30 essentials for a summer at home

Beat the heat this summer with our curated list of 30 essentials for the ultimate in comfort, fun, and creativity. From books to read and movies to watch, and from DIY kits to refreshing face mists, discover fun, unique stuff that will help you get over the FOMO of ditching travel plans this year. 

Knot this

Cosmic Embroidery Kit from Knot Your Type

Go beyond flowers and mandalas with two scene-stealing designs featuring a dayscape and a night scene with rich colours. The kit comes with hoops, threads, needles and a guide to get you started on a screen-free hobby.

Flower power

Himalayan Haat Buransh Cooler

Every spring, buransh or rhododendron paints the mountains of Uttarakhand a vibrant red. If you want to stay home, you can still enjoy the feel of the flowers. In Pauri Garhwal, local women separate the petals and bottle them into a cooling beverage. A hint of clove and cinnamon rounds off the flavour of this mild, floral drink.

Cheesy DIY

Käse Cheesemaking Kit

Summer holidays are a time for experiments of all kinds. Make your own cheese with this beginners’ kit from Käse. It has a cheese cloth, vegetarian rennet, starter culture and salt to craft a variety of cheese.

Garden party

Cord June Dress

Summer is a great time to invite friends over and enjoy refreshing margaritas and coolers in your garden. Why not extend that cool vibe to your clothes as well? Try the multicoloured Polo Ralph Lauren Patchwork Madras Camp shirt that you can pair with white linen pyjamas or denim shorts. For women, a bright, breezy cotton dress, like this Cord June number, will always be a conversation-starter.

Watered down

Hidrate Spark Pro

3-5 litres of water a day will keep you healthy all year, so carry a bottle with you. The light, 620ml vacuum-insulated stainless steel Hidrate Spark Pro, which holds cold for 24 hours, has sensors to remind you to sip. It’s Bluetooth-enabled and can be synced to any app to track hydration goals.

Frozen fun

Glaskart Ice-Ball Maker

If ice-setting is your art practice, try this ice-ball maker, which, as the name suggests, turns out perfectly transparent spheres of ice that elevate a glass of mosambi juice, if not 18-year scotch. You could also freeze juice or infuse water with fruit for a cute, icy snack.

Pixi cut

Catit Pixi Fountain

The Catit Pixi drinking fountain for cats is not just useful, it’s cute too. It dispenses fresh water whenever your pet needs and the fountain itself lures your cat in to drink. It is much more pleasing to the eye than a regular water bowl.

Boho chic

Muezart Tapestry Loom Kit

Give your home a boho makeover with macrame and tapestry coasters and cushion covers. You can make your own—or keep kids from saying “I’m bored”—with this DIY weaving kit that has one loom, needle, comb, yarn and fibres, and a shed stick to finish the product neatly.

Fresh as pulp

Nat Habit Fresh Hydrating Gel

Slathering your face with a hydrating pack can be a good nighttime ritual to start even as the temperature climbs. Nat Habit’s hydration gel pack with fresh aloe vera pulp, tomato pulp and beetroot juice is as nourishing as it sounds.

Immersion therapy

IceCode Bath Tub

Immersing yourself in a pod filled with water and blocks of ice for 5-8 minutes (for beginners) is said to have restorative powers. It can help muscle recovery, reduce inflammation, is an effective pain reliever, and can improve sleep—and makes for fun Insta posts too. Icecode’s portable Pod Mini 70 ice-bath tub comes with a temperature monitor, air pump and lid.

Tart-up

Aazol Kokum Extract

Kokum is another summer staple though not as popular as mango. Kokum from Sindhudurg is used to make this small-batch extract, great for quick sherbets and sol kadhi.

Fan-dom

Iris Bladeless Fan

Unlike traditional table fans, modern versions are much quieter and sleeker, making sure your calls aren’t disrupted by noisy rattles and wheezes. This sleek, bladeless fan will double as a cool accessory for your room while keeping you easy-breezy this summer.

On the mat

Petter World Cooling Gel Mat

If you have a pet who just cannot cool down in the scorching summer, a cooling mat is just the thing. With a gel interior, the mats don’t need electricity or refrigeration to remain cool and they’re also soft.

Ice ice baby

Le Marbelle Face Ice Roller

Applying ice to the face depuffs the skin, shrinks pores and improves blood circulation. And in summer, it’s just so refreshing. Fill this silicone mould with water, freeze it for a couple of hours, and massage all over face and neck.

Punching down

Craftmate Punch Needle Embroidery Kit

Homer Simpson’s “backing into the bushes” scene has been immortalised in a million gifs, but now you can have the analogue version on your walls with this punch-needle embroidery kit, perfect for those who barely know how to thread a needle. It’s also a great introduction to the concept of screen-free fun for kids.

Mango season

Native Tongue Mango Preserve

Summer is incomplete without the king of fruits—and the versatile mango can take many forms. An Alphonso preserve with mango pieces elevated with Kashmiri saffron is perfect for those who want to add a gourmet touch to sandwiches, breakfast toasts and home-made grazing boards.

Guilt-free

Philosophice, Mumbai

Craving ice-cream coldness but can’t stand the guilt? Look for options made with honey and liquid jaggery (and avoid maltodextrin, if possible), like Philosophice, which also has dairy-free flavours apart from seasonal mango and matcha.

