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An office should reflect the mindset and vision of the organisation. A beautifully elegant office gives your client the right message about your company. Hence, office designing is very important for a successful business. This article is about interior designing an office and how it helps you become more successful in your business.
An office can be set up at a commercial building or in your own home. The decision can be taken according to your mindset and comfort level. In both these cases, proper planning is the key to proper execution of the design. Interior designing, at each level, checks your need and the people who are expected to work there.
Style, security, comfort, type, and possible clientele are all taken into consideration while designing an office. The noise level is also reduced for the companies that require proper use of brain.
An office in a commercial space gives you more options when it comes to selection of the designs. A suitable design can be selected according to the type of service your firm offers. For the coming of age services, the most modern designs can be selected and for the traditional business, a classic finesse will add points to the client's impression.
Once looks, colour combinations are decided upon, the required furnishing can be done in the office keeping in mind the intelligent utilisation of work space, availability of air flow and free movement and enough power plugs for appliances. Proper planning helps you with coping up with all these problems.
The selection of lighting and colour schemes is done in such a way that, the distraction is reduced to the lowest minimum. This helps in getting more work done. An office with proper furnishing added with ample lighting and elegant colour scheme will give a tidy impression to everyone. The pleasant environment help achieve more work progress and rather a high success for your organisation.
Budget planning is also very important while you shift to a new office because if it is not planned, a design suited to you can be way too expensive than required. This should be done as the first measure of office designing. If you have an elegant office with a good uncommon design, the success the office brings to you will be very high. It will also increase the productivity.
Home furnishing or soft furnishing is the latest trend in the business of fashion today. The desire to redecorate everything around us has lead people to become fashion centric with reference to the interiors of their work place or their home or perhaps it is the compensation for our hectic life that we generally seek relaxation through the colours and designs in our furnishings. Generally, we try to please our visual and tactile senses by the soft and beautiful fabrics around us.
In the last 3-4 years, people have begun changing their home furniture like they change their wardrobe according to the changing fashions. Lifestyle furnishing has become a mix of aesthetics, comfort, colours and designs. For instance, brown sofas have become outdated and people now prefer lively colours like blue and red. Though brand awareness in this segment is low but at present the scenario is changing, a few years ago consumers never stressed on purchasing branded home furnishing products, but now they are aware about new products and brands.
The list of furnishings includes bed linen like bed sheets, pillow slips (pillow shams), bed skirts, duvet covers, quilts and cushions; for giving the complete look to the bedroom matching curtains, tie-backs and also mats can be included in this list. This bedroom could be with an attached bathroom making the list even bigger. Towels and floor mats, shower curtains, same soap cases, toothbrush holders, soap dispensers, mugs and rugs can offer the attractiveness of a bathroom. Water in this room, evokes memories of sea and ocean, shells and fish, and hence these are major patterns in the design making of bathroom accessories. Bed-and-bath themes are also combined together by designers.
The bedroom that we are talking about could be that of an adult, or a child, or two adults, or two children and hence the look of every bedroom in a house is unique. The appearance of any room has to be in relevance to the psychological and physical requirements of its occupants.
Bed sheets aren't just utilitarian things; they make style statements while reflecting your personality and moods. As people are becoming more aware about fibres, fabrics, feel, colour and size of bed sheets, pillow slips, quilts, etc, it gives added responsibilities to the designers and manufacturers to ensure quality supply of the same.
Cotton is the most favored fabric for bed sheets, particularly those with a greater thread count. Exporters have an increasing demand for cotton bed sheets, though some also demand silk made-ups. Generally, many export houses are given the designs to work on, or they make their own varieties from which the buyers put up orders. They emphasizes on colour and design. For new born babies soft basic colours are used, where as for grown up children complimentary colour schemes with cartoon like motifs are mostly used. There are a variety of prints to select from. The prints for curtains vary from animals, to soft toys, cartoons and candies; the same is applicable for rugs, bed sheets, duvet covers and cushions.
Teenagers have different preferences like pink which is mostly preferred by girls, whereas blue is a preferred colour for boys. Adults chose from a wide range of colours and motifs including traditional Indian motifs to modern compositions. In fact, the selection of colour and design depends on the fashion trend of today.
One step out of the bedroom and you reach the most happening room of the house - the living room. A combination of huge variety of colours and its relevant coordinates are particularly made to cater to people's physical and psychological desires. Sheer curtains to bring in sunlight, heavy lined curtains to prevent it, embroidered curtains and valences with lace trimmings flaunting luxury and a taste for design, make the room look more appealing and beautiful. Curtains can surely make the room look more attractive. Generally fabrics for sewing curtains are 54 inches wide or extra wide at 110 inches or 118 inches. Extra¬ wide fabrics are normally made for unlined sheer curtains, and are intended to be railroaded or run sideways with the selvage at the top and bottom of the curtains, permitting the curtains to be made without seams.
