A portrait that is also a chair

Sometime in November 2010, the idea of launching an exclusive line of home accessories began to take shape in the minds of sisters Nidhi and Nishtha Agarwal.

Nidhi, a designer with Neospace, an interior design firm in the city, and Nishtha, a leather and footwear technology professional, are now offering an inventive array of home products under the label Artititude, (‘art with attitude’), which combines utility seamlessly with aesthetics.

Artitude offers home accessories that are multifunctional , as they double for an intricate part of the household as well as a brilliant piece of art.

Artitude’s co-founder Nidhi says, “We wanted to move away from the trend of stereotypical utility and décor articles, and create exclusive products at affordable rates,” adding, “There is a blend of form and function in our products that lend a dramatic touch to an elegant piece of home décor.”

Working from their house in HSR layout, the duo, with the help of a handful of carpenters and painters, has creatively designed a number of products keeping in mind customer requirements and satisfaction. The range of accessories Artitude has to offer includes book shelves, lamps, portraits and candles. Next, they want to start making soft furnishings like cushions, curtains and couches making Artitude a one stop destination.

“Our designs are multidimensional,” says Nidhi, “For instance, a book shelf can be designed like a Tangram (a Chinese dissection puzzle consisting of seven flat shapes), which when divided into sections can hold books while making an attractive wall piece as well.”

Citing another example, she adds, “A Spanish art portrait can bend into a comfortable chair. The designed portraits have aligned latches with an uncomplicated fixture. The portrait can be pushed back to become a chair.” Further, says Nishtha, “We’ve redesigned candles to compliment the room. A regular candle is placed beneath a cylindrical, hollow and thick circumference made of wax with a small work of art on the circumference. This helps diffuse direct light from the candle, making a room look more spacious,” she adds.

All of this is done with the help of carpenters and painters, who help them in executing their designs.

“We concentrate on fusing both contemporary and modern art in our creations. We use different types of wood, handmade paper and glass tiles for our creations,” say the duo.

Artitude’s pieces are being showcased at Community Service Bangalore, Christmas Bazaar (CSB) at Lalit Ashok. After that, the duo will be exhibiting their products at Overseas Women’s Club (OWC) Christmas Bazaar on St Marks Road on December 4.

“To retain the uniqueness of our products, we take orders and work from home and haven’t given them to any wholesaler/retailer,” says Nishtha. “We plan to open an outlet of our own, but want to start with offering our products online. This will help popularise our label,” adds Nidhi.