't fake,” Madiraju says. “It wasn't about one showstopper slab. It was about committing to it everywhere we could.”
The room that gets the most of Madiraju’s attention is his makeup suite, where he plans, films, and creates content for his over 5 million social media followers. The onset of his influencer era was another life event he couldn’t plan for. Madiraju started filming tutorials as a side hustle in 2019 while working a nine-to-five job in finance. He became so beloved on #makeuptok that he was not only able to find true success in his childhood love for cosmetics, but also a new career.
The makeup “office” is the cosmetic equivalent of the Library of Alexandria. Illuminated storage units line the walls of the room, spanning from floor to ceiling and meticulously organized by product and purpose. Even the middle island has storage drawers built into its base, and compartments beneath the glass countertop house lip liners, beauty blenders, and glosses. While the room feels custom, the storage heaven is actually comprised of IKEA Pax units, customized to give them the same air as bespoke built-ins.
Even with the grandeur of the office, the lounge is the most charismatic room in the home. Positively dripping with Mumbai charm, the room boasts glittering bronze mosaic tiles, a layered chain chandelier, and a leopard-adorned chaise. “We chose that leopard print because it felt bold without taking itself too seriously, and it just made the whole room feel a little more playful,” Madiraju explains. The chaise was upholstered in Mokum fabric hand-selected by the couple and imported from India.
The chain-like lighting is another thread that Madiraju chose to carry throughout the home. Opting for metal over crystal, the design choice was meant to mimic jewelry and nod to the couple’s shared love of fashion. “We wanted lighting that felt natural, organic, and almost like pieces from a jewelry archive. Metal just felt warmer and more personal than crystal ever would,” Madiraju says.
If the lounge is the most charismatic, the dining room is the most transportive. Boasting forest walls, Sabyasachi-inspired wallpaper, and fluted emerald lighting, the room combines Indian design with art deco flair for a look that’s as cultured as it is retro. “The dining room was always meant to be a standalone statement, not something the rest of the house had to match,” Madiraju says.
The kitchen, however, carries an air of modernism. Sleek bar stools surround bold marble countertops, typically a taboo choice in Indian kitchens, especially ones that get so much use. “The marble in the kitchen was about depth and drama, something that would still feel exciting years from now,” Madiraju says. “It's interesting: marble countertops can feel daunting for a lot of Indian households because of turmeric and spice staining, but we went for it anyway. Zero regrets. There are ways to protect it, and honestly, we'd choose it again.”
Not much of a cook himself, Madiraju leaves the cooking to his husband while he moves through rooms and dazzles guests, leaving Shah in his personal Shangri-La, free to move about the entire kitchen as he cooks, chops, and creates.
Originally from New Delhi, Madiraju and his husband share South Asian roots. Threaded through rich color palettes and ambi (paisley) prints, that quiet cultural influence lingers in their home’s design. The pair tapped into India mostly through art, with the most culturally influenced piece in the home being the bar room wall treatment.
Meant to be a bridge between indoor and outdoor spaces, the leafy motifs are actually a digitized version of hand-painted artwork from India, and one of the most sentimental touches on the first floor.
While the bar’s design drew inspiration from South Asia, the powder room takes on European flair. Inspired by the maroon variations running through the kitchen counters, the half bath’s palette brings a more moody air, boasting an imported mirror, Roman clay walls, and a geometric tile design featuring a neutral tan hue to ground the space.
As if the home couldn’t feel more luxurious, the master bedroom is straight out of the most haute hotel. Drenched in a moody brown palette, Madiraju and Shah wouldn’t have it any other way. “We both sleep best in hotel rooms, so we leaned into that feeling on purpose,” says Madiraju.
Unlike most, the pair opted to shrink the size of their bedroom during renovations, trading floor space for the feel of a hotel suite. The move ended up bringing massive benefits in the end, allowing the bed to be centered with the room’s marble-faced, functioning fireplace, and freeing up space for an en-suite bathroom.
Originally meant to match the bedroom’s earthy brown hues, the all-black bath was a “happy accident,” that took shape when the original tub couldn’t make renovation deadlines and Madiraju was forced to pivot. The black tub came just in the nick of time and is now one of the most bespoke stone elements in the home. The bath’s inky palette is complemented by gold fixtures and finishes, along with a bright green parlor palm, which brings bold contrasts through its faux leaves.
Just like her dads, Yana is very proud of her space, which she helped curate herself, opting for a pink-toned wallpaper to set the scene for her “big girl bed.” While Madiraju wanted the room to feel like her own, he stepped in to guide some of the design choices. “We wanted something that would grow with her rather than something she'd outgrow in a year.” Dreamy clouds adorn the walls of the main space, which was also sized down during renovations to make room for Yana to have her own en-suite bath and walk-in closet.
The couple’s shared closet is a masterclass in pattern play. Their vision for this space was inspired by the allure and luxury of classic tailor shops. Hanging garments are illuminated by built-in lighting, while chests line the opposing wall for additional storage. “The great thing about being two husbands is that we actually share the whole closet, and all the clothes in it too,” Madiraju says. The plaid was a last-minute addition to the design scheme, and the pair opted to bring the pattern up and across the ceiling to create the illusion of space while syncing with the brown palette from the bedroom.
Madiraju isn’t married to one aesthetic, theme, or era of design. When he envisioned this home with his husband, they knew they wanted it to feel layered, storied, true to their paths, and functional. While their space might always be evolving, those hallmarks are sure to remain true. “We're proud of what we've been able to create. We just wanted the home to feel inviting and inclusive, with quiet nods to India and to the other parts of the world we've been lucky enough to explore together,” Madiraju says. “Before anything else, the house had to work as a real home for the five of us. Beautiful mattered, but livable mattered more.”
