First comes the house. Then you think of the décor. Well, these days aspiring home owners tend to shake the foundations of convention a bit and build their dream homes with the aesthetics of their living spaces in mind. Cue Samuel George and his wife, Anna Samuel. The enterprising young couple are giving home owners ideas to spruce up their homes or find inspiration, through their new concept home store, Red Cotton.
A model living room in Red Cotton, a home store
“We have always dreamed of starting a luxury home store and making the store itself a show-piece for contemporary trends in interior decoration,” says the flamboyant Samuel, who runs GeoSam, a four-decade-old upholstery and furnishing company in the city.
A model living room in Red Cotton, a home store
“The name Red Cotton comes from a tropical tree, with large red flowers that blooms in spring in parts of North India and South East Asia. I liked the allusion of the name to cotton fabric, nature and life in general,” adds Anna, an architect and home baker.
An armchair designed by Red Cotton
Stepping into Red Cotton on the Kesavadasapuram-Ulloor road is like stepping into the glossy pages of a high-end home décor magazine. In a sun-dappled nook, for instance, is an English winged armchair covered in pretty floral linen, with a couple of colourful cushions to keep it company. It would look perfect in a breakfast nook overlooking a summer garden or as the centre-piece of the boudoir. Nearby, arranged artistically around a leather coffee table, are a few armchairs and sofa sets in different designs, such as a four-seater in grey, blue and brown stripes and a pair of red Tudor chairs that would be right at home in your library.
Adding a dash of glamour to the show-living room are cushions of many hues and patterns, flower vases, sculptures and lamps, all set against a burgundy wall that’s been highlighted with tasteful bric-a-brac – ceramics, sculptures, candle stands, curtains and even a birdcage... And that’s just one small corner of the massive concept store. Everywhere, there are similar picture prefect displays of what your dream living room, bedroom, dining room and the like could look like.
Collectibles at Red Cotton
Their USP, says the couple, is customised furniture, according to customers’ needs and tastes. “We do interior decoration from scratch. From designing furniture and hand-crafting it – in our workshop that runs the length of the store upstairs – to upholstering it and complementing it with curtains and furnishings,” says Samuel.
He’s the furniture man, while Anna, with her background in architecture, helps clients decide and design their furniture and interiors.
“The entire store is full of sample furniture that we have custom made. For a sofa set, for example, we make at least three templates before it is executed in the material and fabric of choice,” says Sam. Their clientèle is mainly the well-heeled, who don’t mind splashing a bit to get that perfect look. The architecture of the space itself is worth a mention. “We wanted to go for a back-to-basics industrial look, away from chrome and glass. So, we went with exposed ceiling, lighting, pipes and beams, cement flooring and so on, which only enhances the model rooms,” says Anna, pointing out a sofa set and chairs “ideal for comparatively smaller spaces such as apartments,” a huge four-poster bed with colourful, plump cushions, a beautiful wall of wallpaper squares, another pair of armchairs covered in digital floral print, all artfully arranged to get creativity ticking.
In between all these are Anna’s curated collection of knick-knacks: cherubs, hens, frogs, and Santas in ceramic, pots, lamps, wind chimes and so on. “Some of the collectibles are what’s left from when we did up the store for Christmas. Seeing our Christmas store we got several requests to dress up other stores in the city, based on a theme, and lo! we branched out into a new area of business,” adds Anna, with a smile.
Samuel George and Anna Samuel
If the model furniture is not enough for customers to get creative, there is a wall bursting with high-end upholstery fabric catalogues and also several mood boards that the duo have created that showcases the colours, fabrics and styles in trend in interior design.
“Floral is the furnishing trend of the moment, just as it is on the catwalk for men’s and women’s garments,” says Anna, as we flip through catalogue upon catalogue packed with samples, floral prints in in periwinkle blue, sunny yellow and peony violet; vintage fabric and patterns; very modern geometric prints; traditional stripes... in materials such as silk, linen, cotton, leather and so on.
“Polyester and other synthetic fabric are on their way out for furnishings and upholstery. Customers, these days, tend to think and buy cotton and other natural fabrics. Our actual stock of fabric rolls is limited but we can source them in no time,” explains Anna. They also have matching wallpaper samples and cushion covers. “Several of our customers now come to the store to simply chill out. So, we will soon be adding coffee and cakes to the menu,” says Samuel.
