Store in focus : Magnolia, Worli.

A classic case of seven year itch this. What else to call lawyer and design enthusiast Maulika Gandhi's decision to hang her black solicitor's coat after seven long years in the profession in favor of the business woman's hat? And she did it with panache too!

Maulika's labor of love is located just off  E moses road in Worli, Mumbai. Amongst a cluster of odd looking buildings in a nondescript lane stands the white, contemporary white facade of Magnolia, the home decor Atelier.

I have stumbled into the store, camera and gear in hand by accident. However it does not  take too long for me to get busy chasing beautiful things in Maulika's store .

A single-seater upholstered in cheery  yellow floral fabric graces the sunny entrance of the store.

At Magnolia the emphasis is on  classic pieces of furniture  and handcrafted objects d'art.  Passion for decor is a key element in designing stock according to Maulika, for whom the entire venture is a leap of faith to begin with. And the collection mirrors that preoccupation very well.

A quirky setting of up cycled, wood and tire furniture 

I notice an array of rough, up cycled  furniture, ideal for a patio or quirky  informal seating areas at home. "We design and create a majority of our furniture. Most if the up cycled pieces are created by us and the main aim is to re-use mundane and ordinary things and turn them into something unique. Plus we used a lot of recycled wood such as teak, sleeper wood etc. This way everyone can do their part in buying eco-friendly products without compromising on the design or aesthetics of their home" explains Maulika.

Another delightful find is the upholstery fabric used by the design team at Magnolia. Scraps of jewel toned Patola sewn together using kantha stitches. A vibrant and interesting touch for that  odd sofa or a set of chairs .

 A sofa upholstered with a patchwork of kantha embellished silk fabric

According to Maulika, using kantha on Patola offers a way of integrating modern living with old handicraft techniques. 

Talking of her future plans Maulika says : 

"Magnolia is a year and half old now. We are still spreading the word about our  flagship Worli store. We have a tremendous response from customers and we definitely have some expansion plans in the pipeline in the making" 

A few other interesting finds at Magnolia among many  also worth mentioning :

Digitally printed home decor and accents  add a dash of whimsy to the house India style and make excellent gifts too.

Vibrant colors combined with geometric prints marry the  contemporary  to the classic.

Stoneware and 

ceramic from 

Auroville  every home can do with....




Where :

83/C, Hansraj Pragji Building, 
Off. Dr. E Moses Rd., 
Worli Naka, Mumbai - 18.
Tel: +91 22-24951020 / 21 / 22
Email: contact@magnoliahome.co.in
Web.: www.magnoliahome.co.in

Check Magnolia out online.

1,2,3 Tablescapes, By Pavitra Rajaram

Its that time of the year again. In Mumbai, raucous sound of drums and trussed pandals have heralded the arrival of the Gods a while back.  The noise and gaiety of it all will last well past November.  An invitation to a decor workshop at this juncture may or may not mean too many things  given that so much is available online and offline.. ( Thanks to pinterest,  the world always looks like it's drowning  in picture perfect celebrations any way). Only this one was organized at the flagship store of Goodearth,  in Mumbai, and was going to be a ticket to hear designer and stylist

Pavitra Rajaram.   The time just had to be made!

T he well attended afternoon organized by Essars Learning initiative, Avid Learning had over 55 participants jostling for  pearls of decor wisdom Pavitra generously and very entertainingly  doled  during the course of the three hour workshop.  Turned out even those three were not enough and she had to breeze through her very thoughtfully researched and well put together presentation in order to complete it in time.

What goes into making mood boards, why make them? Colours, what shades? decor trends, table-scapes, entertaining at home an endless list of delicious conundrums.

 Engorged with information and thankful for the tea, participants were treated to three delightful table-scapes laid out with the approaching festive season in mind. Without further ado here are a few pictures from the afternoon.

Watching Pavitra and her team at work was like watching master juggler/ magicians at work as they  put together three entirely different looks together in a matter of minutes.   Although it is hard doing justice to their work with mere pictures, you will do well to open this link  here in another window before you go on with the rest of the post ..! :)

Have a good time table setting good folks, and do come back for lots more to come from  girlabouthome's Diwali post list. Watch this space !!

The realm of the sacred.

