Best Interior designing Methodology, steps in interior designing process

It is essential for the interior designer to take accurate measurements of the entire room. This includes the length and width of each room, ceiling height, window heights, lintel heights and whether there are any impediments such as columns or beams. Once designer completes this step and has a complete picture of the existing space, designer can begin envisioning how to transform it into an attractive living area that reflects the lifestyle of its occupants.

The first step after onsite measurements is to draft a layout 2D drawing that needs to be cross verified, we try to capture every detail like positions switch board, plumbing points etc. next logical step is to start discussion around the furniture requirement and those furniture dimensions and various utility aspects of these furniture pieces. Many a times there is need of civil changes to make the space Vastu complaint or to create openness in the apartment like breaking of kitchen wall or partition wall, demolition of dry balcony to include it in kitchen, we need to make all these changes in the civil layout indicating demolition and new construction.

While we work on furniture layout, we think about various possibilities for furniture placements and thinking about the comfort of living, we start working on furniture layout as a second step of interior designing process. We take in to consideration all possible needs of the family (like a patient on wheelchair or any extra-large items to be moved from other apartment) so that we can accommodate those requirements. The reason we find it necessary to probe about these special requirements is that we want to give you a better layout, one that is ideal for you and your family. Since we're considering all possibilities, we will also be able to suggest better options for the furniture within the limited space available.

The interior arrangement of any house depends upon its utility purpose and the requirements of the owner. The design should be such that it should be convenient to use and at the same time look aesthetic. E.g., we need to keep at least 3 feet distance between the crockery unit door and dining table so that while sitting on the chair one would pull it back.

One must discuss with client regarding their current and future space utility requirements. For example, if the customer wants to use certain spaces for a special purpose such as for consulting, yoga or beauty parlour, then it’s important that we create furniture layouts keeping in mind few things such as keeping few things movable.

In the modern days, space is a very important factor in every design and as such, we need to carefully plan spaces according to the client’s needs so that it becomes more comfortable for them. For example, one also needs to think of other personalized needs of the clients e.g., while designing kitchen we need to understand if housewife is left-handed or right-handed and accordingly, we need to plan the placements of pull outs units and other drawers’ arrangement, such personalization defines the placements of sink, refrigerator and tall unit.

One of the important aspects while defining this furniture layout is how to maximise the availability of natural light and breeze in the home, which creates a relaxing environment in your apartment throughout the year. By considering this thinking we can define the height of the furniture so that they don't object these natural resources.

Few other aspects are like water seepage, it is the most common problem that occurs in the property and this is especially next to bathroom, in such cases we need to evaluate if this kind of leakage is going to be a problem in future and need to keep our furniture on the walls after applying PVC panels or waterproofing treatment. Our preference is to get water proofing treatment done and we have quite a few waterproofing experts in our network. We given immense importance to this step as part of interior designing process.

When it comes to interior project, you can use different materials like glass, timber, metals etc depending on the need of your project. However, the most important thing to be considered while designing any space is the budget which decides what material you choose. In modern interiors we have a large number of options of material that plays the most important role in budgeting of the project. Generally, the prices of plywood and glue remain same but functional hardware choices and exterior lamination material plays the bigger role in deciding the project budget. You have several hardware choices local as well as imported, we have tie up with various brands like Hettich, Hafele, Blum, Kessebohmer etc, these brands also offer multiple choices of wardrobe fittings or kitchen tandem boxes or hinges or shutter uplift systems which can make difference of around 20 percent in overall project budget."

For luxury projects we have options like full height glass shutters from Russian manufacturer Aristo, similar tie ups we have for exclusive fittings like wall beds, motorized curtains, home automation vendors etc. Surface finish / lamination, is another aspect that can drastically change the budget of the project, laminates is one of the basic surface materials especially used in economy projects, for luxury projects we have options like PU PAINT, VENEERS, BACK PAINTED GLASSES etc.

Once the complete furniture layout is frozen, we start discussion around the 3D modelling, as per furniture layout. During 3D modelling we discuss about further details of every furniture piece, we share reference images, we talk about colours, material, textures, grooves etc, we have numerous texture options like laminate, veneer and even fabric can be applied on furniture. We ask clients to send a few of their reference images what they have liked over the internet so that gives us some idea about client preferences and then we finalise these aspects and start applying all these material and colour to the 3D modelling to create raw 3D images.

We will have a couple of rounds of discussion around raw 3D images, few alterations may be there, if necessary and then we start the final activity of rendering. This is nothing but making these raw 3D images look realistic, we can be sure that these images will be very close (may be 90-95%) to the actual snaps of project after completion of work.

