The new look Charpoy

Stephanie de Saint Simon fell in love with Indian design during her years at an event and party planning company. She now runs ‘Ouma Productions’ a gorgeous range of Indian-inspired products including shiny zinc trunks, matka lights and a delightful fresh look at charpoys.

We’ve all seen the quintessential charpoy around, though not many are evident in urban homes anymore. I haven’t even spied one of these for sale anywhere. Perhaps they are more widely available and used in Northern India?

In any case, this reinvention by Stephanie involved colour, comfortable seating (not the scratchy jute weaving) and modern design and colour. The result? Gorgeous seating that fits into any decor.

I also loved this charpoy table – so creative!

Apart from charpoys, Stephanie’s site is full of other gorgeous stuff. I really want this matka lamp

and what about these Gond cushions (I am fascinated by the intricacy of Gond Art.)

The ‘Tali’ (Thali?) stools are so innovative too – inverted steel thalis form the base for stools!

Visit Ouma Productions for more delightful discoveries and ideas to steal for using regular Indian stuff in your own home.

Images via Ouma Productions.

Love…SotoMoto

Forget Anthropologie, I’m moving into SotoMoto. I just discovered this fun, colourful store via a post on MDC and they have such ridiculously beautiful things.

Rajee, here’s an idea for you – kantha-clad trunks :)

Now, if I had one of those trunks, I’d start packing right away :)

Images via SotoMoto.

Souk by John Robshaw

John Robshaw’s range of furnishings are always a delight to see. His collections are eclectic and have a wonderful global chic feel to them, a perfect fit for any kind of interiors. From his Souk range, I loved this Thai and Vietnamese inspired cushions. Their handloom effect would fit beautifully with our home and its sometime ornate, antique furniture.

Couldn’t resist a silk ikat. Love the yellow – so cheery!

You can see the whole collection here.

Images credit John Robshaw

The Quilts of Goa

Sujata Noronha, one of my favourite people in Goa, sent me this email and I'm happy to reproduce it here:

As part of an initiative we are involved with, we are organising a Godhadi Workshop with 4 traditional Godhadi wallis from Keri, Bali, Margao and Panjim at the Goa College of Home Science on Tuesday 31st am. The day is a collaborative workshop between the Goa College of Home Science, Research Institute for Women and the Needlecraft Group.

The day will begin with a brief opening and felicitation of 97 year old Godhadi walli from Santa Cruz, a presentation on Quilts of India by researcher Patrick J Finn, an exhibition of the Needlecraft Group's collaborative quilt themed on Goa, and exhibits of many traditional forms and styles of Goan godhadis and manes.

The sessions will begin at 10.00 am and end by 4. 30 pm.

Please come to learn more about this revitalisation project, meet these traditional needlecrafters, join the Needlecraft group and view the exhibits.

Wednesday Wishlist: Mr. Darcy’s Declaration

I’m in love with this pillow. It made my heart go a little faster – that’s sad I know, but I’m a hopeless romantic on some days.

Anna’s Trunk on Etsy has such lovely, lovely things. Sigh.

Santa, are you reading this?

Ichbaan – handcrafted textile art

Today, I’m pleased to feature Ichbaan – an exclusive range of handcrafted textile arts and home furnishings. According to founder Shruti Jain, “Our
creations are a unique combination of modern design and vintage techniques handcrafted in unimaginable fabrics and techniques.” Ichbaan also produces bespoke limited edition or custom built pieces suited to your requirements. All pieces are hand crafted in India.

I was intrigued with the cityscape textile art and asked Shruti about it. “The cityscape textile art belongs to a very contemporary city wall art series which is inspired by India and its people, with an added functionality of a wall clock. The scenes from the streets of India are represented of fabric through hand embroidery, having wall clock as a part of the view,” she explains.

Follow Ichbaan on Facebook to learn more about their work and products.

Gelato Sheets

I spied this colourful sheet on the equally colourful Bright Bazaar blog recently and it looked vaguely familiar. Wait a minute! We’ve got two of these right here at home!

We have two single vintage sheets which I’ve been using for M’s crib. The colours are a little faded, but they’re still very cheery and soothing at the same time. Ours are yellow, cream and blue striped and I like them very much!

Image via Bright.Bazaar

PS: I just spied this identical sheet hanging to dry in the neighbour's home this morning. Must have been the rage at one point, I think :)

My heart beats for Navy

I LOVE these navy silk curtains. Aren’t they gorgeous?!

Peacock in the living room

I spotted this amazing rug on the Varnish blog and was bowled over. What a fantastic (and unusual) colour for a dining room rug.

If you look closely, the dining room chairs have a peacock print as well. I quite like the artwork as well.

This beautiful house belongs to designer Lisa Sterio and you can see some more pics on the Varnish blog.

Feeling crabby?

Love these sea-creature cushion covers. My M would love them!

Available here

Peek-a-boo

What do you think of lace being used as a cover-up device? I don’t care for that chair cover very much, but I somehow like the look of that cabinet. Not sure how it will look in a house like ours, though, where everything is vintage, patterned and a tad cluttered :) I think this would look very nice in a modern space, though. No?

Found via DIY or DIE

Love…Stripy Dining Chairs

These dining room chairs are so cheerful. I’d have a happy time just sitting down to eat!

Via new favourite blog Inspiring Interiors

Wednesday Wishlist

I love this ‘Black Cab Cushion’ from Lizzie Allen. Available at Liberty.

Retro to Go

Sweet dreams

Love that pillow.

Via

Love…Ruffled Curtains

These are divine.

via beautiful-soup

Saree curtains

It was these saree curtains from Lisa Corti (pic 1) that got me thinking. Our heritage home has 20 ft+ ceilings with really tall Dutch doors. I was just looking at our bedroom windows one day, and thinking about what kind of window coverings would work here and not be too inexpensive because of the height. Sarees came to mind straightaway. With their 6 yard length, one could play around with cheap sheers to expensive silks, simple cottons and colourful ones from every region of the country. You could have one for every month of the year and not have to stitch another hem in place!

Google helped me find several examples of saree curtains. These will work well anywhere, although I'd skip the silk versions in India because they'd make a room look very heavy and over-dressed. I love the idea of using sheer cottons that filter sunlight and make a room look cosy, not stuffy.

Sari shower curtain (!)
Photos above via saffronmarigold.com

via myhomeideas.com (stitch saree panels to simple Ikea curtains)

via bhatik.co.uk

and my favourites for their simplicity, versatility and elegance:

via jamaligarden.com