June 13, 2006

The two pillars of a successful interior design project!

Filed under: Decor — smvpune @ 10:43 pm

Whenever I think of any design, be it interior design or product design, a few things very naturally come up in my mind. These are in the form of questions.

The best part is, answers to these questions can give rise to
a very successful design in itself. Let’s see how.

If I am planning to design a piece of furniture, let’s say a double bed, immediate I start relating to what I already know about double beds, some picture/image I have already seen, something I have seen in some furniture shop, etc… Then I start thinking about what material I should think about, the budget, dimensions, age group of people who are going to use it, etc… If you answer these questions one by one on a paper, you will get a blueprint of the design process, so that you can convert in into technical drawings, with all the joinery details and finally the product.

Amongst above mentioned questions some are directly related to function of the double bed as a piece of furniture.

What does this mean?

When I ask myself, what should be the dimensions of a double bed? I have very little freedom to decide the dimensions of the bed, because there are certain norms to be followed in order to serve it’s basic function and that’s comfort.

But what if I say that I will keep the overall surface area of the bed same , but make it round in plan. Will it be ok..

Now here I am trying to achieve both function and aesthetics,
without sacrificing the comfort of the person who will use it. So during any design process there will be times when the designer need to take some decisions where he has to keep
aside his wildest ideas and pay attention to function first.

That’s why the true success of an interior design project is a good balance between function and aesthetics.

Expressing this kind of balance through design is not an easy
task, because function is universally accepted, but aesthetics, not always.

What does this mean?

Beauty is always relative. A washbasin has a common universal function of an appliance to be used for washing hands, but it’s beauty is relative. What is beautiful for me, might not hold true for you.

So a design expression can have a unique style of the designer himself. It is possible that the designer is more comfortable with certain kinds of materials/finishes/color schemes, etc.. which can reflect in his designs.

In spite of these personal touches a good designs always
caters the needs of the user first. A good designer has a certain kind of convincing power in his/her style which he uses to expresses in the design without sacrificing the likes/dislikes of the user.

There are designers who are more comfortable in designing only a certain kind space such as bathrooms, bedrooms, living rooms, public spaces such as restaurants, clubs, gymnasiums.

Of course this is entirely of a personal choice, but there is this same message in their designs, shell out your ego and design for the best parameters with worst possibilities taken into considerations. This is what gives birth to a great design.

I hope this article was helpful.

Copyright 2005 Shrinivas Vaidya

For more powerful and in-depth concept level knowledge of bedroom design visit Bedroom-Design-And-decorating-Ideas.com. You will find some good tips on designing various kinds of bedrooms.

How to kickstart a good bedroom design project?

Filed under: Interior Design — smvpune @ 12:43 pm

Any room in your home is primarily a space within walls, floor
and a ceiling. When the structure or the apartment gets constructed, the architect and the structural contractor has taken all the care that it is stable and can withstand outside
natural forces like, earthquakes, heavy winds, rainfalls, etc..

Amongst all other rooms the bedroom is a space where comfort levels have to be kept maximum. But the word comfort is a relative term. The meaning of comfort is not just a sleep of 8 hours. A good sleep inside a bedroom is a bare minimum expectation which can not be ignored.

But comfort varies from person to person. For someone it feels good by just sitting in a rocking chair, sipping a cup of coffee and enjoying good view around the house or for someone it could be listening to good music or watching night
sky full of stars.

So when it comes to design any space many aspects come into consideration. Design is not just arrangement of furniture, choosing color schemes, deciding textures/finishes etc..It has to deal with “feeling good” about the space.

Of course all these factors when used in a unique way, can turn out to be a great design. The above mentioned “feel good” factor comes about by selecting a “theme” based design.

When we try to look towards the empty space through a
theme, everything gets a definition and can be dealt upon easily.

Let’s see an example.

If I decide to decorate a bedroom which is empty, first I will have to decide on a particular style to execute. If it’s my own bedroom then I must know what kind of style best suits my personality. This choice of style will greatly influence, the kind of furniture, color scheme, finishes I use.

Here I can go for contemporary style/oriental style/country style. All these have a unique set of parameters right from the layout of furniture to what diameter should I use for the
curtain rods.

A design deals with a big view starting from furniture layout and goes in-depth, deciding with each and every minute details of linen. All these affect the final expression, which is
required for “feeling good”. All these detailing will change the moment to shift from your theme/style.

That’s why by fragmenting the entire design process into theme options can make the process easier and gives a direction to start the execution of any project.

If you are designing for someone else, it’s a good idea to first know your client’s likes and dislikes. I mean his personality, his hobbies, his job profile, etc… Remember that HE is going to use this room, it’s his baby.

Of course once you start with a theme, it normally happens that you will get more richer and creative ideas during primary sketching process.

I hope this article was helpful.

Copyright 2005 Shrinivas Vaidya

For more powerful and in-depth concept level knowledge of
bedroom design visit Bedroom-Design-And-decorating-Ideas.com. You will find some good tips on designing various kinds of bedrooms.
 

How to generate ideas for your bedroom design?

Filed under: Interior Design — smvpune @ 2:53 am

So, you want to design your bedroom. Hmm… looks like you
are serious about it.

Lets’ get started quickly. whenever I hear someone say he/she wants to design/decorate a bedroom a lot of things come to my mind.

But, let me clear one thing design and decorating are two different aspects. When I say design, I mean a whole lot bigger perspective. Design includes a lot more maturity in terms of how you perceive a space from within.

Of course I will cover more about design in some other article.
Decoration is more close to everyday actions that can be taken in order to change or alter a space. Decoration deals with accessories used in a space. Very small things, such as curtain rods, their color, lampshades, small statues, table cloths, light fittings, are all parts of the detailing.

It is not that design does not deal with these aspects, but decoration is more do-able easily than the whole design rocess.

If you are not aware of the decoration techniques, or where to start, I will give you a list of some place where you can observe and get inspiration.

1)Of course, the World Wide Web:
  this Internet is a good place to start. But the information   on the internet is not always compiled and sorted out, the   way you want it to be, so you might have to look deep.

2)Local Book stores:
  Interior design magazines, books, brochures from furniture   manufacturers is a good source of inspiration. These books   and magazines do their best to find out Works of successful   designers, which can be quite inspiring.

3)Exhibitions:
  Exhibitions held by manufacturers of interior design products, can be a good source as well.

4)Movies and TV shows:
  Yes, these have a very high project budgets, so spend   thousands of dollars every year to decorate the sets. Just   keep your eyes open and you will definitely find some good   themes in these too.
 
5)Look for hobby groups around in your city, look for seminars of those who are successful artists. Bedroom decoration includes detailing and paying attention to small things. Visit art galleries, where you can find some good paintings, other related artwork, which can enhance the beauty of your space.

Finally I would like to say that it’s your room and you are the only person who knows better about your likes and dislikes. So start out immediately because “When There Is Will, There Is A Way”.
 
Copyright 2005 Shrinivas Vaidya
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