Rajee Sood Design Studio's and the spirit of design ...

 A bit of tribal in me ... the free spirit ... the bohemian heart and love for all things eclectic. At Rajee Sood Design Studio's we love creating  and  designing  for the urban home ... all that comes, with so much story behind it. 

The embroidered patches have been a story in the making ... a while now. 

The looks we create fit right in ... in homes that are curated ... collected ... where memories are special and passion of the owners shines off every piece.

 As our collections at the boutique grow ... so do the possibilities of mix and match. The entire range of these cushions ...'The Gypsy Soul' ... is now available at the boutique. 

  Available as patches on our chevron jacquard's and also fully embroidered cushions with custom inserts. We pay great attention to details ... the finish  ... without impressing upon the work which is created by a craftsman from lands so far.

A collection of pieces that talk about the gypsy tribes that migrated over centuries ... in regions ranging from central asia  to the costs of the gulf of Kutch. Today the political boundaries separate them ... but their cultural practises and lifestyle still has faint and nostalgic strings attached to their past. And who knows it be our past as well ... all of us who come from this region at some geographical point or the other.

 Their are a few similar stitches ... in pieces that may be from Kutch and then a few from Central Asia ... the selection of bright colours ... at times almost neonish is uncannily similar.
The tassels that come from kuch had more felt like pompoms ... those from Central Asia had beads. As a layman working with pieces that are symbols of cultural heritage ... I love the journey to explore.

The use of silver metallic thread was abundant in Central Asian pieces ... the beaded edging is so intricate ... our modern city karigars refuse to do that kind of harrdwork. Ofcourse, we have the craftsmanship ... but in the fast paced city ... the craftsmen are also chasing quick work. Which makes such detailed handwork more special.

 The colour choices  ... talks of happy people ... the bunches of tiny beads ... make me wonder about the women crafting these details as they sit huddled together lost as deep in the craft they practise as they are in the gossip they catch up on.
These pieces most often are made of threads and fabric that are vegetable dyed ... so we take special care working with them ... lest the colour bleed and ruin the work.

When we get these patches they are not all in the pristine condition. And there comes in the hardwork that our city karigar's put in. Making a very detailed piece ... but crudely finished tribal piece ... into a piece with the finess that a urban home will enjoy.
Each piece that will make its way into your home ... has had craftsmen labour over it ... working and wondering what they may be fashioning. It started out as a piece of cultural expression in a far off remote region ... collected by traders looking for piece of exotica ... stumbled before the eyes of us designers ... tickling out creative souls and here we are bringing to you cushions ... that you can look ... love and admire ... discover your own tales every time your precious pieces are a conversation starter.

 These modern day heirloom pieces are a limited collection. So incase you are looking to have a peek at all our pieces ... drop by our boutique today. Or directly message us at rajeessodhome(at)gmail(dot)com. Ref. 'The Gypsy Soul Collection"

We are located at -

RAJEE SOOD HOME
C-42, Nirvana Courtyard,
Gurgaon - 122018
India

 Ph - 0124 4005007

( Enjoy the experience of shopping at the boutique homestore ... curated by an Interior Design Studio. Call our store to book an appointment today for a personal consulting session. For more details ... e-mail us at rajeesoodhome(at)gmail(dot)com )

Cow Head ... art pieces and good luck charms ... :)

 Arrived at the boutique today these beautiful ... collectible pieces. As I unwrap and  lay them on the bench to figure out our display. Couldn't help calling up our supplier to get all the stories behind these. Aaah ! and what do I hear ... :)))))) ...

 ... apparently these painted cattle heads are auspicious pieces ... part of the Pongal or more specifically Mattu Pongal ... celebrations. Well ! the whole story is that ... during Pongal, the harvest festival ... these decorated pieces are part of the procession of the Kochira temple. As a thanksgiving to the cattle that are part of a good harvest ( day being marked as Mattu Pongal) ... not only are the cattle decorated ... but these wooden pieces are made in amazing colours and designs.

After the end of festivities ... these pieces find places at home ... as a good luck charm. Now if animals are good luck charm and revered for that ... I am all sold to those thoughts ... :) and so glad my curiosity about why these pieces are created finally lead to a beautiful story being uncovered. Hope many of you who also may have wondered about them ... are as fascinated as I am ... :))
If you are looking for a closer peak ... want to get a good luck charm for your home this coming festive season ... come right over ... we do have a limited stock before the rest of them arrive ... do drop by at  our boutique.
                                  Rajee Sood Home
                                 C- 42,Nirvana Courtyard,
                                 Sec- 50, Gurgaon -122018
                                 Ph - 0124 4005007

A hello and hi I am back ...

Shout out to all of you all wondering where I am  ... well ! right here ... trying yet again to get back to old ways ... :)
For many of you dropping by from Instagram for a bit more on these vintage Vajri's ...here is little more on them.

