(November 22, 2025) For Nilasha Srinivas, whose interior design work has featured in international editions of Architectural Digest (Spain and Germany) and Elle Decor Poland, design has always been more than form and function. It is an act of emotion, culture, and memory. Born in Manchester, raised across New York, Bombay, and Hyderabad, and educated in the design capitals of New York and Florence, Nilasha embodies a rare balance of global sensibility and cultural rootedness.
A graduate of Pratt Institute, New York, with dual master’s degrees in Interior Design and Furniture Design from Florence, she has shaped a language that merges the precision of the West with the warmth and craft of India.
As the founder of Studio Nilasha, her Hyderabad-based design practice, she creates spaces that feel timeless: spaces that breathe, flow, and belong. “Each city I’ve lived in has shaped a different part of my design sensibility,” she shares in a chat with Global Indian. “New York taught me discipline and structure, while Florence brought in warmth, fluidity, and a deep appreciation for craft and history. I try to blend these influences with an Indian sensibility expressed through texture, materiality, and emotion so that every space feels rooted in its context,” she remarks.
A childhood of movement
Nilasha’s childhood was defined by movement, across cities, continents, and cultures. Born in Manchester, New Hampshire, she spent her early years in New York before her family moved back to India, first to Bombay and later to Hyderabad, where she completed her schooling.
Her father runs his own business, while her mother, a psychologist by profession, nurtured a deep love for art and design. “My first glimpse into the world of interiors came from watching my mother design our first home in Hyderabad,” she recalls. “I would accompany her on site visits, observe carpenters and painters at work, and watch spaces slowly transform into our home.”
Those formative experiences planted the first seeds of design curiosity: the power of transformation through detail, light, and proportion. As a family, they travelled extensively. “From the palaces of Rajasthan to the museums and art galleries of Europe, from the architecture of New York City to days spent at The Met, MoMA, or the National Gallery of Art in DC — these experiences quietly shaped my early understanding of art, design, aesthetics, and culture,” she says.
Learning from cities and cultures
Each place the designer has lived in has contributed a distinct note to her design philosophy. “New York taught me the importance of discipline and precision,” she says. “It’s where I learned to think critically about space.” Florence, in contrast, deepened her connection to materiality and craft. “It made me understand the value of detail, of time, of making by hand. That city breathes art and history.”
These dual influences, the modernity of New York and the timelessness of Florence, have come together in her work in India. “It’s not about mixing cultures but finding balance,” she explains. “The global influences shape structure and clarity, while the local context guides materiality and soul.”
Beginning of entrepreneurship
After a decade abroad, Nilasha returned to India in 2019, initially for a long break. “I thought of it as a temporary move,” she says. “I wanted to pause and recalibrate.” During that time, she began consulting with a furniture brand and took on a few small interior projects to test the waters. One of them — Tiger Lily, a restaurant in Hyderabad, became a turning point. “It unexpectedly caught everyone’s attention,” she says. “Soon after its opening, more enquiries started coming in, and that was when I began seriously considering a more permanent move to India.”
Then the pandemic struck, and what began as a pause turned into a new beginning. “It felt like the right time to build something of my own,” she says. “I wanted to translate my experiences abroad into a practice that felt rooted in India yet carried a global perspective.”
In 2020, Studio Nilasha was born, a boutique design practice defined by intention, restraint, and emotion. “The idea was to create a design language that is quiet and personal, where every space feels tactile and timeless,” she says. “I wanted design to go beyond aesthetics and become about creating an atmosphere that evokes emotion and a sense of belonging.”
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Designing beyond the visual
For Nilasha, design is not just a visual exercise but an emotional dialogue. “That understanding became clear to me during one of my earliest projects, The Serene Edge,” she says. “It was one of those moments when design moved beyond the visual or functional and became something deeply emotional. The process taught me how materiality, light, and proportion can shape how people feel in a space.”
Since then, every project at Studio Nilasha begins with emotion. “We start by understanding how a space should feel before thinking about how it should look,” she explains. “It’s about atmosphere, not decoration.” Her practice spans architecture, interiors, and furniture, creating a seamless narrative across scales. “Architecture gives me a sense of structure and proportion, interiors allow me to explore how people inhabit a space, and furniture brings me closer to touch and detail,” she says.
In a world dominated by trends, the entrepreneur’s approach to design remains quietly timeless. “For me, timeless design is about honesty and restraint,” she says. “It is not about following trends but about creating spaces that feel calm, balanced, and connected to the people who live in them.”
Her focus is on natural materials, light that changes through the day, and forms that feel effortless rather than styled. “When the intent is clear and the design is rooted in emotion and purpose, it naturally stays relevant over time,” she adds. “The goal is for a space to feel as beautiful ten years later as it does on the day it is completed — perhaps even more so because it has gathered life within it.”
Milestones and recognition
The opening of Tiger Lily remains one of the biggest turning points in Nilasha’s career. “It was an early project that gave me visibility and confidence to build my own studio,” she says. Since then, projects like The Serene Edge, Zephyr, and Equinox have each contributed to shaping her studio’s identity.
Winning the Design Pataki Debut Award was another defining moment. “It was a recognition that validated the quiet, intentional way we have been building our practice,” she says. Her work has also been featured in international editions of Architectural Digest (Spain and Germany) and Elle Decor Poland, reaching audiences across continents. “Seeing our projects resonate beyond India has been deeply rewarding,” she reflects. “But what matters most is that each project deepens our understanding of how people live and connect with space.”
Lessons in adaptability
Founding a studio during the pandemic brought challenges and clarity. “It was a time of uncertainty, with projects slowing down and long pauses between phases,” she says. “But that pause gave me space to think deeply about the kind of work I wanted to do and the values that would shape it.”
The experience taught her patience and resilience. “I learned the importance of adaptability and trusting the process even when things feel unpredictable,” she says. Another learning curve was balancing creativity with business. “Managing teams, timelines, and client expectations while staying true to your design intent is a continuous process,” she explains. “Growth in this field is less about speed and more about consistency and clarity.”
Bringing global lessons to India
Her years abroad shaped her professional discipline. “Living and studying abroad taught me the value of process, precision, and clarity in design thinking,” she says. “Every drawing, model, and discussion was part of a larger thought process. That level of discipline and respect for craft shaped how I approach projects even today.”
Back in India, she has integrated that rigor into a more context-driven sensibility. “Over time, I’ve learned to bring that same sensitivity into my work here, creating spaces that are both thoughtful and grounded.”
A life immersed in art, travel, and reflection
Travel continues to be Nilasha’s greatest source of inspiration. “It drives me, inspires me, and constantly broadens my perspective,” she says. Her husband shares this passion; his late grandfather, Surya Prakash, was a renowned Indian artist, and art has always been an intrinsic part of his world.
Together, they spend much of their free time discovering art and design. “Every year, we try to spend a couple of weeks in a different city, simply living everyday life there,” she says. From Paris to New York, from Venice to Sri Lanka, their travels are filled with art shows, design fairs, and local discoveries — from coffee shops and farmers’ markets to architecture walks. “Experiencing new cities and cultures always brings a renewed sense of curiosity and perspective,” she says.
At home, she treasures slow days filled with reading, sketching, and family time. “Travel opens my mind, while quiet moments help me reconnect.” Her work reflects both movement and stillness: a sensitivity shaped by travel, culture and the deep desire to create spaces that feel human.
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