Finishing work and the interior.

What gives a home its personality is the interior work. When I started the construction, the first thing I told the architect was

"I am not too much interested in the elevation bit. Let it be very simple. The exterior look is for the outsiders. I want to spend more on the interior so that I can enjoy it".

Is it not a fact? How long will your house have that identity in it's appearance? may be an year? when a new house comes in the street, your house will lose it's charm. So spend on what you enjoy, spend on the interiors.

A very open design with very few walls in the common areas

 The open design helps every one in the house stay connected, even if they are busy with their own businesses.

View of the sky light. No need to switch on lights till late evenings

View of the court yard from living room.

Open staircase landing with a provision for seating. A view from the court yard

Another view of the court yard

The open nature of the stair case makes the living room appear bigger

I started my hunt for a good interior designer. First I inquired with my friends. All had one or another negative point - at least. So I again sought help from the net. As in the case of the contractor short listed 3 of them. After that I shared my house plan with the requirements marked in it. Asked them to give their quotes in the same excel format, compared them and then again shortlisted two of them.

After shortlisting I went and saw at least two works done by each of them. One completed work and one in progress work. I looked mainly for the below listed 10 things.

1) The way large wardrobe doors are closed. Checked if the gap between the doors from top to the bottom is the same.

2) The way edges of the doors are finished. Checked if they are finished in a straight line.
3) The way laminates are pasted. Checked there are no air gaps or bulgings
4) The smoothness of the polished veneer.
5) The smoothness in which the draws are closed.
6) The firmness in the doors and draws.
7) The quality of the hardware used (ebco or hetich). One thing you can make out from the in progress works.
8) The body language, confidence and passion towards the work. Interior designing is some thing that needs a lot of imagination. Only a passionate individual can do that better.
9) The relation between carpenter and the interior designer. Another thing you can make out from the in-progress work.
10) Finally the level of professionalism.

After rating both the shortlisted individuals, I decided to go with Sapna from 13th Haven (http://www.13thhaven.com/)

We had a couple of good discussion where Sapna tried to understand the interests of my wife and my self. The way we want our wardrobes to be organized and the way we would like our kitchen to be done.

And this is what she did for us

Open kitchen with trendy red color

Kitchen counter top and over head cabinets

I did not go for the built in hob. I thought in case you need to go for a replacement, you will have to search for a hob with the same measurement. Instead I went for a slim looking cook top from glen.

Book shelf plus work station in the master bedroom

False ceiling with spot lights in the living area

 The living room ceiling is at a height of 13 ft. 3 feet more than the usual ones. The false ceiling helped to get the focus off the long ceiling fan shaft.

Dining area with concealed lighting

Concealed lighting will give a different mood to the room. Especially with warm yellow lights

Foyer and shoe rack

Think the biggest shoe rack you believe you would need. Add two more shelves. You will still end up thinking I should have gone for a bigger shoe rack
 

Entertainment unit.

 All the cables are concealed. This will give it a neat look. The TV is mounted on a swing-able arm that gives a lot of flexibility.

Thanks a lot to Sapna and her amazing group of carpenters and polishing workers. I was really happy at the end.