While dreaming about a new house, it is no wonder that people have bouts of insomnia. Take, for instance, choosing a sofa: it can make or break your living room, define its look and even decide if your den is a space to be ‘lived in’ or ‘looked at’. Choosing between minimalist, neutral colours, straight lines, Indian prints, European classic, upholstered or elegant teakwood may take an average person many months.
Colour crazy
"Most of our customers usually like to cheer up their homes with colour. Whether it’s just a brightly-coloured cushion on a black sofa or an eye-popping lime green couch itself," says Sri Hari Shankar, brand manager, Stanley Sofas. "People generally like to experiment with a single piece of furniture that stands out,” he adds, before pointing to his bestseller, a daybed called Milky Way – gleaming, pearly leather in beige covering an asymmetrical piece of furniture, a cross between a couch and a bed. A single row of studs run through the bottom of the back rest. “Our popular couch, called the Cocoberry, has the leather stitched and bunched up to look like the texture on a strawberry,” he says.
The popular option of ‘mixing it up’ in your home involves matching different styles of furniture together. "A simple, L-shaped couch done up in velvet or leather and teamed with an ethnic chest produces a surprisingly good effect on a room," says Mansa Sethiya, a designer at Tulsi’s Arterior. She notes that neutral colours and earthy tones also have a tendency to attract people. The warm effect and colouring gives the room a cosier ambience. "You can mix European-style couches with Indian carved woodwork as well as some upholstery," she says. "People like to mix elements of design; it can be minimal with some woodwork. It sets the tone for a formal living space in the home."
Touch wood
With more people being inspired to jazz up classic furniture, teak remains, to this day, a widely popular option for sofas. Teakwood and rosewood have always been used to create some of the most comfortable and elegant furniture sets. With inspiration from snake motifs and elephants, teak furniture can offer the best in terms of carved comfort for your living room. "We have taken inspiration from furniture made in Hong Kong and Japan. Although there they use rubber wood, we recreated some of those sofa sets with teak," says Tarun Lewis of Teak Heirlooms. "As far as experimentation goes, we even get orders for furniture made from coconut wood," he says.
Grilled teakwood is a popular way to spice up your furniture. The simple modern minimal sleekness and streamlined looks go on to prove that less is indeed more.
The trick lies in using conventional material or upholstery in a new design. Taking inspiration from the past or the future is an excellent idea. After all, your home is what you make of it.
