Design you home

After marriage, your home is the biggest decision of your life and, certainly, the most expensive. And as chic as it may sound to hire an interior designer for the job, clients should tread carefully. For the designer, a home is just another job. For the poor client, it’s everything— the repository for all his expectations, dreams and anxieties. And still, people often blunder into it without thinking it through. The problems begin at the first meeting. Since clients want to hire a designer as a social statement—look I’ve arrived—they come to the meeting in the mood to acquire. And the designer is the commodity. So, they say all the right things and put on their best act, but when the deal is done, it’s like a bad arranged marriage. And there’s no end to the mayhem that can ensue.

Consider the couple, for instance, who complained that their decorator had stretched out the deadline by four months. The decorator didn’t realise they were pressed for time, it was never discussed—his only concern was in getting the results. So, the couple grudgingly moved into a rental but after a spell, they insisted on moving into the unfinished house—they thought if they were there, the decorator would hurry up. So, they were cramped into a single room, which was bad enough. And with all the work going on, the husband got asthma. And as the stress mounted, the couple finally got a divorce. Sure, the marriage was in trouble from the start, but the design process was the straw that broke the camel’s back.

Or consider the lady in Mumbai who asked me to do her apartment but didn’t like my work, so she went for another designer. But this other designer got into a fight with the building society, which got so nasty that the building slapped a lawsuit on him and both sides hired armed bodyguards. Then the lady called me in to put things right—she said she wanted my designs, after all. So, I made peace with the building society and it was all good again. But she still didn’t like my designs, she just wanted me to smooth things over with the society. So, I recommended that she work with someone else, and we’re great friends to this day. It took three designers and two years of tension, but her apartment was eventually completed.

Here’s a few tips to help you avoid a debacle like that.

Figure out what you want
Before calling an interior designer, decide what your own taste is first. It sounds obvious, but few people actually do it. Buy some coffee table books and visit designers’ websites and flag off your severe dislikes and likes—it’ll help you articulate them later. If you’re spending lakhs over years, you need to be clear about what you want.

Make sure you like the designer’s style
Again, sounds obvious, but so many people hire designers just because they’re highly rated or because there’s a comfort level—their sister hired him and she said he was nice, for example. But no amount of comfort or status is going to get you past the fact that you don’t like their work. Don’t hire a minimalist and start asking for more work and details. Choose your designer by his aesthetic sense.

Interview several designers
At least three or four. Discuss all the key issues with them all—their style, the budget, the time frame, their working methods, how much of your own participation are they comfortable with and what precisely they consider their responsibilities to be. Never be shy of turning people down.

Form a team with your designer
Often clients sit across the table as though I’m there to sell them something. But it doesn’t work that way. I’m trying to deliver you your dream home—you should sit next to me and empower me, not test me. Hire me for my strengths and help me with my weaknesses.

No designer is a one-stop shop
Some clients expect designers to take care of everything—producing the design, organising the contractors and materials at the best prices in town, and acting as project manager throughout. They expect the same person to fulfil their aesthetic dreams, haggle in the marketplace and execute the project with military efficiency. That designer doesn’t exist! It’s like expecting your wife to be a perfect wife, cook, mother and lover. I tell my clients that they’re paying me for the drawings and that I’ll appoint the contractors. But if the contractors are late, if the materials don’t arrive, these are not my responsibility. Once the work starts, I visit the site only to make sure the design is being followed. I’ve actually had clients ring me to say the flush didn’t work on the Ruhe toilets that I recommended. I had to explain—you need to call Ruhe.

Select a spokesperson
This goes particularly for families— once the work begins, it’s a lot easier on both sides if there’s just one person in the family that talks to the designer.

Be open
Designing your home is a great opportunity to have fun. It’s a tremendous creative exchange between designer and client—your designer can open up new worlds to you. And a positive experience gives a home a happy, spiritual vibe. Over and above the physical aspects of design, when the decorators leave, and the family starts to live in the space, that vibe is very important.