The Studio by Nandita Manwani

The Home Renovation Project: Learnings from doing up The Studio’s Own Interior Design Centre in Bangalore

Home Renovation
Home renovation is an area that most customers struggle with, I hence thought it best to pen down our experience and our learnings so that others benefit from it.

As some of you may be aware, we recently moved our Interior Design Centre to an Independent Villa in the middle of JP Nagar in Bangalore. This was a 40-year-old house that has now been refurbished making it a showcase of good Interior Design practices for customers. The refurb project, spread well over 5 months, taught us many new things about renovations and how best to approach them. Home renovation is an area that most customers struggle with, I hence thought it best to pen down our experience and our learnings so that others benefit from it. So here goes.

 

1. Timing: When, or Rather, when NOT TO renovate:

If it is an independent home, bungalow or a Villa (I will call all 3 as Villa in subsequent paragraphs) that you are renovating then time the work to avoid the rainy season. The frequent power cuts during the rains, the difficulty of the workers getting to-and-fro and the dampening mood of the rain affects the overall rhythm of the work. This is not as much an issue with apartment renovations where one can shut the windows and the work goes on as usual. The power backup in apartments is also a big help.

In addition, one of the first things that needs to be planned in Villa renovations is the water proofing of the roof and walls and that is best done in bright and sunny weather. The same applies to wall painting and wood polishing – damp weather is, well, a dampener in general and best avoided.

 

2. Surprise!!! Are you Ready??

Be ready for major surprises that lead to cost, scope and time over runs. Just to give you an example – just after having finished renovating the bathroom when we did the first trial, we found that the complete drain pipe that was running outside the house was blocked and beyond repair. The whole thing had to be excavated out and changed. Then, one of the old pipes started leaking and dampened the wall messing up the wood panelling on the other side of it. The panelling itself came with its own set of surprises – we found the wall not strong enough to take the screws and nails of the panel – it had to be strengthened with fresh plaster just to make it ready. We also tried running electrical wires from within the existing ducting for the additional lighting points we needed, only to find these blocked leading to a fair amount of additional electrical work than originally planned. The lesson – always plan additional resources – be it time, material or cost

 

3. Do not Over Design or Under Design & don’t forget the Core

The underlying structure of the house, however old or dilapidated it may be, is core to the design that should be planned on it. It is therefore wise to do things in a theme or a manner that dovetails into the core structure than one that conflicts with it. Dramatic deviations may mean redoing a lot of the structure itself else the design and the structure will not seamlessly merge. While this is an intangible, it is however one of the most important aspects that needs to be wisely planned and executed to get a natural flow in the design and the aesthetics of the place. Just to give you an example – our place has fairly large windows in front – these had an intricate grill design, however the lack of maintenance clearly showed on the windows. Our first take was to cover the windows with a wooden border and glass, hiding both the original windows and the grill and giving the front a contemporary modern look. We designed and rendered it on the computer and it looked great. Then we zoomed out to visualise the window design in context of the entire building and suddenly it lost its sheen. We redid the render with the original large windows – cleaned and restored and with a few planters and colour / texture changes and THAT came out far better. The team spent the next 3 – 4 days restoring the windows as much as possible to their original form and that’s how they stand now at the design centre today. The same thought around bringing seamlessness of the structure and the design theme is true for the wainscot design on the inside walls, the shape & choice of light fittings, the choice of murals & decor and the false roofing & general lighting that has been done inside

 

Exteriors – A different ball game altogether

Interiors is one thing, the design of the exterior of a Villa is a different ball game altogether. Design of the elevation and exterior façade therefore has always been a separate field in Design, different from “Interior” Design. In Villa refurbs it plays a major role since a well-designed façade and lighting can give life and positivity to a Villa from the moment one sees and enters it. For exterior refurbs there are a number of options available starting from Stone tiles, ACP, HPL to the regular material like textured paint etc. Contemporary design also requires some bit of greenery to show on the outer façade. Designing and visualizing the same on the computer definitely helps in taking the right decision on the facade – and it does take more than the normal number of iterations due to all the different options available

 

Work Sequence

Before I sign off, I guess some tips of the work sequence to be followed will definitely be helpful for those planning their renovations. The sequence below should work well for most projects

 

image 1

 

Do trust you find this useful, as always shall welcome your comments & feedback

Signing off now

Nandita

6 thoughts on “The Home Renovation Project: Learnings from doing up The Studio’s Own Interior Design Centre in Bangalore”

  1. Need to renovate my 2bhk to 3 bhk. This needs civil work and interior. Pls contact if you are the right contact.

  2. Hi, We are looking for wall designs for our home.. Is it set u able for PIN code – 560016.

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Related Articles

home interior best practices, Interior Designers in Bangalore, lighting for home

Interior Design Masterclass on Home Lighting & Automation

We are all set to host our second Residential Interior Design Masterclass – this one will be on Home Lighting