Curtains with well-designed features like noise and light reduction are being particularly produced for exports. The dyes used for these need to be sunlight resistant as curtains receive direct sunlight and might start looking dull and faded very soon. They are made in combination with the cushions and other furniture in the room.
The options are many; curtains are available in every size, colour, fabric and designs like stripes, checks, floral, woven, printed, etc. One can chose the fabric from the cottons to linens, velvets, tapestries etc. There are many alternatives in decorative accessories: rods with decorative finials, ornamental brackets, and pleats at the top, holdbacks and tiebacks. The alternatives selected depend on whether one needs to camouflage the windows or show them off, as they are architecturally special, whether one needs privacy or needs to visually enlarge a small room will ascertain the type of curtain one opts for.
In case you want extra light without spoiling your privacy, you can get transom window curtains. This two-part curtain possesses a sheer fabric at the top and privacy panels below. Tab-top curtains have fabric loops on the top to which a rod is fixed. Tie-top curtains possess fabric on the top of the panel that is fixed to the rod. And, grommet-top panels have metal eyelets on the top which is fixed with curtain rings. Tap-top curtains are a latest trend that is common in modern homes.
Many traditional Indian weaves and embroideries are being done all over India on the home furnishings products. Traditional Indian embroideries like 'kasida' from Kashmir, 'kantha' from Bengal and 'chikankari' from Uttar Pradesh are in demand for bed covers and curtains. The tie-and-dye methods of Rajasthan and Gujarat are also widely used for making colourful bed sheets and quilt covers. Many of these are available in cheaper rates in print.
Many home furnishing companies are making these products with handlooms. Normally, high quality silk and cotton are used for these products. While traditionally curtains were either produced with heavy jacquards or luxurious prints, at present a wide range of fabrics covering embroidered fabrics are being used. The attractive display of colours can also be seen in plain sofas with striped and spotted cushions or plush heavy pile carpets with designs varying from geometricals to florals and abstracts.
Occasionally it is appealing themes instead of sorting by room that the designers go for with areas designed by mood like femme fatale, eclectic, delicate, timeless and wild. In fact it includes the accessories like rugs, throws, frames, cushions, etc. Unique linen for the kitchen and other soft furnishings for lawn chairs have also gained remarkable popularity. Tapestries, chenille, cotton and linen prints, stripes and checks, toile, crewel work, plains of all types covering linens, silks, suede, voiles and muslins, and towels, be it for bath or the kitchen, all are included in this segment. The showrooms for soft furnishings provide the customers with a collection of designs to select from.
The Indian home furnishings market is around Rs 15,000 crore, of which the organised market is about Rs 1,000 crore. Earlier, Bombay Dyeing was the only leader in this segment. The major carpet manufacturing areas (including all types of floor coverings and durries) are Agra-Bhadoi belt in Uttar Pradesh, Kashmir, Bikaner-Udaipur belt in Rajasthan, West Bengal, Haryana, Punjab and Andhra Pradesh. In India, there are 1215 carpet production units recorded and of that 190 are in the organized sector and the rest are in small scale industry sector.
The Mirzapur-Bhadohi belt in Uttar Pradesh stands as the major contributor for the carpet weaving industry in the India with nearly 90 per cent of the total production of carpets in India.
Panipat has witnessed high growth in handlooms during the last two decades with the number of looms holding 50,000 are well known for producing acrylic blankets, bed sheets, bed covers, tapestry, upholstery, table mats and table covers. There are above 310 shoddy spinning units in Panipat having a production of 4 lakh kg per day and a turnover of more than Rs 600 crore. Panipat also possess a woolen carpet industry, which is now almost thirty years old, with around 150 units. There are about 60 carpet woolen spinning units in Panipat with an annual turnover of Rs 175 crore making a variety of handloom products such as durries, mats, table covers, bed sheets, curtains and carpets exported to various countries, including Canada, Japan, Germany and Australia.
Benefiting from this booming market and the increasing new and young homemakers, department stores make their home furnishings space by creating well organized living spaces that sell the products very effectively. Many popular companies working with soft furnishings products in India are Welspun, Gujarat (which started first 'Spaces Home & Beyond' store in Mumbai); Handfab, Panipat; Highness Exports; In Vogue Buying, New Delhi; Indian Exporters, Kolkata; Shabari International, Kerala; Cannanore; Amber Textile; and Reliance Industries, and there are brands like the decades-old Bombay Dyeing and just stated like Spaces, Portico, Season's, Yamini etc.
