Jens Risom : An Icon Speaks...:)

How much I admire his designs :). I feel like a starry eyed fan right now.

Friday Finds: Aranmula Kannadi ~ Kerala's best kept secret :)

Anpu has been a constant source of inspiration for me. This lady is a bundle of talent - an excellent cook, keeps a perfect home, an avid gardener, an amazing painter and most of all, a great human being. She juggles all this while being a busy IT professional. 

Her home has an amazing collection of antiques, her artwork and DIYs. I had previously featured her antique air blower she picked from her travel to the middle east. This time, she spoke about her Aranmula kannadi and I had to share it on the blog :)

Her beautiful Aranmula Kannadi was a gift from her friend.These mirrors are unique handmade metal alloy mirror, made in Aranmula, a village in Kerala, India. Kannadi means mirror in malayalam. 

(one from her collection - Mysore painting)

Its interesting to note that unlike normal 'silvered' glass mirrors, these Aranmula Kannadi is a metal-alloy mirror, it is a front surface reflection mirror, and has no secondary reflections typically seen in the mirrors we normally use..In the Aranmula mirror there is no gap or distortion between the mirror and the object, while in the normal mirror there is a gap.

Amazing isnt it? :) 

Pics courtesy: Anpu :)

Vintage Love: Multi tasking cabinet!! All Teak and lovely

I came across this beautiful cabinet a few months ago and forgot to share it. Custom made and all teak wonderfully maintained. It has been with a single owner for over 50 years.

Designer: Custom made for the owner (in India)
Time/era: 1960s
Material: Wood and glass
Use: media cabinet, book shelf and curio cabinet

Clean line modernism influenced designers and consumers all over the world. India is where many such pieces were custom made for home owners. And i am glad we can still afford such custom made luxury (if we find the right artisan)

I was in awe when I saw the piece in person. A lovely piece of art!!!

Pics: by owner

House Beautiful: At Home with Sharon

Glad to post this inspiring home tour from Pune, India. Lets peek into Sharon's lovely home. She is a lady of many talents and authors a popular lifestyle blog - The Key Bunch.

A Tete-A-Tete with her about her home, her work and her style mantra. Do not miss her tips on home styling and decor. :)

Handpainted pots and Warli wall art at the entryway

A little about your abode


It's a 3BHK flat, 1750 sq feet. I love the space because it's an open plan, and it allows me to move things around especially for my styling shots!

Decor and Style inspirations

I am very inspired by the desi global style of decorating mainly because it is a great way to mix anything Indian and still have a modern home. I am also on a mission to repurpose old things and re-using them in décor, so this style lets me do that without the home looking oddly mixed with the old and the new.

Favorite room or corner in the house

For all the styling and interior decoration I am obsessed with, I don’t have one favorite place. It’s wherever I am interacting with someone, or doing something I love – like playing a board game with my daughter, listening to my husband playing the guitar, or reading a bedtime story to my son.

Your prized piece of item / furniture or accessory

I think my Bhavnagari jhoola - she’s my drama queen, and can keep changing her persona – from casual to formal, romantic to staid, quite effortlessly.

Proudest DIY 

I couldn’t be prouder of my upholstered coffee table. I was hesitant to take it on, plagued with doubt; but from selecting and sourcing the fabric to working with a carpenter, it turned out simply beautiful. I would some day love to add upholstered furniture to my product line.

Favorite design and decor Shopping destinations

As a rule, I never buy extravagantly expensive stuff, because as a family we are not materialistic, and almost border on minimalism. We have the same stuff from the time we got married, and some of it handed down by our respective families. We are perfectly content. That said, being the décor lover I am, I do like to buy things that catch my eye, occasionally. 

Just yesterday I was at a store signing up space to display my product. I saw the staff removing an owl from their display. It was a beautiful piece, and when I asked them why they were taking it down, they said it was damaged. So I bought it at a steal! It’s these little purchases that make me ridiculously happy!

