Balance, harmony, attention to detail and a keen sense of aesthetics are the ingredients that, when masterfully combined, contribute to the beauty of our homes.
Achieving this chemistry isn’t easy, especially when one wants a result that perfectly matches one’s desires, tastes and needs. To avoid leaving anything to chance, it’s often better to lean on professionals during the crucial phase of building or renovating a home.
Rajani, who has been in Melbourne for almost ten years, is the founder and director of ERDesign, a prestigious interior design studio specialising in the design and construction of living spaces for every taste and need.
“Interior design is structured on several levels,” Rajani told us during an interview. “From furniture to lighting to interior accessories, the choice of fixtures for bathrooms, the selection of appliances for kitchens and all the finishes like the furniture, walls, doors and floors of every interior space in the house.
“I’m in charge of putting all these individual elements together in a way that creates a pleasant and functional environment.”
“Functionality, creativity, art and beauty are fundamental to the success of a project, in the sense that beauty without functionality has no purpose, and functionality without beauty doesn’t interest me,” she continued.
“Of course,” adds the Roman designer, “there is the technique to understand functionality and how to apply it but, in my opinion, as far as beauty and art are concerned, there is the need to have style.
“I’m not saying that you’re born with style, however you have to get your eye used to finding beauty and balance between tones, colours and shapes in the same space. The result of a good design cannot disregard beauty or functionality; it must have both.”
What led Rajani to create and run her own company was a journey of training in different countries within multiple professional and academic environments.
“It’s a very personal detail,” she began, “When I was a child I had the good fortune to grow up in Rome inside a particularly important house in the history of Italian architecture, Casa Baldi, designed by the famous architect Paolo Portoghesi, one of the main exponents of postmodernism in Italy.
“Casa Baldi,” Rajani continued earnestly, “is a very special place, with its curves and the tufa brick [typical] of the [neighbourhood]. [It was] a house designed by Portoghesi at the request of a film director and producer, Gian Vittorio Baldi, and later purchased by my family.”
It was a natural inspiration for Rajani, who from an early age began “to often change the distribution of furniture in the apartment”.
“So, it was natural for me to enrol in the Architecture and Interior Design degree at La Sapienza University in Rome.”
Rajani then added to her qualifications with a master’s degree in Industrial Design at the Milan Polytechnic, which allowed her “to have the knowledge of both the architecture of houses and the production of furniture, which allows me to fully embrace all aspects of interior design”.
The Roman designer began her climb with an internship at a major furniture store in the historic centre of Rome, where she “saw and touched a whole series of iconic furnishings by the great masters, fully appreciating the quality of Made in Italy”.
After Rome, Rajani kicked off her experience abroad, starting in London where she joined an architectural firm in Chelsea. Four years of the grey London climate were enough for Rajani who, in 2015, decided to move to Melbourne. “Despite what you might think, the climate is definitely better than London,” she said. “Here, I started my career at MGS studio, where I met Elisabetta Giannini, a great architect, woman and professional guide.”
Rajani’s professional journey then continued with ‘mckimm’ studio before pursuing projects as a freelancer, succumbing to both the highs and lows of going solo.
“I’m still excited, proud and honoured when I remember a great achievement in Australia, winning the 2019 [award for] best kitchen design of the year,” Rajani shared.
“The prize, a trip to Milan that was skipped because of Covid, later became a cash prize. It was the best investment, giving me another incentive to focus all of my energy on my new ERDesign studio.”
The studio has seen Rajani engaged in several projects, all of them important since “in every project there is love”.
“I love to draw, to design, in order to bring my ideas to life, but most of all [to bring to life] the dreams of my clients,” she explained.
The design industry has complexities and challenges including, as Rajani points out, that of timeframes. With the well-known difficulties of late regarding the world of logistics, Rajani is “transparent with my clients with respect to delivery times”.
Rajani believes a designer’s relationship with the client is to be a supportive, caring and sensitive one.
“I guide the client, but I don’t impose my taste,” she clarified. “I listen and take note of the lifestyle, it’s always a balancing act.
“There are those who are happy to give me carte blanche because they’re not certain on what they want in terms of design, and then there are others who like to be more involved.
“They send me photos, they send me inspirations, and we start from that.”
During the first meeting, Rajani and the client start with the concept, then if things are going in the right direction, they can start with the design.
They start by discussing the functionality of the various spaces in the house and “secondly we discuss the finishes”.
“It’s also my job,” Rajani explained, “to accompany the client during visits to showrooms to choose the individual elements that will make up the interiors, right up to the selection of furniture.
“[On this point, obviously] Made in Italy for me is always the first choice if there’s the possibility of importing products from Italy, always taking into account [the client’s] budget and timing.”
“[The good thing] is that through my direct contacts in Italy, I can import products that are not yet available in Australia and are therefore more unique,” the Roman designer pointed out.
“I also introduce innovative products and new technologies [to clients], such as the new Invisacook cooktop that’s installed under the countertop and is therefore invisible, presented at the Salone del Mobile 2022 by Boffi, and now imported by a dear colleague, Fabio Biavaschi, who is involved in two of my current renovation projects.”
During the latest edition of the Salone del Mobile, which kicked off on April 16, Rajani was in Milan for one of the most important international design industry events. “[It’s] a great opportunity to keep up to date through product launches and to select furniture and decorative objects among the new products released by the biggest design companies.”