Raymond provides the widest range of colours to satisfy the various colour requirements of interiors in Home furnishings. Home Solutions Retail (India), a 100% holding of retail leader Pantaloon Retail, intends to close its third year of function with about of Rs 1,000 crore. Home Solutions is establishing chain of home stores, committed to all things that would be required for setting up, decorating and furnishing a home. In the first step, the company will be establishing six Home Towns, the company's umbrella store, in Noida, Hyderabad, Gurgaon, Pune, Thane and Bangalore, which will start by June 2007. Each store, covering an expense about Rs 14 crore, will be allotted about 120,000 square feet.
To achieve its brand recognized in the big commoditised home furnishings market, Welspun is investing in retail stores and increasing its capacity to serve the domestic market. Besides its own brand the company recently received the marketing rights of Tommy Hilfiger home furnishing products.
Welspun is also coming up with the concepts to educate and guide customers about issues like hygiene, because most of us are comfortable with replacing our bed sheets once in two weeks. Likewise many families utilize only one towel between themselves. None of us have ever understood that if the same towel is utilized the entire family, each member of the family may get infected. All these maters will be undertaken through various media for which the company has allocated about Rs 10 crore. At present it is searching for an agency to handle its communication activities.
As per the company's retail strategy, which is setting the core of its brand-building practice, in the next three years they are coming with 125 stores across the country with an investment of Rs 50 crore. Amongst the 125, 100 would be standalone Spaces stores. Extended with an area of nearly 2,000 sq ft, the Spaces showrooms would provide furnishings for each room of the house. Besides furnishing items, the showrooms will also provide home décor products such as candles, curios and so on.
Recently, Portico, a premium Home Decor & furnishings brand introduced its premium and 'Sparkly' range.
Besides this, various small players in the market cater to every taste and pocket of the population. For those who do not need to spend in professionally decorating their rooms, many options are available by India's department chain stores like Ebony, Shoppers' Stop, Lifestyle, Pantaloons, Westside and even Big Bazaar.
Because of huge demands, many fashion designers have also forayed in this segment. At present the home furnishings segment is considered a flourishing sector in the textile industry. Domestic and export markets are both booming for home furnishings.
According to experts, to make brand awareness home furnishing companies have to put more emphasis on the overall shopping experience. Retail ambience, coordinated product ranges; in-store display; point-of-purchase promotional literature on the product features as well as the company's lineage and superior in-store service are some of the primary actions that home furnishing companies must take. In fact this has to be made in connection with innovative product and brand advertising and new promotional efforts.
While some experts believe that as the sector is largely commoditised, the main target would be to set the category to constantly develop, which can only be done through customer education.
However, some feel that it is a slight too early to introduce new collections each season. While it could support in making fashion consciousness in India about home furnishings, as well as the designs, colours and prints are contemporary, and the packaging and labeling are as per the good quality standards, home furnishing companies need not be bothered about making more complication in their business by creating repeated changes in their product offering at this stage. In fact, in the next few years, with more competition and more demand, it would be essential to introduce at least two major collections per year.
We require building up more colour and design sensitive people to work in this segment. For those who intend to begin a home furnishing venture, whether for exports or for the domestic market, it is appropriate to begin with just one or two products and then add on to it slowly. Cushion covers and curtains are the more demandable products. If proper plans are made using appropriate color combinations as expected in the colour forecast, and ever new designs are made, then definitely one will get success in this segment. The key point to note here is that trends change fast, so the process of designing and creation should keep on preventing stagnation and making guaranteed success.
Conclusion
In the last few years, people have started spending on furniture and furnishings like they perform with their clothing. For them lifestyle furnishing is turning out as a mix of aesthetics, comfort, colours and designs. Brown sofas are outdated; people need lively colours like blue and red. A few years ago consumers never demanded highly branded home furnishing products, but now they are very well aware about new products and brands in the market, though brand awareness in this segment is still low. Many companies are adding two to three products in their product lines every year and many are comings with innovative concepts in this segment. But, for this segment's growth still it requires a proper planning or strategy, more efforts and educate to customer as well.
Fashion has influenced interior design since the turn of the century. Coco Chanel is first and foremost an icon of fashion, her bold and forward thinking designs have and continue to inspire and influence the world of interior design. With the lines blurring between fashion and design, fashion designers and globally established labels are naturally turning to couture interior and product design. Many labels have been doing this for years such as Christian Dior, Oscar De La Renta, and Armani. "Home Has Become Fashion", Rosita Missoni.
