The designs are not copied from slick foreign catalogues but designed keeping in view the personality and budget of the client. The furniture designer visits the client's home suggests lay out and fashions the tables, chairs, selects the paintings, handicraft pieces to go with the decor. Some times a single Macintosh chair, artistic magazine holder, low centre table, sculptural lamp, or exclusive side table serves as add on to existing furniture to provide that special touch.

Several such designer furniture boutiques have sprung up in Delhi in the recent past. Some of them are: I'M Centre for Applied Arts started by Punam Kalra atLajpat Nagar; Galleria Abascus at Saket started by Aseem Tiwari, Inside Story by Jyoti Punj Anand at Okhla; Wicker World by Arti Sahni at Hauz Khas village; Cover Line by Vinita Singh at Hauz Khas village; Studio Line at Andheria Mod by Rachna Yadav and Vandana Prakash.

All these show rooms and designers have plenty in common. Their specialty is the impact pieces or as designers call then `add ons' for dramatic effect to give the interiors an unique ambience. All the show rooms specialise in limited editions so that the designs do not get common. Naturally, when they are not mass produced the sale is not in terms of volume. Punam Kalra terms this as ``quality sale'.

Are the designers satisfying their artistic, creative urges or pampering the whims of clients who want to be different? Says Aseem Tiwari: `` The designer can not exist in vacuum, he exists for the clients. The designs have to make sense, be functional and aesthetic.'' Many find the table in the shape of apple, chair with five-foot tallstraight back, chairs with design of African figures at back quite weird.

Tiwari, a MBA from US specialises in wooden furniture with very dressy kind of designs with plenty of carvings and inlay the furniture has shades of traditional, oriental patterns but with a difference. He experiments, invents and reinvents himself. Creativity is blended with clients requirements. Clients homes or offices are sort of extension of showrooms. He says he never repeats himself. ``I provide deigns solutions for today's bubbly lifestyle.'' He works in collaboration with architects, manufacturers and workmen to understand the concept and give it final shape.

Kalra is an engineer and was inspired by her architect husband to venture in the domain of furniture designing. She specialises in wrought iron and combinations of materials. Besides the smart title signifying individuality, `I'M, the show room stands apart for its ambience. The chairs range from Rs 30-85,000 and low tables for Rs 17,000. Planters in the shape of cupsand saucers are interesting and so is the rocking chair or baby's cot.

Post modernistic furniture is in higher price range. The trends is for wrought iron furniture and combinations. Rachna Yadav's `Studio Line' has catchy modernistic furniture combining wood, ceramic tiles with wrought iron for effect. Jyoti Punj Anand, interior designer with degree from UK, has a team of interior designers working on metal, stone, glass, wood, wrought iron. The shapes, sizes colours are unusual. When she started the showroom the furniture was all straight lines but now one can see a slight shift towards ovals, curves.

Wrought iron chairs cost between Rs 20,000 and Rs 45,000 and tables in mix materials are for Rs 15,000- Rs45000. Vinita Singh started by designing a few chairs and praise from friends and relatives turned the hobby into a full-fledged profession. She keeps on experimenting, changing designs, exploring, modifying ``to compete with the market.''

Professional furniture designer Arti Sahni with a degree fromChandigarh started on cane furniture introducing the concept of cane furniture in the living room. Wicker World' has grown in past decade and Sahni's interest has shifted to wrought iron, the present day craze. ``Both cane and iron have same properties, they can be moulded to any shape on fire,'' she says. Sofas in cane with theme of Krishna hand-painted on the arms are for Rs 29,000 and straight chairs for Rs 3,500 each. The cane chairs are aesthetic and eye catching with knotted effect, in dark black shades or thematically conceived. Drawing inspiration from nature, Shani's show room displays banana tree chairs, Pisces chairs, boat shaped chairs, Chinese patterned cupboards, twig designs on chairs, Shivashakti chest complete with rudraksh, trishul and tiger skin. The pieces are interesting and fascinating.

Though business in not booming, the designers say they have a regular clientele. Sometimes a casual wanderer to the show room gets attracted and buys an add on, sculptured piece of handicraft. Andthe trend is definitely catching on, and avant garde furniture is here to stay.