ISSN: 1391 - 0531
Sunday, December 17, 2006
Vol. 41 - No 29
Mirror

Home treat home

By Marisa de Silva

Enter the old curiosity shop with a modern flavour… Enter Cozy Linen – the quaint little one-stop-shop for all your linen needs! Cushions of all sizes, shapes, colours and textures (brocade, cotton, handloom, batik, raw silk etc.), anything and everything your table desires… cloths, runners, place-mats, napkins and your bed couldn't feel more at home with the range of bed sheets, quilts and duvets available to make it the envy of all the other beds! In addition, there is also a wide selection of multi-coloured wall hangings, terry towels, throws, Pashminas and Kashmir wool shawls that would make any shopper deliriously indecisive!

Pix by M.A. Pushpa Kumara

The young and vibrant owner of Cozy Linen, Naushaly Wijemanne, has been working in the garment industry together with her father for the past three years. Having received her BA in Business Finance from the University of Durham in UK, upon her return, she promptly started work with her father, where her interest in textiles progressively grew. So much so, that exactly a year back, Naushaly decided to branch out on her own and so started off her own little place, in addition to working with her dad.

Having figured out that she wanted to diversify into home furnishing linen and cater to its niche market here, she added that there seemed to be a lot of scope in this line of work . Keeping up with yet another fast-growing trend in town, 'Bridal Registries', she has opened one up at her shop, where couples-to-be can pre-select any number of items that catch their fancy at her shop, thus giving their invitees a wide selection of potential gifts to choose from.

"I can guarantee the quality of my products, as everything made in Sri Lanka is produced at my own factory, where I personally supervise the work and hand pick the textiles (with some help from mum) used for production. Also, as for the imported items, as I buy them direct from the main suppliers and not from the various 'middle-men', there too I can ensure the high quality of the products," she explained.

pic

Another unique feature of the 'Cozy' shop is that they take on personalised orders, from designing all types of linen necessary to drape an individual home, to entire offices, hotels and the likes, she said. "Say for instance, a customer sees something in my shop that he/she likes, but would prefer it in another shade, size, textile or design, whilst in most shops you would have to buy whatever is available or even leave empty handed, here, we have a strict 'there's no such thing as not possible' policy," she says enthusiastically. In short, whatever the customer wants, the customer gets, she adds!

"Although my passion for, and knowledge of textiles is mainly due to my dad, my creative side is definitely from mum," she says diplomatically. "My ultimate goal is to start exporting my products all around the world," she says. She also plans to extend and add variety to her current selection in the near future.

Having just replenished her shop with new stocks, including some seasonal specials (with a seasonal discount on selected items), there is a range of “Christmassy” table cloth sets, bed linen, rugs and cute Santa and snowman kitchen towels. Cozy Linen seems to be quite the place to be this season! (Also open on Sundays throughout the festive season.)

So where is this 'little shop of delights', which has the power to bring new life to your humble abode? It's at 108, 5th Lane, Colombo 3 (adjoining Café on the 5th). So indulge your home this season by transforming it into a comfy 'Cozy' haven draped in some of the best linen on offer!

 
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Copyright 2006 Wijeya Newspapers Ltd.Colombo. Sri Lanka.