Satinder Malhotra is the CEO and the Founder of Signature Interior Designs, which is based in Dehradun, Uttarakhand, India. Her passion for interiors encouraged her to pursue her dreams to work as an Interior Designer. Upcoming and super talented Interior Designer, Satinder Malhotra has been making a name for herself within interior designing. She believes the best designers are those who design with empathy; the ones who work hard to understand their client and the project.
She is truly passionate about creating unique projects that pertain to the client’s personalities, dreams, and visions. Signature Interior Designs is an interior design and consulting firm best known for producing professional designs for Commercial Interiors, Residential Interiors, Corporate Office Interiors, Health care Interiors, and Hospitality Interiors.
Let’s find out more about what Ms. Satinder Malhotra has to say about Signature Interior Designs and its journey to success in the interview mentioned below. Here are the highlights of the interview:
What inspires you to wake up every day and keep making a difference in the respective industry you are catering to?
As an interior designer, I hear this question often. It’s one I love to answer because I’m continually absorbing new information to guide my aesthetic. Though I can find inspiration almost anywhere, the designers and architects and their distinctive styles have influenced my design aesthetic. I find inspiration from both architecture and nature while walking around the city, browsing through design blogs & magazines, and brainstorming with coworkers.
Travel exposes you to new cultures, people, and experiences. By immersing yourself in an area that’s far from home, you break out of your comfort zone and open your eyes to new possibilities in your creative projects. Another place is outdoors on nature hikes; I do a lot of research to see what’s new on the market and, to be honest. Social media, of course, is the source of much inspiration for designers and others through sites like Instagram, Pinterest, Facebook, and others. Pinterest is a daily source for me especially during the research period of a project where you can find incredibly unique design, illustration, photography, and references. Instagram is also a great source for design inspiration.
As the CEO of your company, what challenges have you faced while establishing and running the business?
Managing costs is one of the most difficult tasks for any company. The most difficult task for most interior design companies is keeping track of material costs. If a project takes longer than expected or if a client changes their mind halfway through, labour costs may quickly escalate out of control. Interior design companies also face cash-flow issues in addition to cost management. For this reason, many interior designers need deposits before beginning work: They need the funds to buy materials and pay staff to complete the project.
The most difficult aspect of the project is locating the necessary materials, furnishings, and accessories. Finding unique goods that suit well in their client’s design project is a difficult task.
Sometimes clients aren’t too sure about what they want the finished product to look like. As interior designers, it’s our job to help guide them through the creative process. Creating a mood board also really helps to communicate your interpretation of what the client is asking for visually. Managing your clients’ standards is an important aspect of interior design, and it’s never simple.Â
Brief us about the mission, vision, and core values, services, and achievements of your company.
Our vision
Our vision is to build an interior design company that will be known to execute top-notch designs and projects and to become the number one choice of real estate agencies and other stakeholders in the industry. We want to build an interior design company that can favorably compete with other leading brands in the industry.Â
Our mission
Our mission is to positively influence the lives of all customers with whom we have the pleasure of working and leave a lasting impression on their minds and imagination. Our main focus is:
- Creation of unique and innovative design products that are responsive to each client’s vision and budgetary needs.
- Providing our clients with design services that reflect the latest developments in the construction and building industry.
- Prompt and timely delivery of consistently high-quality products and services.
- Work within an environment based on interpersonal relationships between clients, our professionals, colleagues, community, and environment.Â
Core Values
- Exceptionality and Uniqueness
Staying away from repetitive work and giving each project its fair share of uniqueness.
- High Quality
Exceeding expectations by providing and maintaining a paramount high standard of quality.
- Trust and honesty
Initiating a trustworthy relationship with our clients and partners.
- Respect and integrity
Treating our clients and partners with utmost respect and professionalism to foster a continuous relationship.
- Constantly growing
Never stop learning, improving, and always accommodating the ever-growing market and demands.Â
Services
We provide clients with effective, efficient, responsible, and result-oriented services, offering practical solutions tailored to the industry and today’s competitive environment. We enhance the outcome of a project, leading to more responsive and cost-effective solutions by offering services in all phases of a project’s life cycle:Â
Residential interiors
Residential interior design may be overlooked by many. Creating a design that captures the essence of your home and space is never easy. It involves creating an atmosphere that blends to perfection, materials, light, and textures. We also provide an array of residential interior design services such as designing living rooms, dining rooms, master bedrooms, kid’s bedrooms, and outdoor living spaces.
