Project Diaries by Rajee Sood Design Studio

A recent project that we enjoyed doing at the Export Promotion Council's ... EPCH, Spring 2019 Fair.

Our client this time is an export house ... with a standing of more than 30 years in the industry. 

Blend of gorgeous moroccan lights with accent furniture ... throw pillows table accesories.

Then ofcourse, there are the greens, cut from my garden that have to make way into the final look of our projects.

The task to create a focus for every product and design. Makes exhibition space design daunting to challenging and finally after the entire gamut of emotions ... its very thrilling. International Trade Fair is always a treat for designers. Designing at such a platform even more refreshing.
And now it is back to designing at our boutique store. It is summer time and we are at our design boards ... working on new collections ... new ideas ... and daring to dream bigger dreams... :)

Don't forget to follow us on Instagram - here
Find us on FaceBook too ... right here
Drop by our web site ... www.rajeesood.com

Happy Basant ... 2019

 Its the day we mark first day of spring in India ... the season of Basant for us ... a very short and sweet one ... but never the less we celebrate it with a lot love. As for our team at Rajee Sood Home ... our window is all ready.

  ... our cushions in bright yellow mark our window with the symbolic Basant Panchami colour.

... last year we had bright yellow flowers all over the outside of the store ... this year ... we brought in tons of greens and these cutsie- toosie buterflies flutters on our glass panels ...

our styling projects get the team so excited ... that this year they just could not wait for me ... while I have been a bit distracted with other projects ... the butterflies were all cut out and ready ... thank God I arrived on time ... or ... else no telling where all they'd be fluttering around. 

Growing up close to nature ... I realise now ... my subconscious craves to see the seasons change.While just a few miles out of the city the mustard fields are burgeoning with yellow colour blossoms... that sway in the gentle breeze ... under the soft winter sun rays. Yess ... yesssss ... nostalgic much ... :))

Well, as for us city dwelling designers ... we bring the nature in ... in our own version.

 Hope you enjoyed a peek into our boutique store window ... here's to a great year and a beautiful spring.

                           ....................        HAPPY BASANT TO YOU ALL         .................

Rajee Sood, a Boutique Home Store ...

 We are soon to head into second month of our store opening its door's. And here's sharing with all of you ...  a few snippets of what we are like on any given day here at 42, Nirvana Courtyard, in Gurgaon India.

Never to forget our roots ... we are so proud to pop in our social media credentials on our front window ... these days you will find us far more active on our instagram feed. Oh ! yes ...  I am as chit - chatty as ever ... with loads more of  in house chatter to share ... follow us and keep upto date on our everyday happenings at rajeesood4104 ... over at instagram.

 The reverse journey ... as most tell us ... from online to bric -n- mortar has been fantastic for our brand. I find, the veil of limitations that online has for products that we enjoy ... has been lifted and we suddenly are overwhelmed with the introduction to so many new genre's of crafts and artists. Adding to it all is meeting so many of you in person. Talking about our old products from the on- line store and get all excited about new comings ... into this store ... ;)

  ... yes ... we did carry our Kantha legacy with us ...  but we also decided not to bring along many  of our old products ...

 ... certainly the candle light crazy lady has to have tons of white pillars at her store ... wee-hee ...  my absolute fav.  ...  and besides going nuts over candles ... we are all excited about having fantastic load of artists joining us... to showcase their collections ...

 We introduced ceramic art in our boutique and i think there is no bigger crime ... then not acknowledging the artist behind the creations ... so I must mention the pieces you see above are by Delhi based potter  ... Priyasha Bose ... her art ceramic pieces have been so adored  and loved ... she definitely sets the bench mark for all future artists at our store ... :)) and she sets it high ... ;)

 ... second potter being featured with us is Smita Suri Anand ... our very own Gurgaon based potter ...  her glazes and utilitarian ceramic work are stunning ... her red, that she achieves in a technique called reduction are sure to get your heart.

