Indian home decor

Lamps, diyas and lanterns

Light is the cheapest Indianness there is. One brass piece with a flame or a bulb in it changes a room more than a whole wall of decor.

BrassWall-hung dhoop daniPierced all round, so it throws its pattern up the wall behind it. Burns loban, holds a tea light — check the size and hanger option, it comes both ways.DiyaKalpavriksha diyaThe tree of life cast behind the bowl, so it reads as a sculpture even unlit.Tea lightFiligree tea light holderThe small one to buy several of. A row of three on a console does more than one big piece.SolarSolar hanging lanternCharges in the day, lights itself at dusk. For a balcony or a terrace with no point nearby.BrassDhoop daniFor loban or sambrani. Buy the one with a long handle — the short ones get too hot to carry.DhoopMogra dhoop conesWhat actually goes in the dani. Cones burn cleaner than sticks and hold for about twenty minutes — long enough for a pooja, not long enough to end up in the curtains.

Painted plates, trays and Pichwai

Hand-painted metal and glazed terracotta — the Pichwai cows, the Madhubani birds, the lotus borders. The one category here that goes on a wall.

Wall plates want a wall with nothing else on it. Hang the largest first, at eye level, then build the smaller ones out from it — not in a neat arc.

WallBirds of Paradise wall plates, set of fiveThree sizes in the set, so the group is already unequal. The cheapest way to fill a blank wall properly.PichwaiPichwai tray and jar setWorks standing up as art and lying flat as a tray. Buy it for the console, use it when people come.TerracottaPichwai lotus planters, pairGlazed terracotta, two sizes. Put a real plant in them — the pattern needs something green to sit under.SmallPushpam painted magnets, set of fiveThe under-a-thousand one. A fridge is a wall too, and this is the least precious place to start.

Urlis, torans and the entrance

The first three feet of a house do most of the work. A bowl of water on the floor and something across the door frame, and it already reads Indian.

An urli needs changing every second day or it goes stagnant — fresh water, fresh flowers. Put it somewhere you walk past, not somewhere you have to remember.

UrliCow urli bowlStoneware rather than brass, so it stays put on a floor and takes no polishing.UrliLotus urli stands, set of threeThree heights, so it works as one group in a corner instead of three things in a row.DoorwayBeaded door toranMeasure the frame, not the door. A toran that stops short of the architrave looks like a mistake.UrliFloating lotus LED candlesThey light themselves on contact with the water. For the weeks when nobody is changing flowers every second day — which is most weeks.

Brass, iron and clay in the kitchen

The one room where none of this is decoration. These are the pieces that came out of an Indian kitchen because they worked, and they still do.

Brass needs its tin lining redone every year or two if you cook acidic things in it — kalai, and any bartan shop still does it. Cast iron wants oil and use, never soap and a scrub.

BrassTin-lined brass lagan, 4 litresCooks a biryani and then goes straight to the table. The reason to buy brass rather than steel is that nobody wants to look at steel.BrassEtched brass masala boxSeven containers and a spoon. The thing you already own in steel, in the version you leave out on the counter.BrassEtched brass chapati boxEight inches, 1.4 litres. Keeps rotis warm and stops the plastic hotcase from ever reaching the table.Cast ironCast iron kadaiMachine-smoothed inside, so it seasons in weeks rather than years. Heavy — buy the size you can lift with one hand full.TerracottaTerracotta water jug, 2 litresCools by evaporation, so it sweats — give it a coaster or a tray. Rinse it, never scrub it, and keep it out of the fridge.WoodWooden madaniFor lassi and for chaas. Honest to say it: half the reason to own one is that it looks like a sculpture in a jar of utensils.MarbleMarble imam dastaFour inches, which is the useful size — the small ones only ever crush one clove of garlic at a time.MarbleMarble chakla and belan setTen-inch board, fourteen-inch pin. Marble stays cold, so the dough stops sticking — the reason bakers roll pastry on stone.

Where else to buy Indian decor

Amazon is the convenient end of this. These are the shops that carry the handmade version — slower, dearer, and the difference shows.

• Okhai

  Artisan-made, run as a livelihood programme. Strong on textiles and terracotta.

• Jaypore

  Curated crafts and decor, a step up in finish and in price.

• Good Earth

  The luxury end. Worth walking through even if you buy one thing.

• Nicobar

  The quiet, modern read on the same idea — less pattern, more form.

• Ellementry

  Terracotta, brass and marble for the table. Sturdy, everyday pieces.