India’s recent economic surge has not only obscured the skylines and modified cityscapes but has also ushered in a renaissance in the world of interior design. The affluent and middle class has embraced functionality and style to match aspirations and elevated living standards. As the Indian economy reaches new heights and the purchasing power of its population continues to rise, the demand for enhanced living experiences has led to an increased demand for trained professionals in fields like architecture and interior design.
Amidst this vibrant blend of culture and creativity, it is imperative to recognize and applaud the designers who shape the very essence of our living and working spaces. In this article, I aim to shed light on major pit falls to avoid while selecting the interior designer for your dream project – First Home.
The best rooms have something to say about the people who live in them.
When selecting an interior designer in India, major pitfalls to avoid include:
1. CLEARLY DEFINE YOUR BUDGET
One of the most significant mistakes people make when hiring interior designers is failing to define a clear budget. It’s essential to have a transparent conversation about your financial limitations from the start. By defining a budget, you enable the designer to suggest the best possible materials, designs, and solutions within your price range. The budget gives an idea of the scope of project. A professional designer should be able to work around your budget to ensure best of functionality, aesthetics and value for money. Without a budget, the initial design may be disappointing or too extravagant. As it happens, after buying our dream house we were tight on the budget for interiors. And to our surprise and shock the interior cost could ranging anywhere from 25 to 75 % of the cost of house.
2. CHOOSING THE INTERIOR DESIGNER
While staying within your budget is important, selecting an interior designer will also be equally crucial. Interior Designers come with different skill sets, expertise and experience. Deciding factors could be their past work, meeting the project timeline in terms of quality and time, offering one stop shop, big team of experts, good network with contractors and suppliers. While choosing our designer we were aware of our limited knowledge in terms of trends, material and lack of time due to work commitments. We did our internet research, spoke to few of our friends, visited few designers and made our decision based on an interior designer’s portfolio, experience, and reviews before making a decision. Our top priority was quality work, time based completion of project and work commitments at office.
Design is a constant challenge to balance comfort with luxe, the practical with the desirable.
3. LACK OF COMMUNICATION AND CLEAR EXPECTATIONS
Effective communication is key to any successful project. Interior designers would design the house to meet life style needs and preferences. Like we did not want to place television in drawing room as we prefer watching in bedroom. So it is equally important to tell your preferences and needs so that the first design is aligned with that. Make sure to have multiple discussions with the designer about your ideas, preferences, and any challenges you foresee. Share inspiration images, peculiar habits (tea in balcony, late night reading or playing board games with friends) , or examples of designs that resonate with you. A good interior designer will take your input seriously and adapt their approach accordingly.
It is very important to understand project time lines like design freeze, site validation, placement of order with vendor etc. These stages may be linked to part payment which may be non-refundable. Before you sign on the dotted lines make sure you read all the fine print carefully. Do not sigh on something which you do not understand. Always remember, the contract was prepared by designer and it would be to their benefit. So always enquire about your rights like –
- what if there is delay in project completion
- What if payment is delayed
- what if changes are made in design
- what if you do not like quality of material
- what if you do not like product finish
4. NOT DOING ADEQUATE RESEARCH
Trends, materials, and technologies are constantly evolving. Earlier we understand the better it is. Sometimes spectacular results can be achieved but which in long term may not fit the maintenance goal or future needs. We preferred to weight each design against two parameters: future use and maintainability. We had to redesign one of our bedroom at very late stage despite the protest from designer and time delays. But it was essential as we were not able to balance the expenditure vis-a-vis the utility. So it is very important to understand the options available before signing on dotted lines.
5. NOT LOOKING AT LOCAL MARKET
The designer will like to source all the material from their preferred vendor. They may also like to continue working with traditional material when better options are available. Always prepare yourself for a meeting by visiting local market and neighbouring shops of furniture, electrical, appliances and hardware. These shop-owners are source of good information on quality, even market trends, hidden maintenance and cost which can come handy while negotiating on material and prices. In our case, we realised that our project cost would be 10-15% lesser when we chose our own vendors for major items like furniture, kitchen tops, tiles, electrical lights and appliances. The design house was not able to match the quality and price offered by local vendors.
The most important lesson was – “CHOOSE A DESIGN HOUSE WHICH IS TRANSPARENT IN USE OF MATERIAL QUALITY AND QUANTITY ALONG WITH LABOUR COSTS ”
6. WORK IN PROGRESS. Any project is work in progress, our ideas keep changing as we encounter new information and possibilities. This will happen with you also. The original idea and the final product that you have in hand may be totally different or same. The end user that is you will also change along with time. It is prudent to keep these two factors in mind while selecting any design. Designer may suggest more than 120 W of lighting for the room. Yes it would look beautiful with all those spot lights and track lights; but is it really required?, consider factors like future replacement efforts and periodic electricity bills.
7. CONTINUED INVOLVEMENT
The designer should be able to give complete attention to your project. The team working on your project should have specialist from all department like – wood work, electricity, hardware, masonry and on appliances. You should have access to all the specialist when required during planning as well as execution. Once again, it is important to have good communication with entire team where you could share your concerns. I would suggest to maintain a log of decisions taken so that both sides are able to understand as well as comprehend decisions taken.
Regular check in at the time of execution either in terms of quality or finish is also equally important.
Your home should tell the story of who you are, and be a collection of what you love.
Key points to consider:
- Choose a designer with transparent system e.g. separate cost of service, for material and installation.
- Good lines of communication. Any verbal decisions are grievances should be followed up in writing. Only decisions followed up in writing and agreed by both parties should be carried forward.
- Play our different “What if” scenarios, before you sign the dotted lines.
- Understand your financial commitments before hand.
- Do not overlook local market for supply of materials.
- Regular check-ins throughout the project can also help ensure things are moving in the right direction.
Congratulations on your dream home.
The essence of interior design will always be about people and how they live.
Be safe, Be happy.