My love for fashion and interior design inspires me everyday! To foresee what trends are coming to our interiors, take a look at what is hot on the runways. We may not see these trends until the following year but that is quickly changing with the speed of manufacturers and the global reach of the manufacturing agencies. We are now seeing these trends appear in our home designs quite quickly. Fashion trends usually change much faster than we want to change our interior design so pick your trends wisely. Focus on timeless instead of trendy for the over all scheme, and accent with the trends. Fun and trendy accessories and paint colors are not a huge investment and easy to change out when you tire of them or want to try the new "it" design.
I have some clients that just don't know what style they like or what colors they really want to incorporate, so an easy way to find out what they like is by taking a look in their closet. You can easily tell what colors people are drawn to and what they feel comfortable in. You want to be just as comfortable in your home as you do in your clothes. So take a look in your own closet and see if there is a color you love that you would like to incorporate into your home. Take a pair of fabulous shoes or an incredible bag, and work an entire room around them. To me a pair of Christian Louboutin shoes are a work of art, these are simply to provide pleasure in their gorgeousness, so make them center stage.
So take that dress that you love and drool over or the shoes that are just too beautiful to wear and incorporate them into your home! "Fashion fades, only style remains the same" Coco Chanel.
Dara Wyton is owner/operator of Dara Wyton Design. Dara has been an interior designer for the past 10 years and has a full service interior design firm serving the Lower Mainland. Dara offers services in all aspects of design, including renovations, space planning, rendered floor plans & elevations, color consultations, home staging, and custom window treatments. Nearly 4 years in operation Dara has achieved great success and international recognition for her inspiring designs. "Instead of forcing my own style preference on people," explains Dara, "I prefer to sit down with my clients and get a sense of their own vision of how they want their space to feel". Dara's attention to her client's needs and wants produces the home of their dreams.
Hot Design Styles
The trends in interior design follow certain styles that are coming into fashion. As for this moment, we observe that there is an increasing movement toward the Art Noveau and Art Deco design themes. Increasing popularity of animal prints, floral, paisleys, geometric shapes and patterns that are inspired of these designs. Also, a continuous movement is being observed toward a home's contemporary design. In design of the furniture, for instance, we are observing minimal, straight and squared off arms and straighter designs. Lately, we are seeing serpentine shape resurgence. In 18th and 19th centuries what is considered as eye-pleasing in the trend of interior design is seen everywhere at our time. Lastly, the movement is great to the eclectic, whereas people aren't following one style but a mix and match that will suit their taste. We notice this trend in furniture designs that re-interpreting the past that results in pieces with traditional and modern twist.
Global Focus
In any place today, we notice the global focus in interior design is increasing. In the trend of interior design, there's a multicultural interior design merging that has a certain focus on India, Latin America, Morocco, Russia and China. For example, there is the latest re-emergence of Asian style which has been favored less for the past years. The Indian and Eastern ethnic pattern is being worn in little doses, woven into more classic designs without looking too trendy. It is also noticeable the color schemes emergence which embody the earthy, rich colors that are associated with Native Americans, Aboriginals and African cultures.
Going Green
The trends that are famous in interior design are focused on responsible living. There is increased demand and availability for sustainable, fair trade and green products for the home. With all the high end products, no one can find eco-bedding that is silky with some green accessories. An option for eco-friendly flooring is being offered now, created from materials of metal and glass that is being recycled or the like of bamboo for renewable sources. New available porcelain and ceramic tiles are created with processes which use an essential percentage of pre and post consumer waste and easy and durable to care for, as the version of older flooring. Environmentally and natural friendly designs of furniture, as well continue the trend of go-green.
Color
The story in interior design is the vibrant color. The furniture with bright color is famous. Metal, gray, blue-green, purple and yellow make a positive feel, calmed and balanced with neutrals like brown. Pink shades also are making its way back to interior decorating.
The trends in interior design for 2009-2010 give choices of exciting design themes. This year is great with focus on eclectic style that gives us the freedom to make the right design style that is best for us.
Many modern interior decorating trends are taking something for themselves from the history. Everything is changing but some things are staying the same - in fashion and in home decorating, in all trends. One of those elements is using colors and ornaments that are inspired by nature.
Walking after the beauty steps
Thinking about the interiors, about its measurements, colors and light it's worth to do it in the light of nature - beauty of natural colors, stone figures, sandy structures or ocean grass. Interior design in nature aspect is inspired with elements taken from nature - color of sand, floral ornaments, delicate diamond form or a drawing of rinds.