Houzz,Interior Design Awards

Best of Houzz 2021 – Interior Design Award

Pleased to mention that our work has won the Best of Houzz Award in the design category for the year

Century, Fake Plywood, Greenply, Interior Designers in Bangalore, Kitply

Plywood Fakes in the Bangalore Market and a brief interaction with the Kitply Management on the same

A few days back I happened to get an email from a senior member of the Kitply Management team acknowledging

Interior Design

Deep Refurbish – Interior Design Project at Elita Promenade Bangalore

Pictures of a Deep Refurbish Design Project at Elita Promenade Bangalore
Interior Designers in Bangalore, Sofa in Bangalore

Selecting the “right” sofa for your home. My article in Deccan Herald today

The subject article was featured in Deccan Herald today. You can also read it at http://www.deccanherald.com/content/445623/selecting-sofas-safe-way/. The free text is

Home Interior Designers, Home Interior Maintenance

Home Interiors Maintenance Tips – The “Anti Wrinkle Cream” for your home

After spending a bomb on interiors in terms of resources, time and love – it’s painful to see things slowly

Island Kitchen,Kitchen Design,kitchen Interiors Bangalore,Modular Kitchen,Magazine

Kitchen Design: B&I Magazine & Siemens India Interview excerpts

Building & Interiors Magazine in conjunction with Siemens India published my interview on the subject of Kitchen Appliances for the

An interior Designers perspective, Interior Design Cost in Bangalore, Interior Design Masterclass, Interior Designers in Bangalore

Third Edition of my Masterclass on Interior Design Best Practices

November 3 it is — Just in case you missed the earlier two Masterclasses, here is another chance for you

Interior designer bangalore

I AM

The idea for this post came when, during a design discussion, the lady of the house said “I AM a
Home Interior Designers, Interior design best practices in Bangalore

“The Google of Home Designing” – First ever Masterclass on Best Practices in Residential Interior Design in Bangalore

Finally did it!!! yoo hooo. This Nov the 17th our objective was to go beyond the written word on this

Interior design advise

The Best Interior Design Advise That You Can Get

Perhaps the most valuable part of this blog lies in the conversations happening under each post. With over a thousand
Newspapers, Press Coverage

Recent Press coverage of our work

We have been getting some love from the press lately :). Please read about it here https://thestudiobangalore.com/press-coverage Cheers Nandita PS:

Interior Design Trends, Wainscoting

Wainscoting: The Latest Trend in Interior Design in India: Should You Follow?

A functional lining of the bottom portion of walls that started as a technique for wall protection and retaining heat
Designing hi end homes, Interior design best practices in Bangalore, Master Bedroom Design best practices

Home Interior Vaastu Shastra – Episode One – Master Bedroom

Guidelines and Principles for Master Bedroom Interior Design
best practices, kitchen Interiors Bangalore, Modular Kitchen, Modular Kitchens

Kitchen Design – Best Practices Consolidated in One Single Article

The article on the left was published in today’s Deccan Herald. It encapsulates and consolidates all the Kitchen Design Best

Interior Designers in KANAKAPURA ROAD, Purva Highland Interior Pictures. Economy Interiors

A few photographs of the Eco Package (Budget Interiors) executed recently at Purva Highlands Kanakapura Road, Bangalore

I wrote about the Eco range of interiors for 2/ 3 BHK apartments sometime back. Here are a few photographs

Best of Houzz

The Best of Houzz 2019 Award – Thank you for all your support

Last week we were notified by the Houzz team that we have been awarded the Best of Houzz in both

Home Interior Maintenance

Lockdown & “Home work”

I was wondering what to write next, sitting home under lockdown when my daughter recommended why not write something on

Material for Kitchen Countertop, Modular Kitchens

The “What Material to use for the Kitchen Counter Top” Conundrum. How to decide between Granite, Marble, Corian, Quartz, Acrylic etc.

Selecting a counter top for the kitchen can be tricky, especially with all the choice of materials available nowadays. In
Home Interior Designers, Home Interior Photographs, Modular Kitchen, Sliding Wardrobes

Photographs of my recent Home Interior project at Yelahanka, Bangalore

It is a beautiful penthouse – top floor, some 3000 sqft with a huge kitchen, party area and the works.

home lighting, LED Lighting, LED Lighting Bangalore, lighting for home

Lighting Design for Homes – Interior Design Done Right

Lighting Design fundamentally determines the personality of the space and how people perceive it, feel in it and how they

Related Articles

Scroll to Top
Thank you icon

Thanks for your Interest

We will get back to you on this shortly