As the corporate world is gradually getting accustomed to the dominance of feminine talent, very few personas stand apart in the industry by completely defying the relevance of gender in achieving someone’s goal. These women through their talent and dedication revealed to the world that success doesn’t inquire about individuality but only hard work, passion, and perseverance. One such name is Dhara Tank Patel, who is celebrated for her finest design services through her firm Saar Interior Design. Founded by Dhara Tank Patel and Hiren Patel cooperatively in 2014, Saar Interior Design is dedicated to creating spaces that provide elevating experience, inspiring both minds and lives.

A fashion graduate from NIFT, Gandhinagar, Dhara Tank Patel now enjoys her position as Co-founder and Interior designer at Saar Interior Design owing to her varied experiences in the field of design, craft & design education since 2005. With Women Entrepreneur, she took a walk down the memory lane illuminating various ups and downs in her professional expedition.

1. Tell Us About Your Journey So Far. What Encouraged You To Wear The Entrepreneur Hat?

A.Back in my college days, I studied various design subjects that were offered related to art, architecture and design history, human anatomy, crafts, textiles, graphics, and materials. Post my graduation, I worked in the fashion industry in my initial years. I not only gathered varied experience in my association with fashion brands, boutique and design houses but I also got to work as a design expert with craftsmen of various craft clusters. I always aspired to come up with a design practice, doing projects that are contextual and rooted to our culture yet are also contemporary and innovative.

When I met Hiren in 2011, he was already into designing spaces. I felt our thoughts resonated quite well and that reconfirmed my leanings towards architecture and design. And so, we together conceived Saar Interior Design in 2014.

2. Tell Us About The Services Offered By Saar Interior Design And How You Uniquely Run The Functions At The Company?

A. Saar Interior Design is a Vadodara based design consultation firm for an end to end design needs; offering a tailored approach to a wide variety of residential, commercial & retail, corporate, hospitality and institutional interior design projects. Today, in the office, my involvement has been at every important stage of the project including concept design, design development, onsite execution, procurement visits, styling and many more. A few of my creative responsibilities also include understanding of client’s needs and converting them into design solutions, study of trends, to interpret, design and recommend solutions through selection of finishes and materials in order to address a certain design context.

"Saar interior design is a vadodara based design consultation firm for an end to end design needs; offering a tailored approach to a wide variety of residential, commercial & retail, corporate, hospitality and institutional interior design projects"

3. What Is Your View About The Current Market Landscape Of The Interior Design Sector Of India And Where Is Saar Interior Design Positioned?

A.Currently, interior design industry has been going through technological revolution like never before. In such times of future, an online application will be used by a lot as an option to in-person design consultancy. As interior design professionals, we believe there will be a whole new segment of clients who will look further for innovation and distinctiveness and prefer custom-built items as per their taste. A promising design house that caters diverse spatial experiences, Saar Interior Design has built up a dependable image in the industry since its inception. Our design studio and projects have been showcased on various interior design platforms.

4. Tell Us About The Procedure You Adopt While Working On A Project. Could You Highlight About The Recent And Upcoming Projects That You Have Under Your Belt?

A.We have adopted to an intense design process which constantly address queries arising at each step as our design evolves. This requires personal involvement in a religious manner. Ever since the launch of Saar Interior Design, we have enjoyed our late brainstorming hours at the studio as well as onsite interaction with the carpenters, stoneworkers, fabricators, artists and craftspeople. Our initial inperson conversations with clients and site visits formulate almost the entire design context for us which relates to the client’s needs and lifestyle as well. We recently completed a villa at Vadodara which was an end-to-end project designed in a simple yet luxurious style. Along with a few other projects, we are currently working on an educational space coming up in Nadiad.

5. Tell Us About Your Plans For The Future.

A.We wish to make more and more sustainable spaces in the coming times. Secondly, these times of pandemic has made us introspect like many other creatives. As we always have been doing, we will continue co-creating with local artisans and significantly including regional crafts into spaces. A whole tribe of designers in our country is working towards translating our age-old craft knowledge into many commercially viable options and that is where we see Saar Interior Design heading.

Dhara Tank Patel, Founder, Saar Interior Design

Graduated from NIFT, Gandhinagar, Dhara has varied experiences in the field of design, craft and design education since 2005. Understanding client’s needs and converting them into design solutions comes naturally to her. Her creative strengths are play of surfaces, colors and proportions. When not at work, she loves to paint, travel, meet people and spend time with family.