What: Leather vanity cases by Risa Bags, order online at www.risabags.com or call o9810880033, Rs 3,800 onwards, shipping all over India.

Why: When Guns n' Roses were shouting out their love for leather, someone was listening: behold these super pretty leather vanity bags that look like little cupcakes, in yellow and aqua, with paisley prints and maroon bows. Maybe more girly than badass, but hey, there’s no reason why you can’t have a motorcycle and wear makeup.

When: You’re searching for a fair leather friend.

The frog rain scene from the movie Magnolia was projected inside our heads, as soon as we heard about the Worli furniture store by the same name. What came next, was an imagined home décor space overrun with leaf green toads and chair-browsing women who wondered about the potential of their kisses. We see your (frog) prince all over the sequined shade wall lamp!

 Croak Wood

Run by an ex lawyer with no formal training in furniture design, Magnolia keeps within its whitewashed walls no amphibians, but mostly pretty furniture and home décor items crafted from teak, sheesham, metal; and also bed accessories.

A walk around the 3,200 square foot store store will give DIY druids many ideas – lovely opaque ceiling-to-floor curtains used as room dividers; wall lights starring multi-coloured sequined sieves as shades; lamp made up of an old tin bucket and hexagonal tap; and high round table with bicycle pedals as foot rests. Ignore the usual sewing machine side table and big temple bowls as low tables.

On the way to the bedding section we also spotted a tall bar unit made from sheesham wood panels that are more than a hundred years old for about Rs 60,000 and newspaper cuttings from World War 1 framed in thick vintage sleeperwood frames (Rs 1,700).  There are also pretty four poster beds, standing mirrors and bookcases available here (most  furniture is about 20% more expensive than FabIndia).

With This Ring, I Thee Bed

Next up, bed whetting. If you like your quilts satin-y and your pillow covers silky – we don’t – navigate the treacherous, railing-less staircase up the mezzanine where you’ll find the same old Indian kitsch artwork many design labels and store seems to love.

At the end of the browse, we’d say visit Magnolia to buy a fun piece of furniture and for many ideas on how to turn everyday objects into new two and four legged species.

Getting there: 83/C, Hansraj Pragji Warehousing Pvt Ltd, ground floor, next to Durian Showroom, L Papan Marg, off Dr E Moses Road, Worli Naka, call 24951020.

We’re as sick of e-commerce sites as you probably are, but here's a good one: the newly launched and very buzzy Bhane features pretty monochromes, easy navigation and prices that are going to make your wallets sing.

Cost of True Love

A bit like WETHEPPL in its aesthetic and user interface (but in a much kinder price bracket), Bhane is the independent fashion label of Sarla Ahuja, who manufactures and exports garments for various international labels including H&M and Gap. Most clothes have a colour choice, and you can select the palette you like from the front page. We chose yellow and were given a mustard men’s button-down shirt, while pink revealed, inexplicably, some blue tops as well as pale salmon khakis. Obviously, there’s still some work to be with the navigation, but a tangerine dress with a keyhole neckline, a lace back two-tone tank and a bright blue button down dress made up for that. Plus, we’re quite pleased with their section for men, especially a well-fitted white shirt.

Boon Or Bhane

With reasonable prices, a single label and an exchange and return policy, we’re going to leave this one in our bookmarks for a while and wait for them to get a larger stock. Until then, we suggest you check out those salmon pink pants.

Getting there: Visit the website at www.bhane.com, Rs 1,300 for keyhole dress.

What: Luxe camera cases by 1701, visit the website at http://www.1701.in, shipping across the country, start at Rs 6,500.

Why: Ashwin and Karishma were vacationing on the Amalfi coast when Karishma realised that her new camera needed a case, and not one of those plastic-y pouches. So she crafted an electric blue one for herself, a DIY project that sparked off their camera case label 1701 – a name that’s meant to suggest a random hotel room, a certain time in the evening or a ticket to go off on a mystery rendezvous. Browse the website for fun shots of their leather and suede SLR cases with cellphone and passport compartments, and super pretty camera clutches embellished with embroidery and pony hair, and inspired by truckers, Las Pampas-exploring cowboys and red lipstick on slim cigarettes.

When: You need a successful click through rate.

What: Secret half-off fragrance and beauty sale at Fortune 2000 Building, B wing, ground floor, Bandra Kurla Complex, opposite Bharat Nagar bus stop, for a VIP invite email  This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or  This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Why: Stop sniffing glue and get high on this instead: for two days next week, we’ve found you an access pass (see email details above) to get 50% off perfumes and beauty products from Dolce & Gabbana, Clarins, Gucci, DKNY, Kenzo, Escada, Jean Paul Gaultier, Elizabeth Arden, Canali, Shiseido and more.

When: Your two scents’ worth on December 14 and 15 from 11 am to 8 pm.

Ku Up

Like our sparkly city folk who embellish Goa during December, bpb found a set of Bombay baubles that are making a party out of it down in the sunshine state. Recommended by us over two years ago, Valliyan, a jewellery brand by Bombay-based designer Nitya Arora has found its first store inside Goa’s gorgeous Ku Resort.

Located at Morjim, this eco-luxe hut property is where Nitya has set up shop, in a 550 square feet shack-like space laid out with patterned rugs and bamboo hanger racks. The store is seasonal and will remain operational from November to end of April every year. Here you’ll spot parts of Valliyan’s tasseled collection that can seamlessly “take you from day to night”, rave-inspired neon necklaces, coral pieces that might actually sound like the ocean and her super popular and “very Goa” Princess Leia ear cuffs.

