The D&D Project needed a revamp from the scratch and envisioned bringing out the contemporary touch with a rustic undertone. The interior designers Palak Jalan and Kushal Goyal from the ‘Evolve Design Studio’ brought the concept to life.

Your heart needs a home. The sense of peace and stability to keep mental integrity might require lots of elements coming together. A very little yet eminent one can be the colors of your home. The play of colors perchance has never gotten much priority until now. The renovation of an existing apartment (D&D Home) started from scratch to articulate the same idea visually.

The choice of color ‘Blue’ perhaps replicated the essence of what home symbolizes; stability and purity. D&D home demanded a revamp that gives off family energy for which interior designers, Palak Jalan and Kushal Goyal, the founders of ‘Studioevolvedesign’ put their whole heart in.

D&D Home

The D&D project was a full renovation project in an existing apartment. The Evolve Design Studio stands still in taking the project that requisite chunk of time and cognitive investments. Even though the project was limited to the living room and extended dining room, we saw a great scope of work as the revamp was to happen from scratch. The transformation needed an incredible amount of interior layers.

Concept

The concept of the project was to revamp the interior to a contemporary chic space. We were briefed to put a specific focus on the color Night Blue as an accent color. By virtue, Blue is a cold color and the ambiance had to have warm undertones. We trod carefully as to use to color accent in a controlled manner yet manage to achieve the feeling of warmth.  Minor structural elements were changed like the kitchen wall to achieve a full wall section for a secondary seating section. The intention of keeping the cohesion intact worked out with the hacks of simple fluting detail in the dining unit. The major concept was to balance out the contrast by bringing meaningful, warm, and homely air.

Interior design category

D&D home adheres to the modern theme yet tries to keep the tone grounded. Simply put, this project category would be Contemporary Chic but with a rustic undertone. The contrast is evident in the color play; the choice of the interlaces between blue, gold, and cream colors.

Elements
An aesthetically pleasing interior calls for the intelligent frolic of elements. Given the space and theme, the soul of creativity for the customization became essential. If you are to become observant of the detailing, you can see the patterns whether it be on the furniture or walls, or rug. We have taken simple elements to be broadly emphasized through creativity.  MDF panels were customized to specification to achieve the motifs on the accent Night blue wall.  The adjacent wall to the blue wall was rendered in exposed concrete with Metallic chrome sheet silvers as patterns for a peculiar highlight. The increment in reflectivity and the addition of an ensemble blob-shaped mirror set in the dining area roles to bring out the palette of variation as well as eye-catchy. 

Use of any local Elements

We did not use any vernacular elements in the projects but the patterns on the seating were interesting bold patterns that mimic or resemble the “Nepali Dhaka” to lend a modern local aesthetics. Similarly, raw stone sheets called StoneClad by Exterio were used to get that raw rustic look that resembles our landscapes.

The contemporary look still has got that underlying Nepali/local taste to it.

Colors

The color brief was strongly put forward by the client hence we knew the point to start our drawing board but that also meant we had to make restrained use of the color and not overdo it. It can be seen that decorative elements like Rugs and the couch have some inclination toward the blue color to have an overall harmony in the palette. The colors blue, gold, and neutrals are assembled to the texture of choice.

Lighting

As a given standard practice, we put a lot of focus on the lighting of the project. The whole lighting design was drawn up from scratch. The complete lighting program was changed to a Warm 3500K temperature from the previous pale 6500k lights. It helped us achieve the necessary warmth to the ambiance. Deep recessed lighting fixtures were sparingly installed to get a non-glare surface on the ceiling plan and distribute a soothing glow throughout the space. Full brass body pieces in contemporary design forms were used as decorative and accent lighting.

Client's functional and aesthetic demand

While the primary brief was about the use of color and a contemporary outlook with a slight touch of rustic. The functional demand was that the elements were to be designed keeping the use case of a growing 7-year-old child in mind. We used solid surfaces like full marble dining tops and leatherette fabric on couches to ensure longevity. With the reconfiguration of the space planning, we could develop new storage options and areas that the clients were struggling with before the revamp. The furniture and design altogether had to be functional for the client’s family.

 

Challenges

Even though it was a full renovation from scratch, we were doing all this construction work when a full family was functionally living in the other parts of the house. This made it especially challenging to respect the work area boundaries, and time foundations and ensure not too much encroachment happens to the general living of the family. Being in public apartment housing, the work timings were severely limited.

Types of materials used

None of the materials were vernacular in nature but materials were locally sourced. Some general materials were used ingeniously to achieve new forms which lend a novel outlook to the space as appreciated by many.  Furniture & décor pieces were sourced from Local company ArtMaya. All the materials incorporated the amalgamation of elements that were envisioned to keep the elegance and local touch intact.