Tara*, the former editor of BBC Good Home, wrote to me last week introducing Heaven & Home and asked if I would feature them on “dress your home”. I’m honestly overwhelmed by the number of e-commerce home decor/furnishings sites that have sprung up this past year like Shopo, afday and Rajee Sood Home. And then, there are all those new enterprising creators of all those wonderful things sold on these sites.

Bhavna of An Indian Summer already did a fabulous job of introducing Heaven & Home to the design/home decor blogger community and reaching out to a much bigger audience. So, I’m going to keep it brief by focusing on what I like about Heaven & Home.

1. The landing page requires you to register. Hidden message: the founders are serious about what they are offering/selling. It’s not a hobby; not a business a bunch of people started together on a whim. Product presentation matters and H&H has clinched it.

2. Short-lived deals: In a weird way, the moment I landed on the home page, Crazeal (the Indian spinoff of Groupon) flashed in my mind. For no good reason.  I think the human mind is wired to glow instantly when it sees the word “sale” (at least mine is); it doesn’t matter if it is sale all year round at all the stores across the city.  The trick I think is in the words used to make believe you are really getting a good deal (when in reality you may pay what it’s worth, or sometimes more). The job gets easier for Heaven & Home because pictures do the talking. I mean who can resist a colorful cushion like this one, for instance?

3. Distinguishing products: Table runners, cushions, and other soft furnishings are easy to come by.  With so many creative people around us, it’s not tough to find what you like within your budget. But products like decals I’m not sure I’ve seen elsehwere.

What I would like to see more of:

Not the same deals being repeated after a day or two. More product listings which I think will grow with H&H.

In all, a professionally curated site that has been executed with precision.

Sidenote: I know I’ve turned down quite a few feature requests since October. Just got back to blogging but the frequency will continue to be low. If you have a great product you’d like to be featured, please drop me a note.

Image courtesy: Heaven & Home

Do you subscribe to any of the home interiors and decorating magazines, or pick a random bunch off the shelf every month?

Home Decorating magazines

Do you lean towards Elle Decor with its emphasis on stylish living and following the seasonal trends closely? Or do you prefer Good Homes for its easily adaptable decorating and gardening ideas?Or you inspired by the exquisite homes showcased in Society Interiors?

I have a monthly subscription for  BBC Good Homes, but read the others such as Society Interiors, Ideal Home and Gardens, Better Interiors and Elle Decor on a regular basis from the library or buying recent issues at cheaper prices.

I’m slightly biased towards Good Homes because it has a glossy feel to it and has the right mix of advertorials and features. Except the home tours which are quite lengthy, the other features are a quick read. I absolutely love their multi-part design series spread over many issues. Good Home is currently running a Decor Lifecycle series.

Society Interiors reads like a architecture book and puts me to sleep.

What I don’t like in the home decor magazines?

Know your audience. Home decorating on a budget sells like hot chips. Seriously. If one has the capacity to blow, let’s say, Rs.10 L on soft furnishings, then one also has the ability hire a really expensive interiors consultant. So why present only accessories and products from high-end stores such as FCML, Atmosphere, which are eye-candy but out of reach for a normal household. For someone looking for doing up their home with limited resources, there are far and few ideas.

Sample this, for instance. A sofa chair by Pinakin Patel from Pinakin for Rs. 52,000 (Elle Decor, August 2009). The Mtouche range of porcelain tiles from FCML Home at Rs.1,300 a sq.ft (Ideal Home and Gardens, September 2009).  That way I think Good Homes strikes a good balance of expensive and affordable products such as Snapshot Coasters  at Rs.995 a piece from Apartment 9, and Glass Funk Coasters at Rs.600 for four from Silk Road and Beyond or Star Coasters at Rs.1,200 for six from Good Earth.

The home tours are again a drab. They make you drool, no doubt about that. But with the amount of styling that goes in for a shoot to present the image of a picture perfect home, we all know it wouldn’t work in a practical setting.

What works for you and what’s on your reading list every month?

Nestled in the by-lanes of Indira Nagar is a studio named “Glasscrafters“. Glasscrafters was started by Asad Hajeebhoy originally in 1991 in Bombay, followed by a four year stint in Muscat, Oman,and finally at Bangalore in 1996.  A physicist by education, Asad pursued stained glass as a hobby to take it up full-time in 1996.

Glasscrafters, Bangalore

Contrary to most Indian interior decor sites, Glasscrafters is well-designed replete with product pictures, portfolio, and course and service offerings. But, I still prefer to visit any studio/store in person to feel the pulse of the place.

A brief chit-chat on last Wednesday evening with Asad on art of stained glass was an eye-opener for me.  Tucked away from the hustle-bustle of 80 feet road,  Asad’s studio-cum-home is a flurry of activity with clients walking in, a designer working on some new project, materials spewn around, and finally, Asad talking about his passion for stained glass totally unfazed by his surroundings.  He demystifies the common perception that stained glass art is painting done on glass. In reality, there is no painting. Stained glass works are actually different pieces of colored glasses joined together with a copper foil to create a jigsaw-like piece of work.

According to Asad, his business broke even within 3 months of starting. Initially, he got his assignments primarily through references. The fact that there were no suppliers of stained glass materials in India back then made it a challenge. Mainly people who lived abroad placed an order for a specific piece. They brought the glass and materials with them for Asad to create. Word spread and now Glasscrafters has a impressive portfolio of over 2,000 projects. 90% of them are residential including some well-known ones such as Rishi Kapoor’s Mumbai residence.

A wide ranged of glasses are used such as wavy, wispy, opalesecent for the swirls and streaks, cathedral, streaky, textured, baroque, antique, and jewel.

Stained glass lampshade

A decade later, things have changed for the better. Glasscrafters is now a stockist for Spectrum glass.  The amount of  work involved in making every piece is mind-boggling. So, there’s nothing called a bulk order. A single piece or 100 pieces, to create each piece, small pieces of different colored glasses will have to be cut individually and joined together.

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One morning my two-year old son brought a bunch of brown seeds after his morning walk. He called the round-looking seeds “flowers” and they were meant as a gift to me. Touched, I wanted to preserve the first gift I ever got from the toddler. On closer introspection, the dried seeds looked beautiful, and unlike most plants, they were too hard to wither from the branch.

Eucalyptus seeds in a glass jar

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