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A Home In Delhi

We are SO excited to have found a  place on Design Sponge again! Featured is a space where the clients’ requirements and our design met halfway for a success project. As a designer, I’ve met a number of clients, each with different tastes. Time and experience in the field has taught me to value the individuality of each client. The initial stages of my work saw me more insistent on my point of view, which as I’ve come to know now, is not always the best way to handle a project. I had a certain degree of ‘beginners angst’ at the start of my career–  but, that’s for another post. The Design Sponge feature got me thinking about  the numerous clients we’ve handled over the years and I’ve  put together a few pointers about the important lessons learnt.  These may help you if you are starting out as an interior designer.1)I’ve realised the intrinsic importance of patience and truly listening to the client– qualities vital to the success of any project.  I’m not proud to admit that neither came naturally to me, and it was a long path of intense learning to (somewhat) master the two. Listening to what a client is ‘really’ saying is irreplaceable– in it lies how they want their space to feel– a vital component of soulful design. And patience,  because points of view, temperament  and taste can vary.

2)Respect– respect for a client and their  style, even when it doesn’t agree with mine. I’ve learned respect from the trust a client places in me and my team to give them their ideal homes, offices and hotels and I try not to take that privilege lightly. Respect for the other person has made patience easier to master.

3)I’ve  learnt the principle of relativity—that there will always be times when my aesthetics clash with another’s,  but as an interior designer, it is most necessary for me to remember that I am designing the space for someone else and not myself. At the same time, this is a very fine line between involvement and distance. How does one give the best of what they have to a project if you’re not too involved?  By keeping ego out of the way, being honest and working for the good of the ‘space’. Most clients understand when you’re making a decision in the best interests of   the space and not from a place of ego.

4)When projects grow organically*, as this one did, the only way one can ensure staying on track and not getting distracted was to go back to the initial notes of our first  meetings, where I’d personally spoken with the client in great detail. There was enough there to determine what the exact feeling of space needed to be and kept the project on track.

These four tips have ensured the result has almost always been the conception of a beautiful story of interior design that leaves me as a designer and my clients, fulfilled.

*we had an initial outline for the space would turn out– drawings and renders, but left much of the detailing open as this was a 6 month project and we wanted to explore more merchandise than just a couple of week would allow.

Here’s how the project turned out, along with some of the influences that guided design. For a before and after click here!

Sandberg from Sweden, a milk glass light from the US, a bronze Natraj and a traditional rug make up the entry.

This master bedroom’s colours were influenced by the wallpaper, which was chosen first.

The picture on the left is of a scene in the office while doing the creatives.

Time and again our references were  images taken on travel, that were unmistakably and uniquely Indian.

Much of the fabric used in this home is handloom.

This image, taken in Tamil Nadu, was like a scene out of a Daniell’s painting. It was also up on the board for inspiration.

Individuals with a passion for their work inspired the look of this dining room– the art of Radha Pandey and fabric by Christopher Moore made it easy to create a pleasing space.

 

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