Your home is an integral part of your being. It is a reflection of your personality, choice and your culture. After a hard day’s work when you return to your nest, all you want is comfort, relaxation and a sense of security.

Everything that is Indian gives you not only your identity but also a sense of pride and joy. So this time, when you plan to decorate your home or wish to redo it, take a look at the pieces, which reflect the arts and crafts that are spread in every nook and corner of our country.

The walls

Decorating the empty walls of your living room or dining room with paintings are a popular choice. Instead of buying a fake Hussain or Anjoli E Menon, go for a Madhubani from Bihar or a Patachitra or the icon paintings from Orissa.

These folk paintings narrate myths and legends, especially scenes from the Ramayana. Providing glimpses of everyday life are Warli paintings of Maharashtra and Kalamkari from Andhra Pradesh, which are in great demand.

Phad and Pichhvais paintings of Rajasthan are one of the most sold items in Rajasthani handicrafts. They are favourites with both foreigners as well as domestic buyers. Tanjore paintings of Thanjavur in Tamil Nadu can be seen hanging royally on many a wall in wealthy and aesthetically decorated homes. Tanjore paintings are richly embellished with gold leaf and imitation of real gems as ornaments; therefore they are considered an expensive item.

Other Indian items that can prettily hang on your walls are the Kathputlis or the string puppets of Rajasthan, with their wooden heads, large painted eyes and dazzling trailing skirts. The glove puppets of Orissa and Kerala also serve the same purpose. Masks from different states reveal that you are a connoisseur of Indian arts. These masks come in numerous materials such as metal, wood, matting, clay, gourd, papier-mache, pith and cloth.

Faces with different expressions, colours and features, add not only mystery to the corner but also make it very interesting.

Wooden grace

The objects of carved wood can lend a unique grace and beauty to your abode. It is next to impossible to do your home without furniture. Though options of materials available today are many, wooden furniture still looks the best.

And if the wood is carved with exquisite leaves, trees and human figures, then the furniture suddenly turns into a piece of art. There are other wooden articles also which, if made part of your home, will surely add a regal touch to it. Swings, hand carved in teak wood transports one to the age when pleasure- loving maharajas sat on such articles.

Figures, elephants, panels, birds and mythological scenes are carved in rosewood, cyderwood, sandalwood, to transform them into wooden wonders. Similarly carved wooden doors, partitions, cabinets, chairs, tables, boxes, etc, can also adorn your home.

Timeless terracotta

Scintillating sculptures in metal, lacquer and terracotta, on acquiring a suitable place, may turn that corner of your room into an altogether different place. From the potter’s wheel to the drawing-rooms of the rich and famous, terracotta art has come a long way.

Ask Anju Kumar, the pottery designer whose terracotta creations range from ganeshas, urns, planters, jharokhas and murals. A blend of beauty and utility—these items are a total sell-out in every exhibition she holds. To embellish these pieces tribal, Egyptian, abstract or geometrical designs are preferred.

Beautiful stone

Products and pieces of decorated stone placed strategically in your home show your aesthetic sense and love for beauty and art. Marble has a pristine beauty (think of Taj Mahal).

The inlay designs etched on marble, done with semi-precious stones like agate, amethyst, jasper and mother of pearl, etc, are polished and buffed to turn out products with everlasting elegance. To display this art called ‘pietra dura’, you can have tabletops, wall panels, floor borders, fountains in the garden, and boxes to keep jewellery, money and other titbits.

One for the floor

The floors of your home too can be covered with ethnic beauty. Having an Oriental or Persian carpet spread on the floor in any part of your home, means that you appreciate and care about the legacy that the Mughal emperors left behind.

Pile or woollen carpets from Kashmir, Amritsar or Bikaner have been traditionally renowned for magnificent designs and attractive borders. Similarly, cotton dhurries from Bhadoi in Mirzapur are also considered very ethnic, especially during the summer. Spread them on the bed or on the floor, these floor coverings keep you cool in the hot summers.

Now wondering where to buy these beauties? You don’t have to go to the remote areas of India to find these beautiful and useful handicrafts. Instead, go to an emporium of that particular state from where the handicraft comes or visit the crafts bazaar which DC, Handicrafts, organises from time to time in almost all the cities.

These bazaars are mutually beneficial—for the buyers as well as the artist. Through these bazaars, not only do the artists and crafts get promoted, buyers also get a slice of Indian arts at a very reasonable rate.

Remember, by decorating your home with these beauties you not only add charm, creativity and spirituality to it, but you also bring the very spirit of your own country, home.