With the gradual progress and development of Sri Lanka’s infrastructure, the interior design industry has come into a new light of paramount significance. More people thrive on incorporating aesthetic quality with the primary structuring of their residence. Ashani Goonewardena, Founder & Interior Designer of ON Design, stands dedicated to this new age viewpoint about interior design, bases herself on the concept of making a home out of a house through personalization and unique integration of her designing style.

Interior designing, a profession that was scarcely known fifteen years back, has turned to become one of the most rapidly growing and sought out professions during the last couple of years. Especially with the rapid increase of construction in the past couple of years, where skyscrapers have sprouted at an unbelievable pace in the ever-changing Colombo skyline, the need for interior designers with specialized skills and experience for residential, commercial and as well as hospitality projects have significantly increased. Ashani proclaims that peoples’ needs and perceptions have changed during the past couple of years. Most have grown to understand the importance of creating meaningful spaces that fulfil the inhabitant’s needs and optimize their spaces; hence Interior Designers are more in demand now than before.

Ashani stands to reason that the balance of creating a lasting impression is an essential component of creating a personalized and optimized living space that will serve not only the physical but also the psychological needs of the clients. It will contribute to fit the purposes and daily routine of the unique lifestyles while adding a standard of quality that’ll upgrade the essence of living. While basic structuring may serve the basic definition, integrating style can lift it to a new standard that’ll help the psychological purpose of making a client feel comfortable and pleasant.

Ashani stands proud of her unique style and capacity to serve the clients while maintaining her style mark. She stays constant with her ideology on interior designing and maintains her design philosophy while alternating it carefully and effectively to fit the client’s needs without losing its true essence. Her style of interiors is made to be cohesive, designing it in line with an overarching theme that holds all of the interior elements together that will be pertinent and appropriate to serve the needs of her clients. When one works passionately over any job, it reflects in the final work, and Ashani naturally portrays this concept creating a visual and substantial effect in the result. As a result, her work upholds the reputation of a stylish, well balanced, elegant interior that perfectly fits the practical elements of day-to-day life.

With the effect of the pandemic and overall upgrades of the world moving on to more digitized platforms, the interior designing industry has moved on towards a different approach. Significantly the growing influence of social media has massively affected the industry’s growth. Designers have incorporated technology to produce more work visually, which will attract masses who are beginning to love and appreciate their homes and individual styles like never before. Ashani proclaims that as much as the interior design profession will continue thriving, there is a tendency for specific trends that may look overly trendy due to mass usage and will become dated fast. Hence, believing in a unique style and keeping it essentially significant seems to create spaces that suit a long-term purpose. Using your imagination and design intuition brings originality to the table. This method of maintaining individuality constitutes going beyond the ordinary and cannot be borrowed from any technology. 

As challenging as it is, Ashani believes that there will always be a place for the artist with originality that a specific clientele will seek after, the type that creates ravishing and timeless spaces replacing the ones that rely on technology. Ashani claims that the alchemy of distinctive creativity should not be foregone for the sake of technology. Instead, it is her strong opinion that the maintenance of a balance between both and ultimately using technology to emphasize the creative elements will take the industry’s quality to a new elevation.