In the 1960s, our father and uncles started their businesses in the building and renovation industries. Inspired by their hard work and entrepreneurial spirit, we decided to take our first steps into the renovation industry in March of 2016.
Over the next few years, we kept our heads down, learned the ropes in interior design and renovation management, and served 100s of clients.
It may sound all rosy, but there were many times we felt so disheartened we almost gave up.
What frustrated us most was the general bad rep in the interior design and renovation industry. There were plenty of stories of homeowners scammed by the contractors who disappeared after collecting the initial deposit. Some were lured by cheap renovation packages that promised a lot but ended up with lots of hidden costs.
In the industry, there was a severe lack of technology use. The world has progressed so much in technology, but renovation project management remained largely pen-and-paper.
Throughout the journey of designing and renovating a home, there's often no transparency about the processes and low visibility of the project progress.
We thought to ourselves, "There must be a better way to serve our clients." We wanted to do things right and decided to come together to re-imagine the ideal experience.
In 2019, after countless discussion sessions and lots of coffee, Interiio was born! We assembled a team to embark on a journey to build a different design and renovation experience — the Interiio Experience.
Mission
A better space is a better life.
We spend a large proportion of our time living and working in our homes and workplaces. But we often neglect these spaces and don't spend enough time and effort to enhance them.
We believe that a well-designed space, when built with quality, will have a lasting impact on our daily lives.
Description
Good design is more than looking nice.
Humans are visual creatures, and we are naturally attracted to beautiful things and images. But design goes way beyond just the aesthetics.
Good design should tell a unique story about the people using the space. Good design should utilize space efficiently and ergonomically. Good design should balance the aesthetic to the practicality.
These are just a few of the many aspects we look at when designing and renovating a space.
Clients come first, not sales revenues.
Statistics from the Consumers Association of Singapore (CASE) showed that the number of complaints every year consistently hovered above 1000. Given the relative lack of regulations and the cut-throat nature of the industry, designers are tempted to prioritise sales profit over the needs of their clients.
We believe that is not only regrettable but wrong. At Interiio, the needs of the clients come first. We'd rather make a smaller profit on a project than cut corners or mislead clients.
Happy employees lead to happy clients.
These days, interior designers are over-worked and under-supported. Other than actual design work, many bosses expect them to handle everything from sales to accounts. Their job scope includes finding clients, drafting proposals, calculating costs, planning material supplies, managing timelines, handling subcontractors, photo-taking, invoicing, and payment collection.
We believe that we can use technology to help with the heavy lifting of these logistics. Designers should focus on applying their creativity to enhance the clients’ experience.
Our philosophy is simple. When we support our designers, we will have happy employees. And when we have happy employees, we will have happy clients.