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A Beautiful Homes Story: Meet the Homeowner and Designer

Interior Design Services

By Meenakshi Nair

Mar 24, 2022

Grey toned living room

Homeowner Sonia Bajaj and architect Jason Wadhwani exchange ideas and initiate the design process for her home design project in South Mumbai

Renovating an old home or putting together a new one requires several elements: A good interior designer, the right vendors, great materials and a generous dose of patience. It can seem overwhelming at first, but with the right design partner, it can be a smooth process.

Beautiful Homes Service (BHS) from Asian Paints is a bridge between homeowners, designers, and technicians that simplifies home design. Homeowner Sonia Bajaj worked with the BHS team to renovate and redesign a charming apartment in an Art Deco building in Mumbai. This series is a glimpse at the entire process, from planning meetings to the final reveal.

Independent brand consultant Sonia Bajaj and her family were looking for a new house. As a growing family, they needed a home that catered to everyone’s needs. With WFH and virtual school being the new normal, she also wanted to create a space where everyone could feel productive and enjoy family time after-hours. But it had to be something they could grow into and not re-do every couple of years. Says Sonia, “For us it was really important to look at a space which was a little larger than what we originally had. The kids were growing up and naturally because of that we needed to upgrade. Our expectation in terms of design was that it had to be very neutral and would take us effortlessly from now to 70 years of age.” The Bajaj's zeroed in on an apartment in South Mumbai in an Art Deco building. With high ceilings, lots of natural light, a great layout and retro detailing, the house had great bones… but needed a facelift.

The House-hunt

Independent brand consultant Sonia Bajaj and her family were looking for a new house. As a growing family, they needed a home that catered to everyone’s needs. With WFH and virtual school being the new normal, she also wanted to create a space where everyone could feel productive and enjoy family time after-hours. But it had to be something they could grow into and not re-do every couple of years.

Says Sonia, “For us it was really important to look at a space which was a little larger than what we originally had. The kids were growing up and naturally because of that we needed to upgrade. Our expectation in terms of design was that it had to be very neutral and would take us effortlessly from now to 70 years of age.”

The Bajajs zeroed in on an apartment in South Mumbai in an Art Deco building. With high ceilings, lots of natural light, a great layout and retro detailing, the house had great bones… but needed a facelift.

Sonia Bajaj

Independent brand consultant Sonia Bajaj had a long association with Asian Paints, so when it was time to set up her home, Beautiful Homes Service was a natural choice. Photography by Kuber Shah

The Design Partners

Sonia’s had a long association with Asian Paints, so when it was time to set up her home, Beautiful Homes Service was a natural choice. The Beautiful Homes Service team functions as a single point of contact between everyone involved in the project: the homeowner, the interior designer/architect, and the on-ground execution team.

Says Namita Kaur, the Customer Experience Specialist from the BHS team, “We work with experts who understand design and create what the customer wants. And we act as a single point of contact. Beautiful Homes Service takes care of all the groundwork, including the material sourcing, the material selection, vendor management, budgeting, and on-site supervision.”

Jason Wadhwani

Award winning architect Jason Wadhwani is known for his love for monochromatic palettes. Photography by Pulkit Sehgal

Sonia thankfully found a great design partner in architect Jason Wadhwani. His style is contemporary, timeless, and monochromatic, with lots of whites, neutrals and beiges: just the aesthetic the Bajaj family was looking for.

Sonia says, “So, I had two key criteria for shortlisting a designer. One of course is their body of work of work and their design sensibility, but the other point which I think is more important, is compatibility and chemistry with the designer. This was extremely relevant because while you need their creative imprint and ability to execute your vision, it’s equally necessary for designers to be mindful of how the space will be used and the practicalities and functionality of a design decision.”

And when Jason saw the space, he knew he would work his magic. “When I first walked into the space, it was just screaming potential. It had these very cool old school Art Deco details. We knew we wanted to create a very contemporary space which kind of stood the test of time.”

The homeowner and designer have had their initial interactions and shared a vision for the space: their design needs versus wants and the elements they can’t do without. Stage two is when that vision is made into a plan: and the BHS team comes in to chalk it out, so that the project can go from on-paper to in-action.

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