Colors of nature make a mood
Usage of natural colors in interior design is almost as old as...interior design. Those colors are good for classic interiors and for modern ones. Delicate, pastel, bright colors in neutral types of white like for example color of sand, wood and similar to them are the most wanted. Interiors in the color of ground, white, delicate grays, violets or greens look always fresh, and give the interior harmony. Neutral colors like each others and make the room look nice and sophisticated in the same time.
Matching natural beige with rough wood we create climate with harmony and adding a few fresh citrus accessories will change the interior into more dynamic.We can speak about an example of matching simple furniture in geometric shapes, light materials, ordered interiors, organic elements, flowers, decorative accessories like vases, wicker pots, small rugs from sea grass brings a mood of relax to the interior and contrasting each element helps to make elegant, comfortable and timeless interior. Symmetry of shapes and forms is meeting with zen philosophy and our interior are full of peace and beautiful look.
Expression of light
Light gives the interior a flow of fresh air, shows the positive aspects of every room, shapes is stimulating the word of plants, exposes architecture solutions while in the same time is almost invisible as an element of room decorating. Light can optically open the room or close it. It can also warm the interior (with yellow color) or make it cold (by using blue or white) that depends on the time of day or the style of interior.
When we want to be closer to nature we should choose soft creme light and contrasting it with very bright light which will bring interior more harmony. Modern glass frames and crystal bowls, geometric lampshades in context with play of sided brackets give the interior vital, warm and beautiful look and shape.
The home fashion industry's love affair with color continues as consumers are discovering that color is the essence of self-expression in the home. Research indicates that product color evokes a strong emotional response from consumers and is a key factor in more than 60% of purchases.
o Neutrals are back but they are darker than before with an emphasis on all shades of brown. The newest focus is on browns, from light to dark, on honeyed shades like caramel. Black continues but primarily as an accent. Any color used with brown looks new. Look for lots of coral and brown, teal and brown with cream.
o Shades of blue are on the rise. The newest have been heavily influenced by green, starting with aqua, robin's egg, turquoise, darkening down to teal. Lighter teal-inspired shades are combined with brown as an alternative to the spa blue/chocolate schemes so prevalent last year.
o Purples are expanding again in importance. These are red-based purples that are dark, rich and sensual.
o Metallic bronze and gold are back in a big way. This is reinforced by the new importance of the honeyed neutrals.
o Oranges influence and often completely eclipse the entire red family that was dominant for so long. Look for warm Asian rose, coral, and curry, at the dark end. One of the dominant color schemes last year was pink, leaf green and white. Newer now is coral, turquoise and cream.
o Greens, in decline for so long, are coming back if influenced by yellow. A huge success at all of the markets was spruce green with a red-based brown, honey and cream.
Home furnishing or soft furnishing is the latest trend in the business of fashion today. The desire to redecorate everything around us has lead people to become fashion centric with reference to the interiors of their work place or their home or perhaps it is the compensation for our hectic life that we generally seek relaxation through the colours and designs in our furnishings. Generally, we try to please our visual and tactile senses by the soft and beautiful fabrics around us.
In the last 3-4 years, people have begun changing their home furniture like they change their wardrobe according to the changing fashions. Lifestyle furnishing has become a mix of aesthetics, comfort, colours and designs. For instance, brown sofas have become outdated and people now prefer lively colours like blue and red. Though brand awareness in this segment is low but at present the scenario is changing, a few years ago consumers never stressed on purchasing branded home furnishing products, but now they are aware about new products and brands.
The list of furnishings includes bed linen like bed sheets, pillow slips (pillow shams), bed skirts, duvet covers, quilts and cushions; for giving the complete look to the bedroom matching curtains, tie-backs and also mats can be included in this list. This bedroom could be with an attached bathroom making the list even bigger. Towels and floor mats, shower curtains, same soap cases, toothbrush holders, soap dispensers, mugs and rugs can offer the attractiveness of a bathroom. Water in this room, evokes memories of sea and ocean, shells and fish, and hence these are major patterns in the design making of bathroom accessories. Bed-and-bath themes are also combined together by designers.
The bedroom that we are talking about could be that of an adult, or a child, or two adults, or two children and hence the look of every bedroom in a house is unique. The appearance of any room has to be in relevance to the psychological and physical requirements of its occupants.
Bed sheets aren't just utilitarian things; they make style statements while reflecting your personality and moods. As people are becoming more aware about fibres, fabrics, feel, colour and size of bed sheets, pillow slips, quilts, etc, it gives added responsibilities to the designers and manufacturers to ensure quality supply of the same.