In India faith is all pervading. The realm of the sacred does not restrict itself to places of worship. Spilling out on to streets, pavements, busy bazaars, places where business is transacted and the inner most sanctums of homes. Even the most modern city homes usually have a space designated to prayer and contemplation.
The Indian universe is replete with sacred gestures - mango leaf torans, rangolis, wall art, yantras and a lot more.
If habitats are indeed a reflection of the beliefs and aspirations central to our lives; Indian homes have an incredibly rich reservoir of images to draw from. A fact that cuts across myriad faiths and economic strata.  Symbols and images abound every where, in Christian, Hindu, Buddhist Islamic and Jain homes.
The religious image finds expression in various contexts:  in the form of the Christian cross and kitschy nativity toys or Hindu deities and idols revered in domestic puja altars. In the form of psychedelic pop art smiling down  from frames in shops or living rooms across the country.
Although inherently part of an elaborate ornate order, the ritualistic paraphernalia should not be viewed as having superficial significance only. Their importance almost always exceeds their decorative value.
At Sara Fernandez's home in Chandor, Goa, the family altar  finds a  prominent place in the living room. Among the various accouterments  of rituals and idols etc, stands a tiny statue of  Our Lady Bon Parte or the deity of safe delivery wrapped in rich navy blue velvet. The statue, known to bless an expecting mother and her child has been revered by the family for generations. Very often the statue is loaned to families in the village where a child is expected. Thus a private possession of one family provides moral support  and courage to an entire community. Interestingly when a baby was expected at a local Hindu politician's home, the statue  was requested from the Fernandez home to bless the delivery!

The mythic similarly is very important to the Ladhaki scheme of things. In a Ladhaki home, efforts to synthesize the material and metaphysical worlds are made at every step.
The roof is considered to be the purest area of the house, as such the four corners of the space  are marked by willow branches and prayer flags strung all around them.  A typical day starts with an offering of flowers and fruits at the domestic altar to appease the Gods, residents of the nether worlds and the ancestors alike.
So to in the Hindu home, the adoration and ritualistic celebration of the divine is the way to start and end a day.  Irrespective of the economic status of the family, a tiny altar or elaborate puja rooms are created for the purpose.   The entrance to the Hindu homes is blessed by idols of Ganesha and elaborate or crude religious symbols and decorations. During annual celebration of Ganpati and navratri ritualistic prayers often revolving around a particular deity are organized.
Many old colonial homes in Goa and coastal Maharashtra have Gothic altars resplendent with gold and enamel details and contain a fantastic host of Catholic artifacts.
In most Indian homes, the realm of the  divine is the space that draws the family together -whether for simple prayer uttered at the start of the day, or an elaborate festival. It is also a reflection of the passions that motivates the family and a fountainhead of the value systems that guide it.

Our Lady Bon Parte or safe delivery at Sara Fernandez's home in Goa.

Street level workshop by day, and home at night for a migrant metal worker.

Old haveli in Jaipur, Rajasthan.

Family mandir, a small altar in another part of the same house, and an old Raja Ravi Verma print hanging in the living room of an old Goa home.

A pot of tulsi finds it place wherever space is available in Hindu homes of Worli koliwada, Mumbai

Light

Id and Ganesh utsav have come and gone. The year is already on the brink of the festive season. Dussehra, Diwali and Christmas.. Also the much awaited short but sweet Mumbai winter - if there is such a thing at all!..
Taking a  short breather before diving back into the year again.. posting random pictures taken from around  home, of homes and random streets....

(More about Chawl)

Its the light between two seasons that makes such a difference to the way we see things.. Shifting rays of the sun create unexpected, surreal changes to perspective. The way  the breakfast table lights up some mornings for example....

Or another random corner of the house late in the afternoon....

Also today afternoon, rambling around a shaded Colaba street, I chanced upon this balcony besprinkled with light.

DIY: Recycled Bookbox

 Idle Sunday afternoon.

four pair of hands, 

One discarded wooden crate

paints- brushes

varnish

=

Recycled book case.

This one here based on Mumbai  is inspired by truck graphics and wall art.

Before and underway

The finished book box

Whew!
Hope you  guys enjoy this..
We did !!

Reblogging!!

Girl about home has moved. Yet again. Countless times in ten years. Pitching tent, folding all parts of a movable household and moving on- comes easily by now. This time, I am back home, to a city I love - Mumbai.

A lot has happened. I have had no time although all the inclination to sit and go over the going-ons of last year. As I try to put it together on the blog, a sense of panic grips me, a familiar fear of the blank page. I have in the process of finding my feet in a new city and a new country with a much large family, neglected this space and there is just too much to share.

Where does one begin? Maybe like Lewis Carol says in his Alice in the wonderland, ``it is best to begin at the beginning,’’

So I shall start with pictures of the skeleton of an apartment that I stepped into exactly the same time -first week of July-last year. It was instant love. The space has transformed into our home over the course of a year.

Setting up home has to be the most enjoyable experience I have had in this exciting and super challenging city this far. Making it mine with colour texture, pattern, material and yeah, love..lots of it..has been a ride. And what a ride! Meeting wonderfully talented people, discovering exciting places to shop at, working with painters, masons and contractors, learning new things and not to miss the problems and lessons learnt for life !

This house was a first in many regards, the first one my babies moved in to, the first one that I supervised from start to finish, the first one with so much colour, and at least one room that I took upon myself to paint myself....

Will keep adding the various elements that have gone into dressing the space in subsequent posts. Also stories from Mumbai, my hugely fascinating new home. There is much I have encountered and learned… More later. Have a great day folks :).

The beautiful Ganpati belongs to the previous occupants of the house.. of course we keep it.

The area that I took upon myself to paint ..!