Haveli Mudroom

The first room that we began redecorating was our mudroom, a 7 by 10-foot space that leads from the garage into the kitchen area. Originally, we didn't do much in this area--there was a birch Lack console table from Ikea against one beige wall with a black-and-white Matisse print of a tree hanging above it. The opposite beige wall featured large black and white photo by Brassai called "Les escaliers de Montmartre." We would toss keys, change, and junk on the table as we entered the house, accumulating clutter. While a mid-20th C French vibe isn't necessarily bad, the room was kind of monochrome with blacks and beiges dominating. Sorry we don't have any photos, as it seems we didn't think it interesting enough to photograph!

Here's the mudroom today:
We originally decided to redo the mudroom because it was the smallest room and thus wouldn't be a costly project. What ended up happening was that the mudroom project sparked an interest in redecorating the entire house in the manner of a Rajasthani haveli. The first items we purchased were the altar table and the mirrors above it, all of which are antiques from our friend Sorab at Inde-Art in Toronto. The table is quite a unique piece, covered with aged mirrors and colored foil. Its carved woodwork definitely gives it an appeal unlike what one would expect from an average console table. The piece also has a grandfatherly kind of energy radiating from it that receptive individuals can feel. We have consequently named the piece "Raja." We do also call it an altar table, assuming it might have been used for puja. The mirrors make it quite a protective piece, ideal for an entryway. Toward this end, we also bought a brass Ganesh murti that now sits at its centre. On each side are carved wooden boxes that hold household keys, wallet, etc. without creating clutter. A plaque featuring nine manifestations of the goddess Lakshmi top off the area. Eventually, we also found a aquamarine organdy table runner, covered with ornate metal dabka or zari work. Eveything can be seen below when the image is clicked and enlarged:













The mirrors, also from Inde-Art, are a pair of old barred shutters recovered from a haveli. They have beautiful iron jali work on their lower halves, tinged with a blue patina:

We had planned to stop here, but determined that the room would look better with yellow walls to complement the chocolate brown wood. Then, we decided to add a splash of more colour, painting the door panels in the room an aqua blue to accompany both the patina on the mirrors and the table runner. We were again satisfied and ready to stop until our visiting friend David, who has traveled widely in India and who owns a store that sells Indian furniture, asked if we were satisfied. We knew we had to go further. By now we had been looking at the baroque excesses of classic havelis in several coffee table books: Palace Hotels of Rajasthan and Princely Rajasthan. In these places, every inch of space is decorated. Taking this lead, we painstakingly painted a peacock mural above the garage door in imitation of the Peacock Door at the City Palace, Jaipur (google it). Our door is neither as refined or grandiose, but the symmetry is beautiful nonetheless.















We even found a Ganesh
head at our friend Trish's
store, Rang Home Decor,
in Toronto's Little India to fill in the bit of blank space at the middle of the arch. By pure kismet, it fit exactly! Alongside the door, we continued the elephant theme with a mango-wood set of hooks shaped like elephant heads (Inde-Art) and a pair of beautiful mirrored bags from Rang, all under $10.

Rounding out the decor are a couple of carved women from Raghu and Janki's terrific Wood Sense Interiors in Oakville and Burlington, one an apsara with a deer, the other a dancing girl playing a wind instrument. Troubled again by some empty space around them, we added some matching aquamarine tealight holders ($1.99 at Bouclair), creatively mounted to the wall with construction glue and L-brackets from Home Depot:

We could say a lot more about all the additions saturating this smallish space with Indian beauty, but we'll save that for a later post on wall hangings and torans. The moral or lessons of this first project were several. First, that beauty begets more beauty. Stores may tell you to buy one showcase piece and leave the rest of your room the way it is, but once that piece comes in, everything else pales in comparison, requiring other fine pieces to complement it. We also discovered a lot of great sources (and people) selling Indian-style decor and furnishings in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA). And finally, we learned that one can find haveli decor like a bit of colored glass or a carpet runner even in unlikely places like Bouclair and Home Depot. As we share more of White Elephant Haveli, these common themes will appear again and again. Enjoy the tour as we have enjoyed the making of it.