Sandip Mondal had just finished school when the Covid pandemic hit. Confined to his home and feeling unproductive, he began making art and craft videos, but struggled to be consistent due to his studies.
It was only after completing college – he is an accountancy graduate from Heramba Chandra College and a self-taught artist with no formal training – that he started taking it seriously.
Around the same time, renovation work began at his home in Garia, and Sandip Mondal started documenting the process, marking the true beginning of his journey as a content creator.
Now, Sandip Mondal, 23, is known as the DIY Guy on social media. His Instagram handle, sm.createcorner, has 3.77 lakh followers and counting.
“Sometimes inspiration also comes from everyday life I believe creativity is less about searching more about, noticing the extraordinary within ordinary,” he said.
“Art has a way of setting you free, of helping you find your direction even when the road ahead feels uncertain.”
When someone discards the wooden frame of an old piece of furniture, Sandip, a resident of Danga near Garia, sees possibility. He picks it up, paints it, reshapes it, and gives it a new purpose. Where others see what’s broken or unusable, he imagines what it could become.
If he finds an old punctured tyre, he grabs a piece of 5mm plywood, an old piece of cloth and some metal chains to turn it into a wall clock.
Here’s more. If Mondal, who is a “stay-at-home artist”, gets his hands on discarded Diwali cracker scraps, he can transform them into a piece of furniture. All it takes is a bit of plywood, some glue and a few brushstrokes — and suddenly, the unusable becomes something functional and charming again.
“Middle class can be aesthetic too,” is what Mondal firmly believes.
He wants to turn his “’90s house” into a chic, remodelled residence, one corner at a time.
Though many remain sceptical of what he is up to, he continues undeterred — giving his ordinary room and balcony a makeover, crafting a hanging Christmas tree from discarded wire, turning old mud pots and paint buckets into planters, upcycling his mother’s decades-old cabinet, and even building a fancy terrarium without spending a single rupee.
With a gentle smile and a simple “Hola!” Sandip Mondal keeps breaking barriers — inspiring people to share their passions with the world and take a chance on an uncertain tomorrow.
With a million views on most of his reels on Instagram, Mondal – who lives with his mother – regularly shares his art with the world, most of them shot at home, where he is often seen breathing new life into a different corner each day.
His approach isn’t unique. Several well-known international creators, including Drew Michael Scott (@lonefoxhome), Geneva Vanderzeil (@genevavanderzeil), Lia Griffith (@liagriffith) and Mandi Gubler (@vintagerevivals), have built strong followings with similar content.
However, Mondal credits Abhinav Yadav (@create_your_taste), as an inspiration whose work influenced his creative journey. But life, he insisted, has been his greatest teacher.
“My background may not have been full of opportunities but it was full of lessons. And those lessons continue to influence my work and my journey as an artist,” he said.
So, how much does it cost to create content on Instagram?
“For a large art project, I usually invest around Rs 2 lakh. From that, I’m able to create about 30 to 40 videos, which brings the cost per video to roughly Rs 5,000 to Rs 6,000,” he said.
Has he ever doubted his creations? What has been the biggest challenge in turning everyday objects into something new?
Every creation comes with its own set of challenges, he said. “Most of the time I don’t know what the final outcome would look like after completing the project. Sometimes the final project doesn’t always look as good as I imagined.”
For many artists, budget can feel like a barrier. For Sandip, it has only ever been an invitation to think differently.
“Even if I had an unlimited budget, I would still choose to create something meaningful using simple, recycled materials,” he said. “Because at the end of the day, it’s not the budget that defines creativity; it’s the way you see and use what you already have.”