Demand for home décor items made from recycled materials in quirky designs has shot up in the last few years. Shrabasti Mallik explored some unique ideas at the recently-concluded expo
Allison Chase, a propriety dealer from Perth was having a difficult time choosing between a table counter made from the bonnet of a discarded tractor and a wooden sofa which is built in the place once occupied by the engine in a classic ambassador. Such unusual designs were many at the fourth Home Expo India, making it clear that while conventional and classic is out, cool and quirky is in for interiors.
The glass house
If you always avoided glass in your decor, thinking it requires extra care and maintenance, then this is the time you should go for it. While coloured glass jars, glass lamp shades and table tops have been there in the market for some time, wall glass art is something new. Glass art is made with multiple glass pieces in different shapes held together by metal. Puneet Arya of Finesco International explained, “Wall art is not a new concept, it has always been there. Earlier people bought paintings or Japanese art posters but now the choice has turned to glass. It can be used in homes but since it requires a huge space, it is best suited for office areas.”
Even mirrors have got a new look. Designers are coming up with ideas to create a perfect piece of craft. “There is no limit to amazing designs and concepts that you can create,” said Harpreet Singh of New Triveni Trading Corporation. He pointed at a small dressing table made up entirely with the reflective glass. Even the drawers were made of glass. “The basic structure is made of wood, the mirror is just the outer lining,” he added. Designers of the stall This & That, however, chose to create something chic and urban by using a shutter frame and adding a mirror at the bottom. “It works as both an art work and an utility product,” said Amit Bhasin, representative of This & That. Another thing that generated much interest amongst people passing the stall was a replica of a wooden window, which opened into a mirror.
There were also mirrors bordered with a thick layer of conch shells, sea shells and oyster shells in various sizes and colours.
Come to light
lights have been a constant favourite, especially in foreign countries. While US prefers candles, floor lamps and corner lamps, people in Britain are partial towards elaborate chandeliers. This has led designers to think out of the ordinary and come up with designs which occupy less space and are yet stylish. “Today everything is about showing off and that too in style,” said a representative of Art-n-Glass. Wall lamps come in a variety of structures.
There are designs with phrases like ‘home sweet home,’ ‘Broadway, Wall Street, Oxford Street and Piccadilly Circus’ engraved on them. “We require lights all through the year, and we use a lot of candles during Thanksgiving, Easter, Christmas and also Hanukah. Apart from the traditional Menorah, it is nice to have classy and trendy candle holders,” said Scott Wilson, from New Jersey, holding a table clip with a small candle stand on top.
Reuse and recycle
Reduce, resuse and recycle — the three R’s have made their way into almost every industry. Just like the old ambassador sofa, Hastaka Handicrafts had table counters made with the bonnet of a truck, a storage box made from ice containers and a barbeque grill made from the front part of an old auto. According to proprietor Chunni lal Godara, no waste is waste enough. “Everything can be recycled or reused in many ways. We collect spare parts of discarded cars from old garages and try to tweak and turn them into something modern, usable and fashionable. Foreign clients are really taking a fancy to these designs,” he said.
Be it a flower pot placed in the wicker basket that comes in a bicycle, a crib cut from one side and re-decorated into a sofa or some metal hangers wielded into a hanging photo frame to make a rack, there were handful ideas that intrigued customers. “People are not wasting anything. Even after an object loses its significance there are various other ways you can utilise it. It all depends on the imagination. Sometimes we get ideas from our clients, otherwise we have designers from Brazil and India who travel the world and gather ideas,” said Bhasin.
photos Sanjeev Kumar