RANA ABDILMAJEED is a rising star interior designer with a passion for making people’s dreams come true. As a fresh graduate from Michigan State University, she is looking forward to all the life experiences of the field embarking on her journey as an interior designer.
In a conversation with the Arab Times, Rana spoke about what it takes to be an interior designer and how important the profession is in Kuwait. According to her, being an interior designer is not as easy as it seems as a lot of time and effort is put into the work and you are always under pressure.
“That is the beauty of interior design; it is fun but also stressful. If you don’t have the patience, you are going to go crazy but you have to look at it as a passion and, as I said, satisfactions come in the end, when you see the outcome of your work and the smile on your clients’ faces,” said Rana.
That is not all. Tapping into her creative spirit, Rana embarked on a new small venture “Belami Designs”, a branded retail business that specializes in Designers’ handworks starting its launch in Pearls. It is something, Rana says, that will bring something original and creative to the Kuwaiti fashion market.
Read on to learn more about Belami Designs and what it takes to be an interior designer...

Q: Can you tell me about Belami Designs?
A: Belami Designs is a new brand born by innovative spirits and creative minds of finest Artists, bringing in selective upscale designs, handiwork and originality; something that provides a unique identity to the person. We basically design exclusives not out in the market yet. It is something for the young spirits, the new generation of people.
At the launch we are introducing a limited edition of Necklace Collection finished in freshwater Pearls and semi-precious Gemstones, exclusively designed and shaped in unique and fashionable form.
Our pearl designs can currently be viewed on FaceBook page entitled ‘Belami Designs’, while studying the different options for a physical location.. The necklaces available now are readymade pearl designs but we also work on custom made designs.
Customers can come to us with an idea and they can sit and brainstorm comfortably. As an interior designer, I have sketching abilities and art inspirations so I am going be the one who sketches their designs for them. We are collaborating at the moment with a Lebanese designer.

Q: What are the inspirations behind your pearl designs?
A: Pearls in general are very much popular in the latest fashion world at the moment. It’s kind of blending together old-fashion styles with contemporary styles.
So for Belami Designs, one of the main things we do is keep up with the main fashion trends since it is very important, especially in a country like Kuwait. So the pearls in general are authentic and genuine pearls and it could include gemstones with them.
As for the designs themselves, they vary according to taste. We have the classical design; we have the more oriental design as well as contemporary designs that cater to the young generation. We try to broaden our designs to cater to all age groups and personalities. We are leaning towards the young generation but we are also targeting the upper-class with their high quality and standards.

Q: What kind of creativity does the Kuwaiti market prefer and how in-tune with fashion are they?
A: As I said, the main reason we are introducing pearls at the moment is because it is fashionable. Kuwait is all about upscale trends, what is new all around the world can always be found here in the market. If you notice, people are always updating their fashion sense - when the BlackBerry was ‘in’, everyone had the BlackBerry, when a new blouse is ‘in’, everyone has that blouse.
So Kuwaitis are very much in-tune with the fashion world. they care about representation; how to icon themselves in public.

Q: So does creativity factor into the fashion market, or is it only about what the ‘in thing’ is and what is not?
A: Creativity does factor into it greatly. For example, pearls are the new jewelry fashion and everyone wants to adapt that. Creativity plays a role in choosing the most unique designs - which person has a better quality, a better design, something that nobody else has?
They are trying to reach out and adapt the fashion trend into something unique especially for them. I am in the new fashion industry, and at the same time, I want to stand out more than the others, so I want to find the exclusive products.

Q: You studied interior design and of course that included subjects about beauty and what makes objects beautiful to people. Beauty is considered to be subjective and what makes something beautiful to someone may not necessarily make it beautiful to someone else. However, what are the common factors that make objects and designs beautiful to individuals?
A: Well let me start telling you about interior design in general. Interior design combines both aesthetics and functionality. So it is not only about beauty.
Beauty is very important but what’s behind it is functionality. As an interior designer, when I am involved in an engagement, what I would be doing for people is making sure the space that I am designing for them is utmost efficient and functional to my clients.

In terms of aesthetics, I will be trying to reflect the personalities of my clients in the work. I will not only be asking them questions about what they want and what they don’t want, but I will also be assessing their personalities to get a full picture about how they are.
It is important to reflect the person’s personality throughout the design. If we are talking about a residential place, people are going to be living in that space, so it is important they are fully comfortable. In terms of commercial places, they are not going to be as personalized to the individuals but to the companies themselves and therefore the design has to reflect the company’s theme.
So I guess to answer your question about beauty and aesthetics, what makes a space or object beautiful is reflecting the person or the theme behind their ideas. I mean, I can tell you what is beautiful to me right now, but it may not be beautiful to you, so my job is to reflect the personality of the customer using my knowledge and skills that actually make the final product a reality.

