The Hindu Business Line : Walking freely on a tight rope

The day came about last year when we got married, and had to find a flat. We found one near the family. That done, we had to go about furnishing our place, and we were completely out of funds by the time we got around settling all the wedding bills, the house advance, the honeymoon and all that.

When we began, we had two sets of straw mats — one of coarse mats, and another of traditional fine straw. The first pair we used in the drawing room for seating guests and the second set was the bed. Further, we fall squarely into what you'd call the middle class. Today, we have a completely furnished house. So how did we go about getting things done on a tight budget? Well, here's the secret.

The first thing we did — even before we got married — was to a make a tour of all the best furniture boutiques in Chennai — from the American Sauder, to the French Gautier, to the Scandinavian Damro, to our very own Jayabharatham. Initial estimates to furnish the house — a single bedroom apartment — varied from Rs 60,000 to more than a lakh. This included a sofa set/settee, a dining set, a set of cots, wardrobes, study desk and chair, bookcases — everything, really.

So we sat down and prioritised whatever we wanted right away, and still the bill was a stiff Rs 35,000 at the very least. And we still had to buy appliances (refrigerator, washing machine, mixer-grinder, etc) for the house. Then, out of the blue, a good friend asked if we had any objection to second-hand furniture. As we couldn't afford any such thing, she suggested that we try Mani's at Royapettah, as she had herself picked up quite a few things from there.

At Mani's, we got the shock of our lives. Furniture that had been lovely at some point of time, in what seemed like a distant past, was lying all piled up, open to the elements inside a huge premises; some in the open, some in the garage, some in a godown, and some inside an old, old, house. The manager, however, was a kindly man, sympathetic to our combination of expensive tastes but not having that much money. We right away picked up a set of rosewood cots — really gorgeous — at an unbelievable price.

Just when we were leaving, something old and weather-beaten struck our eyes. We wanted to see what it was, and voila, we had just laid eyes on the first, last and only dining table that existed in earth for us. So we went back inside to look for chairs to go with the table, and there, we found a set of nice old rosewood chairs. There was one problem though — the table was teakwood and the chairs were rosewood. No problems, said the manager, we will finish the teakwood table in rosewood. One bit of advice here — we made a mistake at that point, but we don't regret it — please don't finish one wood like another one if you want to be a serious collector, or if you want to retain a high resale value.

A month later and after a series of visits to Mani's, we had furnished the entire house, most of the stuff from Mani's, and some from other sources. Making this a one-stop shop was a no-brainer, because after the first two visits, the manager got to know of our taste and what we could afford, and he calls us every time something interesting comes up. Friends in other cities say they too have such places, but have been wary of going there. You are missing something if you don't even take a peek into one of these places.

Moving over to furnishings, we didn't have too much of the right stuff to indulge ourselves. But we did find a great place for furnishings — a small lane in Egmore in Chennai. Great variety in pure cotton at rock-bottom prices. Buy reams and reams of cloth, find a roadside tailor, ask him to do a pillow-case for you, and if you are happy with what he produces, go ahead and ask him to do all the curtains, mats, potholders, cushion covers, everything. Another nice source is the handloom exhibitions from the different districts and States. Make sure, however, that you go to a government or a government-sponsored store.

And on we go to curios and nic-nacs. We have never been fond of perfectly crafted interiors, possibly because our parents have always remarked that "their house is like a hotel" every time we have visited someone who did their interiors in one go, especially just after buying a new home. We believe that our home should evolve over a period of time — some things will change, but some things won't. So, we have made it a habit to pick up only stuff that we'd be proud to own any time. No matter that it doesn't go with the current things that we have. We save it (well packed, in the loft).

Anyway, both of us have been fortunate enough that our parents have some lovely things that have come down the ages, and they were generous enough to actually give us some of the things we liked. (We got a very firm "NO" from my mother for a mango-wood bench-cum-swing, but a "yes" for a nice teakwood newspaper and telephone stand. Surprisingly, we got a "yes" for a fantastic Kerala "Uruli"). We are sure that you too can manage to wheedle your parents out of some things, and you should — it's a piece of your own history.

When it comes to buying things, favourite haunts are the Victoria Technical Institute, DakshinaChitra (not the over-priced Craft Shop, but the artisans themselves) in Chennai, Shivanjali in Coimbatore, Vithuni in Palakkad, and The Culture Shop in Mumbai. DakshinaChitra, Shivanjali and The Culture Shop are for crafts, but Vithuni (name of the village and not the shop) is a place for antiques — woodwork, furniture, figurines, religious paraphernalia, crockery etc. We visit all the States' crafts fairs held from time to time in the city and pick up something for the house.

This kind of approach to interiors makes the whole thing a very personal experience — quite unlike hiring a professional to do the job for you. The professionals are for businesses. This kind of picking up of stuff also means that we can change the themes for the different rooms (now, but at the rate at which we are going, we'd probably be able to change the theme for the whole house at the drop of a hat). Also, every thing in the house will have a story behind it, and it makes for good dining and making the wallflowers bloom.

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