Car-oh-bar vrooms along

Bengaluru loves its Bullets and its furniture. The city has been raging with both for quite a while now, so little wonder that city-based Komal Bhulani decided to bring the two together. Co-founder and owner of a city-based design studio, with her partner Imaya G, Komal indulges in creating cosy settees and bar counters made out of motor-vehicles.

“It wasn’t a spur of the moment decision,” begins Komal about their two year old venture. “Imaya and I went to the same design institute and studied together. We even worked at the same design firm. Luckily enough, we both are travel junkies and one essential perk of travelling is coming across the various artisans of different culture. Initially we were mostly into helping these local artisans sell their artifacts elsewhere,” she adds, elaborating on their journey.

Peacock thrones done with sustainable wood, stools set up on four wheels of a vegetable cart and a lamp-shade rising out of a shoe — the creations are innumerable and innovative. While Komal’s signature style isn’t upcycling per se, she does talk about how she draws inspirations from something as simple as junk yards.  “It was Bengaluru’s burgeoning interest in the eclectic Bohemian aesthetic that inspired us to infuse motor with interiors. The city has an influx of youth and their taste, while chic, happens to be very diverse yet accepting at the same time,” she opines, reflecting upon how namma ooru’s taste is adapting to creations as quirky as hers.

However, the latest thing Komal has been coming up with is converting motorbikes and tractors into cosy furniture items. “It was just about adding a rustic element to our home-space, so we just went ahead with combining two of our most favourite things — bikes and bars. The idea is to dislodge the seat and turn it into a bar counter. It adds the perfect on-the-road element to the interiors,” claims the young designer. Among other creations, there are bar counters made from the hoods of tractors, a bonnet of a car remodelled into a sofa, and lampshades made from overturned shoes.

While the idea of infusing the rustic and rugged into interiors might seem just a quirky pursuit, Komal lays stress on the sustainability aspect of it too. She signs off saying, “At the end of the day, the idea is to create durable items that help sustain the environment too. Bengaluru is growing big on the eco-friendly side of activities, so it’s only natural that one starts optimising the use of natural resources. Instead of making it all wooden, we bring a dash of metal to promote the idea of recycling with style.”