 A story that was shared with us, by one of our readers, couple of years ago ... when we discovered these beautiful pieces. I so loved the way it was written and sent to us that I have always shared it here, completely uncensored ...
                                                                            -

This foot scrubber (vajri) comes from southern India and dates to the 19th century. Typically, women when bathing - to scrub the feet - used such scrubbers, something made necessary, as most users did not wear shoes.
These were of cast brass and comprised of a pedestal with a cage and a rough, scored base that is surmounted by a pair of finely cast birds (as shown in the pieces in the pics.) that is both decorative and also functions as a handle.
Small pebbles or rocks or tiny metal balls usually are contained within the bases of most such scrubbers. Bathing often occurred in a public space, perhaps by a stream, a pond or a river. When the scrubber was being used, the small pebbles/rocks/metal balls jingled, perhaps to warn off others in the vicinity that women were bathing nearby.
The quality of this example (as shown in the pics.) is underscored by the fact that the base contains not irregular pebbles or rocks but uniform spheres of metal balls.
P.S. 'Vajri' is not to be confused with Indra's 'Vajra'
Its a little detail that changes in your bathroom vanity tray. Don't be surprised, it is as good to use as the day it was probably first crafted for those women at the river.

                                                                            -

Hope you enjoyed this share from the archives ... I am looking to get back to blogging and be able to share with you as we move to another phase. Please do note we do not retail online anymore ... ;)

On the wall ... :)

Just pulled out a few pictures from sometime back. The weak side of my heart falls instantly in love with textiles ... ;)) ... its an instant ... illogical ... complete ... crush, every time I come across textiles ...  and so it is obvious, if you live in a country like India ...  either you are nutty about them like me ...or you have an overdose of it pounding down on you from every where ... ;))

 ... many of you will be rolling your eyes and thinking ... Aaah! lady ... I love it ... but this sort of stuff has no place in my contemporary home ... ;)) ... Right ... ! Well ! my two cents ... if you love it ... it does ... reinvent the way you put it in your home ...
And so I was looking at more contemporary ways to present that ... we worked on framing these few pieces of vintage embroidered pieces ...

 ... mind you right kind of framing makes a piece looks gorgeous ... or the flip side is you'll end up hating it. There is that thing about being careful about what you mount your textile on ... you don't want to ruin it ... does your piece need a mount around it ... sometimes that little no - mans land feel that a mount creates ... is what visually makes the piece stand out.
And yes, gilded framing doesn't always make a piece look aesthetically appealing or the other way round ... if you are using plain mono color or bare wood frames.
The textile piece and of course your personal taste aaaand where it is destined to be placed can help you decide on your look for your fav. textile.

I do have a bad thingie for art picked for the walls for the sake of having something up there ... I am more for thinking and putting up pieces you have a connection with ... and if nothing else ... even your own pictures could be a great idea ... Aahhha ! may be we can talk all about it in a future post ...  a lil'  chat up about family pictures around the home.
:)) ... hope I leave you with some ideas brewing in your mind .. and a lil' wosh ! wosh ! in your heart about  that idea of yours that you had been nudging you ... well ! go for it ... have fun ... and feel free to leave me a comment ... message me on facebook  or e-mail me at  rajeesood(at)gmail(dot)com ... if you need any help... :)

Are you ready to buy our Vajri Foot scrubbers once again ... don't miss .. :)

 ... these are pictures from a collection of my Vajri foot scrubbers that were  picked up by a friend. Who also is a great aficianado of  art and history.It was very exciting to send these pieces to her  ... I know they'll be shared with many more who'll cherish them as beautiful collectibles from a bygone era.

If you are looking at these for the first time and wondering what the hell ... :)... am I talking about ... :)) ... do read a lot more about them here ...

... just received some time back ... :)) ... a new collection ... I always think ... this is it ... I'll never find any more of these beauties ... but IIII  doooooo ... :)) ... and I did ... annnnnd  now ... there are all those of you. And I mean you know I am talking about you ...:) ... who have been e-mailing me ... messaging me ... leaving me comments ....

wondering what the hell am I doing ... with bringing my online store back online ... :) ... well! what do I tell you .. :)

But anyways ... I'll tell you something else and I do hope it makes some of you happy ..;)) ... so here's what I am going to do ... I will be sharing the pictures of the new collection on my web site ... you'll be able to check it out  here ... once the pictures are up ... select the piece you like and just e-mail me.
Its a limited collection ... so the sale will be for a limited time ... soooo ... please do stay tuned to hear the dates ... :)) here on the blog.

