“There are times when I am not very enthusiastic about some things, but I work on it by discovering small ways to keep the level of excitement high. Despite the challenges, the show must go on!”
Payal Kapoor (Director, VISIONS)
Interior designing is not just about decorating the home in a modern way, it is about creating innovative, inspiring and elegant designs that give the place a unique twist that is a powerful expression of the client’s personality. Payal Kapoor is one such name in the interior designing industry, who is known for her artistic excellence in the architecture and interior designing sphere.
Entering the male-dominated industry without any godfather and godmother, Payal has come a long way. Keeping her head high, holding on to self-respect and being focused, Payal earned her name and respect in the industry.
Instead of getting discouraged from bad experiences, Payal masters the art of finding motivation in them. As Payal puts it, “Learning lessons from every bad experience meant that I educated myself to gauge the human mindset and reactions, learning to understand various personalities in my line of work,” says Payal.
ENTERING THE INTERIOR DESIGNING WORLD
Growing up in the National Capital, Payal studied interior design after her higher education. To shape her dreams into reality she took up a course in hospitality, hotel and commercial design. Her prolific journey in the interior designing world began by working with one of the leading design firms in Delhi, where Payal gained valuable experience and various nuances of designs. After this, she joined another firm where she gained experience in site-civil interiors and furniture making.
After gaining exuberant experience from working with these leading firms, Payal decided to lay the foundation of her own interior design firm, VISIONS in 1990.
The beginning was a little hard-hitting for Payal, as she did not have any industry connections. Payal recalls her initial days and says, “I admit, it was quite challenging in the beginning since I neither had connections, nor ideas on how to acquire projects as I did not have a background in business.”
Payal took up any small assignments and completed them with utmost dedication and hard work to meet the client’s expectations. And here she is, standing tall with her interior designing empire.
VISIONS BY PAYAL KAPOOR
VISIONS, a brand that Payal built on her own that focuses on designing a space with a unique mixture of modernism and traditional flavour, cannot go unnoticed. Payal began the process of institutionalisation of her Design Genius through VISIONS.
With her hard work and true passion for design, Payal set her foot strongly in the Interior design world. Her interior design firm VISIONS is renowned for delivering turnkey projects in a fast-paced environment. Payal’s sterling design portfolio includes luxury hotels, palaces, Chairman offices, trains, aircraft simulators and ships. Not just in India, Payal Kapoor has also worked on different projects in the USA and Europe.
With more than 30 years of experience in the interior design industry, Payal Kapoor is an exceptional interior designer. Her creativity, innovation and imagination and the way she portrays her thoughts in her every design are truly inspirational for every aspiring interior designer. At VISIONS, Payal works with a team of talented and skilful designers, whom she guides from time to time and brings them one step closer to perfection.
The firm offers a diverse range of interior designing services from making panel doors to quality furniture and many other turnkey projects. Some of the most famous projects whose interiors are designed by Payal Kapoor are:
- The Imperial Hotel, New Delhi
- The GD Goenka School, Vasant Kunj
- USI building for the President of India
- The Umaid Bhawan Palace, Jodhpur
- The Palace On Wheels
- PVR Mega Mall, Gurugram
Payal Kapoor did not want to limit herself to similar types of projects. She likes to challenge herself with more different and unique projects.
“I always wanted to experiment and take up challenging projects and after successfully conquering all hurdles, those were ‘aha!’ moments for me, as I also got much-deserved recognition,” affirms Payal proudly.
THE HIGHLIGHT OF THE GLORIOUS CAREER
Payal completed many significant and renowned projects in the journey of her design career, but Palace on Wheels was a momentous accomplishment for her. Payal iterates with pride, “Without a doubt, the Palace on Wheels luxury train project, converting it from a meter gauge to a broad gauge, was a significant turning point for me, despite being associated with previous multi-million projects.”
Across the country, Payal was selected to complete the interior work of the Palace on Wheels. That’s how the great and genius artist, Payal Kapoor is! Payal not only just finishes the project successfully but her design and imaginative brilliance puts India in a neck-to-neck position with The Royal Scotsman train and brings it from number 10 to the number 1 ranking.
Palace on Wheels received a great deal of press coverage for its interior and the decor that depicts the rich and diverse cultural history of India. It was probably the most challenging project for any interior designer but Payal Kapoor surely pull it off with her artistic magnificence.
HURDLES IN THE WAY
While leading the path to success everyone has to go through many challenges and hurdles. But the taste of success is even more pleasant when one makes its way through them. Payal emerged as a star in the interior design industry by fighting all the challenges like a true warrior.
It was not easy for a woman to make her place in a male-dominated profession. Dealing with labour, travelling long distances for work and undergoing severe criticism was extremely disheartening for Payal. She was in her twenties when she was facing all these challenges.
“Sometimes, clients were extremely unprofessional and never made payments on time and some would get the work completed, but never paid, in spite of a formal contract,” says Payal recalling her struggling days.
Payal handled all these situations with a positive approach and learned to deal with various mindsets and personalities. Successfully conquering all the hurdles, Payal earned much-deserved recognition and appreciation for her genius work.
SOURCE OF INSPIRATION
Payal gets her motivation by working on various kind of turnkey projects that breaks the monotony and brings excitement. Payal is highly passionate about her work which gets clearly reflected in her art.
In life, Payal admires those people who are humble, generous and down to earth. Learning many things while working at the Umaid Bhawan Palace, Payal highly regards Maharaja Gaj Singhji, Maharani Sahiba, Thakur Raju Singhji and the entire Royal family of Jodhpur. Also, the way Mr Ratan Tata conducts himself is highly inspirational for Payal.
Payal says, “The people I admire the most are the ones who have the character of humility amidst the fame, money and luxuries as well as the people who give back to society and are willing to lend a helping hand to others.”
DEFINING SUCCESS
Success has no one particular definition. It is subjective and varies from person to person. For Payal, success means “Having a name, fame, recognition and added appreciation for the work done. To have made it in the industry without anyone to endorse me has been my mark of success.”
Payal has a firm belief in keep going no matter what. She thinks that a person has to keep going despite the hurdles in the way.
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