An interesting addition to your living space could be painted furniture or accessories. Get sofas, benches, cabinets, lamps, bar units, ice boxes, wardrobes, or almost anything painted. Ask an artist to paint it for you, or buy painted furniture and accessories that are available in the market.

To add interest you could get landscapes, people, or images from art, nature folk icons, or from pop iconography painted on to the furniture or accessories. Use bright colours like red, yellow, royal blue and magenta. Try and pick up old pieces of furniture and other objects to paint. The textures stand out better.

ANTIQUE BAR : An antique cabinet has been converted into a bar by adding racks for storing bottles, glasses and bar accessories. Artist Sanjay Raut has painted a romantic couple on the outside of the bar doors. Price on request from Artquest.

RADIOGRAM BAR : An old radiogram has been converted into a bar. Beautiful nature scape is painted by artist Pravin Kulkarni on the other side. The inside of the radiogram has been hollowed and partitions have been added for storing bottles and glasses. Price on request from Artquest.

Yashwant Sonawane

Artquest, the quaint little gallery in Colaba, Mumbai, had an assortment of paintings by talented artists like Yashwant Sonawane, Anup Kumar Krar, Sanjay Raut and Vijay Gille up for show and sale. While Sonawane and Krar, are well known in art circles, Raut and Gille are comparatively new. Their canvases are filled with images from rural India – village women, the ubiquitous ‘chaiwalla’ on the railway platform and the camel rider. Here, art was a replica of real life experiences that represent a rural idyll. The medium used by the artists to create their works ranged from sleeper wood to canvas.