From candles that drop metal nails to the knocker uppers of industrial Britain, people devised plenty of cunning tricks to ensure a timely wake-up before alarm clocks came along.

From your cluttered kitchen to your overstuffed shoe closet, repurposed curtain rods could be just the secret weapon you need to make life easier at home.

For 20-year-old Itisha Bhanushali, these were a familiar part of growing up in the remote Nirona village of Kutch, Gujarat, ...