1. Create the illusion of space with bright colors If you want your home to look larger than it really is – especially when it is about to go on the market – you can use bright and vibrant colors like yellows and eggshells to add space to your home exterior. As a warning, avoid the common color white. Although it can add space, it is nowhere near as effective as tinted colors.   2. Appeal to a highly educated crowd with complex colors For home exteriors and interiors, using colors that consist of more than one word can often...

First of its kind of sustainability platform introduced throughout the globe.  Shaw Contract, a brand of Shaw Industries (Berkshire Hathaway Group), believes in an holistic approach to sustainability, and thus balances its efforts across four points of ambition: Material Health Circular Economy Carbon Impact Diversity, Equity & Inclusion The brand designs products to create a better, fairer future.  Everybody counts. People together, Planet Forever. To learn more about People Together Planet Forever initiative please click on below links. Shaw Contract  Sustanability People + Planet People Together, Planet Forever feature film. Overview of our desire to create a just and fair...

Wood being a natural element is fast becoming a material of choice in residential building facade cladding world over and particularly in India. This is a rising trend and is particularly seen in the context of cities where villas are the primary abode for the rich and influential. Being a wood deficient country where wood logging is primarily restricted due to environmental factors, majority of the wood species, raw or finished products, are being imported. Following this trend, we look at the suitability of timber for such an application and the various alternatives available in the market. The solid wood...

This is a common question: which is best, engineered or laminate flooring. The immediate answer to the question is that both of them are equally perfect in their own way and for their own use depending on the user's needs: Both are alternates for Solid wood floors, both move (expand and contract) less than solid wood and both look nice! However, like everything, they too have their pros and cons. What laminate flooring is: Laminate flooring is basically a photograph of a hardwood plank, laminated and stuck onto a composite wood material like HDF (High-density fiber board). The benefits of...

Inspired by Mother Nature, we are a sustainable construction company offering design-to-build services. Our Founder & CEO Shriti Pandey left her cushy job in New York City and headed to spend a year in rural India. Travelling the length and breadth of the country, she discovered a myriad of possibilities to reinvent the existing practices in the construction industry and thus Strawcture Eco was born. We harness the potential of agriultural residue to build structures which are cost effective, sustainable and exhibit a lower carbon footprint.   Apart from working for individual and institutional clients in urban areas, we also partner...

Wood flooring is considered warm and natural by actual survey. Most people feel comfortable when in contact with wood. In fact, it would be impossible to imagine a home without wood in it. While the technology today permits the creation of a host of wood look-alike products, however, they remain look-alikes. Real wood, well, is real wood! The thing that affects the final aesthetic of how your room will look post-installation of wood flooring is it's grading. By grading is meant, the selection grade of the wood. Here is an example of a Select grading: As you can see, the...

Wood floors are an increasing trend in quality residential construction. More and more designers and end-users are selecting engineered wood floors as the flooring surface of choice in premium construction. The reasons are not difficult to understand. They look great, are easy to install, save a tremendous amount of project time as compared to say a marble surface (as much as six months depending on the size of the house), can be easily renewed (depending on the top layer thickness), are hygienic, colour can be changed while renovating (not possible with other hard surface floorings) and can be taken off...

Diamonds are one of the hardest minerals found in nature. Diamonds are formed by a combination of extreme heat and pressure creating a hard structure. With this in mind, its no surprise why diamonds have been used for decades in cutting, grinding and drilling. But what would diamonds look like if they were to be repurposed for today’s commercial flooring needs? Armstrong Flooring’s Diamond 10 Technology uses cultured diamonds to provide the ultimate scratch, stain and scuff resistance while simplifying maintenance. The performance of diamonds yields a protective technology unmatched in performance, durability and ease of maintenance. Through a number...

“Art is not what you see, but what you made others see” — Edgar Degas   Under the aegis of “Spanezia” designer finishes, a new line of art work has been introduced by the name of “Terra Dios”. The inspiration for the art work is drawn from “NATURE”, “MOOD’S” “AESTHETICS”, “EMOTIONS” & “SELF VISION”. As the vision for “Terra Dios” is that, great art takes place where nature ends. The tone’s & hue’s set for the said artwork defines intensity of design, the creativity of artisan, the lustre of mid morning dews and brightness of the midnight stars. Each artwork...

When patients enter a hospital, they expect a durable, welcoming floor that promotes your design vision and makes a strong first impression. Therefore, the countless combination options offered by vinyl-based flooring enable architects to express their creativity with a range of design options whilst meeting other parameters like functionality, safety, affordability and sustainability needs. Hygiene and Safety Vinyl reduces the expense of operating and managing high-traffic environments like hospitals while ensuring protection and hygiene, thanks to its high wear resistance, ease of installation, washing and maintenance. Because of these advantages, vinyl flooring is now used in operating rooms, hospital rooms,...

When you go to the market to get a carpet, you will come across different types of carpet materials, fibers & styles which will obviously spoil you for choice.  And not each and every carpet that you look at is suitable for your home or office space. While some carpet styles are made for everyday wear and tear in high traffic areas others are made for luxurious & low traffic areas. The best part about a carpet is that it is an affordable flooring option that can not only add warmth & comfort to your home but also act as...

Flotex is a special floor covering that combines the toughness and durability of a resilient floor with the quality, warmth, and comfort of a carpet. It is a strong and hygienic floor, and being completely waterproof, is also the only truly washable textile floor. Flotex has a unique production process in which up to 80 million nylon fibres per square metre get injected into wet adhesion creating an exceptionally durable product which is cushioned and strengthened by a dense layer of glass fibre. Therefore, Flotex is used in many international airports which average 100,000 passengers and approximately 65,000 suitcases of...

