Huge bay windows shaded with frilly chintz curtains; futuristic furniture that matches the cream and yellow paint on the walls; low settees with lots of cushions thrown in for comfort; and finally, to top it all, just the right kind of lighting. Straight out of a Karan Johar movie, eh? Could be. But then you can have it too… for your home.If haute couture fashion means only designerwear for you, it’s about time you did a quick rethink. For, it’s not just clothes the fashionistas are talking about these days. Fashion now extends to furnishing as well, what with exclusive boutiques providing high-end solutions for your home and hearth.“The idea of a den has caught up. People spend a lot of time at home, so they want it to be as cosy as possible,” says Komal Singh of the House of Ishatvam, a 5,000-square-feet niche furnishing outlet on Mathura Road in Delhi. The brand provides not just accessories like cushions, curtains and bedspreads, but also artworks by painters like Vaikuntham and Laxma Gaud. “Art has become a major obsession with people doing up their homes, so we are expanding our artist base soon,” explains Singh. The prices here start at Rs 260 for a cushion and run up to lakhs for a painting.The craze is not limited to Delhi alone. Anticipating huge markets, the brand has just opened a branch in Bangalore and plans to expand to the other metros soon.Fabindia’s home decor products are already a rage across the country.In Kolkata, plans are afoot to come up with a mall specialising in home decor, aptly named Home Mall.Theme-based décor is a favourite. Furncraft at Shahpur Jat in Delhi, run by Seetu Kohli and her husband, offers such products. At Maspar, the four-year-old retail venture with outlets in Noida in UP, Gurgaon in Haryana and Saket in Delhi, the focus is on do-it-yourself themes. “We have nine set collections, including summer, autumn, winter and special ones for festivals like Diwali. We give our customers a basic framework so that they can set up their homes themselves,” says Neelima Rao, brand manager,Maspar.Buoyedbytheir success inthe capital, Masparhasalsomoveddownsouth to Bangalore, besides opening branches in Ludhiana. Their collections start at Rs 8,000 for the dining range, while the bedroom sets cost Rs7,000upwards.They also have a huge upholstery collection. “We encourage our customerstoexercise theirowncreativity, sothattheydon’tneedtodependoninteriordecorators,” saysRao.Mix-and-match accessories with coordinated upholstery are also very much in demand. Tanish Suri, owner of Tex Styles at Nehru Place in New Delhi, has developed over 300 styles of fabrics and has a stock on each style. The brand is now planning to take the store to Mumbai and Bangalore, besides Chandigarh.As opposed to big projects, Suri says heisincreasinglygettingordersfromindividual customers for specifically designedproducts.“ Rightnow,duvetinan embroidery patternis doing reallywell, butitchangesfromseasontoseason,”he says. His products start from Rs400andgoesuptoRs2,000permetre.Choices, however, are not limited to boutiques anymore. Designers like Raghavendra Rathore, Abraham and Thakore and JJ Valaya have also made a mark with their home decor products. The competition is only going to intensify further with Manju and Bobby Grover and Shane and Falguni Peacock entering the fray in a couple of months.“The European and American markets are far more mature. But the Indian market is also becoming more interesting as we are slowly but surely realising the importance of beauty and detail in our homes,” says Valaya, whose label Valaya Home, was launched in 1996.Apart from doing commissioned work, Valaya Home products come for a nifty amount: Decorative pillows cost between Rs 2,000 and Rs 15,000, while the signature line of singleedition wall tapestries retail at Rs 1,00,000 upwards.So, what are you waiting for? Dress up your home today.
