There are traces of Kutch, Beawar and Santorini at Namrata Dhawan’s interior decoration store in Egmore. It’s a collection of all things homely and eclectic, the richly intricate and the makeshift kind of cool. For a store that just turned a year old, Mi Casa seems to have a lot to offer.
The latest nautical collection, inspired by a trip to Greece as well as by ideation with her design team, comprises rope-and-ladder platforms, wall hangings in varying shapes and shades of blue, hooks, photo frames and more. They occupy pride of place in Mi Casa’s inner room, and form an interesting contrast to the garden furniture made of tin, and sophisticated collections of brass cutlery.
Some of the objects on Dhawan’s shelves come with their own treasure troves of anecdotes and meaning, while others get meaning assigned to them after being put on the shelves. For instance, simple, fist-sized black ants made of sandstone seemed to be immensely popular among young working professionals all of a sudden; it was a bit perplexing. Unlike the teal, faded wall clock, the ants weren’t a result of months of work on polished brass by 60-year-old artisans with decades of experience. Unlike the wooden wine holders with rope handles, they had neither the element of utility nor the look of a lifestyle statement. They were just simple, black ants.
After quite a bit of speculation, the explanation turned out be a surprisingly simple one. The ants looked good on the IT professionals’ office desks, and were a metaphor for hard work. Quite the popular office present.
The working youth aren’t Dhawan’s only surprising client demographic. She has had everyone from college students to designer resorts and interior decorators pick up pieces from her collections. “I have been asked to frame quotes and lyrics by Drake and Justin Bieber,” she recalls, stressing that everybody is a prospective client, especially the ever-creative home-maker.
The one thing Mi Casa refuses to do, as a matter of policy, is recreate something you may have seen there and loved before. “Ours is a small city; you don’t want to run into the same designs and pieces everywhere you go,” explains Dhawan. Which is why there won’t be more than five pieces of any design — be it a chair or a tray — and things that are charming and unique can remain so.
