Magnolia Home Furnishing Store Mumbai (It's Fab!)

Two home furnishing store reviews in a row...what is going on?  Mumbai is on the up, that's what is going on.  Finally, we are getting  new and exciting choices when it comes to making our homes look nice.  And a very clever young lady (and ex-lawyer to boot) - Maulika Gandhi - has spotted a gap in the market for 'home-grown', affordable and stylish furniture. Today, and three weeks after opening, I went to visit Magnolia which is located just off Dr E Moses Road in Worli. 

The airy display space, divided up with floaty drapes - actually has room-sets - which is something you don't often see in Mumbai. And unlike some of the big colonial furnishing stores around the city, there is a distinctly young and 'unstuffy' vibe to the place.  What is even better, Magnolia is pitched at a more affordable level than the prodigious Goodearth.

There are several large made-up beds on show, quirky seating areas (such as the coffee table made from half of an old barrel with a piece of glass on top together with two stools covered with jute), and a few six seater dining sets.  There are also desks made from old sewing machine tables, men's valet stands (for hanging trousers and jackets on), sideboards, bedside tables and so on. The stock is noticeably unhomogenised - each display and each piece of furniture being different from the last.



Barrel coffee table with jute covered stools.  Too cool for school.

Some of the pieces are clearly up-cycled. So I like the fact that the Magnolia is also easy on the environment. Maulika tells me that all the furniture is made from solid wood, including recycled teak - which is also kinder on our forests.  Vintage style fabrics are also used in seat coverings and on cushion covers - I even saw a set of nesting tables (which I think had been made from the wood of old railway sleepers) with Kantha hand stitched fabric under their glass tops.  So unique!

What are also unique (and I couldn't resist buying one of these) are the old brass cooking pots and lassi cups that have been re-fashioned using brass feet - one of these lassi cups is now my new pen pot!  And that's not it for accessories - there are some beautiful Moroccan style table lamps which throw off sparkly lights, marble dishes, framed pictures (which would work very well in a colonial setting), Christmassy tea-light holders, wooden trays, satin bedspreads and cushion covers and some quirky industrial looking 'ornaments'.  Nothing is over-embellished - some of it is contemporary, some of it classic, some of it slightly steam-punk - I reckon there is something for everyone here.

Old brass cooking pots on feet - still can have many uses.  Piled high with oranges or lemons?

I could have waited until the New Year to post this blog, but as part of my Christmas Mumbai Shopping Guide, I think that the candle holders and the brass pots with feet are worth bagging in the last few days before the 25th of December.  Again, be quick!

Upcycled wooden benches with vintage patchwork fabric seats

I like this sophisticated bedroom set.

My new pen pot! (upcycled lassi cup on feet)

A Colonial Vignette

Elegant coffee table - 15,990 Rs

Sample Prices (excluding taxes):
Candle holder 590 Rs
Brass pots on feet: 400-5000 Rs (depending on weight) - my pencil pot was 690 Rs
Coffee Table: 15,990 Rs
Beds: 65,000 - 80,000 Rs
Lantern: 8,990 Rs
Cushion Covers: 1,100 to 1,800 Rs
Jute Stool: 6,990
Photo Frame: 690 Rs

Magnolia
3/C, Hansraj Pragji Warehousing, (Next to Durian Furniture)
LN Pappan Marg (about half way down, you'll see the sign)
Dr E Moses Road,
Worli Naka,
Mumbai 400 018

Tel: +91 22 24951020
E: contact@magnoliahome.co.in



Related subject: please see my blog about contemporary furniture craftsmen SOLLI Concepts here