House To Home

Time to put the legs up and watch TV

What is body without its soul but a simple carcass, similarly a house is a simple brick and mortar structure if it does not have a soul. Yes, I did say soul. The soul of the house is the person living in it making it their home. But again comes the question, what is home? Well according to me, a place where one not only finds shelter, but feels comfortable and relaxes in peace, a place where one does not feel cramped and clustered, but gets his/her space and thus peace of mind, is qualified to be called home.

To convert a house into a home one requires to convert the walled structure to a comfortable living place and this is called getting interior of the house done. One may design the road map of what and how to be done itself but until unless the knowledge of space and space management is with you, it is always advisable to hire an interior designer.

When we purchased our house we were at a dilemma who will be right person to understand our need and do the justification to our requirement with in our budget. Since we were getting the interior done while we were residing in it, time was also a big deciding factor.

We did not have to look too far as the person we were looking for was right behind our back yard (figuratively speaking). Our Mr. Right was Mr. Amar Rajadhyaksh who is an interior designer, a person who dislikes seeing the client’s money going waste, and makes optimum use of resources and time. Yes he gets bullish sometimes but then it is only to make the client understand what is best for them and explains painstakingly why things should be done the way he is suggesting, because there should be no regrets after getting things done. After all how many people can afford to get the interior done second time!!! Even after gentle persuasion and cajoling if the clients fail to get what according to him should not have been done then believe me 99% time regret is the only recourse.

Sitting room 

I will recount an incident with names withheld. There was a lady who could not understand the idea of hanging kitchen and despite of all explanations and cajoling when she refused to agree what Amar (now on wards he will be referred as Amar as he hates formalities and loves to be addressed as Amar only) was trying to tell her that it will be the ease of cleaning and a cockroaches free kitchen is assured if you get a hanging kitchen made, She insisted to use the space for drawers right up to floor. She had her say and when half the work was done and she saw the hanging kitchen at some friends place she had a change of mind. It was too late and regret is her’s till she has time money and energy to get the kitchen done again.

So listen to the expert and give a good thought to it with calm mind.

We have had many sessions with Amar during the duration of three months of our house being done. He would try to tell me gently no, this is not required and when being head strong I would argue with him he would put his foot down and I would ultimately relent and I certainly have no regrets about it at all. Now I understand that what he could see in his mind as an expert interior person I could not.

To cut a long story short, one should first sit down with family members and decide what the requirements are and what the budget is. These are the two basic things any interior designer worth its salt would like to know. Once that is conveyed the expert takes over. Many layouts will be presented and again the family has to sit and decide amongst themselves what is best for them. Then onwards the house is in the hand of the Interior person till it is converted to your comfortable, cozy place which is called home.

Guest room with sofa cum bed

Lofts merging with walls 

My first suggestion would be, as far as possible get the interior of the house done when it is empty, else you would face the terrible discomfort of noise pollution, dust pollution. We did not have any option but to get the interior done while residing in it, that is a total of three months. Yes in just three months Amar got all three bedrooms, drawing dining and kitchen done. He is a workaholic  and is a good paymaster but a hard taskmaster also. Accepting anything a bit below standard and below perfection is not his cup of tea. 

Though we faced the discomfort for three months yet the insight gained, to how things are done and how much laborious the task is, is simply amazing.

Kitchen being my workplace (I love cooking and baking) I wanted to get it done the way I had envisioned my kitchen would be. And making few changes to what and how I wanted Amar got it done so perfect that I cannot stop praising his vision and decision, to my friends and relative who are all praises for the work done in kitchen and of course rest of the house.

Oh this is my kitchen??

Some semblence to my vision of kithen

This is what I wanted :)

Earlier though the house was big enough, yet I used to feel cramped the kitchen used to feel stuffy and small (I forgot to take the pictures before the alterations were done). Today the house is the home I had always wanted. Very aesthetically done, comfortable and looks so much spacious. One can understand the difference between having a space and creating space from nowhere only after seeing Amar work. Since he sees the space in Cubic Inches instead of Square feet, he literally creates space  where we think there is not space. (That is why we have nick named him “creator of space”:) ;) ).

Bar made in the space between the two walls and hanging Shelf below TV

The unobtrusive loft and great sapce utilization

We were consulted twice before starting the work of each room, so that if we want any last minute changes or the requirements have changed then they can be accommodated. It was such a wonderful experience working with this gentleman. Once the work starts the boundary of client and service provider gets blurred and a life time relation as a family member takes birth, because for him it is not work but pure passion, and worship. An eight to ten hours journey or a detour from his route would be no problem for him to assuage our complaints regarding material or work force.

Dressing table with hanging drawers between door and cupboards :)

Bedroom looks too sapcious

When the kitchen was brought down completely and wood, tiles, cement was stored in my house I used to wonder if I am getting a house constructed or interior done.  The whole experience has made me wiser and I appreciate the mental and physical labor that goes into it.

Some words of caution; be firm of what you want after all it is you who are going to stay in it. Listen to the expert; he/she knows what would be best. If you are not residing in the house do make sure that you visit the site every now and then, because it is your house. The interior designer is a hired person for the job and he /she has many more clients like you so cannot be present 24x7. Every person is not like Amar. We were lucky to have him for the job.

Unobtrusive lofts and one cupboards behind the door

Purchasing the material should be done always by the advice of the person doing the job, because he/she knows what and how much is required. When I saw the first consignment of the ply coming I thought oh! My God where will it be consumed? And later saw three more consignments landing at my place.

Keep all the left over material till the expert asks you to discard it because the labor / sub-contractors make hay at your cost. I have faced it.

Last but not least always look for the best Interior Designer because you may use expensive, best quality material but how it is put to use makes tremendous difference. In my house no columns were damaged, even drilling columns for laying wire was not permitted by Mr. Amar. He had made a lay out of the house by doing the measurement himself, so that the structural damage causing weakening of the building does not take place. This can be understood and taken care by somebody with experience and good work ethics. I though requested for shortcut (little drilling of column) the request was firmly denied and I was made to endure the ghrr sound of wall cutting machine with dust spray in air. Today I understand that for me it was only discomfort but for him, increased days of labor and nth number of visit to my house to make sure no damage to structure was being done and work was perfect.

Once the work is done and the payment is done the client is not forgotten but a great after service is also provided to the client’s satisfaction.

Now my son has also bought a house. We are wiser of what should be done what not. For us our search has ends  with Mr. Amar. The house at Dynasty is waiting eagerly for the expert hands aka mind of Amar.

Oh! I forgot to mention a very important thing. If you have a house with open land and want landscaping also done you can go for a combined package, because his wife Urmila is an Architect. I call this wonderful couple TWO IN ONE.

If you are thinking of getting interior done or landscaping done then you can contact them at:

amarurmi@gmail.com