Inspiring Alumni Stories from NIF Borivali’s Interior Design Program

If you’ve ever walked through a beautifully designed space and wondered, “Who dreamed this up?” chances are the designer once sat in a sun-dappled studio, sketching late into the evening, heart full of ambition, and a desk cluttered with swatches, sketches, and caffeine.

At NIF Global Mumbai Borivali, that desk might still exist. But its former occupant? They’ve likely gone on to design something unforgettable — a luxe penthouse in Bandra, a boho café in Goa, an art gallery in Delhi, or even a sustainably chic boutique in Paris.

Because NIF Borivali doesn’t just graduate interior design students — it launches storytellers of space, thinkers of beauty, architects of feeling.

This isn’t a list of titles and trophies. These are the stories of people who started out as students, took the leap, faced the chaos, and emerged as designers with voices as unique as their visions.

From Classroom to Culture Hub: Prerna Desai, Boutique Space Curator, Bandra

Prerna never fit into the box. Even in her first semester, her material boards featured upcycled sari silk, tea-stained paper, and forgotten vintage knobs. While others stuck to clean lines, Prerna always leaned into imperfection — the Japanese wabi-sabi principle whispered through her work.

She found her wings in NIF Borivali’s experimental studio setups, where freedom wasn’t a privilege; it was the rule. During a mixed-media module, a guest mentor spotted her mood board and asked a simple question: “Have you thought of storytelling through objects?”

That question became her compass.

Today, Prerna runs a boutique gallery-café hybrid in Bandra called “The Memory Edit.” Every piece of furniture is reimagined. Every corner holds a narrative — sometimes spoken, often just felt.

And when asked where it all began, she says, “At NIF Borivali, I learned not just how to arrange space — but how to listen to it.”

Designing for Giants: Aarav Mehta, Commercial Interiors Lead, JLL India

Aarav’s journey proves that design isn’t always dreamy lighting and pretty textures. Sometimes, it’s about scale, function, and deadlines that feel like battle cries.

Aarav graduated from NIF Borivali with a sharp portfolio and sharper instincts. His final-year project — an open-plan tech office inspired by the kinetic rhythm of Mumbai trains — was selected for a national student showcase. That project didn’t just win applause; it landed him an internship with JLL, a global real estate powerhouse.

He’s now one of their youngest design leads, overseeing commercial interiors for high-stakes clients, such as Fortune 500 HQs, co-working giants, and cross-city renovations.

But he often reflects on the days at NIF when he’d battle with SketchUp files and foam-board mockups until the janitor turned off the lights. “I learned persistence here,” Aarav says. “Every project, critique, every ‘this could be better’ prepped me for this life.”

Rooted in Earth: Maitreyi Joshi, Sustainable Space Designer, Pune

Maitreyi’s love affair with design started not in a studio but on her grandmother’s old veranda — a sunlit mosaic floor, crumbling but elegant, framed by brass pots and turmeric-stained walls.

At NIF Borivali, she brought that nostalgia into every brief. Her fascination with heritage materials found mentors in the faculty who encouraged experimentation. When most students chose modern Scandinavia for their thesis, Maitreyi went rural, designing a zero-waste tribal art gallery with mud plaster walls and bamboo partitions.

That thesis became her passport to a Pune-based eco-design firm fellowship. Today, she’s one of their youngest consultants, working on low-impact, high-emotion spaces that celebrate local traditions while using cutting-edge green tech.

She says, “At NIF, I was taught that tradition isn’t old-fashioned. It’s designed with a memory.”

Cinematically Yours: Yusuf Khan, Set Designer for Streaming Series

Not all NIF Borivali alums are found in architecture magazines. Some are behind the scenes — quite literally.

Yusuf Khan has always loved movies. In class, while his peers drafted kitchens and living rooms, he drafted desert towns and neo-noir nightclubs. His sense of space was theatrical, even surreal. At first, it baffled his instructors. Then, it intrigued them.

NIF Borivali didn’t try to box him in. Instead, they brought in mentors from production design. They let him reimagine his final thesis as a film set. This hybrid world merged the aesthetic of 1950s Bombay with Afrofuturism.

That bold project caught the eye of a showrunner from a major streaming platform visiting the college’s annual design showcase.

Cut to today: Yusuf has designed multiple web series, short films, and brand ads. His Instagram is part behind-the-scenes chaos, part visual poetry.

“NIF let me design outside the blueprint,” he says. “They saw my weird and said — run with it.”

The Freelancer’s Flight: Rhea Shetty, Global Nomadic Designer

Rhea Shetty never wanted a desk job. Even during her NIF Borivali days, she was already juggling part-time gigs — styling Airbnb spaces, curating wall art for cafés, and assisting on photoshoots.

What made it possible? Flexible mentorship, practical modules, and a faculty that saw hustle as part of the syllabus. Rhea turned her classroom into a case study, always testing out real-world applications of what she was learning.

After graduation, she packed up, bought a one-way ticket to Bali, and never looked back.

Today, she runs a remote design consultancy with clients in five countries. Her work is playful, intuitive, and global, ranging from minimalist beach villas in Sri Lanka to art-deco flats in Lisbon.

“When I say NIF gave me wings, I don’t mean metaphorically,” she laughs. “They let me fly — and even helped me pack.”

Where They Found Their Spark: NIF Borivali’s Role

Each of these journeys is different, but there’s a thread that connects them all—the culture of open exploration, deep mentorship, and hands-on learning that defines NIF Borivali.

Here’s how this interior design powerhouse continues to shape futures:

A Studio for Every Soul

The 1:1 desk-to-student ratio? It’s more than logistics — it’s a philosophy. Everyone deserves space to think, build, fail, and try again.

Real-World Ready

Live projects. Site visits. Showcases. Guest mentors. Industry juries. The institute doesn’t shield you from the real world — it prepares you for it.

Mentors Who See You

From professors who pushed Maitreyi to embrace her cultural roots to mentors who cheered Yusuf’s cinematic madness, the faculty at NIF Borivali understands that no two designers are alike — and that’s a good thing.

Events That Matter

The annual showcases, collaboration weeks, and internal fests aren’t just pretty photo-ops. They’re launchpads — many alums got their first big break from someone who spotted their work at an event on campus.

What Today’s Students Can Learn from These Alumni

So, what can you take from these stories — whether you’re about to apply halfway through your course or doubting your path?

• You don’t need to fit the mold. You need to find your voice.
• Your best work will feel like play. Follow that energy.
• Design is everywhere. You can shape spaces that shape lives, from sets to sustainable homes to global hotel rooms.
• Where you study matters. The environment you learn in often becomes the environment you build in.

And most of all — your path won’t look like anyone else’s. And that’s exactly how it should be.

A Living Legacy: The NIF Borivali Alumni Network

One of the most powerful assets students gain from NIF Borivali is its alumni network—a living, breathing community of creatives.

These designers are now mentors, collaborators, recruiters, and speakers. They return to campus not to boast but to give back — to host workshops, critique student work, and offer internships.

Because once you’re part of NIF Borivali, you’re part of something that doesn’t end at graduation.

Inspired? Ready to Be the Next Story?

The world is full of ordinary rooms. What it needs is more spaces that mean something—spaces with soul, surprise, and storytelling in every square foot.

And if you’ve ever felt that pull — to shape beauty, design feelings, build stories out of sunlight and shadow — maybe it’s your time.

Start where all these alumni started. With your ideas. Your sketchpad. And a campus that will challenge and champion you in equal measure.

Explore the Interior Design programs at NIF Global Mumbai Borivali today!