Q: So do you use these methods as well when designing jewelry for your customers?
A: Yes, absolutely. You have to assess the person. If you come to me and want to design something of your own, I am going to have a conversation with you, study you and brainstorm with you if you are unsure. If you are completely sure of what you want, then I will do exactly what you want. If you want to brainstorm with me, my task would be to give you my insight on what I think would be appropriate for you.
This method works for all arts and design, however for interior design functionality is the most important. It is the “number one” reason why people hire interior designers.
We study everything - space requirements, accessibility (if the client is an elderly person) and codes. Aesthetics is another factor and the two aspects, functionality and aesthetics, tie in together.
In terms of jewelry design, functionality plays a role only when I am assessing the person and getting to know what her lifestyle is. However, aesthetics is the most important factor.

Q: How relevant is interior design in Kuwait?
A: Kuwaitis, care about fashionable standards and everything that represents them and always wanting to stand out. So interior design is part of it.
In residential terms, Kuwaitis like to acquire what is new in interior designs. If they want to be more creative, they hire an interior designer to reflect their ideas and make sure everything is up to high standards. It is important for them the name and reputation.
In commercial terms, they are trying to be more innovative and make Kuwait part of the international business arena.

Q: What does it take to become an interior designer and what made you choose the field?
A: Well I have always loved interior design, ever since I was a little girl. I was a lot into art and had participated in some Art events through my school “The British School of Kuwait”, I loved painting and drawing. It is a part of me and a way of expressing myself. I was inspired by the interiors whenever I am with my parent at furniture stores and was mesmerized by the different furniture pieces; it was so much fun for me there than in play areas.
So I always knew I would end up in the field of art. I was very lucky to study interior design because it is all about helping the other person as well which is also what I love to do.
With interior design you have the opportunity to be creative and use your talent as an artist but at the same time you also need to think in terms of helping people. Your number one mission is to help people out; you are not there for yourself.
I have to forget about what I like and what I want and focus on the other person completely because it is not me that is going to be using that space, it’s them. My role is to provide my knowledge and share my creativity, it is not about what I like or don’t like. I will give my insights on what is best for my client, but not in terms of my personal taste.
For me personally, I always love to be in that atmosphere of helping people and making sure they are happy. It is a personal satisfaction to see that I have accomplished that for people and made their dreams come true, made their ideas become a reality.
I studied interior design for four years and a half in Michigan State University. To tell you honestly, I thought it would be easier than it turned out to be. It is actually a very tough profession. It’s all about accomplishing projects and studying codes of functionality such as space requirements. You have to know how much space is allowed between a sofa and a TV set, what is the minimum space allowed for a hallway, door and window and so on.

All of these you have to study and learn really well. Every country has a certain code as well. Because I studied in the US, they have a much stricter code system. Every single space has its own code.
Kuwait does have a code system as well but I think Kuwait is more flexible in that regard. You are talking about safety, for example you can’t use wallpaper in a fire rated building because if the wallpaper doesn’t pass the fire ratings then it will catch fire. Safety is the number one code you have to consider, from my perspective.
You have to make sure that everything is thought out for your client, not only aesthetics. That’s why people get confused when it comes down to interior design; they think it’s all about beauty and aesthetics. The number one aspect is functionality in terms of comfort, layout and safety.

Q: What types of projects have you worked on so far?
A: As a fresh graduate, I would say that the most relevant projects were done through my studies. Michigan State has a very strong interior design program. As I said, it is very tough and you have to dedicate _ of your time to do really well. You are always under pressure.
Fortunately we had to work on real projects, not only create them ourselves. One of our projects was to work on an existing place in our university that was abandoned, aesthetically not pleasing and functionally does not work well. It was our responsibility to renovate it. We studied our clients, who were teachers and students, and assessed their needs, then took off from there.
My senior thesis project was an existing historically preserved hotel. It was there for over 100 years and was over 20,000 square feet. My task was to re-design it and, as a historically preserved hotel, there was a completely different code chapter to it. It was a really fun project but we had to design it in a matter of two months so it was very stressful.

That is the beauty of interior design; it is fun but also stressful. If you don’t have the patience, you are going to go crazy but you have to look at it as a passion and, as I said, satisfactions come in the end, when you see the outcome of your work and the smile on your clients’ faces.
So I worked on different projects and last year I had an internship with Kuwait Engineering Office in the free-trade zone. It is an international consultancy firm that consists of engineering, architectural and interior design departments that all work together to fulfill projects.
I had a great experience working there and got to know how the system works in the business world. In school, you have projects but they are usually individual projects. However, in the workplace you have to communicate with civil engineers, electricians, architectures - a whole team of people. Communication is a very important aspect of interior design.
I hope to increase my knowledge and improve my skills in the next few years.