Once the exterior 3D views of a piece of furniture are frozen, it can be considered 50% of interior designing process is done. At this stage, we move on to consider the internal storage structure. We check each drawer’s requirements and discuss their utility with the client; this is followed by a review of shelves arrangements, where we make sure they will meet the requirement of different heights and left or right-handed users.

In modern interiors nowadays we have a lot of imported fittings available, those can be used especially in the premium projects e.g., laundry basket fitting, watch box organiser drawer, lift up hangers to reach higher heights in wardrobe, shoes stand fitting, various hangers fittings like trouser hanger, ties hangars all these fittings can be used to increase the usability of wardrobe space.

For kitchen internal structure we have various options like stainless steel baskets which is little older style, nowadays we recommend modern hardware fittings, those have higher weight bearing capacity and offer feather touch smooth operations those drawer systems are called tandem boxes and are available from various brands Hettich, Blum, Grass etc. For premium kitchens there are various other fittings can be used like larder unit, corner units, Orga trays, cutlery trays and for luxury kitchen we even have electrically controlled shuttering systems from Blum called Servo Drive.

In kitchen nowadays we need to discuss appliances as well in detail while designing the kitchen, almost every family started using microwave, oven, hob, chimney, dishwasher, washing machine fridge etc, we need to give special attention to accommodate all these appliances in the given space with their electrical inputs and plan their exhaust systems. We need to discuss about their dimensions their brands, budget and accordingly take a call before designing or before making a drawing for the kitchen to ensure whatever the appliances are bought that can be exactly fitted without any discrepancy in the dimensions to get the perfect seamless finishing. There are many advanced fittings for kitchen like mixer lift up system, pop up electrical switch board those can be incorporated to look your kitchen smart and easy to operate.

In order help clients to take better decisions of kitchen appliances we have tied up with brands like Blaunkpunkt, Siemens, Bosch, Elica, Whirlpool etc. with the regular update on product features we are confident about our recommendations and our tie up helps in addressing the warranty issues and sometimes we help clients get discounts as compared to the market rates, several clients have taken the benefits of these kind of discounts.

As a part of furniture detailing, designers start making the AutoCAD drawings of all these internal components, designers even discuss handles, mirrors, locks positions as per the heights of the users. The next step of designing is to make the 2D elevations of all these furniture components, in simple language we can call these drawings as a carpentry diagram, so that carpenters or furniture vendor understand all these drawings very easily and produce the furniture exactly matching with these designs. As decorMyPlace operates in multiple cities like Hyderabad, Mumbai, Bangalore, we have to make sure that these drawings are perfect to avoid need of explanation to those vendors, if the drawings are not perfect vendors need to contact designer again and again that can delay the project. Out of our experience of more than 1500 projects in last eight years we have mastered the art of making the perfect drawings so that there is hardly any discussion needed with the contractors once these designs are submitted to manufacturing team.

Lighting, False Celling Designing

Lighting planning is an important step in interior design, as this helps in integrating various pieces of furniture and other designing pieces. There are various types of lighting available for a room. For our premium projects, we plan functional lighting for the areas where people will be using the furniture such as living room, bedroom and others areas. We also define ambient lighting for those who want to spend time with their family and friends in their homes, it gives soothing experience to them. When we plan false ceiling design, we also take care of chandeliers and spotlights, among other things that are in sync with already designed furniture layout. These lights offer extra illumination ensuring safety while sightseeing at night.

Painting-Well Papers

Some basic discussion about painting is already done during the 3D finalization, as we go on further deep in designing process, there will be elaborate discussion around painting options. Now a days there is trend of faint neutral shades across the apartment and may be couple of walls will be highlighted with dark shade or texture paint or wall paper.

Upholstery-Styling

The next step of designing is planning upholstery, in modern apartment you find many of the components like headboard, curtains, sofa, dining chairs and even few wall panels can be made with a fabric material.

While selecting fabrics, we need to think of quite a few parameters like maintenance, so if the users are senior citizen low maintenance material will be suggested, for house with kids leatherette that can be washed very easily will be preferred. In case of pets at home it's going to be a big challenge then we need to utilise material which will not attract pets which can be unhygienic in a long-term at the same time we need to select material which is not going to attract the pets otherwise in some cases we have noticed animals chew the material and then spoil them.

Styling can be considered as the last step of interior designing process but it’s going to be the continuous process, one can keep on adding the styling components like carpets, vase, frames, candle stands and those can be changed in every couple of years.