 ... we are also experimenting at the workshop with newer textiles ... our Chevron stripes and jali design coral cushions ... are so perky ... we now often have chat sessions at the store with loads of textile lovers and aficionados ... I am already feeling like an enlightened soul ... :)))

the first bench that literally breezed through the store has left us so bereft ... we had to order a new one.Just figured talking as much as we do ... is so much more cozy on one of these ...  so next time you are thinking of dropping by ... come by ... would be great to meet you all finally in person ... :)))))

 if you google us or find us on the map ... our  GPS location should get you to ...
                                                       
                                                         C- 42, Nirvana Courtyard,
                                                         Sec -50,Gurgaon 122018.
                                                         India
                                                         Landline - 0124 -4005007

P.S - In case the word India in our location is crucial to you ... please remember it'll be Delhi International airport for you  ... ;)))) ... just thought I should mention that ... :)))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))

To lovely new beginnings ... :))

Sharing one of the bestest news in a long long time ... :)))) ... YESSSS!!! ... we are arriving on the scene in a very exciting new avatar ... a real ... brick - n - mortar store ...:)

Ladies n Gentlemen ... Rajee Sood Home ... has its very first store, ready to open very soon ... in Gurgaon. It was a very nostalgic moment for me to be reminded by some of my regular readers, that this was a dream in the making for the last 7-8 years. Yes, it was ...a wee bit of an unnerving thought ... mentioned it in the passing once in an interview ... but felt very silly to say it aloud  ... :)

Today it is very close to reality ... we are busy at work ... putting together collections ... designing ... redesigning ... sourcing and ordering and finally ... waiting for the deliveries ... :))))))))))) Pretty sure we will take our sweet time to smoothen any kinks  along the way ... but what a lovely journey it has been so far.
Hope to reveal our opening date super soon ... till then ... do keep a look out ... right over here. We are just as excited to share it with all of you ... :)

Inspiration ... ;)

Back in 1997, we designed a dining room unit, for a site we were working on in Pune ... went crazy with the handles and knobs we used on it. And everytime I look at diff. pretty ones ... makes me want to do that all over again.
This morning I e-mailed my old collegue this picture ... its a bunch of color pop she wanted for just placing in a bowl ... :) ... great to know I am not the only one doing simple loney things .... ;)) ... I got company ... ;)
This was a special request, pick for her ... all inspired by our Hardware section over at Rajee Sood Home ... :)

Our new collection is headed out to production ... sneaky peaky ... :)

I fell in love with this jaquard textile and had to add it to the next line I am working on ... a little different feel from the silks. When the sample pieces arrived ... wee-hee ... these pieces were swiped away for my own home office ... ;)) Sorry , I couldn't help myself... :)

Looking at them makes me want to mix them with loads of bright colored pieces ... Hmmm ... well ! this is turning out to be soooo much fun ... :) And I do love that perky green piping ... oh ! yes ... these pieces are snatched ... but we are sending for some more to be ready soon ... :)

If you like the magic cushions create in a room ... drop by our online store and do see our collection of cushions ... at www.rajeesood.com  , we really are crazy about cushions and in case you are looking forward to our new line,and want to know more ... you can e-mail us @ rajeesoodhome(at)gmail(dot)com

And we are ready to come online ... :)

After all that talk about this and that ... Kanthas ... and vintage pieces and all the blah ... blah  ... that I get carried away with ... ;) ... I 'think' ... after a month and a half of self work ... I am ready to present to you our all new web site ...
So what is it you can look forward to .... ahhhm! ... well! I have the complete catalogue of Rajee Sood Home , for one...;). Definetly tons more of work needs to go in, but I'll sure keep addding in more features as we go along.
Will try to keep loads of more products coming in regularly. And as always ... drop me a mail to let me know how to improve.
And since it has been one heck of a story of the techonology challenged lady  ...  dealing with  all things technology ... :)) ... I think you can comfortably look forward to a biiiig post here about my blooper moments... :)
Its been loads of fun and so I really hope you'll drop by tommorrow to have peek into my new venture ... www.?????? ... ;)

A crazy day of photoshoot ... : /

 ... if I say I had a tough day ... please believe me ... it is an understatement of the day ... it was planned that today I'd finish shooting all the textile pieces ... ( yeah ! fat chance) ...

 got some pictures , while the dear Sun God! played hard to catch ... what with Gurgaon finally seeing some rain ... well ,thankyou ... but what timing ...

