Humble Carpenter is Striving to Organise India's Interior Design Industry with a People-First Approach

We Indians are highly dependent on local contractors for any sort of renovation, restoration or reinvention of our houses, but most often than not, they ditch us midway, stating reasons like, “mistri (carpenter) gaav chala gaya hai,” “karigar (artist) ko kisi bade seth ke ghar dusra kaam mil gaya hai,” and whatnot. Amidst all this, we are left helpless and back to square one of finding a contractor to finish the job. To cater to these issues and organise the design industry, Humble Carpenter, a boutique interior design company, was started by Raman & Jay 6 years ago, and joined by their principal architects, Martin and Anjali. 

"Just like our name, we truly had a very humble beginning. We started very small, and then we've grown to this point," explains Martin, one of the principal architects of Humble Carpenter. The company initially functioned solely as a production team, executing designs created by other architects. "We were not a turnkey solution when we started," the architect recalls. "We used to pick up designs of other architects, clients who wanted interiors done, and people who wanted to design their houses."

The company began with a tight-knit team of carpentry professionals from Kerala. As they expanded, they recognised a significant market demand for a service that bridged the gap between clients and skilled professionals. Since the beginning, the team wanted to focus on the people-first approach. Whether it is with their staff or with their customers, they always like to keep things transparent. "Rather than just being transactional, we try to create a bond with the client," Martin emphasises. "We really like to hear their stories, where they're coming from, and then design for them. It's like 'for the people, of the people, by the people' philosophy that we adopt."

This approach comes from an understanding of the industry in India, which largely remains unorganised, with homeowners often having to coordinate between multiple service providers. Humble Carpenter aims to change this. "It is not something that you're going to accomplish overnight," the principal architect acknowledges. "The benefits we have are experience. Even though we've only been in this industry for 6 years, the people in our team have been in this industry for 30-40 years plus."

Their approach is creating a comprehensive network under one roof. "What we're trying to create is one umbrella under which a lot of carpenters and all these laymen come together. And it's not just carpenters, electricians, and masons, it's anything to do with architecture and interiors—we have a vendor portfolio which has multiple contacts that we've created over the years." This helps Humble Carpenter to expand their horizon. Currently, they mostly function in Bengaluru and a few areas in the north and the south, but plan to expand to other geographies. 

"We have a factory of our own. So if we are doing projects outside the city, we do most of the production in our factory, and then we send the team across with our materials to install and do the rest of the site work," he explains. However, they also engage with local professionals when necessary. "In Chennai, we did a few projects where we found the local market. People are actually very accepting and always ready to work."

Looking forward, Martin envisions a more integrated approach to expansion: "What ideally we would like to do, maybe, is build a humble carpenter hub in all of these cities. And then we do the same thing that we did in Bangalore in multiple cities. I think that is the right approach so that they don't feel like you're an outsider."