You could looks at this place and say “Aha! I want that Ottoman for my bedroom, and that plush inviting sink-in-able L-shaped sofa for my TV lounge… or that dazzling mirror with the golden trim for my wall.” Or you could see furniture as kids see their toys — things you can push and pull and play around with.
The Mumbai-based furniture store Furniturewalla is not a new one. But their re-launched avatar “Furniturewalla FW” has appeared on the high street of Bangalore shopping — Indiranagar 80 Feet Road. They have started the new setup with their Spring/Summer collection for 2013. The store, spread over 14,000 sq ft and two floors features high-end furniture, accessories, lighting, carpets, peppered wit some art work — all imported from across countries ranging from Italy to China.
What really should catch your fancy, though, is the fact that much of the furniture comes with adjustable features.
Store Manager Christina Cotter points to a creamy plush leather sofa where the backrest can be set forward for upright seating, or pushed back for a more relaxed laidback seating arrangement. With a change in the backrest arrangement, it also looks like you got a new sofa. There’s also a sofa with a very sinkable-into night chaise. There’s a very linear coffee table, rectangular in the lower deck with two top square wooden panels that swivel out to create more space to stack things on. A round wooden bar table comes with an old-world black metallic crank — the kind you have to wind to give the table some height. Matched with it are two chunky well-weathered wood blocks for bar stools. A “coffee table” is a cart with cast iron wheels!
An inviting leather curved chair tucked into a stainless steel frame, this low-seater comes with a roller for back legs and what reminds me of school-time sliding calipers for front legs! So sit on it and slide your backside along. A deceptive semi-circular sofa turns into a circular sofa-cum-bed when you slide out the other half of the semi circle from underneath it.
Stainless steel dominates the collections at Furniturewalla. Since steel doesn’t rust or tarnish, it takes the form of exposed rivets, forms the backbone of the moving mechanisms, is very stylishly used in the contemporary chandeliers, and combined with glass, make for arresting coach-lantern-shaped candle holders.
The store is owned by Farhan Furniturewalla and wife Laila Khan Furniturewalla, who tour the world looking for pieces for their store. The store also features Laila’s artwork, predominantly acrylics and gold-leaf work on canvas; her latest collection is themed on Ganesha.
Furniture styles range from classic and antique, to re-invented retro and neo-modern. So there’s your classic rugged box trunk with leather trims and straps, crystal candelabra, and then there the stainless steel and glass coffin-inspired console table with crossed legs! Another miss-me-not is a grand looking aluminium-backed leather swivel chair inspired by an aeroplane façade — it comes with chunky brass rivets.
Other things to be had at the store include beds with nightstands, dining sets that are a new rage — four chairs and a bench/mini sofa on one side, accent chairs, high-backed chairs, Barcelona chairs with matching ottomans, side tables, mirrors, outdoor furniture, bowls.
Of course you need deep pockets too. Lighting fixtures are priced Rs. 22,600 to 89,000, accessories from Rs. 3,200 to 36,000, dining sets from Rs. 69,000 to 2,12,000, sofa sets from Rs. 1,27,000 to 3,98,500, bed with night stands range from Rs. 1,02,500 to Rs. 1,75,500.
Furniturewalla is at 2, Invenger Tower, 80 Feet Road, Indiranagar. Call 25252560/ 61.
