Wall Makeover : Wall With Personal Touch

This is the very first makeover of my place that I started from foyer. Come on and first have a look at before and after of the entrance.

What a wonderful difference. I am totally loving it. Images are not doing justice though :-(

Now the story of this wall transformation goes like this.........

In my home I want everything with my personal touch or I can say everything made by or done by me. I am on way to fill colors in my home (my blank canvas) and I started from foyer. First I thought of stenciling the wall and one more idea was to draw a free hand design. So just for a rough idea I came up with these two images. Sent these pics to my sister and she gave me go ahead with freehand design.

I wanted the color of wall to be bright as the entrance to my home is little cozy and dark. I chose lot of bright colors and then zeroed in on this mango yellow. My li'l one was ready to lend his helping hand for sanding, priming, painting and designing the wall. 4 Yr old and did it so well that I was just amazed to see everything he has done. Kids these days are very smart :-)

Then I drew freehand design on the wall and started filling brown color to it. 

Though it was freehand design I wanted to give it a look of stencil. For Lotus I was confused between white and red color. White looked better..........

Steps involve in making leaves..........

Here's a look after filling color but something was missing........

Filled golden color in leaves veins and it looked perfect.

 Here is the completed wall ....looking bright and beautiful.......but still something is missing......

Idea clicked and I'm ready with my weapons and lil' one is busy clicking progress of the work.

Here comes the complete look. Look that gave me full satisfaction. It turned out far more better than my imagination. And here I wanted to let all my friends know that this sunburst mirror is also my creation and I created it in only 3hrs because I was in hurry to complete this wall as soon as possible (Sometimes I become so impatient).

It feels great, wonderful, amazing when you see your own creations everywhere around your dwelling.

This wall is so me. Everything on this wall describes me. Sometimes a just sit and keep admiring the beauty of this wall....crazy me ;)

Let me know your views and ideas about this wall.
Click the link below for Sunburst mirror tutorial:
Sunburst Mirror Tutorial
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A Simple Project

Earlier this summer, I found this pretty *vintage* planter at TJMaxx.  While the color was a lovely light shade of lime, I'm afraid it just wasn't working for me, BUT, the price was right, and I knew that I could have a bit of fun with it.   

 

Finally, this past weekend, I got to play with it!  Out came my sample jars of CeCe Caldwell's Seattle Mist, AS Old White and AS Pure White.  I then chose a simple, French image from the fabulous Graphics Fairy, and, once the paint was dry, transferred the image to the front of the planter.  Of course, I then had to rough it up a bit after it dried with fine sandpaper:

 

 

Here is the AFTER!  I added a little burlap, pinecones and few seasonal picks to create a fun, Fall arrangment, which now sits on our dry bar!

 

 

Total cost for this project was $0.00(!), as I had everything I needed on hand!  Aren't those the best kind?

Thanks for stopping by!

Becca

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Fun August Decor!

Beat the heat, D E C O R A T E!












Wine from my sister's winery in Oklahoma, Prairie Rattler Winery!



These parties I love to link up to or check out my Blog Parties tab
Party Time @ It's So Very Cheri
Metamorphosis Monday @ Between Naps On The Porch
Motivate Me Monday @ Keeping It Simple  

Masterpiece Monday @ Boogieboard Cottage 
Creative Blogger's Party @ Homemaker On A Dime

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Let The Picture Do Talking

Let the tranquility speak......................

 For stained glass jar DIY : Click here

To know more about this Buddha : Click here

A very special post on wall transformation is coming this weekend ........
so stay tuned.

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New beginnings. New Features.

Ganesha: The remover of obstacles enjoying a sunny day in my new home.

I have been sharing my experiences of the new chapter of my life here in Minnesota on my personal blog, Rang: The Colours of Life.

Today I would also like to share few features that I have planned for Rang Decor.

As most of the readers must be aware of my immense adoration for the art & crafts of India, I will be reviving the series, the latest post on Ajrakh printing is already live. Do check it out if you haven't already!

If you are an upcoming designer, painter, artist or stylist (traditional or contemporary) who draws inspiration from the wealth of Indian heritage. Do drop me a mail with an introduction to your work. If we like what we see, will feature your work.

If you are an NGO or work with artisans at grassroot level to revive any dying craft of India, Rang Decor will provide a platform to showcase your work.

A Before & After feature about little Do-It-Yourself from my home.

Global/ Eclectic decor inspirations curated with my design sensibilities will also be featured.

I get a lot of queries regarding interior design consultations, I have not started personal consultations yet but hope to sometime soon. Meanwhile if there are many queries on a certain topic will try and do a post to address it.

So stay tuned for all this and more!

(Image by Arch)

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Adding Character

When we added the butcher block top to our island almost two years ago, the installer recommended that we add corbels for support.  I thought it would be fun to add farmhouse legs instead ... two years later, we FINALLY did it!

I found a great website, Osborne Wood Products ... they have several kinds of fabulous products at very reasonable prices!  I found just the style/size we wanted, and a few days later they arrived!

All I had to do was paint a coat of AS Old White, followed by two coats of AS Chateaux Grey onto each leg ... added a bit of distressing and a layer of clear wax.  I then wedged them up under the butcher block ... added a bit of hot glue in between the legs and the butcher block top to secure them ... and, voila!

AFTER! 

We love the character they add and how they contribute to the farmhouse feel!

