Embracing Memories and Discovering New Designs: Our Journey begins in India

And here we are… first day in India

Monday…

We have arrived after our long journey which was surprisingly straight forward and went very quickly!

Met, as we always are, by our “crazy” cheerful driver, full of smiles and hugs and simple conversation.  We head straight to our suppliers showroom, to meet once again, our very dear friends, a year since our last trip and meeting.  Again, lovely heartfelt greetings from the Son, now a big part of the business.  His father has been away visiting his daughter so we will see him the following day. 

We always enjoy a quick look round, like a sneak peek at a Christmas present, before we dive in fully the next day!

The arrival to our hotel is just as welcoming, all familiar faces.  One thing I love about this place (the hotel and our suppliers) is that the staff seem to stay long-term. It creates a positive environment where employees are well cared for and, in return, are reliable.

I was also hit with such strong memories and visions of Dad here, as I soon realised it was the last place we had “happily hung out” together, before he was taken ill and spent time in hospital.  It was quite emotional but I feel a very lucky girl to have these, and  will spend the week embracing him all around me.

Tuesday…

And we are off… today we worked pretty speedily, taking in all the gorgeous pieces. Some familiar, some completely new designs, never seen before.  It always amazes me what they come up with, and how they adapt pieces, and how they can create such stunning pieces using beautiful carvings that are no longer needed in their original life.

I’m loving this new design, which we had just received a few pieces of in our last container. It has beautifully contrasted colours, darker blue grey hues, against the natural pale teak woods.  Stunning carvings.  But what feels really special is that the designs and workings come from their local village.  I look forward to receiving more in the “Heritage collection”.

They have many new items from Nagaland, which I plan to have a blog written on.

I seem to have had an attraction towards console tables today, so many gorgeous pieces. White, blue, natural, carved, heritage, each one unique.

I was also able to see some new small hand painted boxes which I had asked them to make. They were so pretty!

Here are many pieces seen today… and we will be off on the road tomorrow so come back to see more pieces in the next few days!