Cotton is the most favored fabric for bed sheets, particularly those with a greater thread count. Exporters have an increasing demand for cotton bed sheets, though some also demand silk made-ups. Generally, many export houses are given the designs to work on, or they make their own varieties from which the buyers put up orders. They emphasizes on colour and design. For new born babies soft basic colours are used, where as for grown up children complimentary colour schemes with cartoon like motifs are mostly used. There are a variety of prints to select from. The prints for curtains vary from animals, to soft toys, cartoons and candies; the same is applicable for rugs, bed sheets, duvet covers and cushions.
Teenagers have different preferences like pink which is mostly preferred by girls, whereas blue is a preferred colour for boys. Adults chose from a wide range of colours and motifs including traditional Indian motifs to modern compositions. In fact, the selection of colour and design depends on the fashion trend of today.
One step out of the bedroom and you reach the most happening room of the house - the living room. A combination of huge variety of colours and its relevant coordinates are particularly made to cater to people's physical and psychological desires. Sheer curtains to bring in sunlight, heavy lined curtains to prevent it, embroidered curtains and valences with lace trimmings flaunting luxury and a taste for design, make the room look more appealing and beautiful. Curtains can surely make the room look more attractive. Generally fabrics for sewing curtains are 54 inches wide or extra wide at 110 inches or 118 inches. Extra¬ wide fabrics are normally made for unlined sheer curtains, and are intended to be railroaded or run sideways with the selvage at the top and bottom of the curtains, permitting the curtains to be made without seams.
Curtains with well-designed features like noise and light reduction are being particularly produced for exports. The dyes used for these need to be sunlight resistant as curtains receive direct sunlight and might start looking dull and faded very soon. They are made in combination with the cushions and other furniture in the room.
The options are many; curtains are available in every size, colour, fabric and designs like stripes, checks, floral, woven, printed, etc. One can chose the fabric from the cottons to linens, velvets, tapestries etc. There are many alternatives in decorative accessories: rods with decorative finials, ornamental brackets, and pleats at the top, holdbacks and tiebacks. The alternatives selected depend on whether one needs to camouflage the windows or show them off, as they are architecturally special, whether one needs privacy or needs to visually enlarge a small room will ascertain the type of curtain one opts for.
In case you want extra light without spoiling your privacy, you can get transom window curtains. This two-part curtain possesses a sheer fabric at the top and privacy panels below. Tab-top curtains have fabric loops on the top to which a rod is fixed. Tie-top curtains possess fabric on the top of the panel that is fixed to the rod. And, grommet-top panels have metal eyelets on the top which is fixed with curtain rings. Tap-top curtains are a latest trend that is common in modern homes.
Many traditional Indian weaves and embroideries are being done all over India on the home furnishings products. Traditional Indian embroideries like 'kasida' from Kashmir, 'kantha' from Bengal and 'chikankari' from Uttar Pradesh are in demand for bed covers and curtains. The tie-and-dye methods of Rajasthan and Gujarat are also widely used for making colourful bed sheets and quilt covers. Many of these are available in cheaper rates in print.
Many home furnishing companies are making these products with handlooms. Normally, high quality silk and cotton are used for these products. While traditionally curtains were either produced with heavy jacquards or luxurious prints, at present a wide range of fabrics covering embroidered fabrics are being used. The attractive display of colours can also be seen in plain sofas with striped and spotted cushions or plush heavy pile carpets with designs varying from geometricals to florals and abstracts.
Occasionally it is appealing themes instead of sorting by room that the designers go for with areas designed by mood like femme fatale, eclectic, delicate, timeless and wild. In fact it includes the accessories like rugs, throws, frames, cushions, etc. Unique linen for the kitchen and other soft furnishings for lawn chairs have also gained remarkable popularity. Tapestries, chenille, cotton and linen prints, stripes and checks, toile, crewel work, plains of all types covering linens, silks, suede, voiles and muslins, and towels, be it for bath or the kitchen, all are included in this segment. The showrooms for soft furnishings provide the customers with a collection of designs to select from.
The Indian home furnishings market is around Rs 15,000 crore, of which the organised market is about Rs 1,000 crore. Earlier, Bombay Dyeing was the only leader in this segment. The major carpet manufacturing areas (including all types of floor coverings and durries) are Agra-Bhadoi belt in Uttar Pradesh, Kashmir, Bikaner-Udaipur belt in Rajasthan, West Bengal, Haryana, Punjab and Andhra Pradesh. In India, there are 1215 carpet production units recorded and of that 190 are in the organized sector and the rest are in small scale industry sector.
