THE JOURNAL
From the Studio — page 40
Local Guides
Diagnosing Seepage in Salt Lake Flats: When It's Your Wall and When It's Your Neighbour's
A damp patch on your bedroom wall in a Salt Lake flat is often not your problem to fix alone, tracing it correctly across ownership lines saves months of repainting the wrong surface.
Local Guides
Converting a Spare Room in Your Salt Lake Flat Into a Client-Facing Home Office
We map the specific brief Salt Lake consultants, doctors and CAs bring us: a spare room that reads professional to a visiting client, not just a desk in the corner.
Practical Guides & Ideas
Staircase Material Choices for Damp Old-Kolkata Heritage Homes
Rising damp in a century-old North Kolkata staircase rules out standard tile adhesive before you even pick a finish. Here is the material sequence that actually holds.
Cost Guides
Glass vs MS Staircase Railing Cost for a Duplex in Kolkata
We compare toughened glass and mild steel staircase railing costs per running foot for a Kolkata duplex, with real fabrication and fitting numbers.
Decision Guides
Working With an Interior Designer as an NRI Who Owns a New Town Flat
A practical guide for NRIs who own a New Town flat: what makes remote interior projects fail, how NKDA rules and local knowledge protect you, and why Studio Contour's 330+ project track record matters.
Local Guides
What to Inspect Before Buying an Older House in Salt Lake's CB, CE and CD Blocks
Before you sign for an older CB, CE or CD block house, here is exactly what our team checks on site and what we ask a structural engineer to verify in writing.
Local Guides
Retrofitting Car Parking Into Older Salt Lake Homes Not Designed for Two-Car Families
Adding a second car space to a 1970s or 80s Salt Lake house means working around setback rules built for one car, and we walk through what is realistically possible.
Local Guides
Fixing Poor Natural Light in Salt Lake's Narrow-Lane Ground and First Floor Flats
Blocked light in a Salt Lake ground or first floor flat is a design problem with real fixes, from light wells to reflective finishes, and we walk through what actually works.
Local Guides
Top-Floor Salt Lake Flats with Terrace Access: Heat, Waterproofing and Design Opportunities
How we handle roof heat gain, mandatory waterproofing and private terrace design for the top-floor flats common in Salt Lake's older low-rise blocks.
Practical Guides & Ideas
Layout Ideas for a 1000 Sq Ft Flat Facing Eco Park
A 1000 sq ft flat facing Eco Park has one advantage most New Town units do not, an actual view, and the layout should be built around keeping it.
Building Guidelines
Does the Kolkata Airport Funnel Zone Restrict Building Height on Any New Town Plots?
We explain which stretches of New Town fall inside the AAI funnel zone and when that clearance, not FAR, ends up setting your actual sanctioned height.
Room Guides
Brutalist-Inspired Staircase Design Ideas for a New Town Duplex
We detail exposed concrete staircases with minimal balustrades for New Town duplexes, a raw brutalist statement that is now one of our most requested features.
Room Guides
Mid-Century Modern Dining Room Ideas for a South Kolkata Flat
We bring restored teak silhouettes and brass accents into a 1960s inspired mid century dining room built for a renovated South Kolkata flat.
Local Guides
Enclosing a Balcony in Your Salt Lake Flat: What BMC Permits and What Counts as Unauthorized Construction
We break down exactly where Salt Lake balcony grilling ends and unauthorized construction begins, and why getting this wrong can quietly cost you at resale.
Local Guides
Can You Relocate the Kitchen in a Salt Lake Cooperative Flat? Plumbing, Gas Line and Society Rules
A straight answer on whether a Salt Lake cooperative flat's kitchen can actually move, once shared plumbing stacks, gas routing and society approval are accounted for.
Local Guides
Applying Vastu Principles to a Salt Lake Flat You Can't Structurally Change
Our approach to vastu corrections in Salt Lake's fixed-layout cooperative flats, using furniture, colour and non-structural fixes instead of walls you cannot move.
Local Guides
Designing Salt Lake Flats for Three Generations Under One Roof
We look at how Salt Lake families are reworking decades-old flats to fit grown children, their own kids and ageing parents, without adding a single square foot.
Room Guides
Scandinavian-Style Kids Bedroom Ideas for a Rajarhat Apartment
We design light wood, pastel and white Scandinavian kids bedrooms for Rajarhat apartments with storage that scales as the child grows older.
Decision Guides
Hiring a Designer Against a Wedding Deadline in Salt Lake
Wedding date fixed, flat not ready? Here's an honest breakdown of what an 8-12 week Salt Lake renovation actually takes, and why Studio Contour's 330+ project track record gets it done on time.
Cost Guides
Low Budget, High Expectations: What Hiring a Firm in Salt Lake Actually Trades Off
A low budget interior firm in Salt Lake always trades off something. Studio Contour breaks down exactly what, with 330+ buildings and 12 years of Bidhannagar know-how behind the honest answer.
Seasonal & Trending
Kitchen Ventilation Fixes for Pitha-Making Season Around Makar Sankranti
Steaming, frying, and grating pitha all day around Poush Sankranti exposes kitchen ventilation gaps that stay hidden the other 350 days of the year, and here is how we fix them.
Commercial & Workplace
500 Sq Ft Real Estate Sales Office Reception Design in Rajarhat
A 500 sq ft real estate sales office in Rajarhat has to show a scale model to a crowd and close a deal in private, often within the same working hour.
Local Guides
Designing a Salt Lake Home for Retirement: Why Staying Beats Downsizing to New Town
We walk through why renovating a Salt Lake flat for retirement, with step-free access and hospital proximity, usually beats a fresh New Town move.
Local Guides
What Daily Life Actually Feels Like in Salt Lake: Markets, Clubs and Established Social Infrastructure
We walk through what makes Salt Lake's daily rhythm different, the markets, the clubs, the decades-old neighbourly ties, and why that maturity should shape how you design your home.