... thought I'd share some unedited pictures from today's shoot ... since I had made such a fuss over my Kantha collection from Bengal. :)) ... hope you guys enjoyed the sneak peak ...  Tommorrow  , is the turn of th other Kantha pieces .

I do want to say website should up and running ... hopefully next weekend ... ;)

P.S for the day ... get a professinal photographer if you want to keep your sanity ... :)) ... hope that explains,to  many of you whom I may not have replied ... do understand ... one man army at work ... ;)

Well! excuse me, a minute  while I glue a paper flag on a rather long straw ... yep!  that work too( being mommy) ... never ends ... ;)) ... sure all you mommies out there are nodding your heads ding-dong ...  sorry again ... Soffiee here is suddenly feeling neglected and wants mommies hug ... :))

I think I need one of those KEEP CALM AND CARRY ON  ... posters. Hope you had a great day ...  :))

Crafting Kantha ... :)

 My readers who know me ... can easily guess ...' I died ... :) ... went to heaven and came back ' ... and while in heaven I had to wait for this shipment headed to Australia to get packed ... damn ... I do fall for pieces I can't get ... believe me I tried every trick in the book to get this one piece in hot pink ... :(

O.K, Rajee so what really happened. Well ! I went to my Kantha lady ... :) ... and I really did not mind waiting for her to finish her consingment headed out to Australia , what better excuse for hanging around all those beautiful thingies... ah! but that thing about hot pink Kantha stole ... all true ... :(( ...

there is a ... something of a cross between a kitty party and  assenbly line work happening  here ... one is giving the final nips to all the knots  ... other checks the edges ... yet another ... stitches in the brand tags  ... and the final one  guns in what are probably the price tags ... the muscle man ( not in the picture )  ... packs  zips and ships ... how more organised can it be ...

 ... these are women from Bengal ... they live as a family and do some of the most amazing Kantha work ... what I loved were the kantha work on silk ... an Indian saree gets transformed with simple kantha work ... but mind you, very intricate and spaced very close ... and there you have stoles and dupattas that are heavenly creations. You won't be wrong, if you think I am all dizzy with the beauty.

 There is also a loom in the background, you can see ... and they create lovely jamdhani textiles on that ... some sold as is and some that get worked on with the Kantha stitches.

 Here , is a bedspread ... getting the finishing touches ... as the work is done on the textile ... loads of knots are left all over the pieces ... because of thread ends ... these ladies then sit down and painstakingly trim each piece.

 Aahha ! ... don't miss that smile she is trying to conceal ... :)) ... she loved being photographed ... real sweethearts ...

 ... if you own pieces, machine made and embroidered ... sure it has its own beauty and finess ... but the gorgeouness of a hand made piece is to be held and felt ... the slight imperfections ... because, not a machine ... but the hands of a craftsman made it...  that adds ... aaaa ... something very special ...

 ... as I see these women painstakingly work away in their own world ... can't deny ... HANDMADE ... just gets a special place in my heart ... :)
Next time you hold a handmade piece ... feel it gently ...you too will feel the hands that worked on it and made it look so pretty that you wanted to hold it ... it surely has to be  about that human touch ...

 ... sorry about the shaky picture here, but had to share with you my loot ...

... this wine color bedspread ... wooooow! ... and you'll get to see  more of it here soon ... :)) . And i promise not a shaky picture again ... ;))

If you are interested in getting to know more about Kantha pieces I stock ... feel free to write in at rajeesood(at)gmail(dot)com ... we are open to export enquiries ... and  retail orders... :)
I really hope you enjoyed a beak - a - boo ... into an afternoon out with me ...  :)