The Mirzapur-Bhadohi belt in Uttar Pradesh stands as the major contributor for the carpet weaving industry in the India with nearly 90 per cent of the total production of carpets in India.
Panipat has witnessed high growth in handlooms during the last two decades with the number of looms holding 50,000 are well known for producing acrylic blankets, bed sheets, bed covers, tapestry, upholstery, table mats and table covers. There are above 310 shoddy spinning units in Panipat having a production of 4 lakh kg per day and a turnover of more than Rs 600 crore. Panipat also possess a woolen carpet industry, which is now almost thirty years old, with around 150 units. There are about 60 carpet woolen spinning units in Panipat with an annual turnover of Rs 175 crore making a variety of handloom products such as durries, mats, table covers, bed sheets, curtains and carpets exported to various countries, including Canada, Japan, Germany and Australia.
Benefiting from this booming market and the increasing new and young homemakers, department stores make their home furnishings space by creating well organized living spaces that sell the products very effectively. Many popular companies working with soft furnishings products in India are Welspun, Gujarat (which started first 'Spaces Home & Beyond' store in Mumbai); Handfab, Panipat; Highness Exports; In Vogue Buying, New Delhi; Indian Exporters, Kolkata; Shabari International, Kerala; Cannanore; Amber Textile; and Reliance Industries, and there are brands like the decades-old Bombay Dyeing and just stated like Spaces, Portico, Season's, Yamini etc.
Raymond provides the widest range of colours to satisfy the various colour requirements of interiors in Home furnishings. Home Solutions Retail (India), a 100% holding of retail leader Pantaloon Retail, intends to close its third year of function with about of Rs 1,000 crore. Home Solutions is establishing chain of home stores, committed to all things that would be required for setting up, decorating and furnishing a home. In the first step, the company will be establishing six Home Towns, the company's umbrella store, in Noida, Hyderabad, Gurgaon, Pune, Thane and Bangalore, which will start by June 2007. Each store, covering an expense about Rs 14 crore, will be allotted about 120,000 square feet.
To achieve its brand recognized in the big commoditised home furnishings market, Welspun is investing in retail stores and increasing its capacity to serve the domestic market. Besides its own brand the company recently received the marketing rights of Tommy Hilfiger home furnishing products.
Welspun is also coming up with the concepts to educate and guide customers about issues like hygiene, because most of us are comfortable with replacing our bed sheets once in two weeks. Likewise many families utilize only one towel between themselves. None of us have ever understood that if the same towel is utilized the entire family, each member of the family may get infected. All these maters will be undertaken through various media for which the company has allocated about Rs 10 crore. At present it is searching for an agency to handle its communication activities.
As per the company's retail strategy, which is setting the core of its brand-building practice, in the next three years they are coming with 125 stores across the country with an investment of Rs 50 crore. Amongst the 125, 100 would be standalone Spaces stores. Extended with an area of nearly 2,000 sq ft, the Spaces showrooms would provide furnishings for each room of the house. Besides furnishing items, the showrooms will also provide home décor products such as candles, curios and so on.
Recently, Portico, a premium Home Decor & furnishings brand introduced its premium and 'Sparkly' range.
Besides this, various small players in the market cater to every taste and pocket of the population. For those who do not need to spend in professionally decorating their rooms, many options are available by India's department chain stores like Ebony, Shoppers' Stop, Lifestyle, Pantaloons, Westside and even Big Bazaar.
Because of huge demands, many fashion designers have also forayed in this segment. At present the home furnishings segment is considered a flourishing sector in the textile industry. Domestic and export markets are both booming for home furnishings.
According to experts, to make brand awareness home furnishing companies have to put more emphasis on the overall shopping experience. Retail ambience, coordinated product ranges; in-store display; point-of-purchase promotional literature on the product features as well as the company's lineage and superior in-store service are some of the primary actions that home furnishing companies must take. In fact this has to be made in connection with innovative product and brand advertising and new promotional efforts.
While some experts believe that as the sector is largely commoditised, the main target would be to set the category to constantly develop, which can only be done through customer education.
However, some feel that it is a slight too early to introduce new collections each season. While it could support in making fashion consciousness in India about home furnishings, as well as the designs, colours and prints are contemporary, and the packaging and labeling are as per the good quality standards, home furnishing companies need not be bothered about making more complication in their business by creating repeated changes in their product offering at this stage. In fact, in the next few years, with more competition and more demand, it would be essential to introduce at least two major collections per year.
