Bharat Patel
Founder, Aaditya Interior
Bharat is the founder of Aaditya Interior and leads client relationships, space planning and site execution across 180+ active projects.
Blog
Design notes.
Thoughts on homes, materials, detailing and craft – written by the people who design your spaces.
Latest Articles
From the partners' desk
History of Design
History of the Modern Kitchen: The Frankfurt Kitchen Explained
The Frankfurt Kitchen, designed in 1926 by the Austrian architect Margarete Schütte-Lihotzky for social housing in Frankfurt, was a compact galley of about 1.9 × 3.4 m in which every step, shelf and drawer was planned around the work of cooking. It is the direct ancestor of today's fitted and modular kitchens — including the parallel kitchens in most Indian flats.
Afrin Mirza · 15 Oct 2026 · 25 min read
Future of Design
Colour Trends 2027 for Indian Homes
Going into 2027, colour in Indian homes is moving further from cool greys towards warm whites, earth reds, olive and moss greens, ink blues and browns — used in tonal schemes, two-tone walls and colour-drenched rooms rather than single accent walls. The direction works in Indian light only when it is matched to the room's orientation, its light reflectance and warm, high-CRI lighting.
Afrin Mirza · 15 Oct 2026 · 24 min read
Architecture & Planning
Building Permission and Plan Approval in India
In India a building plan must be approved by the local authority — a municipal corporation, development authority or panchayat — before work starts, and the building must be certified complete before anyone uses it. The approval checks the land title, the land use, FSI, ground coverage, setbacks, height, parking and safety, and the drawings must be prepared and signed by a registered architect or licensed engineer.
Bharat Patel · 15 Oct 2026 · 30 min read
Cost Guides
Showroom Interior Cost Guide
Indicatively in October 2026, a showroom interior in India costs about ₹900–1,400 per sq ft of carpet area basic, ₹1,400–2,200 mid-range and ₹2,200–3,500+ premium, with jewellery showrooms at about ₹1,800–6,000+. Air-conditioning, facade glazing, signage, security and 18 % GST usually sit outside that rate and can add 30–80 per cent to the interior figure.
Bharat Patel · 15 Oct 2026 · 24 min read
Heights & Depths
Shower Area Size and Niche Dimensions
A shower should be no smaller than about 900 × 900 mm; 1000 × 1000 or 900 × 1200 mm is comfortable and a doorless walk-in needs about 900 × 1500 mm or more. A wall niche works at about 300–600 mm wide, 300–400 mm high and 75–100 mm deep, with its base around 1000–1100 mm above the floor, sloped towards the shower and fully waterproofed.
Bharat Patel · 15 Oct 2026 · 29 min read
Materials & Finishes
Glass Types in Interiors: Clear, Frosted, Fluted and Back-Painted
Clear glass shares light and view, frosted glass shares light but hides the view, fluted glass blurs it into vertical stripes, and back-painted glass is an opaque, wipe-clean colour panel. Whatever the look, glass in doors, partitions, showers and low-level panels should be toughened or laminated safety glass, typically 8–12 mm for partitions, at about ₹450–1,400 per sq ft installed depending on type and frame (indicative October 2026).
Afrin Mirza · 15 Oct 2026 · 27 min read
Commercial & Hospitality
Food Court Design
A food court works when counters, seating and service are planned as one system: counters of about 200–600 sq ft with 4.5–7.5 m frontage and a 1.5–3 m queue zone, shared seating at about 1.1–1.4 m² per seat with 1200 mm main aisles, a tray-return and wash-up point, and a back-of-house corridor for goods and waste. Exhaust, gas and fire systems must be designed by qualified engineers under NBC 2016 and the landlord's rules.
Bharat Patel · 15 Oct 2026 · 27 min read
Room Ideas
Dressing Table Design Ideas
The best dressing table is the one that fits the room's leftover space without blocking a door, a wardrobe shutter or the walk-around beside the bed — a 300–450 mm deep wall-hung shelf in small rooms, a niche inside the wardrobe in compact flats, and a full seated dresser of 900–1200 mm only where a 1500 mm clear zone exists. Light the mirror from both sides at face height and the idea works; skip that and even an expensive dresser disappoints.
Afrin Mirza · 15 Oct 2026 · 32 min read
Commercial & Hospitality
Rooftop Restaurant Design: Structure, Safety, Layout and Cost
A rooftop restaurant is a normal restaurant placed on the most difficult floor of a building: the roof must be checked for a dining load roughly two to three times what a terrace is usually designed for, waterproofed before anything is built on it, given two safe exits and a fire NOC, and edged with railings of 1100–1200 mm. Interior fit-out still runs about ₹900–3,500+ per sq ft, but rooftop extras for structure, waterproofing, railings and shade often add ₹300–900 per sq ft on top.
Bharat Patel · 15 Oct 2026 · 34 min read
Future of Design
Kinetic Facades and Responsive Architecture
A kinetic facade is a building skin that moves — louvres that rotate, panels that slide or fold, screens that open and close — to respond to sun, heat, wind, daylight or people. In India it makes most sense on east and west glass of offices, hotels and institutions, where it can block low sun while keeping daylight and view; but it costs several times fixed shading and needs a controls, maintenance and wind-safety plan from day one.
Bharat Patel · 15 Oct 2026 · 26 min read
History of Design
History of the Sofa: From Ottoman Divans to Modular Sectionals
The sofa began as a raised, cushioned platform along the walls of Middle Eastern and Ottoman rooms — the word comes from the Arabic suffa — and reached Europe as the daybed, canapé and settee, gaining springs and deep buttoning in the nineteenth century. Modernism slimmed it, foam made it light, and the modular sectional turned it into a kit that today's Indian living rooms can reconfigure.
Afrin Mirza · 15 Oct 2026 · 26 min read
Design Styles
Earthy Interior Design: Terracotta, Clay and Sand Tones
An earthy interior uses the colours and materials of soil — sand and clay for the base, terracotta and ochre for warmth, umber for depth — in roughly a 60/30/10 split, with matt, textured surfaces and warm 2700–3000 K light. In India it works best with a light sand base (LRV around 55–70), one terracotta or clay feature surface per room and breathable finishes such as limewash at about ₹40–150+ per sq ft.
Afrin Mirza · 15 Oct 2026 · 23 min read
The People
Meet the partners
Afrin Mirza
Co-founder, Aaditya Interior
Afrin is the co-founder of Aaditya Interior, leading the design studio – materials, colour, detailing and finishing – along with the office and design team at Katargam, Surat.