Explore This Lane Filled With Period Furniture & Antique Shops, Just Off Comm Street

Travel down Kamaraj Road and you are bound to travel back in time! Scour the street for shops specialising in period furniture and curios from a bygone era. In the past few years, those of you who frequent Comm Street would have noticed a rather curious phenomenon — one half of Kamaraj Road has become a haven for furniture hunters. There are a handful of shops, operating out of old-fashioned homes and slightly newer buildings, all pretty much hawking the same wares. 

However, Qurio City remains the most popular among these establishments. Run by the very passionate SV Ramachandran you can pick up everything from grand dowry chests to upcycled old-school, sewing machines that can be used as desks in your study. You can also scour the shop’s many godowns for intricately-patterned doors, cupboards and chairs. If you like anything you see, they’ll fish out for you and refurbish to suit your space. The store also specialises in customised orders.

If you are looking for vintage keepsakes, then, there’s no better place than Qurio City. The store has everything cameras to typewriters, ovens, and globes. You can also rely on the owner to provide you with the backstory and history of the pieces you pick up.

Another excellent store here is Marudhar Furniture {they also have an additional store in the vicinity called Marudhar Artefacts}. This is the only shop that showcases a curated collection. Here you can spot tables, chests, glass cabinets, drawers, sideboards, and furniture sets that begin at about INR 8,000. Most of them belong to the earlier half of the 20th century and have been completely refurbished. The store also does replicas. They take about 45 days to deliver a complete piece.  Marudhar also stocks a handful of knick knacks like ceramic door knobs, over the top kettles, and enamelware.

The likes of SMD Furniture and Maruti Furnishing are smaller enterprises but also offer old-style furniture. The smaller shops also take on a lot of repairs and refurbishing work. So, if you already have a few pieces lying around head here to give your furniture a new lease of life. Since these are lesser known than Qurio City and Marudhar, you can expect the prices to be easier on your pocket when compared to the bigger shops.