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Ninel Martyniuk : "Today in the interior the trend is on the emotional load"

Imago Studio has been working in the market of furniture services in Ukraine since 2003. The company is engaged in the development and implementation of architectural projects, interior design, the furniture delivery from Italy and of its own production. Imago is the official representative of the Italian factory Cucine LUBE in Kiev, which produces kitchens.
The team of 15 people is almost unchanged since the opening – these are sales consultants, designers, a PR manager, production managers and a manager for the installation and warranty service of furniture, who supervises the team of furniture assemblers.
We talked to the leader and ideologist of the studio Ninel Martyniuk, and found out the details of her work and new trends in the interior among Ukrainians.


  - Tell us about the work of your studio, what is the main thing and priority?

The main purpose of our work is to give the client the opportunity to realize his choice. We are interested in the creative process of making an interior, but not in selling a piece of furniture. In this process, you should be not just a sales manager, but have the skills of a designer, a psychologist. Each project is individual and unique. You should understand the customer’s lifestyle, his preferences and hobbies, create an exclusive project, because the house is a real embodiment of the human soul, this is a very interesting work, which brings great pleasure.

For our customers, a complex purchase is the priority. Therefore, we offer a full range of services: from the development of a design project to the delivery of furniture, the selection of curtains and decoration of the room. If the customer needs the services of the architect and construction teams, we appeal to our regular partners. For many years, we have been cooperating effectively with the Academy of Repair of Byzantium, TAM Shatro, other architectural workshops.

 - Do your customers have common features, what is the collective image of your client?

It’s a very interesting question. Yes, for a long period of work, of course, we made the collective image of our customer. This is a successful top manager, the head of a large project, a businessman or a politician who has an apartment in the city, and often a country house. He works a lot and therefore trusts us with the whole process of selecting furniture, connecting only at the initial and final stages. Our customer is constantly moving around the world, is aware of fashion trends, he has preferences in stylistic interior design solutions. Our client appreciates the comfort and quality of the goods, this applies to clothes, cars, and furniture, he appreciates good food and drinks. In his free time, he is engaged in his hobby- plays golf, collects paintings, antiques, etc. As a rule, he chooses the latest generation of household appliances...
Ninel Martyniuk  : "Today in the interior the trend is on the emotional load" - Photo 1

 - When a client comes to you, how you select, how you understand what he needs, what he’s interested in, how it happens on an emotional level, after all, you have clear tasks. Does he say: "I want this, this and this"?

Completely corrected. Most often, the client comes to us with specific wishes. Our task is to be able to manage the communication process, to have the necessary information about the product, to orient well in the trends of the furniture market. It is important to be open, to understand the client's feelings, his position and also to be able to motivate for questions and actions. Having learned the wishes of the client, his lifestyle, preferences, we create a design project together with the architect. For example, there was one project where the customer did not want to use the texture of the wood in the interior, only metal, glass, painted surfaces. We coped with this task successfully, the customer was satisfied.
I repeat, it is important to be not only a sales professional, it is necessary to be able to establish emotional contact with the client in order to realize his dream.
Ninel Martyniuk  : "Today in the interior the trend is on the emotional load" - Photo 2

  - Do you adjust to the customer, or still, you can dictate to him, I mean, is the customer always right or not? Or can you tell him what's good?

Of course, we not only can, it is our duty. Our task is to help the client to understand all the variety of styles, furniture assortment, to help to make the right choice.
The saying "The customer is always right" has not been canceled. It is the customer who makes the decision, the right of choice and the last word are given to him. 

  - What are you guided by choosing the products?

We are guided by what the present day dictates, the ratio of "quality-price" of the goods. In order to offer our customers a modern high-quality product, we visit various international furniture exhibitions, furniture factories. It is always interesting, this is development, it is the search for new partners and mutually beneficial cooperation. This is what allows us to be interesting for our audience and competitive. It’s important for us be aware of fashion trends. We track everything that happens on the furniture market, in design, we are interested in new technologies. We work with such Italian factories as Cucine LUBE, Cattelan Italia, Bonaldo and many other manufacturers, which offer high quality and constantly develop and improve their production, use environmental materials and take care of the ecology of the environment.

