Meet our featured beauty with brains Seema Sahni, an IT professional and Interior Designer based in Sydney, Australia. Here is her story.
“A dietician by education, an IT expert by profession and an interior designer by passion, I am always looking for a change. After 22 years in the corporate world I went on to launch my online business ‘The Interior Designer’ in 2017. And this for me was the single most important defining moment in my career. I had fulfilled my dream. It was always at the back of my mind to be a business owner but I did not know how and when, and the ideas kept getting pushed to the back-burner time and again over the years. It’s not easy when the woman of the house is juggling so many roles. Not to be bogged down by it, I finally took the plunge and it all came together in the year 2017 when I made it happen. And now that I am a business entrepreneur, I feel that my dream has come true! I have a long way to go but I feel ‘It is a bloody good start’ as some Australians say.
I have lived in Australia for over 25 years and have always had a flair for home interiors and styling and a very intuitive mind with impeccable attention to detail and a passion to create elegant, inspirational and beautiful spaces. Apart from being highly motivated and energetic, I am a go getter and a perfectionist with a personal and professional motto, ‘To create something exceptional, your mind set must be relentlessly focused on the smallest detail.’ The Interior Designer is the culmination of my life-long passion for interiors. This journey is close to my heart and through this venture I hope to inspire those who seek stylish, classic designs for their home. I look forward to sharing my passion with you!”
Here is an interview with her.
1. What inspires your designs?
There is no one thing, but I draw my inspiration from many every day factors that influence and drive me to create beautiful designs. First and foremost is my sense of creating a beautiful and functional environment. I have always had an eye for unique elements around me, whether it is visiting an important building or going to an art gallery, exhibition or a museum, I have always been curious to know how it is created and curiosity leads to researching the details and re-visiting many architectural buildings on my various international travels and soon I formed my own opinions and over time I increased my awareness of colour and design and became more confident about making decisions. As my thoughts and opinions evolved while gaining more knowledge and skills, I started enjoying my new-found skills as they now enabled me to communicate my untapped creativity.
Almost all of us would have experienced an interior environment that is so balanced and harmonious that the feeling of being in it is very different and it involves all your senses. Moving across certain kinds of floor surfaces; the way the air smells infused with the scent of flowers or the aroma of leather; the way the light falls on angles or objects; how certain surfaces feel to the touch; how balanced the space looks, even if it is a surprising combination of objects. It can be a quiet and contemplative place full of natural light, or a hot and sexy night spot full of people. Every interior space, regardless of its function, provides an opportunity for creating a well-designed environment. Just being in it is an unforgettable experience. You know it’s great because it just feels right.
For me Interior design is a language which enables us to create a home or work environment to reflect our life and lifestyle.
“An interior is a natural projection of the soul.”
– Coco Chanel
2. What do you think sets your designs and work apart from the rest?
I tend not to dwell on this aspect too much as I believe each design is bound to be different as each designer has their own unique talent. Design is a creation and a story which is user perspective and drives development based on your specific client needs. Most designers have their own description of the design process but mostly these will resemble each other.
Whilst always distinctive, my work does not fit any one style, I try and give each client a unique look to suit the way they want their home to look and feel. My style is more of a relaxed sophistication of classic designs and timeless interiors with a modern sense of luxury that is fresh and stylish. I believe a house should be a home and should reflect a combination of beauty and function, any liveable place should look not only inviting and beautiful, but most importantly be cohesive.
3. How is our design and work different?
Interior design has historically been a costly, time-intensive method that involved collaborating with a Designer to envision, plan, and create a space that is not only aesthetically pleasing to the customer, but functional as well. ‘The Interior Designer’ is disrupting this method and bringing the designs straight to the client through their online boutique.
Offering a distinctive service of styling luxury home and furniture packages, ‘The Interior Designer’ is giving clients an opportunity to shop online at their unique designer boutique in their own time. Focusing on delivering the most lavish, high-end furnishings, for any home or office space.
‘The Interior Designer’ is leading the way with an innovative platform that connects the client directly to the luxurious pieces and delivery is directly to the clients’ door. For the latest in designs, colours and trends, head to our weekly Blog.
https://www.theinteriordesigner.com.au/blog/
It has been less than a year since I have turned my interest into interior design and launched my online boutique “The Interior Designer” I invite you to visit my website to get to know more about me and my business.
4. What is your advice to women who find it hard to handle failure and move on?
Whenever a woman is confronted with a failure situation she is bound to have feelings of self-doubt and at that time it is so important to have a couple of strong, independent women around you who you can look up to. They can inspire you how to become a strong woman yourself and approach life with confidence. Sometimes it just takes a little reminder that helps us to realize the incredible potential that lies within each of us. As a woman, not only do we provide the necessary essentials for life, but we also have the power to create life. Aside from that, women need to stay confident and during a hard phase be able to transform themselves from the current situation they find themselves in and leave all negativity behind. Do not allow others to decide about your life, but instead seize the power that lies within you.
Self-reflect on your inner self and your inherent qualities which you had in the first place and these are a true reflection of the person you are and this is the real YOU! When you fail, the situation changes, not you. So, try and stay strong with your full-on confidence and utilize the down time to re-energize from the lessons learned out of a bad situation. This is the “me” time to discover and be with yourself and do more things that make you happy – it could be a long walk, or spending more time with loved ones. If exercise is a good outlet then hit the gym or do yoga, some like me do a lot more cleaning when stressed, the key is finding what works best for you and always be realistic in your choices – you are the best judge of your own self, so discover yourself and come back stronger and wiser out of a bad situation. Remember to get a different result you have to do something different.
5. What is your advice to women who have a business idea but don’t know how and where to start?
I would encourage and recommend our women readers to assess their individual situation, research about the type of business they are getting into and ensure they are not only ready to take on the stressful and challenging world of entrepreneurship but also be able to strategize, know and understand their competition, be financially strong, allow to sustain for long term and have a good business plan in place.
The timing has to be right when they are planning to start up. If you want your business to be successful long term, please design your work with the rest of your life in mind. If you start that way, it will become your norm and you will know your parameters from the outset. My advice to all budding entrepreneurs is, “When you design your business and your life in a way that really works for you, working in the business and living in that life will be definitely more enjoyable”. Creating a business that reflects your authenticity is the very best way you can think of to be on your way to success.
I have enjoyed sharing my story about the things which matter to me and how they influence the way I do business. If you or someone you know could benefit from my expertise in interior design, I invite you to get in touch.
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