Journalism of Courage
“Designing has no rules and one can mix and match various creative ideas for the desired result,” says Shilpa Kalanjee,a furniture designer, who launched her store in the city on Tuesday.
The store,Fusion Access,welcomed Pune into a world of furniture by design. The mosaic mirrors on table tops,the frameless life-size mirrors reflecting the wooden living room and bedroom furniture stood out under the soft,yellow lights.
The highlight of her furniture is the use of recycled Burma teak. We use it wherever possible. It is our way of contributing to the environment. If you see the wood that comes to us covered with tar,paint and with nails driven into it,you wouldnt believe that such a transformation is possible, she says,while pointing to a wooden table-top with a perfect glossy finish.
Ninety per cent of the furniture is designed by Kalanjee and her team of three designers. I use mixed media. We combine materials fabrics,wood,glass,embellishments to create these pieces. Each design is something I would keep in my home. If it isnt so,it is not part of our collection, she says.
Contemporary and classic pieces sit perfectly together in the store. The sofa sets,the cushions,the Kamasutra collection and the Women and Art series are all subtle attractions. They are contrasted by fancy,in-your-face artefacts cows in high heels and frogs in bikinis! I get inspiration from everything around me. I havent traveled much but I dont believe that you need global exposure to design. It has to be in you, she explains. Her team offers customisation and they build up on the look that clients want. I visualise very well on paper,so once I have a digital image of the space,I can work on it, she says.
These options the exclusive furniture and customisation all come at a high price. Is Pune ready for these high-end products? Yes,definitely. If you can spend a couple of crores on your apartments,then you can surely spend five per cent of that to do up your living room space, she says.
