Both locally-made and imported furniture and home furnishings are available in Delhi. Modular furniture, custom-built furniture, traditional Indian style furniture, and cane pieces imported from Indonesia and Sri Lanka are especially popular. While many expats, especially those on long-term assignments, choose to ship their own furniture over, it’s easy enough to pick up local pieces and have them delivered (usually for free) to your new home.
When deciding whether or not to bring your own furniture, there are a few important considerations to keep in mind. First, very tall people might find the beds in India too short, and it’s difficult to find mattresses longer than six feet. That said, you can always have a mattress custom-made for anywhere from around Rs. 500 (for a basic, single mat to Rs. 6000 (for a straw or foam mattress). Note that king-sized beds are rare in India, so it’s best to bring yours from home.
While it’s possible to have furniture made, note that wood is very expensive in India. The best place to get custom wood pieces made is at Amar Colony’s Furniture Market (see Flea Markets section). So while the labour costs of having a custom piece made are relatively low, the high price of wood balances this out. It’s a lot cheaper to have cane furniture custom made and most neighbourhoods have roving cane furniture vendors who will come to your door and inquire about your interest in this service within a few weeks of your moving in (yes, word gets out fast when expats move into a neighborhood!).
Popular Furniture and Home Decor Shops
- Furniturewalla (Sultanpur, Phone 26802409) is a mid-priced shop dealing in imported and Indian-manufactured classical and contemporary furniture. http://www.furniturewalla.com/index.html
- Pragati Furniture (Rohini, Phone: 279413340) has a wide range of reasonably-priced products for the living room, bedroom and dining room. They also offer telephone stands, wood wares, glass wares, and brass wares.
- Usha Lexus (Naraina, Phone: 25770955) is an online furniture store offering modular furniture within India and abroad. http://www.ushafurniture.com/
- Style Spa Furniture (Kirti Nagar; Phone: 25110811; Lajpat Nagar II; Phone: 41721995) is the largest retailer of furniture in India, and stocks furniture to suit all budgets. http://www.stylespafurniture.com
- Woodmart (Okhla Phase I, Phone: 4175 5247) is a mid-range shop offering an elegant range of furniture accessories like television cabinets, bars, telephone settees, and even tea trolleys. http://www.woodmart.in/
Shops for Soft Furnishings and Upholstery
- Maspar (Gurgaon, Phone: 5016380) is a high-quality shop with prices to match. They sell curtains, bed linen, quilts, pillows, cushions, cushion covers, etc. http://maspar.co.in/
- Fab India (Greater Kailash, Phone: 29232183) is a mid-range to high-end shop specilaizing in Indian block prints and traditional fabrics. You can buy furniture, wool kilims, duvet covers, lamps and even get curtains custom made!
- Soma Shop (Connaught Place, Phone: 23416003) is a high-end shop selling quilts, bedspreads, pillow cases, cushion covers and curtains. http://www.somashop.com/
- Home Saaz (Lajpat Nagar, Phone: 29845100) offers a complete solution in home décor as well as crockery and cutlery at budget prices.
