Today’s most desirable homes boast alluring design, clever space-saving ideas, tasteful furniture and lovely accessories. But Rashi Tulshyan, founder of Home Philosophy, wants you to know one more thing – that all these can be put together and the budget can still be kept affordable. "There's a perception that a beautiful interior comes with a heavy price tag,” says Rashi, who started Home Philosophy almost two years ago, after graduating from Parsons School of Design, New York. "But it can be done without premium prices, and I set up Home Philopsophy to fill that gap, where homeowners can choose from various customised packages that include both design fees and furniture pieces. Once they’ve chosen a package after a consultation, they can simply leave everything to us as we handle the entire process, in order to essentially give them a move-in-ready home.”
Starting from $5,000 per room (living/dining/bedroom), homeowners and even newly arrived expats who have just moved into their new home can overhaul parts of their apartment and make it look beautiful and cosy without having to worry about the furniture shopping and extra costs. Prices are also adjustable depending on the size of the flat.
For bathrooms and kitchens that require extensive renovation works, the pricing is customised based on the scope of work.
"I spent about six months researching and thought about how I could do things a little differently, in a market that's already saturated with interior designers. I thought about how I can beautify spaces and follow through with soft furnishings at affordable prices and be the one-stop solution for designing, visualising and furnishing interiors. I came up with customised packages to make it easy for clients to go through in detail what they are getting, for the price they are paying,” explains Rashi.
"For expats who can't do much in terms of hacking and plumbing to their home here, my creative services also make it possible for them to move into a space that is beautiful and homely, without the need for heavy renovation works. As interior designers, we need to bear in mind our clients’ lifestyle, and design the spaces they use the most, with the way they intend to interact in it in mind.”
A recent memorable project is a six-bed penthouse where the clients, a young family, desired something contemporary yet homely. “We did a complete overhaul of their 20-year-old condo, gutting the floors, bathrooms, kitchen and walls!” she says. “We added warmth to the large space by putting in beautiful beige marble in the living and dining; and applying different design concepts for each bathroom with a common theme of mosaics.” While the huge space posed a challenge for Rashi, it was also particularly enjoyable reconceptualising the space and ensuring that there was character and personality throughout. “It was challenging to give each area its own look, while ensuring there was a common theme throughout!”
She achieved this by keeping colour schemes unified: greys and walnut brown accents, with a mixture of chrome and brushed gold accents.
On the other end of the spectrum is a “super budget” project, where she oversaw a three-bedroom transformation. “The client gave us a lot of creative freedom; we were to fit the furniture for the entire place within $15,000. “We got creative with bold wall paint and metallic accent wallpaper for feature walls in the living room. We also prioritised the design elements that were going to have high impact, such as a gold chandelier and velvet blue sofa and spent slightly more on those. I loved that this transformation really played to my design philosophy of ‘highlow design’, where we were able to find great items splurge on some aspects.”