And to save the shopper from tedious browsing, Nitya has partnered with Delhi-based Hemant and Nandita for resortwear and Mumbai’s Divya Mohta (Tambourine Designs ) for vacation clothes  with a bohemian  vibe.

Okay sure, you don’t have to go all the way to Goa to buy a Princess Leia ear cuff (order off the Facebook page), but we were thinking, you could book a hut at Ku and make a trip out of it. Of all our party season go-to-Goa excuses, this one’s the shiniest.

Getting there: Valliyan by Nitya store, Ku Resort, Morjim, Goa, visit the Facebook page here. 

Turkish Baht?

When Istanbul became the new Bangkok a couple of years ago - hasn't your neighbour, colleague, dentist, mom been twice already? - we were wondering how long before someone started selling merchandise from Turkey in the city. Well, it's begun. Even if it's but a miniscule sliver of the Grand Bazaar, Bandra's new lifestyle store Heirloom has patches of Turkey in its random landscape.

Opened just a few days ago, Heirloom is a tiny space with a moth-eaten, antique-dealer feel, selling a jumble of interesting and not-so-nice Indian clothes, Turkish bric-a-brac and one-off furniture pieces. In this mix of textures and colours, we naturally gravitated towards the rack of pretty white kurtas by indie label Silkworm (starting at Rs 5,000) and fun off-white Turkish harem pants perfect for shopping or a beach day in Goa.

If weddings are on your mind, browse their brocade blouses — our favourite is the three-fourth-sleeved one with embroidered roses - starting at Rs 5,000 and border saris with a Sabyasachi ghost hanging about them. These are in from Delhi and with prices starting as low as Rs 10,000, the saris are quite a steal. Now we weren't too crazy about the jammed-with-florals bed linen and ubiquitous solid coloured cloth table mats. The rolled up quilts however, looked soft and nap-inducing.

What: Bombay Atelier – new basement furniture studio, to order email  This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or view the Facebook page here, Rs 50,000 for a deck chair (all pieces are made to order).

Why: It’s almost romantic that an artist who works out of a basement thought up this pretty ‘Ventilator’ side table, inspired by old houses that had big doors with top shutters for cross ventilation. Designed by Farzin Adenwalla – she previously worked with interior design and branding agencies like The Busride Design Studio and i-am Mumbai – under her new label Bombay Atelier, these tables are joined by other equally elegant cane and wood furniture pieces like a sleek deck chair, Cane Touch This coffee table and Console Me chest of drawers.

When: You need someone else to do the leg work.

This writer always had a fascination for home DIY projects. College summer vacations usually involved rearranging her vintage Kinder toys in a showcase, refurbishing an old stool by sticking pieces of an one-less-1,000 jigsaw puzzle tiles all over it and converting old bedsheets into coasters for mum’s potted plants. So it was fun and kind of nostalgic to see Sussanne Roshan, interior designer and owner of The Charcoal Project, transform a simple wooden table into a beautiful spread set for high tea, using items costing nothing less that Rs 300.  

The Simple Plan

Launched recently, The Home Label is unlike most online interior stores that jam pieces of furniture, cutlery and décor into a gazillion categories. The site is as easy on the eye (House Proud, please take notes) as it is to navigate, with big picture tabs taking you through Sussanne’s  DIY ideas like one-click solutions for odd, empty corners. The annoying thing though, is that you have to register with your email or Facebook ID before you can browse. 

The products, mostly inspired by art deco, the 1920s and the Renaissance period, are not obscenely priced either. Currently on the site, you can check out choice pieces for your corner table , cushions for your living room (how cool is this ikat lampshade!), but we’d suggest skipping the Renaissance-inspired cushions, which are nothing we haven't seen before.

Other things we liked:

The nutcrackers that look like stylized clothing pegs , set of two, Rs 1,700

1920s stye glass lamp base, Rs 4,990

Teetar, set of two wooden birds, Rs 340

Tasty Turnip apron with a fun black and white print, Rs 850

White Moroccan lantern, Rs 1,650

Getting there: Visit www.thehomelabel.com, shipping is free on a minimum purchase of Rs 3,000 and will be delivered within 48 hours of order, gift vouchers also available, call 9821076633.

What: Sale and cocktail classes at the re-opened Obaitamu store, Rope Walk Lane, Kala Ghoda, call 08454845854, open Monday to Saturday, noon to 9 pm.

Why: The formerly bright yellow fashion store Obataimu has opened after renovation in an all-green avatar - date tree in a can, freshly painted  green bikes with picnic baskets, a  juke box and a blackboard with the quote of the day.  Besides an eco-friendly message, its return brings other good things like the store's first ever  sale that will rotate weekly and will be on until the end of December. The entire stock, including yummy silk shirts, short pleated skirts and men’s cotton shorts, will be discounted at ten per cent. Plus, with every purchase, a tree will be planted in your name at the Kumbhalgarh Sanctury in Rajasthan. The store will also be collaborating with a ‘guest Obataimist’ from New York’s cocktail institution Death & Co for bartending classes, where you bring your own booze and a "secret green ingredient". To register for this session, email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

 When: You need new tree trunks.