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Photo: S. Mahinsha

Owner’s pride: In tune with the changing times, latest designs, innovative ideas and a variety of furnishing fabrics are flooding the market. –

Not so much of thought was given to furnishing the house, till few years ago, even when one built one’s own house and moved into it. With major chunk of savings in addition to the loan spent on acquiring the house, an ultimate dream by any standards for many, the thought to shell out more to decorate the interiors was simply shunned, at least till one could recoup their financial resources.

But not any more! A part of budget is set aside to acquire furniture to match with the look of the new apartment/house. Why, even tenants do not mind to transform their rented flat or house into a beautiful home by imaginatively furnishing it with furniture and tapestry of their choice. And interestingly furniture is no longer looked upon as lifetime acquisition or one is not emotionally attached to it if they feel the house could do with a new look.

With latest designs, innovative ideas, a variety of furnishing fabrics, material flooding the market, it is hard to resist the temptation of bringing in something that is in tune with times. And catering to this change in mindset are scores of furniture showrooms, big furniture houses, those retail imported furniture or exclusive showrooms like Inhabit Furniture and Interiors which source material and customise furniture as per their customers’ requirements in their own workshop.

Acknowledging the trend for growing preference for changing furniture or refurbishing the existing drawing room or dining room decor, Mr. Chaitania R. Kumar, Managing Director of Inhabit Furniture says, people tend to get bored with the same old furniture and their value, even if it is made of teak wood, diminishes in their eyes. With socialising increasing, friends, relatives and business and professional associates being invited home, people prefer to keep their houses well appointed and maintain it at a certain standard to reflect their lifestyle and personality as well, Mr. Kumar says.

Moreover, the concept of house décor has undergone change in city with people working for MNCs, IT companies and lot of expatriates moving to Hyderabad. With more and more people travelling abroad, increased awareness about various trends and styles in furniture has prompted furniture showrooms to introduce latest designs and materials here and this has influenced the taste of local residents too, he explains.

But aspiring to be in tune with times is not enough. One should also be able to judge what kind of furniture designs would suit their homes.

Inhabit Furniture offers value added service by sending their design consultant to the customer’s home to help him/her choose the piece that suits as per their room size, layout and even its placement to enhance the look of the décor.

Says Neeta Kumar, furniture and interior designer, “We give consultancy on layout of furniture, fabric selection, among thousands of samples we have as per colour scheme customer may have in mind”.

The showroom has wide range of drawing, bed and dining room furniture and focus pieces mostly made in teak.

Sofas upholstered in leather and fabric are fast moving items more than dining and bedroom furniture. The USP of this showroom is definitely unique designs in fusion style, bringing best features of contemporary and traditional designs, a refreshing change from the run-of-the-mill designs one sees everywhere. The Coco Sofa, Step Sofa, L-shaped sofa in different sizes are few examples plus sofa sets in attractive fabric and leather. Leather backed beds for relaxed reclining, low platform beds, dining tables with mother of pearl inlay in contemporary and fusion styles, side tables, stylish long chairs give that elegant touch to a lobby space are many.Neeta says instead of opting only for traditional or contemporary style, a mix and match of both -- fusion look -- breaks the monotony of one style and make the décor more appealing.

If one is looking for new furniture, Inhabit, Banjara Hills, is one of the places to look for unique designs in affordable and value for money prices despite its upmarket location. The stores opened three years ago has lot of repeat customers. Once done with furniture and looking for accessories sourced from all over India and again at reasonable prices, there is separate ‘Inhabit India’ wing. One can choose from a wide range of decorative pieces, artefacts, handcrafted items in wood, metal, Bidriware, wall hangings, vases, knickknacks, acrylic table mats, Kalamkari jewellery pouches, icons of Ganesha, crystal hangings, puja room ‘thorans’ for that touch of elegance and traditional charm.

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