Tips for a cozy home

It’s your home, so decorate the way you want it – wildly pretty, heart-stoppingly beautiful and most of all comfortable. I know my family puts up a lot with all my décor madness, and I think I owe it to them to make the home as comfortable as possible. In fact, they sometimes play cricket inside the home,and I have left a little rectangular ‘pitch’ for them. Of course, I also have to make sure there are no breakables around.

A few snapshots of her beautiful kitchen

Thank you Sharon for the lovely tour. Do stop by her blog - The Key Bunch and check out her new venture  Style Radha, with products that she envisioned and designed. She is also working on a line of home furnishings using indigenous fabrics.

If you would like to see your home featured or know a lovely place, I would be happy to do a home tour on the Design Enthusiast. 

PS: Pictures courtesy Sharon. 


*** Click on any of the pictures to start a slide show

Antique Fire blower - Bellow

A dear friend Anpu was fascinated by this vintage find in Dubai and bought it. It is a fireplace bellow blower or the आग धौंकनी. It is used for strong blasts of air and used in the Bedouin households while cooking..the 3 holes at the back of the tool let's the air in.  The tribe used this device for rekindling the kitchen hearth when they settled in the evening.

Beautiful isn't it. She has made it into a neat accessory near the fireplace

Pics: Anpu

Item: Fire blower

Amazing Antiques ~ Teak / rosewood Laundry bins

I grew up seeing this piece of furniture, called mail daan or laundry basket. They were used in homes in the Tamil Nad, Andhra and other parts of the country.  These smart looking, well designed bins were made of teak or rosewood, and used to store/pile clothes until laundry was done.

The design is quite similar to that of a post box with the exception that the top is a lid with a latch. Soiled clothes were dumped from above and collected from a slot/door below. 

source : local seller

Type of furniture: Laundry Bin
Country of origin: India 
Year/era: most over 100- 60 years old
Wood: rosewood or teak 
Design era: Art deco/mid century style clean lines / colonial with cane or carvings
Dimensions: 3' x 1' x 1' (generally)


Hand washing and line drying clothes are daily rituals in Indian homes. Such bins fill in a single day given that most were joint families with at least two or sometimes three generations living together. 

There is another story of why these bins/basket were very popular - there were times when many families relied on a dhobi (washerman). And the bin came in handy to manage soiled clothes until the washerman came in to collect clothes on the laundry day.  There could be slight variations to the design but the overall look and feel remains same. However, lack of space makes it difficult to have such pieces at home :) nowadays. 

PS: I keep finding them on reselling and craigslist kind of sites. And get so tempted in getting one home

  

Teak Sofa Set: Vintage eye candy

The local buy sell site had this breathtaking set for sale. By the time I contacted the owner/seller it was given away. Yes, you read it right. Given away due to lack of buyers. Wish he held onto it for just another evening and these beauties would have been driven to my abode. I could not believe what I heard. :( (Missed browsing the site just one afternoon and see what I missed)

 Pic courtesy: seller (with permission)

I am told it was custom made in the late 60's. Pure teak and original cotton ropes weaved into such wonderful pieces of art. :) 

Teak and jute chairs ~ awesomeness!

Off late, a local preloved/used goods buy/sell website has been full of surprises. Many seem to be selling their old furniture. And people like me must be doing a happy dance. 

I come across such amazing teak and jute piece, that I seriously wished for a store room :P. (As if i did not have enough stuff already!!)

The ad mentions them as antique Teak chairs. The moment I saw them I knew they looked so similar to the  iconic Harp chairs.  

Local sale: 
details unknown. The ad only mentions them as antique teak chairs

source: seller

the original

 source: architonic.com

source: 1stdibs

country of origin: Denmark
Year: 1968
Designer: Jorgen Hovelskov
Manufacturer: Christensen & Larsen

Dimensions:  h 127 cm, d 117 cm, w 104 cm, height of seat 40 cm. Details:
machine-age.com: "The curved shapes of the legs are reminiscent of Viking boats. These and the tightened ropes provide this chair with an impressive sculptural quality. "
Architonic.com adds "its flag halyard seat provides a unique optical effect."

Remarks:
I am yet to find out if they are original The pictures do not look like the original though.


