The global economic changes in the recent days have put our finances in doldrums. The national scenario is also nothing much to talk about especially with high inflation rate and the faltering stock market. The housing projects also were commanding sky high prices in the metros till the recent past. Interest rates of home loans have also soared in the last 3-4 years. Bottomline - everything has become expensive.
You have bought a house with your hard earned money and in case you have taken it on floating loan then you are paying high EMIs on the same. Most of the home owners in various classes of cities are first time buyers and till recently have been staying in a rented accommodation. Having ones own house gives them the dual benefit of creating an Asset as well as saving on Income Tax as per Indian IT Act both for the principal and interest part of the loan. On the other side staying in a rented accommodation gives a sense of being unplanned and intermittent. We take the benefit of HRA in our IT calculation for the rent that we pay to the landlord. If finances permit then it makes sense to build ones own immovable property.
These first timers would prefer to shift to their newly acquired houses as soon as they get possession. But it is easier said then done. An apartment is not like a car. You dont take the keys and ride away immediately. What you get is a basic house where you have to do up the interiors as per your requirement and means to make it livable. Nothing gets done overnight and everything comes at a price.
WHAT ARE YOUR OPTIONS?
You can either buy readymade furniture and put them in place to start living in the house or you can get a professionals like carpenter, plumber and electrician to do up the furnitures and fixtures. But how do you coordinate the work and ensure that everything gets done in a synchronized manner. Most people opt for an interior decorator to do up their houses. They are now available everywhere a dime to dozen. Hiring an interior decorator is no longer the forte of rich people. They are available in all sizes and shapes. :)
The question now is to hire an interior decorator or do it yourself. Both have pros and cons. If you and your spouse are working professionals then you wont have the time to check on the details in day to day life. You wont have any other option other then buying ready made furniture or hiring an interior decorator to do the job. You also might not find readymade stuff suitable for your need or dimension.
What an interior decorator does for you is gives you a proposed plan of what furniture and fixtures to be put in your flat, arrange for carpenters, electricians and then getting the job done. But they charge atleast 10% of the total interior decoration project cost which is the sum of material and labor. They have great glossy ideas but dont forget that they work with your money. Saving on your costs and at the same time ensuring quality is the last thing in their minds. They will push for all contemporary design though they might become obsolete in a year or two's time.
What I recommend to people who are conscious about how much they spend and what they get for their money is to DIY. Do it yourself. It is not as difficult as it might sound. And yes, it is a learning experience.
BUT HOW DO YOU GO ABOUT IT?
First of all you need to be a little PC and numbers savvy. Go out and get a chequered page notebook or a graph book, couple of pencils, erasers and ruler. (Like what we used to do maths in early school and do draw graphs in the mathematics class) Googling on the net will get you many conversion tools which you can use to convert millimeters, centimeters, foot, inches etc. Your builder will normally give the dimensions of your apartment/ flat in square foot. The carpenters generally do their work in millimeters. Hence the need for robust conversion.
Make a list of all the furnitures that you would need in your house. Prioritize the need of each of them in terms of Absolutely Necessary, Necessary but at a later date, Desired but not mandatory. This will ensure that you focus on the fundamental stuff and not divert your energy and resources to insignificant things like the phone stand or magazine rack.
Make a list of which furniture will be located in which room. Simultaneously, the color of the paint on the walls should also be finalized. You can check the online shade catalogue of paints on the sites of Asian Paints etc. The color of the furniture will need to be coordinated with that of the paint so that it is soothing for the occupants of the room.
You can segregate furnitures in terms of readymade and custom made. Items like beds, sofa, dining table set can be bought outright whereas cupboards might need to be customized.
Good quality readymade furnitures are available in branded stores in every town catering to various price structures. These again can be searched through the websites advertised in the print advertisements of the stores. Some of the well known ones are @Home, Style Spa, Durian etc. Then visit the stores. It saves your precious time.
Draw the layout your room in your graph book (to scale) and then place each of the furniture as per their dimensions (again to scale). This will give you an idea of how much free space will be available to you. It will also ensure that you are not cramping your room. For example a queen bed might fit adequately in your room rather then a king sized one.
Now you can draw the layout of your customized furnitures as per their dimensions. This will help you in roughly estimating the material requirement. Many furniture stores do job work as per your layout. Go around and check couple of them. Show them your drawing. Ask them how much they would charge and what material would they use. How much time would they need to complete the job? Ask for a segregation of the material and labor cost. Once you have checked atleast 4-5 shops then Compare your notes. You will get a fair idea of how and where to get the job done. You should also visit the plywood/ laminate/ veneer stores to understand the rate of materials as well as hardware stores for the fixtures like handles and hinges. The exposure to the readymade furniture stores will give you an insight of how your customized furniture will be designed and integrated.
There are various grades and rates of plywood (known and unknown brands), laminates and veneers. Go out and check. You will be surprised at the range of material available out there.
The layout of the furniture will help you decide the location of lights and fans. This can then be done through an electrician.
Do it yourself will definitely prove cheaper and also give you a sense of satisfaction and fulfillment. It will also help you get your house ready much faster.
What is in fashion is definitely desired but are we building a model or a place that we can call home and love to return each evening after a hard day's work.
I have taken the help of a decorator for our house but lot of the things mentioned above have been done by me personally and I write from my experience. If you wish to share your views or ask questions, please leave a comment and I will revert back to you.
