Home is where the art is ...

WHEN Dr Raed and Sana Sarhan decided to settle down they built an old Bahraini-style traditionally-built yet comfortable home designed through a combination of two well-known architects, a friend in Mumbai, Sandhya Sawant, and a Bahraini, A Karim Hassan Ismail.

But their real adventure began when they set out to furnish it.

Although they searched across the island for the right blend of furniture to suit their home, the Bahraini and his Indian wife never found quite what they were looking for and eventually their quest took them to her hometown.

Sana again consulted Sandhya. 

“She was renowned for her restoration works across India. She led me to a dealer she was quite familiar with and we fell in love with what he had to offer,” she said.

Happy and content in the quiet countryside of Nuwaidrat their peace and tranquility was soon disturbed by visiting friends and acquaintances who pleaded with them to share their interior décor secrets.

Before they knew it business was booming to such an extent they had no option but to open up their own furniture store, Ivory on Budaiya Highway. Sana recently quit her banking career to run the business.

“Initially, we weren’t too interested in starting a business out of it because I loved everything I saw and took it for my own home. But eventually, we decided opening a store was a good idea,” said Sana.

Their own home is a perfect blend of Bahraini and Indian styles of decoration and architecture. While the interiors are exquisitely home to wooden antiques, the external view reminds one of an Arabian palace with date palms, wooden structures as well as exotic flower beds.

A lavish covered courtyard in the middle of the building remains the highlight. It is beautifully done up with divans, marble pots, a grand mashrabiya, Islamic calligraphy on the walls as well a swing that was made partially from old teak wood and Indian tapestry.

The home is a wonderful maze of surprises with every bit of furniture more amazing than the other.

“We have collected all sorts of ancient items from all over India. Wooden furniture has been made from various awnings, beams, columns and wooden slabs of buildings that were broken down,” said Dr Raed, a banker by profession, but a true connoisseur of antiques when it comes to hobbies.

“Imperfection of craftsmen in the olden days was much lovelier than the perfection of today’s machines,” he believes.

As for his good lady, she admits: “I could never talk about the furniture like he does. I could only just go and buy!” Raed’s knowledge about India, its history and what this great country has to offer is amazing.”

Their store offers a wide variety of antique home furnishings collected from across India including the states of Kerala, Maharashtra, West Bengal, Kashmir and Gujarat.

The antiques are hunted and acquired from these locations and then cleaned, polished and restored to bring the brilliance of age-old craftsmanship into modern households.

The antiques are mostly products of authentic teakwood which has been preserved in India over generations. They are often collected from homes, libraries, temples and even trains.

Customers visiting the store are given a slide show on the various products with images of the piece before and after renovation.

Amongst the furniture now on offer are four-poster beds, side tables, chests, tables, divans, corner chairs, arm chairs, showcases, as well as old doors. The store also has an old fan dating back to 1920 which boasts wooden blades.

Another unique item is the ‘princess’s chest’ with its many hidden chambers all held together and operated using spring mechanisms.

The couple have made antiques a passion they are building upon each day.

“We are so obsessed with antiques now that every time we go on holiday or travel around we hunt for antique stores,” said Sana.

They have been assisted in their endeavours by Malcolm A R Jackson, who moved to Bahrain from India 35 years ago. An expert in wooden furnishing he was also involved in the impressive carving on the doors of the Grand Mosque in Juffair during its construction in 1986.

The couple have two daughters Amal, nine, and Zain, four, who attend the Bahrain Bayan School.

The lucky girls have their room designed in the shape of an old royal tent with wall-length windows looking out into a garden of palm trees.