home decor ideas

Sabtu, 28 November 2015

festive lighting...

Diwali is long gone and it's time for Christmas with reds & greens, cakes & cookies and loads of happiness....
...but festivity can never go out of style, can it?

I received a mail, few weeks back from one of Rang Decor's readers Rama Ananth and she wanted to share some of her Diwali moments with all of us. I loved the way she has used fairy lights and other traditional lamps to bring in festivity.

Here are few captures from her lovely home.
These are truly beautiful Rama, thanks for sharing it with readers of Rang Decor!

(images by Rama Ananth)

Kamis, 26 November 2015

A Hundred Hands...

A Hundred Hands is a nonprofit trust based in Bangalore, India.

Their vision is to create a world that celebrates the pleasure of handmade crafts in our homes and daily lives.

'The Handmade Collective' A showcase and sale of all things handmade is on and I had an opportunity to drop by yesterday and enjoy the beauty of various handcrafted work.

The gracious Mala Dhawan of A Hundred Hands showed me around and here are few lovely products that I captured from a variety of handmade goodies...
Amazing Aepan painting on tealight holder lamps...
Gift boxes...
'Aepan is a unique craft of the Kumaoni folk , where they use finger nails, originally done on walls. Intricate patterns are made using natural dyes as this craft gets a new lease of life decorating homes and office stationery.'
Christmas gift items by Flower Belles Decorators...
I just loved this idea of having fairy lights decorated with recycled egg crates by eCoexhist...
Eco-friendly Ganesha by eCoexist...Beautiful Sanjhi Art...
'Sanjhi is an art of cutting paper on non metallic surfaces with the help of plied scissors and sharp blades. While this craft flourished since its origin in the lands associate with Krishna, in Mathura and Vrindavan, Uttar Pradesh, today only one family claims to be carrying it forward through it's fifth generation of artists.'
Lush green plants for sale...
Beeswax products...
Hase Chitra, a tribal art form from Shimoga and Karwar district of Karnataka. Usually done on special occasions like weddings etc, now trying to bring it into our modern everyday life by painting on canvas and metal...

It was a great to learn about some very interesting art forms of India, that are being revived by 'A Hundred Hands...'

Do drop by at
A Handmade Collective
24th Nov to 28th Nov. 2010
4, Ashley Road, Behind Hotel Ajanta
off Brunton Cross Road
Bangalore

Do check out their Facebook page for other updates.


(images by Arch

Art by Aarohi...

Nazar Batto Box...
Today, I dropped by at Aarohi Singh's exhibition at Pageturners Bookstore and was completely engulfed into a world of vibrant colours and Indian Kitsch.

Here are few captures of her wonderful work.
Side View of the box...
Horn Ok Please Kettle...
Thayyam Box...
Nimboo Mirchi Series Paintings...
Gorgeous Thalis (psst...that lovely Goddess Saraswati thali will soon be mine;-)
The lovely lady with her stunning work:-)

Aarohi's exhibition is on till 28th November, 2010 at
Pageturners Bookstore,
89 Kannan Building, MG Road, Bangalore

So if you are in Bangalore, do drop by:-)

This and That

Firstly, thanks so much to everyone who sent me concerned comments and emails due to my little hiatus over the past few days. You guys are just too sweet :-) I assure you all I'm perfectly fine, just trying to kick this 'would-rather-be-in-bed' bug still.

Anyways, on a different note, this weekend spells ONE YEAR since this day...


I can't believe how fast time has flown.

We're not doing anything much. Just a mystery overnight road trip in our time honoured tradition - we've always loved just jumping in the car not knowing where we might end up (even though it has meant a few nights spent in dodgy service station motels eating pretzels and giant choc chip cookies for dinner, but hey, I love those memories!).

And thirdly, for something completely unrelated, just thought I'd share some pics Luke took tonight of some cheeky cockatoos munching on wattle seeds in our front yard.




Have an awesome weekend everyone!


Rabu, 25 November 2015

Instant Cheer...

No expensive curios needed. No designer artifacts.
It's the simple things in life that add that sparkle to your home and a smile to your face.

Yes, I am talking about fresh juicy fruits & colourful fragrant flowers and the magic that they bring into our homes.Today I share with you all loads of beautiful moments created by flowers & fruits in my home...

Take out that old brass 'matka' or 'kalsi' and fill it up with seasonal flowers, just a couple of them will do the trick.Let your creativity flow, write down happy notes;-)Don't have a brass vase, no worry go ahead and use empty glass jars......or empty wine/beer bottles. The brand lettering adds to the beauty. Add some whimsical touches, ceramic ducks picked up from a local fair...Don't have a florist nearby, no worries pick up some wildflowers from the roadside or some seasonal flowers from the trees:-)

These flowers and fruits certainly lifted my spirits on a rainy day like today!

Wish you all loads of happiness with vitamins and fragrance:-)

Selasa, 24 November 2015

Library Card Cabinet Upcycle


Whatda you do when you come across something you really love?
Something for your home that you know there is no practical place or use for?
Do you buy it just because?
Just because you might never come across one again? Just because it was a really good price? Just because your mother's sister's second cousin Mavis had one just like it? Just because you could remove that, paint this, add some of these and turn it into an umbrella stand?

Well, a while ago I blogged about this old library card cabinet I bought 'just because'.


It sat in my junk room serving absolutely no purpose for about a year until the arrival of Charlotte saw my junk room (which was the temporary home for many of my 'just because' items) become sole real estate for one beautiful bouncing bambino.

(You can see the nursery makeover here if you missed it)

So, with our shortage of storage space made even shorter it was finally time to let some things go, starting with my card drawer cabinet.

Before selling it though I decided a mini makeover was in order.

Rather than paint over the character-filled timber I simply gave it a good all over clean and oil (just with furniture polish) to retain and enhance the original patina.


I also attached some solid metal castor wheels (as I had always originally intended). Along with the advantage of mobility the wheels also add enough height to give the cabinet perfect proportions for a coffee or deep side table.


I could only find silver steel castors which looked too modern paired with the old cabinet so I tinted them black to resemble cast iron.
Here's a little trick; rather than use spray paint (which easily chips off smooth metal) I coloured the wheels with a black permanent marker!


It sounds time-consuming though it was actually really quick and so far has held up great. Whilst I imagine it will likely fade a little over time where the wheels roll it will probably look nicely worn rather than just plain chipped.

So, mini refresh complete, I re-arranged my living room a bit to plonk the cabinet beside my leather couch to take some photos for the eBay listing and....


....I'm kinda loving it!


Luke even made the rare comment that he also liked it!


Did I say we have a shortage of storage space and it was time to let some things go? Well, maybe not this...for now anyway.

Hmmm, perhaps I should stop buying stuff 'just because'.

Linking up here.