Infusing one’s sense of style into everything they own is every individualist’s dream. Probably why, when it comes to furniture, Bengalureans are not settling for the pre-made options available at the stores anymore. Sustainability, vintage style and a whole quirky level of uniqueness is what’s driving city dwellers to opt for couture furniture.
Swati Seeran
The buzzing urge to create one’s own furniture comes from needing things that fit in underutilised spaces. Using specialised skills, these DIY interiors are based on design, with the sole purpose to cut down on space and resources.
Swati Seraan, a nature and sustainability enthusiast who works in the furniture industry believes, “These products are eco-friendly and bio-degradable. They mostly work with reclaimed wood and don’t bother with veneers and laminates that are so common in the market today. Giving furniture and interiors a distressed and natural look is what the majority of the city wants to see in their belongings. The dishevelled hipster look is in these days, and it shows in the people’s furniture interests too!”
A remodelled coffee table from reclaimed wood.
Elegant stools with curved seats, rustic trays and bowls for serving, and chests of drawers that will add a touch of warmth to your bedroom – Bengaluru is out and about to add that sense of ‘me’ in everything they’re deciding to adorn their space with. City-based Shiela Baru, who is a vintage furniture enthusiast, talks about the importance of upcycling and improvising with old furniture to fit one’s personal requirements. “Apart from the fact that it’s extremely eco-friendly, there’s also a certain sense of regal chic about vintage items that people cannot find in things these days. All of the wood used here is solid wood and much of it is teak, in case people want to nestle in the lush lap of royalty,” quips Sheila.
With the advent of furniture workshops in the city, people are jumping the bandwagon to create what takes up their personal space. “Our motto is dream it and you can build it”, claims Sampath Reddy, who is a city-based furniture workshop mentor. “Learning to build your own living spaces – what is popularly referred to as the DIY culture, is mostly an attempt towards using low-cost, recyclable, ‘dis’assemble-able, readily available scratch. It’s all about basic angles and skills incorporated into a self-build modular framing system,” he adds, explaining how simple it is to create these customised items.
From transforming jhulas into cosy settees, to building something as simple as bunk-beds with drawers and shelves attached to them – customisation is in. As Muralidhar Reddy, Director, School of Architecture, CMR University, rightly says, “Customisation has always been in. We are just separately labelling it now.”