It's hard to believe that our island once looked like *this*:

Speaking of changes ... we're just about done with the kitchen refreshing!  AND, I've got a few little things planned for our breakfast area.  For a long time, I've wanted French Country chairs, but the prices have been a bit more than we wanted to spend.  This past weekend, we visited a fabulous store nearby called Primarily Pine ... they had EXACT chairs I've been looking for!  They're unfinished (which saved on the cost) ... all I have to do is stain the seats (Walnut) and paint the chairs either AS Old White or Pure White. Aren't they pretty?

I'm envisioning a farmhouse table, these chairs and parsons chairs at the head of the table.  We'll see how it all turns out!

One more project ... what do you think of this French fabric?!  I'm eventually going to add them to our dining room chairs. 

Just another day in my crazy life!  Happy Sunday, friends!

Thanks for stopping by,

I'm linking up with:

Savvy Southern Style/WUW
 

 

Becca

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Asran.

This post is a milestone for Rang Decor as it features first of the many global design inspirations that will be posted here in time to come. Global design that traces it's route along the Silk Road.

Saadia Nasir Ricart of Asran wrote to me months back while I was in Bangalore introducing me to her new project. A venture in which she curates unique handmade items sourced from regions along the Silk Road on her online store.

What is the Silk Road?

The Silk Road spanned 7000 miles, weaving its way through China, Central Asia, Northern India, and the Roman Empires. It connected the Yellow River to the Mediterranean Sea, along with all the trade, religions and philosophies on the way. Many of the regions today that were a part of this ancient trade route still use the same methods to create the things that were sold hundreds of years ago.

Saadia states being half Pakistani and half Japanese, and her parents being antique rug dealers for over 30 years, created a strong intrigue and love for the Silk Road cultures. 

Asran has a beautiful collection of Kilims from Turkey and Central Asia.

What are Kilims?

Saadia explains on her blog, "Kilims use several flat weaving techniques, kind of like knitting, but bigger and thicker weaves. Rugs on the other hand are made by individual knots knotted tightly together by pressing the weft against each other. 

Both techniques are extremely time consuming and require meticulous attention but that makes the final product all the more amazing!"

Kilims are mostly handmade in Persia, Balkans, Eastern Europe and Turkey. 

They use many geometrical patterns in the weaves and each symbol has a certain significance. Some Kilims are used as prayer rugs as well.

  

At Asran you will find some very interesting handcrafted decor accessories like this Camel Bone Powder Box from Lucknow, India. 

Silk Scarves and Pashmina Shawls as well...

"Originally inspired by Chinese pottery, Imperial ware, also known as Iznik, was so exquisite that European collectors in the mid 19th century thought it came from Persia. Though in the early 1900's scholars discovered that they were from the Ottoman empire and thus concluded that these Iznik ceramics were Turkish". explains Saadia.

Saadia with her mother in Agra.

So do drop by at Asran and check out the lovely handcrafted pieces from the Silk Road.

You can keep updated about Asran on Facebook as well.

(Images from Asran Decor and Asran Blog)

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Solution to a Hole in my Vintage Tapestry!

Isn't it funny when you just can't think of a solution to a problem and someone walks up and gives it to you on a silver platter? In this case, I had picked up an old tapestry. The problem: a hole right in the middle of it. Too big to repair without notice. One day, my lovely daughter, Lisa says, "why don't you just cover a stool with it!"

I just happened to pick up this very old and very

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Art & Crafts of India: Ajrakh or Ajarakh

Every dusty road trip that we made into the small villages in Kutch, Gujarat turned into a journey marveling at the abundance of traditional art & crafts of the region.

One fact that really stood out was the high density of different traditional crafts in the Kutch region of Gujarat. One afternoon we understood the intricacies of the Mutwa embroidery in Dordo village, next evening we were engulfed in a colorful world of vegetable dyes used in block-printing in Kukma Village.


Ajrakhpur, near Kukma is where the tradition of Ajrakh block printing is kept alive by the Khatri community, whose ancestors came from the Sindh region in Pakistan.

Dr. Ismail Mohammad Khatri is one of the few left who carry on this tradition of laborious but beautiful craft of Ajarkh printing.

Carrying forward the tradition, his son Junaid Khatri.


Ajarkh derives it's name from 'Aaj ke din rakh' or keep it for the day, the processing of Ajrakh printing is pretty long drawn with each stage involving many days.
Dr. Khatri explained that the process involved procuring the best cotton fabrics, washing, steaming in copper containers.

The fabric is then soaked in a mixture of dung, oil an water to make it soft. Dried for a couple of days and then re-soaked with other natural ingredients to bleach and make it ready for printing.

Ajarakh uses the process of resist printing in which hand block printing is done on designated areas in the pattern which are pre-treated to resist penetration by the dye.

Natural vegetable dyes like Indigo, Turmeric, Lime, Rice and many others are used to create intricate geometrical block print patterns that are typical of Ajrakh printing.

Block makers who carve these intricate Ajrakh designs are also very few these days.

The intricate patterned blocks stained with natural vegetable dyes.

Wooden Blocks stored in different boxes...

We were amazed at the various designs on the wooden blocks and prayed with all my heart for this wonderful craft to flourish.

I bought this beautiful craft in the form of a dupatta that I will drape with a sense of pride and great respect for these artisans who carry on the age-old laborious craft.

I have tried to style the fabric in my bare home with few interesting finds from a yard sale that I went to last weekend:-)

If you come across Ajrakh blockprinted fabric in any craft fair do buy and support the craftsmen.

The very few left who practice this craft.

(Images by Arch)

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