  - Let's talk about trends in the market. Which ones are traced now, what do you think is important that you still need to focus on?

The market has changed, the consumption model has changed at all. Earlier everything was bought for many years, now we have started to treat our housing easier. We have become more mobile, we want to change the situation more often, we became not so attached to a particular place. The rented housing becomes actual. In these new conditions, we focus on mixing furniture assortment from different price segments. For example, offering a bedroom kit, we choose an inexpensive factory of furniture, and for the mattress, which plays an important role for recreation and human health, we make an exclusive offer, we choose a model from natural latex or with independent springs. Developing a project of the kitchen, you can choose an inexpensive model with laminated facades, but complete it with a variety of functional accessories. To take the countertop from quartz, to choose the household appliances by the famous brand. This "mix" is justified and in demand now. We also continue working with design factories, their products are more expensive, because the intellectual work of the designer, the latest materials and technologies are invested in the cost. The products of such factories move the furniture industry forward, amaze by their beauty, proportions, originality of design solutions.
So, does it mean, they don’t save for the “cabinet-wall” any more?
Yes. The buyer has changed, and the "cabinet-walls" are already not the same. Light showcases, kredens, library compositions, original TV stands replaced them, and for necessary things there are built-in cupboards or wardrobes. By the way, our own production has arisen, precisely because of the demand for sliding-door wardrobes. The main trend of today's interior is a mature style with an emotional accent. Emotionality is achieved by accessories. It can be painting, photography, a collection of souvenirs brought from travel, original porcelain, antique things. The customer wants not an emasculated cold interior, but the beauty with cosiness and comfort. In our show room, we also strive to present, for example, not just a table of a certain manufacturer, but to offer a client a table serving solution, with textiles, dishes and other accessories. The buyer reacts to such emotionality, he likes it. For convenience and visual images on our exposition we demonstrate ready-made interior solutions: sofa, coffee table, the original lamp - a table la mp or floor lamp by design factory. 
I believe that the emotional moment plays an important role in the interior. We try to find items for our house, which will help to restore peace of mind, to establish an energy exchange with the world, by contemplating them we will get aesthetic pleasure.

Ninel Martyniuk  : "Today in the interior the trend is on the emotional load" - Photo 3
  - Perhaps, are there some of your special projects remembering which you always smile?

There was a very interesting story with one object. Our client, saw the image of her future country housing ... on a decorative tea stand in a cafe. And what you think, this dream has become a reality! It was a great pleasure to work at this project and choose furniture. In fact, a smile of joy and a sense of complicity of the creative process is caused by almost all implemented projects. You really feel happy when you managed to cope with the task set by the client and the architect, when everyone is happy with the result, because we put a part of our soul in our work.

  - Most often you work at architectural projects of the whole houses, do you visit them after all the works are finished?

Quite often. I can say you this is one of the pleasant moments! When you can see the result not only of your work, but of a whole team of specialists, see the realized idea. After handing over the facility, we continue maintaining friendly relations and cooperate with some customers, so we visit their houses. They are frequent guests at our events, organized exhibitions of artists, presentations of new furniture collections.
I am proud of my friendship with my very first client. I still remember my first designed kitchen in classical style with stained-glass windows, where there was a flower, which the customers did not like. I had to convince the factory to make a stained-glass window without a picture, and this was already an individual order. A manufacturer rarely reacts on such changes, but the power of my persuasion has done its work. When I visit them, we always remember this story.
I cherish friendship with a wonderful customer, with whom we have been cooperating for more than 10 years. I will always be grateful to the architect who introduced us. During this time, she had children, my daughter became grown-up, the trees in the garden grew. We ran and developed our businesses. I became the first customer in her salon. I always admire their magnificent mansion and garden when I manage to visit them and I am glad that I was involved in the creation of this perfect house.
It’s happiness, when the company has such customers. I want to thank our clients for their trust, for the experience we receive in the process of working at the project, for the joy of communication.
We never stop at what has been achieved and try to develop. We always work with full dedication.

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