reNNovate Interiors specializes in home design and execution, with a 5-year warranty, in 45 days! With the support of Asian Paints Home Décor, they have a phenomenal repertoire of completed works.
Founded by a power couple, one a qualified architect and the other a strong-willed structural engineer, reNNovate’s goal is to provide hassle-free interior services. reNNovate is the brainchild of Smita Vijaykumar, Co-Founder & CEO and Yateesh Contractor, Co-Founder & CFO. Team Optimist spoke to Smita Vijaykumar on the journey of reNNovate Interiors. Excerpts…
Team Optimist: How did reNNovate happen? Did you have any prior experience in this sector?
Smita Vijaykumar: reNNovate Interiors was an initial idea that got shortlisted in the Economic Times ‘Power of Ideas’ entries. It was a novel way of approaching the home interiors problem. For a home owner, to do up the space with furniture, lights and civil works involves the headache of many vendors and many errors and oversights.
Even today, with numerous online furniture retailers, the entire problem is still unsolved and it’s still a challenge for customers looking for reliable designing and styling. The home owner is caught between the volumes market of many online retailers and the unpredictable regular interior designing and contracting format.
It’s this vacuum that reNNovate Interiors addresses. Having successfully completed many homes in Mumbai, we bring brilliant styling with warranty, quality and project management. Branded ‘home design specialists’, we design and execute 2 BHK homes, with a 5-year warranty, in just 45 days!
Team Optimist: What does reNNovate offer its clients and how’s it different from other players in the industry?
Smita Vijaykumar: The start-up is a hassle-free, one-stop shop for Mumbaikars! Making a difference from the multitude of modular companies and Chinese furniture resellers, reNNovate designs customized pieces suited for your specific room sizes, colours, choices and tastes. With factories around Mumbai, all the furniture is tailormade just for you! reNNovate is a design company at heart, but provides a complete solution, thus taking away the pains of finding execution partners, or customized solutions for connoisseurs of home interiors.
The brand is a solution for new-age couples, many of whom are working, well-educated and travelling individuals who have bought their dream home and are looking for a structured, organized, reliable and, most importantly, an approachable and innovative design team. Ranging from IIT professors to celebrities to heads of bank, reNNovate interiors boasts a phenomenal repertoire of works.
Team Optimist: Do you think the whole idea of home décor has changed in the past 20 years? Are people more into luxury, or inclined towards minimalist art?
Smita Vijaykumar: Just a few years ago, getting a designer to help with home interiors was a luxury. Today, many people with a 5 lakh+ budget can get a designer on board. So, the idea of home décor and people’s aspirations have evolved dramatically in the past 20 years!
The market is driven towards minimalism or luxury, based on the size of a flat. The smaller the flat, the more minimalist it should be for a heightened sense of space. People are able to understand the correlation. Awareness and understanding of design issues have also increased with various image searches and design forums available on social media.
Luxury interiors have their own palette of finishes that create the ‘wow factor’ in interiors. With an influx of imported furniture and wall finishes, lights and so forth, the ease of completing luxury interiors has also increased.
Team Optimist: What’s your opinion regarding Tier-I and Tier-II cities of India? In 10 years, will there be a demand for luxury designer homes in Tier-II cities, as well?
Smita Vijaykumar: Many Tier-I and II cities in India’s heartland towns have wonderful bungalows and homes that have need for spruced-up interiors, too. The awareness of products and designers has only increased the demand in these areas. We get many calls for home interiors.
Team Optimist: Do you think an ideal, designed dream home is affordable in India?
Smita Vijaykumar: An ideal and designed dream home is very much affordable, available and delivered to you hassle-free in Mumbai! And, Indiawide, it’ll definitely be available within a few years.
Team Optimist: What are the current trends in the high-end interior design industry in India?
Smita Vijaykumar: There are two main trends in high-end interiors: One, importing well-crafted luxury furniture, finishes and interior products from Europe, China and so forth, with onsite execution teams sourced locally and with such designer firms as reNNovate that have a global design outlook!
And second, using state-of-the-art luxury products and finishes available locally that design according to — or mimic — international trends and design language.
reNNovate Interiors often takes up both kinds of projects.
Team Optimist: What are your plans for reNNovate? Are other Indian metros on your radar, as well?
Smita Vijaykumar: In Mumbai, we’re now serving the entire city in the low-, mid- and high-end segments. We’re also expanding into other cities with focus on Pune and Delhi in the mid-to-high-end segments. We’re also starting new verticals for hospitality and mass production of customised furniture for the same.
reNNovate envisions being the most innovative, transparent, customer-focused and high-end interior design platform. The brand has structured a simple and easy process for the client to sit back and hand over their home décor responsibilities. The brand has everything in place, from project management of customized modular kitchens and wardrobes to furniture and décor with a 5-year warranty, along with all the professional help and advice! reNNovate is keen on working towards giving the unorganised space of the high-end interior design industry an organised structure.
How reNNovate was born
- reNNovate was founded in 2007 by Smita Vijaykumar, a qualified architect from the prestigious School of Planning and Architecture, New Delhi, with 15+ years of experience in India and abroad
- Having industry vantage from being design head for HomeLane in Mumbai, Smita Vijaykumar soon realized the market potential and problem areas
- With the association of Asian Paints Home Décor, reNNovate soon carved out a niche for itself in the Mumbai region, and boasts many successfully completed projects and referrals!
- With the help of Co-Founder and CFO and Yateesh Contractor, an IIM-Ahmedabad alumnus, the start-up was able to bring together factories, reliable contractors, vendors, designers and customized software to smoothen the home design and execution processes for its customers
