Walk in and you are immediately soothed by the earthiness and the warmth of wood. Stance, the newly opened home décor store part of the Greyscale design studio run by Girish and Sanjay, offers a rich experience.
Curated by Anushri Bhattacharya and Chirag Jain, the store is designed to look like a home filled with aesthetically-pleasing yet functional objects.
“The idea behind the store was to create a common ground for designers from across India. At Greyscale, which is an architectural practise, the bent towards design is not just professional but also passionate,” says Chirag.
“We, at Greyscale spend most of our time travelling across the country and the globe buying various things for our architectural projects and we wonder why these products are not available in Bengaluru.
Stance hosts a range of home decor products from solid wood furniture to tableware, lighting, furnishing, décor accessories, leather fashion accessories, stationary, and clothing for men and women. Most of these products are designed by young, independent designers from across the country.
“The underlying ethos behind the curatorial process is that all the products you see have the magic of human touch. They are not factory produced. There is also a sense of Indian-ness either in the aesthetics, or in the production. This means the products exude an Indian-ness either in the way they look or in the way they have been made.”
Many young designers and studios featured in the store, including Amitansh, Rayden, Mrdaa, Studio Saswata, Do Bandar, Lavanya and Arture, work with traditional craftsmen with generations of experience. This is what results in a quirky blend of contemporary aesthetics with the expert touch of tradition – obvious from the cleverly designed compact leather wallets that use magnets to help neatly seal cash, slim clutches in bright fuschia, terracotta water bottles for your desk, self-watering terracotta planters or vegan leather wallets made from cork.
The design philosophy also lends itself to the minimalistic, made-in-house teak wood furniture (including chairs, sofas, tables and beds) with clean lines, solid colours – typically white or cream and sometimes, simple prints featuring patterns of birds.
The furniture also has the comforting touch and smell of fresh, almost live wood.
Then of course, there are cushions, quilts and carpets both in rich, earthy shades of brown or blue; or white with vibrant patterns in yellow, blue or pink.
Among the most fascinating objects in the room are the copper-plated clocks, stone tableware, glazed ceramic tableware, and the candles set in a concrete-base.
The idea is also make design more accessible while offering young Indian designers the space and the platform to experiment and create products that stand apart. “If a format like Stance works, then perhaps meaningfully and sensibly designed objects can become cheaper and one day, we might have an Ikea of our own,” says Chirag.
Stance is located at No.9, 39th Cross, 4th 'T' Block, Jayanagar. For details, contact 9880669308.