Haveli Foyer

After beginning work on the haveli mudroom, the foyer was second area to be decorated, back in February 2008 when we planned to take things slowly and room by room. The first item we got for the room was actually a batik print of the elephant who now serves as the official logo of White Elephant Haveli. When it arrived from India, we discovered that he was actually pink and not white, similar to a "white" choli (blouse-piece for a sari) we had ordered in the past. Though we still decided to go ahead with the white elephant idea, this discrepancy actually became the basis for our decision to do the entire foyer in a pink theme. There is a pink silk runner from Trish at Rang Home Decor, a pink toran (door-lintel hanging) gotten at an outrageous 80% off from Harmony Crafts in Guelph, a pink zari tapestry from Ebay, pink throw pillows from Wood Sense Interiors, and a pair of pink patchwork-tapestry benches from Haveli Home. Up on the stone wall that divides the foyer from the kitchen are a pair of carved stone niches , acquired from Sorab at Inde-Art in Toronto for a mere $28 each, now housing mini-idols of Ganesh and Lakshmi who are often placed at entrances to provide prosperity and protection.











The centerpiece of the foyer, however, is our fantastic damchiya, essentially an Indian hope-chest, also from David Anderson at Haveli Home. When women in Rajasthan or Gujarat married, they traditionally brought with them a beautifully decorated and carved damchiya containing their dowry items. According to David, ours is from a Kutchi family (part of a tribal minority in Gujarat) and is perhaps 30 years old, though it seems more antique. The primary colours--blue, yellow, red, green, white--alongside silver foil and mirror work are fantastic along with the ornate carvings. The damchiya possesses quite a bit of protective energy and now serves as storage for all of our incense sticks, wafting its gorgeous scent throughout the house. When we want to burn some incense, we open the doors of the chest and sniff around; usually one scent will stand out more than the others and this we take to be the damchiya's suggestion for the day.