Come Home to India! - Times of India

Are you ready for an interiors renaissance from India? After celebrating the success of the Made in India label in fashion and food, the world is now in love with its interiors. Be it Hollywood actor Goldie Hawn, who picked up Maharajah-styled cushions from the House of Ishvatam to Deepa Mehtas penchant for multi-coloured, Indian cotton napkins from Shades of India, everyone wants a bit of India in their living spaces.

Glossy lifestyle stores like The Opium Shop are luring the worlds rich and famous with Bollywood bling chairs; silver-weave charpais and silk sari pillow covers. For those who want royal decor, theres Jagmandir wallpaper from the Sariskar collection by Henry Wilson for Osborne & Little, all in London! For designer JJ Vallaya, home furnishings imply big business.

Interiors are becoming multi-cultural. For me, homes have to be dramatic, yet comfortable.Rooms with a past, bedspreads with a craft are the mood right now, agrees Aman Nath, co-chairman, Neemrana Hotel, also an architect and interior designer.

He adds, When Queen Elizabeths niece visited Neemrana, she wrote in the log book, Simplicity and style is so difficult to achieve. Thats my design motto simplicity. The West likes our khadi towels, the Gandhi lamp, wooden bowls.

The West is completely taken in by Indian home accessories. Even Donna Karan loves our yoga mats. Adita Bhaskar of House of Ishvatam says, Weve become a show-and-tell society.

Everyones house proud now.No wonder then that fashion designers are making big bucks cashing in on the interior boom. Abraham and Thakore sell in Londons The Conran Shop, Paris Caravane and New Yorks ABC Carpet & Home.

David Abraham says, We have incredible craft. One of our hot-selling products is the Black and White Ikat products from Andhra Pradesh.The Indian touch is also visible in Rajat Singhis merchandise that he retails at Harrods, Bloomingdales and Neiman Marcus.

For Mumbai-based interior designer, Rajiv Saini it was a big high being chosen by Italian company. He says, Indian interior designers are being taken seriously as their designs are functional, yet classic. Right now, Delhi celebrity Bindu Vaderas all set to redesign spaces of Indian homes with her store Varya.

India too is opening its interiors to world concepts. Entreprenuers like Charu Munjal, wife of Pankaj Munjal, MD of Hero Motorss home store Oma do just that, We want people to experience luxury like never before. You get a multicultural home, with a local touch.

Were moving beyond the Raj-era. The new mantra is classic, yet stylish. Designer Abu Jani and Sandeep Khosla have just finished redoing Shweta and Nikhil Nandas home, The new look has a glamorous touch, its eclectic.

Theres a mix of Western sophistication with Indian culture. When we do homes, big is beautiful.Tanya Deol, actor Bobby Deols wife, designs ornate coffee tables, sofas and cushion covers.

She says, I try to capture grandeur and splendour the new mood.So, what makes India hot? Vadera replies, The international markets appreciate culture with a contemporary spin.

The opulence of India stimulates living spaces of people. Meanwhile, David Whorra, of Episode who sells to Germanys Lambert, Armani and Ralph Lauren says, Were in an experimental phase. We think differently from the standard formats.

Designing spaces is about designing a lifestyle. Thats why the latest James Bond flick used Shades of Indias mirror work cushions, a table runner printed with gold leaf. According to David Housego, of Shades of India, which sells in Selfridges, Harrods in London, Barneys in New York, and Le Bon Marche in Paris; For the West, India is a never-ending discovery.

The trend in design has moved away from the ethnic to creative items with cultural history.