WoodLife ? Solid Wood Furniture in Chennai - Passion of Hanif

Posted by markwahl barg on October 6th, 2017

After ten years of working with some of the best design minds in Chennai, Hanif founded Woodlife Interiors Pvt. Ltd. in 2014.In a shaded, quiet street near R.K. Salai, Woodlife’s office is a busy multi-disciplinary interior design and turnkey contracting firm. A creative hub for quality-conscious work, Woodlife offers the entire roster of interior design in Chennai and consultancy services. But it goes far beyond that. Hanif set up Woodlife as a return to his roots – to design that is advanced and progressive and yet, inextricably connected to the deeper and multi-dimensional aspects of life.

Hanif’s passion for nature reflects in the essence of Woodlife; his personal interests include travelling, angling, off-roading and communing with the natural environment. His experience of working for some of the most glamorous and eclectic spaces is balanced by his keenness to get to earthier, original design that is alive in the truest sense. This is why woodworking is at the core of Woodlife’s output.

Woodlife takes pride in not only creating bespoke, customized solid wood furniture but in acting as an expert design and technical consultant for setting up woodworking units. Such expertise has resulted in a number of successful projects across India – cutting across the modernity of panel-based processed wood and the elegance of solid wood. Besides serving as a consultant for setting up modular furniture, the firm has successfully consulted for over 6 production houses with a combined shop floor of over 300,000 sq.ft. And still, it has miles to go.

It is Hanif’s grounded vision that brings the streamlined focus to Woodlife’s multi-faceted growth. Being a nature enthusiast, he is keen to absorb eco-friendly and sustainable procedures more comprehensively into Woodlife are every practice. His international work experience and travels to trade fairs keep his curiosity ever alight, inspiring him to work beyond the tried and tested horizon. However, his burning aspiration centers around woodworking. On the one hand, his plan is to create a retail line of bespoke solid wood furniture in Chennai, drawing from his own broad base of experience. His other dream is to set up a carpentry and technical training school in association with European machinery manufacturers. The end aim would be to produce the next generation of qualified, technically-aware carpenters and operators which would duly benefit existing and upcoming furniture production houses. Workshops for design students and carpentry being taught as an elective subject in schools and colleges are other aims that he believes will result in a full circle of design.

Hanif believes that getting back to basics and staying rooted to values is something that goes hand in hand with progress. His design house’s philosophy reflects the symbiotic, multi-directional growth of nature and thus, life. Woodlife is about soulful partnerships - between client and designer, urban and natural, wood and steel, cement and mud, dream and reality.