KOCHI: Gone are the days when you would associate teakwood with everything grand and bulky. At Serin Elza John venture t.e.a.k (the eclectic artistans kraft), you find minimalistic, classy, and elegant home decor items made from elite wood. It isn’t bulky but is instead sophisticated and minimal in design. Serin focuses on a functional and timeless design.
“Teak is a beautiful wood variety and so are the products made out of it. I stick with teak because whatever you fashion out of it, stands the test of time. It doesn’t wither away or break. So if you buy it or gift it to someone, it will stay with you. I didn’t want to indulge in mass-producing furniture — many people already do that. So I chose to handcraft cute wooden pieces,” says Serin. Her team of carpenters crafts the pieces she designs.
An assistant professor at Kerala Law Academy, Serin has no background in the field of designing, but the teak decors she fashions are professionally done. “I wanted to study law since I was in school and that’s why I pursued it. Now that I am also into designing articles in teak, I sometimes think of doing a course in designing. But most of the courses take years and so I abandoned the idea,” says Serin, a Thiruvananthapuram-native.
It all started a decade ago when Serin designed the furniture in her home. “A few people liked it and asked if we could do it for them. We did, but then that was it,” says Serin whose husband Joseph Mohan is in the timber business. And several years later, in 2019, she got back into her love for furniture design, creating unique utility-oriented home decors. Her collection includes serving trays, travel tags, cake stands, phone and recipe book stands, and so on.
“I feel everything we make needs to serve a purpose. I don’t make decors or articles that are useless. It is simply a wastage of wood and is not sustainable,” says Serin. She also wants to ensure that her articles are affordable. She has products ranging from Rs 350 to Rs 15,000. “Teak is an expensive wood. But I want people to be able to afford it too. So my articles start at Rs 350, a travel tag. I also customise the works according to the customer’s requirement. We also do not make a large number of pieces of the same kind. That ensures each piece is unique, unlike the mass-produced ones,” says Serin. “It’s good to see something you conceived as a product. It’s the most satisfying feeling,” says Serin. Instagram handle: @‘loveitinwood’