Journal

Panchsheel Park and the colonies around it — Panchsheel Enclave, Sarvodaya Enclave, Hauz Khas Enclave — hold some of the better-proportioned housing stock in South Delhi. Generous plots, wide streets, mature trees, and buildings put up when land was less precious than it is now. If you are looking for an interior designer in Panchsheel […]

Searching for an interior designer in Delhi produces a wall of paid directory listings, sponsored results and firms you have never heard of, all describing themselves in identical language. It is a genuinely difficult thing to shop for, because you cannot assess the product before you buy it. Here is a practical method for finding

Most people engage an architect for a house once in their lives, which means they are buying something they have never bought before, from someone whose actual output they have never seen. Here is what a residential architect does on a home in Delhi, when you genuinely need one rather than an interior designer, and

“Luxury” is the most devalued word in Indian interiors. Almost every firm uses it, and in most cases it means imported marble and a large budget rather than anything about how the work is done. Here is what actually separates a luxury interior designer in Delhi from a firm that uses the word — and

Most people hire an interior designer having never seen what one produces. The expectation is usually “they make it look nice,” and the reality is that appearance is the last of about eight things the job involves. Here is what an interior designer actually does, stage by stage, and what you should expect to receive.

People use “interior decorator” and “interior designer” as though they mean the same thing, and firms rarely correct them because the fee is attached to whichever word the client used. They are genuinely different jobs, and hiring the wrong one is the most common reason a project disappoints. Here is the honest difference between an

Most people view a property for twenty minutes, twice, and then commit to living in it for a decade. Estate agents show you the view and the fittings. The things that will actually cost you money and irritate you daily are not on that tour. Here is what to check before buying a flat or

A great many Indian homes house three generations, and almost none of them are designed for it. The plan is drawn for a couple with children, and parents are accommodated in whichever bedroom was left over — usually upstairs, usually without a bathroom they can use safely in ten years’ time. Here is how to

Furniture is usually the last big decision in a project and the one made with the least guidance. By then the budget is tired, the handover date is close, and the easiest path is to buy a room’s worth from whichever showroom has stock. Here is how to think about buying furniture for a home

A rug is the single most effective thing you can add to a finished Indian home. It defines a seating zone, absorbs the echo that hard surfaces create, and adds the warmth that stone and tile cannot. It is also the item most often bought in the wrong size. Here is how to choose rugs