O.K now ... go ahead ... send me all those love notes ... I'll be waiting ... :))) ... I know ... I know ... all you Vajri lovers have had a long wait ... :)))

When things go down the unplanned path ... :) ... no its not always a sad story ....;))

...these are snap shots of my lil' garden ... my lil' bittty of a paradise ... my getaway space ... where I once dreamt of green lawn and blooming Dahlias (well! those do actually come back in season ...;) ... ) but I have had to resign to the fact that grass shall never grow here.

I have finally laid gravel over the patch which gets choked due to no drainage ... in the rains and gets piddled over by my canine babes all year round ...;) It has gotten a whole new character ... things unplanned cropped up ... I even had to tile it half way to check seepage ... but when things ball roll into a whole diff. direction ... sometimes its fun what new options crop up .... :)

So while I am loving my garden space ... I do have to apologise to a lot of my customers who were looking forward to seeing some of our product lines on a certain online platform. Well ! on certain matters of principles ... I withdrew my products.
We are a very small operation when it comes to talking about our design label. And a very young one at that ... but starting from those who form the very basic foundation of our team ... to our vendors ... suppliers ... tailors ... craftsmen ...  and even the women who do our occasional needle work ... we all work with  basic ... instinctive feelings of trust ... faith... respect and love ...towards each other. Nothing unique, in other words you'd call them basic principles or human values ... and everyone loves having that sort of healthy environment around. As do we ... and as I lead my Label on to so many interesting projects and undertakings ... we love that general Happy Feel.
People come and people go ... those who share our values will always be part of us.

  For the rest ... I'd say, a  hug ... a kiss and a lovely bye-bye ... is best... :)

Getting back to the point about our products  ... well! ... last couple of weeks have been rather stretched and long hours ...

 Oh! yeah ...completely forgot to take pictures when the entire work room was flooded with fabric ... brass pendants ... threads ... lil' pom-pom's ... and all those thingies ... :) And then all the finished pieces ... :)) So now I guess since they have reached their destination ... will wait for the pictures to come in from that end ... ;) And I shall be able to share more with you all.
Beside all these ... we will try to get our online store functional again ... but please do be patient and bear with us ... :) And thanks to all of you all for understanding.

Our I-pad sleeves ... soon at ... ??? ... ;)

Here's a wee bit more of the I -pad sleeves we were  all chatty about a few weeks ago ... ;) If you enjoy being part of the exclusive brigade ... our products zoom you right there ... each piece we make is a fun project for us ... 

... I think I'll fail in words to describe the absolute joy in being surrounded by mounds of textiles and  then work at figuring out the combinations and what lil' details go with which piece ... 

 ... the pieces are never really done ... until we finally package them ... a designers mind is always pushing for ... that right look ... well! I try to hold my thoughts, once the packaging guys arrive ... :)

... if you'd love to own one of our pieces ... do stay tuned to this space ... we have these pieces coming up for our customers ...  real soon ... no oops .. more like ASAP. So no matter where on the globe ... you'll be able to grab one ...
More on the GPS location of our pieces ... in a lil' bit ... :)

Ipad sleeves ... hot out of the oven ... ;)

 Its sure fun seeing our I-pad sleeves fly away ... ;) Each time we get a new bundle load from the workshop  ... I mark the one I'll keep for myself ... :)) ... and set a date. If it gets picked before that ... I'll let it go ... sooo I am kind of ... 'am still not an owner of one ... :) Well ! honestly I don't own an I-pad either, but I guess they make just perfect book covers as well for your satchel ( that's what I intend to do with mine) ...  but my lil' babe sure picked hers ( a pink one) ... and yep! she uses it for carrying around her Dr. Seuss and Thea Stilton's.
Cause truth be told ... her tablet does not need a cover ... its either getting burnt out with hyper activity of the darn games ... or its headed out for charging cause ... "batteries dying ... batteries dying "...:))

So what may your idea about our I-pad sleeves be ... ??? ... lets own it up ... women ... cutiepie baggish thingies ... :)) ... you know ... we find ways to use it  ... do send us your plans  of how you think you're going to use it ... Honestly, lets keep a secret ... no sharing it with the boys ... we'll just let them believe it's great thingie to preserve their precious technie things that they buy for us... ;))
Oh! Yessy ... our sleeves come in two options ... the velcro ones and the magnetic button ones ... so you get to pick what you may be comfortable having.
So do stay tuned in will be sharing our latest collection pieces with you here and you an pick them right off the blog ... :)
Incase, you got to write in to me ... feel free to e-mail me at ... rajeesood(at)gmail(dot)com

So, hold your breath ... come up soon ... :)

A peek into a select few pieces from our product line 2013 ... ;)

 our bolster cushions in silk with Kantha work ...

 

 always the hot fav. our lil' Vajri footscrubbers ... in brass

 

 ... this particular one ... ;) one of my fav., and you can read all about these tiny treasures and our falling in love with these gorgeous  pieces ... here

 ... our oriental tray ... an ever green ... loved and adored piece at our online store ... :))

 our totes made with recycled cotton Kantha ... love them myself ... two of these fit my complete monthly groceries and wowwvy no more plastic bags ... :)

 .... from our range of cushions ...