PS: As I have always maintained that carpenters and craftsmen in india were great in replicating designs. We get to see many such reproductions of internationally known iconic pieces. I have been toying the idea of documenting such reproductions as and when I come across them 

Amazing Antiques ~ Hall tree / Umbrella and Coat stands

Home with entryways and amazing foyer spaces deserve to be dressed up a little. A pretty looking hall tree does just that :)and works as a landing space for your keys, umbrella etc when you come home.

c-list

remember this one from Preethi's store...a colonial tile back classic

A few more options :)

halltree.com

Being this dressy is not everyonez cup of tea....but for those who love it :)..wood tones or painted white.

thehomelessfinch.blogspot

a few other hall trees with storage benches

jessicadelashaw.blogspot

A mid 19th century Early victorian hat and umbrella stand 

christies.com

A mid century modern - 1950's 1960's piece in walnut

ebay

Dressing up the entryway is easier than we think :)

Friday finds ~ Antique Foot Scrubbers

Been a while since I went to my thrift and antique stores, hence the lack of friday finds on the blog...this time around it was an interesting dicovery online..and it is all about keeping your feet clean!!

Yes, it is about Foot scrubbers. I had a brush with this very beautiful piece recently. A fellow blogger recently held a contest where readers were asked to guess what the antique piece was :).

and the base

michaelbackmanltd.com

Amazing isnt it...

A little more digging later (phew!! thanks to google).. I found that  this object, called  "vajri", was from India  and probably from the early 18th and 19th C. to be These lovely pieces were used as foot scrubbers by women bathing in a local pond or the river. These vajris have bearings (tiny metal balls) inside and were designed to jingle or rattle while in use. This was to let people know to respect the bathing women's privacy and stay away from that area (source: a friend's grandmother :))!!! I wish she had one and i could have it from her :P 

rillajaggia.blogspot.com

( I am sure there must be similar ones in existence long before the 17th century. India had a flourishing civilization with indoor plumbing etc almost 5000 years ago!- remember Indus civilization - Mohenjadaro and Haraapa!)

Antique brass ones seem to have been quite popular and were made in many shapes and decorated with an animal motif, for e.g. peacock, elephant, lion, etc.  The sculpted base are what makes them functional and gentle to use. 

A few other shapes :-)

lots more!!

michaelbackmanltd.com

Having such pretty foot scrubbers indicate the exquisite craftsmanship and attention to detail in Indian Handicraft...I am swept off my feet :P


Not sure if it related...but Vajri in Sanskrith means Thunder or even Lord Indra ..Let me know if you have any idea how the name for the foot scrubber must have been derived :) 




Before I say adios! a reminder about the giveaway : Here



PS: silly me..i asked for the paati's inputs after i posted my answer on the co-blog.:). 

Vintage Love ~ Credenza / Sideboard

Couldnt help drooling ~

source

  

Letting things go ~ Downsizing

Downsizing is a painful yet, a very refreshing process.

This is how our apartment looked...Our love for pre-loved furniture goes well with our green living ideologies.

Having moved to a different apartment with space constraints and layout challenges, we had to let go a few things bought with careful thought and a lot of search and patience.

 We decided to live without a few things around us, and put them up for sale, and let them go to other lovely homes. Some things went to people we knew and others to new homes. As of now, we have  our mid century modern dining table with us.(I am finding it difficult to part with it :(

I am glad I met some really wonderful people who have similar design sense (else they would not have bought our stuff!!) and appreciate good design and furniture.

Lots of changes are on cards. We plan to wait and see how things move and then begin our hunt for vintage and pre-loved furniture that would hopefully stay with us for a really long time. The last few days have been hazy..Trying to recoup and collect myself. See you soon

Amazing Antiques ~ Canterbury Mahogany Magazine Rack

Bought this Genuine Mahogany Canterbury Magazine rack....It was after I got it home, I realized how expensive even its reproductions were in popular big box stores..

drawer - dovetail construction with original brass knobs

brass wheels

Time Period: Circa 1910

Style: English, Victorian

Wood: Mahogany

Images my own