Founded in 1985, Durian’s legacy and ability are to create a better lifestyle in the interior space. With over 3 million customers & 8000 Corporate Clients, the journey from being the pioneers in the Veneer business to being the leading infrastructure company and lifestyle brand has been an enriching and memorable one. At Durian, we make furniture but we are no ordinary furniture company. We put our heart into everything we do. We were born in India and are strongly inspired by our Indian roots. Today we touch the lives of millions of Indians every day with our range of...

The ceiling of commercial or residential spaces is one of the most important structural elements when it comes to creativity as well as functionality. A ceiling is that part of the building that acts as the last line of defence from outside elements. It hides the underside of the roof, conduits, wires, pipes and other workings that keep your building functioning.  Now, you might think that simply using a standard ceiling will be sufficient. But, when you go to the market, you will realize that there are various types of ceilings for different types of buildings. Some offer standard features...

"Every now and then a new product/technology comes and changes the market dynamics and user experience, every now and then for flooring and wallcovering is  just now with Vibrant Floors."   Vibrant Floors started with the foundation vision of offering innovative, highly durable, design centric and 21st century floor coverings and wallcovering.  The very first product company started offering in 2017 was Woven Vinyl Floor that changed the experience of architects and designers and got immediate acceptance in Indian market due to its appearance, aesthetics, durability, least maintenance and wide design and format selections like roll, tile, triangle, scale, plank etc....

Welcome to the home of Laminates, welcome to Merino! From a humble beginning with the launch of plywood in 1974 and subsequently high-pressure laminates in 1981, the Merino Group has come a long way. Today, the group is one of the world's largest manufacturers of decorative laminates for interiors and has global recognition of being a leader in the laminates and panel industry. The Group has diverse business interests that expand from Interior Architectural products to Information Technology to Food & Agro products. With its presence in over 80 countries that span across the five continents, Merino Group employs over...

In our continuous journey towards manufacturing innovation, our R&D team has successfully developed a unique property of Germ shield in our patented technology VC and Slip Shield without affecting its aesthetic appeal. The dedicated team has devised a solution to eliminate the germs that come in contact with the surface along with the intrinsic property of abrasion resistance (VC Shield) and Slip resistance (Slip Shield). Somany Ceramics with its strong R&D team has come up with Germ Shield Tiles. These tiles have a unique Germ Shield Technology, which adds anti-bacterial properties to these tiles. These Germ Shield Tiles are 99%...

The success of a construction project can be attributed to the quality of building materials used. The high or low quality of the construction materials will define the overall durability, character & endurance of the building.  Therefore, Architects, Contractors & Creative Professionals should be cautious while shortlisting the necessary building materials for their project. One of the best ways to decide the construction materials for your project is to analyze the maintenance, stability & costs of each material. To save you the hassle, we have curated 5 important factors that you need to consider while choosing building materials for your...

Most Contractors & Creatives look out for Building Material Suppliers that offer top-quality products at affordable prices.  However, your search criteria should not end just there. There are other important aspects that can make or break your all-important venture. So, if you need a top-notch building material supplier, you need to know about some key elements that will help you narrow down your search for that ideal supplier. Keep in mind that the final decision of choosing a building material supplier rests in your hand. However, these tips will help you to get a supplier that ideally matches your business...

Every small & big construction project requires a certain amount of investment in materials & labor. While labor costs mostly remain standard, one place where contractors can gain higher profits is by lowering the costs of building materials. This doesn’t mean that you acquire low-quality materials.  Instead, you try to get high-quality materials from suppliers at discounted rates or use other strategies to lower the cost of your building materials. So, it all boils down to the kind of tactics you use while getting building materials from your suppliers.  Here are some practical strategies that will help you to reduce...

The construction sector is increasingly becoming competitive due to a rise in the influx of new building material supplier companies & robust services from existing ones. While this gives you a wide range of suppliers to choose from, not everyone can meet your business standards & needs. Why?  There is a thin line between the success & failure of your construction projects & it primarily depends on the kind of materials you use.  Therefore, you need to put in a lot of time & efforts while selecting the right building material supplier for your venture. It isn’t an easy task,...

The answer is most certainly no. You do not have to be a good sketcher to be a great architect. In fact, many of the greatest architects were the most horrible sketchers. The above sketches have been made by one of the most influential architects of all time – Zaha Hadid The root cause of this stereotype which deters many an aspirant from becoming an architect is that sometimes architects have to represent their ideas on paper. A common practice in the process of designing is that one kicks it off by sketching their ideas on a piece of paper....

A number of you will be thinking that what is the difference between interior designing and Architecture. The answer is quite simple. As the name suggests interior designing is the design of the interior of any built form. Whereas, architecture is more concerned with the overall built form than the interiors of it. While Interior Designing is more on a micro level, architecture in general is more on a macro level. This is the basic difference between the two fields. Many of you will be thinking in regards to which career to follow. Whether to be an interior designer or...

A question that many of us think about is that what software’s do architects use? Many a time we are intrigued and are curious about which software’s architects are using whether it is when we pass them by at a coffee shop or when we see detailed plans being printed at a printer’s shop. So which software’s do they actually use? The software’s that architects use can be broken down into three categories depending upon their use. The first category is drafting, followed by three dimensional modelling and the last one being rendering. Let us understand them one by one....