Tag Archives: sari

Help: The Sari Style Curtain That Got Away

Posted on May 7, 2013 by | 16 Comments

If you have ever seen a curtain or a sari like this, with a sheer center, can you please let me know?

India-Curtain-Panel

This was a curtain panel that was sold at Neiman Marcus and Horchow back in 2004. I had wanted it to hang over one of the glass doors between our family room and sunroom. So you can still see through the curtain into the sunroom and the backyard beyond it. Like a wisp of an exotic sari style curtain. But it was sold out. It was only about $100 at the time, not bad for NM.

Nine years later, I still think about this curtain once in awhile. Usually when I’m in India, but I don’t even know what to look for to find something similar to this. I never hung anything on the doors between our family room and sunroom. It’s like they’ve been waiting for something like this. Then this past weekend, I found the paper with this picture again. With all the customer service phone numbers to the catalogs, clearance centers, local stores. Geez, I was relentless … maybe still am?

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Vintage Sari Fabric, Recycled

Posted on April 21, 2012 by | 2 Comments

In honor of Earth Day, how about the many ways you can recycle sari textiles! Here are a few ideas saved at my Pinterest Board Vintage Sari Fabric, Recycled …

Chair reupholstered with sari fabric, via Eclectic Gipsyland on Flickr:

One-of-a-kind ottoman covered with sari fabric, found at Houzz:

A chair via Ruby Star Traders:

Kantha quilted sari pillows at West Elm:

Sari quilt ottomans by HAY:

I love the little patched areas you see on some of them, like this:

Here, red and lime green wool fibers are fused with a vintage silk sari to create a one-of-a-kind work of wearable art. By The Red Sari:

These are silk sari rugs from Elte and shared at nyla free designs. The silk from saris is unraveled and then hand-knotted into rugs:

Chinoiserie Chic shares stools that were once available on Etsy, that are covered with antique sari fabric:

A bed in John Derian’s home in Provincetown, Massachusetts is dressed with a vintage sari bedspread,, shown in Vogue Living:

Some of these are so rich and colorful — you can bring the same into your home. Check out Pinterest Board Vintage Sari Fabric, Recycled for many more ideas!

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Posted in Furniture, Home Decor

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Where to Get the Look: A Little Bit of India

Posted on March 4, 2012 by | Leave a comment

If you’ve liked the inspiration I’ve shared here and you want to spice up your place, you needn’t travel all the way to India (although I’d highly recommend a visit) and you don’t have to invest in antiques to get an “old India” look. From the convenience of your computer, or by visiting stores common in U.S. urban/suburban areas, you can get the look.

Bring jali into your home with this floor screen from Pier 1:

Set a light behind the screen to create a scattering of shadow shapes.

Bring the gold bling and beading of saris to your table settings with Pier 1′s sari table runner:

Iridescent green and blue, the colors of India’s national bird, will always freshen up a room. This peacock tray from Pier 1 is a beautiful way to bring in some color:

This tray is too pretty to bring out only for entertaining — instead hang it on a wall to see all the time. Visit a previous post about peacock colors for more decorating ideas.

The colors of an Indian zardozi textile can be found in a mirror from Kirkland’s:

Similar to this block print design from Les Indiennes, a designer & producer of gorgeously simple Indian block print textiles, is a wooden “painted window” mirror from Arhaus:

The kolam designs I saw during an evening walk in Chennai, India can be found in rangoli coasters at Harabu House:

We saw many colorful things during a shopping trip to Crafters in Cochin, and you can get similar colors in furniture at World Market like this Elephant Table:

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Shiny Iridescence

Posted on March 13, 2011 by | Leave a comment

For some reason, I’m looking at metallics, shiny things, iridescent things. Loving these things lately …

This John Robshaw pillow:

This peacock feather pillow at Modern Chic Home:

This sari. Varanasi/Benares saris are my favorite. Such as this design at sarishop.com:

This design above looks just like the blouse section of Benares sari fabric I got at Nalli in Chennai on my first trip there 10 years ago. I showed up prepared. I researched books about saris, and I had color photocopies of what I liked best. So I show the pictures to the staff at Nalli. It was an adjustment to not be able to look through all the saris myself. And what came out on the counter looked absolutely nothing like the photo. I was completely befuddled about how to get from Point A to Point B! What do I say next! My sister-in-law was with us and tried to communicate what we were looking for. But we weren’t making much progress. So we left the counters, and we wandered around for awhile because I was getting uncomfortable having them spread out so many saris that I wouldn’t want to buy. And then, I saw it! It was in the arms of a Nalli salesperson, headed toward the cash registers. For someone else! Oh no!! I asked him, do you have any more, exactly like that? (heart pounding) Oh yes, he said, right over here. And he walked not far, to the cabinets under the Benares sign. I had found my home. And he did offer me another sari exactly like that one. It is now the canopy for the bed in our guest room. Because I want to be able to see it all the time — why keep it folded in a closet.

Check out the shine and color on this Benares sari from sarishop.com:

And spread out around our guest room floor tonight are sequined textiles, with the colors in the sari above. Sequins?!? I don’t know what’s come over me. I’ve never bought anything sequined in my life. But a few weeks ago I was in the Baltimore area, and I had a rental car, and I had a map to an independent shop, A Fabric Place, along a beautiful drive of stone buildings and winding roads. I frequently stop at independent fabric stores when I travel for work or vacation. I always remember where the pieces I get came from, and they are special. These sequined pieces from India are especially special, plus they coordinate perfectly with a bicolor silk dupionni from India that I got at Exquisite Fabrics in Georgetown when I was in DC a few months ago. So something super special is going to be made with these three textiles for the Chennai flat’s guest room … finalizing the plans right now …

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