PURPOSEFUL PRODUCTIVITY

Live More, Do More

by Portfolio Magazine
16 Jan 2023

As the role of the home evolves, the attitude of the modern homeowner changes along with it – especially when it comes to construction and renovations.

Today, more than ever, new homeowners are investing money, energy, and precious time into building the home of their dreams, which requires a constant juggling act, dividing time between work, family, and personal pursuits.

Enter Livspace – Asia’s largest and fastest-growing omni-channel home interiors and renovation platform, which uses a proprietary technology that provides a one-stop renovation solution for homeowners. The Livspace platform has organized a fragmented industry and brings together designers, brands, manufacturers, and contractors. This solution not only makes the process of putting together a home less stressful, it does wonders for productivity as well. Walking us through why Livspace is the best tool for today’s homeowner is Srikanth M.V.S., Assistant Vice President, Category, Operations and Design, Livspace Singapore.

What is Livspace’s vision and mission?
It all started when Anuj Srivastava and Ramakant Sharma, college friends (and now, Livspace founders), set upon their journeys to make their dream homes. It didn’t take them long to realize how fragmented the industry was – and how factors like identifying the right professionals, coordination of tasks, and ensuring a fair price and quality were pain points faced by many. Determined to fix this and offer a happier experience to homeowners, they built a much needed bridge for the industry.

In a category where the market is largely unorganized, Livspace is taking the lead role in organizing this sector and aims to provide best experiences in home renovations. Livspace has created the industry’s first end-to-end platform – Canvas – which brings together homeowners, design professionals, vendors, and brands to create a standardized customer experience. The company currently has operations in over 40 cities in India and has presence in Singapore, Malaysia, and Saudi Arabia.


(Related: Work Smart Strategies)

Livspace at East Coast

What kind of solutions do Livspace clients look for?
Livspace clients are predominantly new homeowners looking to renovate their homes, who want a fuss-free renovation experience and their projects completed on schedule.

With Livspace’s Canvas platform, homeowners can manage the end-to-end home renovation process under one roof. The Canvas platform can be used throughout the home renovation process to liaise with contractors and IDs to alleviate the mental burden of planning and coordination. The fulfilment processes are transparent, and include over 215 quality checks on materials and a 3-step quality check process on contractors.

All work is pegged to one budget set by the homeowner at the beginning of the project with no overruns or hidden costs, unless additional work is requested by the homeowner themself. The workflow adheres to a pre-set timeline, with progress updates provided at intervals, and all projects come with a 5-year warranty on private label kitchens and wardrobes, and a 2-year warranty on the rest of the project scope.

When it comes to productivity and getting things done, especially in matters of the home, what are the concerns that your clients typically bring up?
In terms of productivity, the most common concern that clients typically bring up are around the ease of working in the kitchen. Homeowners want a kitchen which is a perfect blend of form and functionality, but are also totally dependent on the designer's knowledge and capability to use the right materials, hardware, accessories, and configuration to design a kitchen that is aesthetically pleasing and also functionally efficient.

Livspace at Balestier

What kind of tools do the various Livspace Experience Centres feature, which help in the whole process of putting together a home smartly and efficiently?
All four Livspace Experience Centres in Singapore (Oxley Bizhub, Suntec City, Balestier, and East Coast) serve as physical touchpoints for homeowners, IDs, and contractors, allowing them to meet and coordinate in real-time. Homeowners can have meetings with their project team, browse and touch materials samples, view designs and layouts, and oversee the end-to-end process at the Experience Centres.

Our Suntec flagship store boasts of a massive moss wall with interactive touch screen displays which gives customers a glimpse of all projects done by Livspace, and allows them to explore different designer profiles, interior aesthetics, as well as Livspace’s extensive catalog. The interactive screen can also be converted into a writing board for customers and designers to brainstorm ideas during discussions.

The Suntec showroom is fully equipped with a smart home system, which allows for full control of the lights, electronics, and even kitchen appliances with the usage of an app and voice control. Visitors who are keen on building a smart home can have first-hand experience with the various smart systems available here before committing to one.

It also showcases Livspace’s high-quality, private label kitchen and wardrobe (KnW) catalog, which consists of materials that are scratch and stain-resistant that customers can touch and feel in person. Different enclaves in the showroom come with an acoustic fabric that can be drawn to give privacy to customers during consultations. With a manager present to cater to each customer, visitors are guaranteed a personalized experience.

What advice can you give future Livspace clients to maximize productivity when building their home?
Open lines of communication between the customers and designers around the design, aesthetics, materials, and more allow for more efficient planning and reaching the desired result. It is also critical that changes to the design, etc. are not made once the work begins and the best outcomes are as mentioned earlier on – when the communication is free-flowing and constant between the customer and designer.