Shady stuff

Patio umbrella

The balcony doesn’t have to be off-limits because the sun is out. Get a patio umbrella to dine, entertain and work outdoors without breaking into a sweat. Pair it with a fan (see our recommendation) and stay even cooler.

Throw shade

unkissed Sunscreen

Can’t be indoors or outdoors without sunscreen. This multi award-winning sunscreen, a favourite with beauty influencers, is lightweight, serum-based and absorbs superfast with no white cast.

Care for your hair

The Earth Collective Sun Protection Serum

If you are planning to spend long hours lazing by the pool or gardening in the balcony, you might want to get a hair sunscreen like The Earth Collective’s Sun Protection Hair Serum with SPF 15. It’s enriched with alfalfa, argan oil and orange, and the serum is light and non-sticky.

Spritz away

Pahadi Local Mountain Mist

A face mist for an instant hydration hit is a must-add to your shelf in the summer. It can cool you down even if you’re indoors. Try this refreshing spray to moisturise and lift dull, dehydrated skin.

Hey mister

Ugaoo Plant Mister

Your house plants need some extra TLC this summer. Keep them shiny and hydrated with plant misters that don’t wet the nearby surfaces, and are also fun to use and display as a decor element. It’s a great way to get the kids involved too.

In the flow

Proyog Mysore Yoga Mat

Most yoga mats contain PVC, which can feel icky in summer—giving you another excuse to skip that workout. This mat is made of natural rubber and cotton mesh and is PVC-free, making it comfy and sustainable and good to the touch.

Garden party

Ralph Lauren Madras Camp Shirt

Try the multicoloured Polo Ralph Lauren Patchwork Madras Camp shirt that you can pair with white linen pyjamas or denim shorts.
 

Slip and slide

Onitsuka Tiger Mexico 66 Sabot

The iconic pair of shoes has been turned into a stylish clog to make for comfy footwear, whether you are in the house or running around for errands. The hint of tangy orange ensures you are celebrating summer at all times.

ON THE WATCHLIST

A Greta Gerwig Triptych

Greta Gerwig is a singular voice in American cinema—wry, warm, and unerringly attuned to the awkward poetry of becoming. Frances Ha, directed by Noah Baumbach and co-written by Gerwig, captures the exhilarating, chaotic drift of your 20s with black-and-white charm. Gerwig’s directorial breakthrough, Lady Bird, is a prickly, poignant Valentine to mothers and daughters. And Barbie is a pop extravaganza. Together, these films trace a journey of self-invention—feminist, funny, and emotionally open.

Werner Herzog brings the wonder

Werner Herzog’s documentaries are portals into the sublime and the strange, stitched together with his singular voice—wry, melancholic, and full of awe. Cave of Forgotten Dreams journeys into the prehistoric Chauvet cave in France, where 30,000-year-old wall paintings breathe with eerie vitality. In Encounters at the End of the World, Herzog probes Antarctica’s icy expanse and the oddball scientists drawn to its edge, unearthing existential musings beneath the ice. Happy People: A Year in the Taiga is his most serene chronicling Siberian trappers in quiet communion with nature, a study of a lyrical idyll.

Ultimate fantasy binge

Across The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers, and The Return of the King, J.R.R. Tolkien’s beloved Middleearth unfurls in breathtaking detail—its battles are stirring, its friendships deeply felt, and its sense of purpose timeless. From the quiet courage of the Hobbits to the grandeur of the Elves, the trilogy captures both the mythic and the intimate. Step into a world of peril and wonder and emerge moved and awed.

SUMMER READS

What’s better than cooling off with a book on a summer weekend? Especially if it is a new release by T.J. Klune, who is a magician when it comes to mixing up genres and styles. The Bones Beneath My Skin (Pan Macmillan), his latest novel, hits the sweet spot at the intersection of romance and sci-fi. The story opens with Nate, the protagonist, driving up to a derelict cabin, which is one part of a paltry inheritance left to him. Rejected by his recently deceased parents for his sexuality and currently without a job, Nate hopes to take stock of his life, away from the prying eyes of humanity. But all his hopes of solitude are dashed by the intrusion of a pair of strange characters, one of them a girl called Artemis Darth Vader, who leads Nate into a bizarre adventure.

If you are in the mood for something mellower, you can’t go wrong with Perfection (Fitzcarraldo Editions) by Vincenzo Latronico, a slim novel shortlisted for the International Booker Prize 2025, translated from the Italian by Sophie Hughes. Easy enough to read in one sitting, this little gem of a book is narrated in the third-person plural. It is a chronicle of the lives of a young millennial couple, Anna and Tom, living in exile in Berlin. Nothing much happens in the novel, but Latronico’s precise prose captures the inner turmoil of a whole generation sold out on the heady, and often misleading, charms of a digital-nomad lifestyle.

For those who love nothing more than a good old crime novel, The Beast Within (Westland) by journalist Rudraneil Sengupta may be the ideal pick-me-up this summer. This tightly written police procedural, set in the big bad world of Delhi crime, will keep you on the edge of your seat and awaken your sleuthing instincts.

Also read: Dig into mapo eggs and noodles for breakfast