Commercial interiors
Offices and corporate spaces are areas we value and deliver our expertise. Commercial interior design can encompass corporate and office spaces, medical offices, hotels & restaurants. Signature Interior Designs specialize in corporate and office interior design specifying the industry’s latest modern workstations and optimizing productivity within any organization.
Achievements
Satinder Malhotra has received awards in the field of Interior Designing thrice in her short span of a career as an Interior Designer. She has been conferred The Best Interior Designer of the Year 2021 by SME Bizz Entrepreneur’s Star Awards and the Women Entrepreneur of the Year 2021 by Global Triumph Foundation. Signature Interior Designs has been nominated as the Best Interior Design Firm of the Year 2021 by Education Sensations.Â
Coronavirus disease (COVID-19): Health and safety in the workplace
COVID-19 spread is emotionally challenging for many people, changing day-to-day life in unprecedented ways. All sections of society – including employers and employees – should play a role to protect themselves and each other and help prevent the further spread of the disease. Measures to prevent transmission of COVID-19 that apply to all workplaces and all people at the workplace include frequent hand-washing or disinfection with alcohol-based hand sanitizer, respiratory hygiene such as covering coughs, the physical distancing of at least 1 meter or more according to the national recommendations, wearing of masks where distancing is not possible, regular environmental cleaning and disinfection, and limiting unnecessary travel. Clear policies and messages, training, and education for staff and managers to increase awareness of COVID-19 are essential.
COVID-19 is associated with a range of concerns, such as fear of falling ill and dying, of being socially excluded, placed in quarantine, or losing a livelihood. Symptoms of anxiety and depression are common reactions for people in the context of COVID-19. Mental health and psychosocial support should be made available to all workers. Comprehensive risk assessments can help identify and mitigate related occupational hazards for mental health.Â
What creative ways have you employed to make to make the work environment of your company vibrant?
Your work environment impacts your mood, drive, mental health, and performance. Creating a positive work environment more deeply motivates and engages your employees, leading to higher job satisfaction and employee retention within your organization, not to mention less stress among your employees. Maintaining a positive work environment helps boost employee morale, retention, and productivity. Here’s how to improve your workplace.Â
- Hire great team members who are professional
Successful business companies know that a positive work environment starts with appointing the right professionals.Â
- Make sure your workspace is properly illuminated
Lighting plays a vital role in workers’ performance and attitude. Exposure to natural light improves mood, energy, and mental health, greatly impacting focus and productivity.
- Make the office comfortable
A clean, attractive office can have tremendous effects on the relationships between co-workers and managers. You could fill the office with comfy chairs and also give them a choice of whether to sit or stand at their desks.
- Inject some colour into your workspace
As colours are connected to our emotions, they ought to be used wisely throughout the space and applied according to the atmosphere we are trying to create. For instance, green and blue hues used in workspaces are sure to boost their productivity. Yellow can help with creativity as it tends to be very stimulating, red is great for spaces where there’s a lot of physical activity, while neutral hues tend to be calming and have a soothing psychological effect.
What Advice Would You Give to Young Professionals Who Are Choosing the Right Fit to Grow their Career?
My advice to new designers is to have as much on-the-job experience as possible; working on projects teaches you so much more about the intricacies of design than reading books. Get some experience first working in a design agency, you will learn so much from seeing how a real studio works. And you will likely make some of your first mistakes where it’s safe to do so, surrounded by a team there to support you. You will also learn the reality of how long it takes to design, detail, and source a project.
Do ask questions and ask for help with something rather than struggling alone with it. It’s far better to request specialist advice and get it right than take a chance outside your comfort zone and get it wrong. Don’t underestimate how much time it will take to develop a design, particularly the technical CAD drawing pack side and contractor specifications. Â
In terms of future growth, where do you see yourself and your company?Â
Over the next few years, I want to explore and develop new skills in interior design. In upcoming years, I want to gain experience in leading projects for major clients. I want to make the most of my abilities and potential. By always doing my best I can ensure that there will be opportunities to increase my value and to grow in ways that benefit both the company and me.  I will be looking for opportunities to expand my responsibilities as an interior designer to work towards my goal with a promising attitude and attain new heights in my career. I hope that the upcoming years are marked with milestones of progress, for me as well as the company.Â
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