As we look around nowadays, people
have become more conscious about their surroundings, giving
a plenty of importance towards making their homes look modern,
yet at the same time reflect the individuality of the residing
individuals and family. As I interviewed Mr. Muneer Memon,
this view was seconded by an authority.
Mr. Memon is a
graduate in architecture from The Architecture Department,
Dawood Engineering College, Karachi, Pakistan. He has 22
years of academic and professional experience, making his
portfolio extremely diversified. Currently he is a full
time faculty at NED University, Karachi where he is teaching
interior design and landscape architecture. He also gives
workshops in evenings at Indus Valley School of Art and
Architecture, Karachi.
With a lot of professional and quality
work being done, there’s a fair amount of appreciation and
encouragement by the society, which in turn is giving a
boo````st to this industry. Also, with an increasing awareness
and desire to make ones surroundings more pleasant and appealing,
people have started getting the services of interior designers
apart from hiring architects. A sudden growth has been noticed
in the past 5 years, with new interior consultancy firms
emerging and free lance designers coming in the market.
SOME FIGURES
If you want to give your
home or your work place a new look, while acquiring the
services of professionals, there are two basic ways to go
about it:
One way could be by hiring
a designer who does consultancy; he would make all the drawings
and plans but will not execute the work; for that you would
require the services of a contractor. These drawings could
include the floor plan & furniture layout, elevations,
the color scheme, the reflected ceiling plan, the material
board etc. depending on the requirements and understanding
between the client and the designer.
The second way will be to hire a consultant
who would make the above mentioned drawings and would also
be responsible for the execution of the work. When a designer
does consultancy and the idea’s execution, he usually has
his team or his own contractors with whom he has an understanding,
thus the work has a smooth flow.
A lump sum amount is charged
for small project’s consultancy. For example a small office
of 1000 sq feet could cost some where between 125
sq feet to 150 sq feet.
For residential spaces, for example
a 500 yard house, the consultancy fee could range
between 2 to 4 lacs, that is, if a designer firm
is hired. A free lancer designer could charge somewhere
around a lac, again just for consultancy for a 500
yard house.
Depending on your budget, you can
hire designers to freshly do or redo your home to give it
the look you want. It is not necessary to go with the trend
and you don’t have to abide by the contemporary look; you
can revolutionize the options according to how you want
it.
Mr. Memon gave us a comprehensive
tour of some market trends.
The Trend - Indoors
Floors
These days marble and tiles are being
used for floors and the Italian Marble is more commonly
used than others. The benefit of marble is that it last
longer and when and if it fades, there’s always the grinding
and chemical polish option to make it new. Usage of the
marble’s size depends on the size of the room; if the room
is a big one then usually 18 x 18, 24 x 24 marble
is used. Incase of small rooms, the sizes may be 12 x
12, 16 x 16 etc. These are standard measurements; marble
however, may be cut on the client’s need and requirement.
The average cost of marble varies from 400 to 600 sq
feet.
These days the emphasis is mostly
on Spanish Tiles. Tiles, when compared to marble, have a
lesser life time and you will need to change them within
5 years. However, the huge variety and uniformity in shade
(they are artificially made); make them very popular.
Tiles may be in matte finish or shiny finish, coming in
different sizes and on average ranging from 400-600 sq
feet.
These days the use of wood on floors
has also become very popular. It’s treated before use and
the wood used on floors is mostly teak and kekar
which is available for Rs 550 – Rs 600 sq feet
and Rs 300 sq feet respectively. Maple
is also being used but is expensive; the price starts
from Rs 600 sq feet and higher.
Walls
Textured paints are becoming very
popular for wall treatments, mostly in matte finish. Either
textured paints or simple colors are being used. Simple
colors would mean monochromatic colors, off-white, light
pastels etc. Two different colored walls are no longer in
and even colors like oranges, magentas are.
Ceilings
A lot of work is being done with regard
to ceilings; we see a lot of false ceilings being used.
The layer concept is utilized while making these false ceilings,
thus giving a lot of options for the lighting system. A
lot of ornamental work is being done on ceilings, however
color usage on ceilings is still not common and the ceiling
is still being kept white.
Lighting
With the increasing use of false ceilings,
a lot of options have come around for the lighting system.
The concept of task lighting has evolved over basic lighting.
Use of halogen lights, spot lights, uplifting lighting,
down lights has also grown; so initially it was ambient
lighting but currently accent lighting is also considered
as an option.
Doors
Different kinds of doors designs and
varieties are available in the markets. The heavy worked
traditional doors are being used at the entrance; sleek
looking doors are out of fashion. However, the main gates
have a modern yet simple look. A mixture of material is
being used for door construction involving wood, steel and
glass. The main concept behind a simple main gate and a
heavy worked entrance gate is to keep the outside simple
for the exotic inner entrance to have more of an impact.
Windows
Large windows with glazed glass are
becoming very popular; you will see French windows and bay
windows being made of these.
Window Treatments
Blinds are the ‘in’ window treatments;
in homes roman blinds are being used however, light curtains
remain popular.
Furniture
A lot of furniture in the market is
coming in from China. A mixture of different materials such
as wood, metal, fabric, glass etc is used for furniture.
However, the use of metal and glass is also very popular
these days.
Accessories
There is a huge variety of accessories
available in the market from lamps to rugs, candles to curios
etc; you name it and its there in the market. Usage of such
accessories personalizes the home.
Exteriors
People are giving at lot of importance
to their home exteriors. There is a growing focus on the
landscape of gardens. The usage of gazeboes and pergolas
is becoming very popular.
A variety of exotic plants are being
imported from Malaysia and Sir-Lanka, especially palms;
a huge variety of Madagascar palm, cycads, Malaysian palm,
red palm etc are also on the popular import list. You will
see a wide range of exotic flowers like petunia, pansies,
celosia etc. on this list of imported favorites.
Other features seen in the gardens
adding to its landscaping, would be gazeboes, pergolas,
fountains. You will notice that the variety of garden furniture
has also increased with a wide variety of classical designs
in chairs and tables.
Common Home Features
Indoor
Master bedroom, guest bedroom, bedrooms
with attached bathrooms, kitchen, Greece kitchen, study,
servant rooms, patios, small indoor fountains.
Outdoor
Gardens having gazeboes and pergolas.
SOME TIPS FROM THE GRAND MASTER
When deciding to do the interiors,
first decide the style of the space you are redoing, which
means the theme of the room. After you have selected the
theme, then begin in the following order:
1.
The floors
2.
The walls and color scheme
3.
The ceilings and lighting system
4.
Furniture
5.
Accessories
A very important
thing that you should check is that all elements need to
be in harmony with one another and that each room must seem
associated to one another. To make small rooms look spacious,
use light colors on walls and light window treatments, meaning
light curtains. Use marbles or tiles but the sizes used
should be small. Illuminate the room well; you should avoid
keeping heavy furniture. Use mirrors but avoid excessive
accessories. Using dark colors on the walls with heavy curtains
will help in making big rooms relatively small. Use of heavy
furniture, rugs and accessories would add to the desired
affect.
According to Mr Memon,
there is an ocean of options and it’s up to the person how
they want their homes to look. The trend does not mean it’s
the law; one should go for what they are most comfortable
with.
Mr. Memon also believes
the field of interior designing is extremely promising and
all the youngsters who are looking towards making a career
in this field should go right ahead and pursue their dreams.
He very generously gave his email monier60@hotmail.com
for our readers; any one could contact him for further
interior advice.
