Greys, blacks, and wooden tones may help ground the home, but not everything around you needs to be utilitarian and regular. Whatever your decor style may be - cosy, comfortable, relaxed, rustic, over the top, or trendy, your rooms could do with a touch of whimsy. Channel your fun vibe to add a quirky feel to your space and radiate positivity with these indie brands.
Glass Forest
Started by Pallavi Chandra and Deeksha Saini in 2019, New Delhi-based Glass Forest is an artisanal range of home décor products that crafts stories in glass. The founders believe that glass is the perfect visual metaphor for water and closely represents all its characteristics such as clarity, transparency, the duality of fragility, and strength. “Our installations have all been carefully handcrafted to redefine glass as an element within the periphery of human-built spaces,” Pallavi says, adding that installations like Koi Pond, Ripples, and Flight have received an amazing response.
The founders say glass, as a material, is symbolic of sensitivity. It is fragile yet resolute, just like water, that’s “so gentle yet strong enough to change the shape of everything on its path”.
All Glass Forest products, including glassware, serveware, ornaments, lightings, decor accents and installations, are inspired by water and aquatic life and add style and sophistication to homes. The products are priced between ₹1,250 and ₹11,500.
“Our love for colour and vintage glassware inspired us to create daily use products. Firdaus, made out of fluted borosilicate glass, showcases old-world charm as does Juliette. Our Eden collections bring together fluted and coloured borosilicate glass to create an unusual combination of sophistication and playfulness,” Deeksha says.
Osmos Studio
Yuri vases
Founded in August 2019, Scandinavia-inspired brand Osmos offers simple ceramic pieces that create a lovely setting, symbolising not just beauty but also the ability to flourish and thrive under pressure. The brainchild of Priyanka Sharma and Varun Maheshwari, the design studio creates home goods rooted in minimalism. The brand stands for simplicity, calmness, and modern minimalism, inspired by Japanese and Scandinavian designs.
“Osmos is derived from the word osmosis, which also means a gradual process of diffusion or assimilation through a membrane. For us, it meant the expansion of inner space to the outside world, connected by the means of non-obtrusive products,” Priyanka says.
The range includes tableware, vases, and decor objects priced between ₹299 and ₹2,199. Of these, the Shoku set, the Her and Bonobo vases, pumpkin candle stands, and rose plates are extremely popular.
“Osmos Studio is in tune with the new-age lifestyle of millennials and Gen Z, who are exposed to ideas of minimal design more than ever. We work to make in India, associating with extremely skilled artisans that are evolving with time and navigating their way into this new ceramic-forward industry,” Varun says.
Sashaa World
Jute mandala rugs
Born into a family that lived in Panipat and was immersed in textiles and home décor, Sakshi Munjal always loved all things aesthetic. She was studying in Singapore when she was bitten by the entrepreneurial bug. “I wanted to create a brand that effortlessly married Indian textile heritage and a contemporary, modern, bohemian look,” says Sakshi.
In 2018, she launched Sashaa World, which is inspired by India’s rich textile and weaving traditions. “We experiment with materials, motifs, crafts, and weaves to create eclectic designs that wed Indian heritage with a contemporary aesthetic. Our inspirations often come from our travels, both in India and internationally,” she says.
The woman-led organisation also focuses on keeping women at the forefront, be it operations or packaging. Sashaa World offers a range of made-in-India products that encompass furnishings, furniture, wall décor, and lifestyle accents. Prices range between ₹599 and ₹3,999.
Sakshi says the cushions, throws, poufs, and stools are some of our bestsellers. “Our range of macrame and jute products are extremely popular,” she says, singling out the boho woven cushions, jute mandala rugs, chenille and multi-striped cotton throws, knitted poufs, and macrame stools.
Pine Cone
Bread basket
A product design graduate from NIFT Gandhinagar (NIFT) with PG from Indian Institute of Management, Calcutta (IIMC), Nikita Gupta worked the corporate life for 13 years. In 2019, when doing the interiors of her new home, she realised the dearth of quality Indian craft-based home decor products.
In December 2020, this led to the launch of Pine Cone, which offers a range of products that are enabling the revival of numerous long-forgotten traditional crafts, from natural fibre basketry and weaving of water hyacinth and bamboo in Assam, to water reed in Manipur to salt reed in Himachal Pradesh.
Nikita, who was born and brought up in Jammu, says: “We are also working on bringing the ancient willow wicker craft of Kashmir in a contemporary way as home decor products and personal accessories like hand bags, backpacks etc. Next up is the launch of a dying embroidery craft form from the hills in the form of tableware and kitchenware.”
Pine Cone works directly with traditional artisans (90% are women) in rural parts of the country, helping give their products a contemporary feel and Scandinavian-Bohemian aesthetic to appeal to minimalists and maximalists alike. The products are priced ₹599 upwards. Pine Cone’s bestsellers include the Spa Baskets and Santorini Macrame wall hangings. “Our latest launch of bags in English Willow have also been very well received, especially the backpack and the English Willow trunks,” Nikita says.
Mason Home
Regal Medallion tray table
This luxury home décor brand offers solutions to almost all home décor problems. Aiming to add a mix of modern and chic finishes to every nook and cranny of the home, it has options galore — from the bling of art deco to the minimalism of modern Scandinavian décor. And strangely, the marriage of opulence and simplicity works very well. “We believe in designs that represent the client’s needs and our design vision. While we are fond of making homes fluid in terms of design, we also enjoy exploring, pushing the boundaries, and trying to incorporate edginess with our products and designs. It’s about bringing a newness that steers away from conventional ways,” says Chirag Vora, Founder of Mason Home.
The company offers furniture, decor accents, and options for bedding, bath, dining, and storage. Festive collections, be it Diwali or Christmas, are created to suit the vibe, focusing on what homeowners want. Prices start upwards of ₹395 and cross ₹11,000 for the bigger pieces.
The Regal Medallion hand-painted tray table, Malmo Trolley, Belgrade Table, Arizona Silver Planters — they all promise to add opulence and quirkiness to your home.