 ... our new collection this year ... the Tasha Collection ... read about the fun story behind its naming ... here

 ... for those who love a bit of pizzaz when entertaining ... our boneinlay tray ... the blue and white one ... :)) ... one of my favy's ...

... boneinlay boxes ... wow ... these are absolute gorgeous pieces with the most intricate workmanship out there ...
... these and a few more pictures of our product line this year  ... you can view them on our website ... here

Did you love any particular piece ... want to know more about it ... more about our products ... or just more about who we are ... :)) we'd love to hear from you ... drop us a line at ... rajeesoodhome(at)gmail(dot)com .
                                              
 

Suzani ... love ... love ... love, suzani love is a wonderful thing ... :))

 ... this is a complete ... cribbing ... complaining ... post ... some where underneath this is my worktable ... :)))))) ... o.k hold on I am really trying my best to crib and complain here ... look at all the workload ...

 ... just arrived ... are  ... our new Ipad covers ... waiting to get those vintage embelishments... to be completely ready ... :) ahhh! work I tell you ... look at that pile ... ;)

 ... and then look at this ... WOOOOOOOOOOW ! ... Suzani ... weeeee... heeee ... I spread it out ... hugged it ... rolled over it ... screamed with joy ... ok. major failure at complaining ... :) ... gosh! so if you find me missing in action over here everynow and then ... don't worry ... I 'm fine ... you just saw all the things I got to do ... my thinking cap on ... we and me in complete take off mode ... ah! for the joy of new thingies to design ... :)
Incase you think I am nuts over Suzani ... well ! pop over to the pinterest page on Suzani ... here . Honey, I am just getting started ... while there is a whole world out there lonny over these Uzbek beauties ... absolute gorgeousness ... simply droolworthy ... I am soooo sloshed ... ;)) Feel free to share your love ... I completely know what that feels like. Be back soon ... with more updates ... :)

Black ... great color to entertain with.

 

                                       Entertaining with our black tray ... very debonair ... ;)
Oh! ofcourse great color to organise your coffee table with ... create great tablescapes around the house. You're sure to get approval from the betterhalf ... :)

Concluding 3 days of shooting our throw cushions ... :)

I think we may have wrapped up the throw cushions part of the photoshoot ... and I am beginning to feel like Alice in Wonderland ... I dream of polkadot toad stools ... green moss ... blueberries and wild strawberries ... bluebells in the meadow ... not sure if I am lost in the fairytale forests or the PirPanjal mountains of my childhood ... but definitely my colors make me happy ... absolutely excited to bring them online to you super soon ... :))
 Ladies and Gentlemen our  ______  ______ Collection ... ;)

Photoshoot ... day 2 ... its our cushions today ...

 

... sneak peak to keep you all in the loop ... our Tasha collection makes it to the photoshoot setup today ... and I want to hit the bed already ... or  ..well! o.k it'll just have to be some hot tea. So back to work now ... its just Wed. today ... hope you'll are having a great day and looking forward to our store coming up soon ... Ah! as you see things are rolling ... ;))

Recycled Kantha Totes ... for those of us who want to say... no to plastic... :)

... and I get to keep one of these green ones ...;) ... well! you know cheeky me ... :)) ... O.k, you'll do know that ... but here's introducing you to my days work ... officially... finally our products are under photoshoot way...

 

... and I can't keep secrets  ... as most of us simpleton folks are ... ;)) ... so I had to share the shots of our recycled Kantha totes ... we use cotton Kantha for these ... as many of you I am sure are aware ... a lot of the Kantha done on cotton is done so to be able to recycle the old sarees ... and things of that sort ... that is the origin of Kantha really speaking ...

 

... sooo ... as I and ofcourse, we all ... are getting into  ... lets be carefull with the plastic ... way of life ... come to think of it  the old shopping bags from when we were kids ... seems like the simplest solution to not get into using platic or even paper bags ( yeah!look whose talking ... lady who got silver logo on brown paper bags) ... o.k lil' less guilt ... recycled brown paper ... Aaahhh! being cheeky there again ... ;))

 

... I had a small lot of these totes bags done for us at the workshop ... they have suede handles and pockets inside for your ph. and a zipper for the precious ... ;))

 ... if you got your conscience pricking you a wee bitty ... and ... please carry your own shopping bags, signages staring at you often enough ... ladies ... you need no more excuse to show your love for big bags ... I for one can't do without ... I practically carry a whole mini household in mine ... :)

... they arrive at our online store soon ... but all curious souls are welcome to e-mail me at rajeesoodhome(at)gmail(dot)com to get your hands on our lovely shopping totes ... :)