We require building up more colour and design sensitive people to work in this segment. For those who intend to begin a home furnishing venture, whether for exports or for the domestic market, it is appropriate to begin with just one or two products and then add on to it slowly. Cushion covers and curtains are the more demandable products. If proper plans are made using appropriate color combinations as expected in the colour forecast, and ever new designs are made, then definitely one will get success in this segment. The key point to note here is that trends change fast, so the process of designing and creation should keep on preventing stagnation and making guaranteed success.
Conclusion
In the last few years, people have started spending on furniture and furnishings like they perform with their clothing. For them lifestyle furnishing is turning out as a mix of aesthetics, comfort, colours and designs. Brown sofas are outdated; people need lively colours like blue and red. A few years ago consumers never demanded highly branded home furnishing products, but now they are very well aware about new products and brands in the market, though brand awareness in this segment is still low. Many companies are adding two to three products in their product lines every year and many are comings with innovative concepts in this segment. But, for this segment's growth still it requires a proper planning or strategy, more efforts and educate to customer as well.
Many modern interior decorating trends are taking something for themselves from the history. Everything is changing but some things are staying the same - in fashion and in home decorating, in all trends. One of those elements is using colors and ornaments that are inspired by nature.
Walking after the beauty steps
Thinking about the interiors, about its measurements, colors and light it's worth to do it in the light of nature - beauty of natural colors, stone figures, sandy structures or ocean grass. Interior design in nature aspect is inspired with elements taken from nature - color of sand, floral ornaments, delicate diamond form or a drawing of rinds.
Colors of nature make a mood
Usage of natural colors in interior design is almost as old as...interior design. Those colors are good for classic interiors and for modern ones. Delicate, pastel, bright colors in neutral types of white like for example color of sand, wood and similar to them are the most wanted. Interiors in the color of ground, white, delicate grays, violets or greens look always fresh, and give the interior harmony. Neutral colors like each others and make the room look nice and sophisticated in the same time.
Matching natural beige with rough wood we create climate with harmony and adding a few fresh citrus accessories will change the interior into more dynamic.We can speak about an example of matching simple furniture in geometric shapes, light materials, ordered interiors, organic elements, flowers, decorative accessories like vases, wicker pots, small rugs from sea grass brings a mood of relax to the interior and contrasting each element helps to make elegant, comfortable and timeless interior. Symmetry of shapes and forms is meeting with zen philosophy and our interior are full of peace and beautiful look.
Expression of light
Light gives the interior a flow of fresh air, shows the positive aspects of every room, shapes is stimulating the word of plants, exposes architecture solutions while in the same time is almost invisible as an element of room decorating. Light can optically open the room or close it. It can also warm the interior (with yellow color) or make it cold (by using blue or white) that depends on the time of day or the style of interior.
When we want to be closer to nature we should choose soft creme light and contrasting it with very bright light which will bring interior more harmony. Modern glass frames and crystal bowls, geometric lampshades in context with play of sided brackets give the interior vital, warm and beautiful look and shape.
Fashion has influenced interior design since the turn of the century. Coco Chanel is first and foremost an icon of fashion, her bold and forward thinking designs have and continue to inspire and influence the world of interior design. With the lines blurring between fashion and design, fashion designers and globally established labels are naturally turning to couture interior and product design. Many labels have been doing this for years such as Christian Dior, Oscar De La Renta, and Armani. "Home Has Become Fashion", Rosita Missoni.
My love for fashion and interior design inspires me everyday! To foresee what trends are coming to our interiors, take a look at what is hot on the runways. We may not see these trends until the following year but that is quickly changing with the speed of manufacturers and the global reach of the manufacturing agencies. We are now seeing these trends appear in our home designs quite quickly. Fashion trends usually change much faster than we want to change our interior design so pick your trends wisely. Focus on timeless instead of trendy for the over all scheme, and accent with the trends. Fun and trendy accessories and paint colors are not a huge investment and easy to change out when you tire of them or want to try the new "it" design.
I have some clients that just don't know what style they like or what colors they really want to incorporate, so an easy way to find out what they like is by taking a look in their closet. You can easily tell what colors people are drawn to and what they feel comfortable in. You want to be just as comfortable in your home as you do in your clothes. So take a look in your own closet and see if there is a color you love that you would like to incorporate into your home. Take a pair of fabulous shoes or an incredible bag, and work an entire room around them. To me a pair of Christian Louboutin shoes are a work of art, these are simply to provide pleasure in their gorgeousness, so make them center stage.
So take that dress that you love and drool over or the shoes that are just too beautiful to wear and incorporate them into your home! "Fashion fades, only style remains the same" Coco Chanel.
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