Showing posts with label home tours. Show all posts
Showing posts with label home tours. Show all posts

Monday 4 January 2010

Rang Decor Readers Creative Spaces: VIII

Wishing all you lovely readers a very Happy New Year, 2010! It's going to be a great year with lots to share with all of you. We just got back from a beautiful trip to Rajasthan, so stay tuned for loads on havelis, palaces, forts and sand dunes:-)

Lets get the ball rolling with a brand new post on Rang Decor Readers Creative Spaces.

Karthik Vaidhyanathan
Karthik Vaidhyanathan is from Chettinad in Tamil Nadu and having grown up in a typical Chettinad house with loads of kitsch and colours, he wanted to incorporate these elements in his 1420 sqft new apartment home in Bangalore.The Chettinad influences are the 7ft arched windows, that he found when St. Josephs college on Brigade road, Bangalore was being demolished. They fitted in perfectly into what was once a balcony cum utility area. He also made a small tinnai (seating besides the windows).
Karthik continues, 'I converted this to become a loungy relaxing sit-out kinda space for entertaining friends and family.'
Karthik picked up these ceramic chettinad tiles from a shop in Pondicherry and has used it for a coffee table. This is inspired by the traditional 'Mannai' which is used during wedding
ceremonies.
Karthik explains, "I wanted to convert the open dining space into a study cum work area and wanted to isolate it through the use of two pillars. Did the rounds of antique markets and shops but found them too expensive or too elaborate for a flat. Finally landed up at Vermilion House in Bangalore, wherein I saw two pillars with Yaali sculpted motif at the top
(Yaali is a mythical creature, that with the face of a lion, the tusks of an elephant and the body of a serpent or ‘makara’ another mythical creature. The Yaalis are prominent in many a south Indian temple as sculptures on the walls or pillars, since the 16th century and they are believed to guard the temple. They are supposed to be more powerful than a lion or elephant)

"I also saw two pillars in teak with a floral pattern at the top; these are typically found in Kerala Home. These again really appealed to me. I picked up all four. The remaining two ‘floral’ pillars became the entrance to my kitchen, right opposite to the study."
"I have opened up the kitchen on all sides. As a result one can see through the entire length of the house. Have kept the kitchen in contemporary white and steel to break away the colour all around.
Have converted one of the corners of the kitchen into a 'work' area with a table and a white bar stool from ikea. Helps me work on my laptop as I catch some T.V. "
The low-rise square dining table with a low hanging light is one of the first pieces of furniture that Karthik got custom-made around 6 years ago at 100ft boutique in Indiranagar. The installation on top is the ‘people tree’ from Mukul Goyal in Delhi.
The showcase near the dining table houses lovely antique enamelware tiffin carrier, teapot etc and some very precious family heirlooms.
The whole house has lovely handmade Athangudi tile flooring.
View from the living room
The two chairs in the ‘sit-out’ are of rosewood and were picked up from Bamboo Market in Bangalore, a place where one often gets to see old antique stuff of houses that have been demolished. All it took to restore them was some cane-work and polish. A dash of colour through the pillows from Good Earth and one in a similar ‘Rajasthan’ theme from Rattan stores in Delhi.
The workspace cabinets and shelves have been made by Karthik's local carpenter. The knobs on them in various shapes and colours are antiques.
A peek into his bedroom:-)

Karthik's love and passion for his home comes across so beautifully through these pictures.

All the best Karthik, enjoy your new home. Thanks for sharing these creative corners of your home with readers of Rang Decor.

P.S. If you have any questions for Karthik, do mail it to myvarnam@gmail.com.

Sunday 1 March 2009

Rang Decor Readers' Creative Spaces: IV

Rajee Sood

Rajee Sood
is a very talented blogger and a home-maker who lives with her husband and two lovely girls Aimee and Sarah in Navi Mumbai. Today she shares a few corners from her very elegant home with us.

The drawing room corner where Rajee sits and works on the laptop while enjoying the whole house with just the light from the table lamps.



Rajee describes her home as very urbane. The style throughout is an eclectic mix of European, ethnic Indian and a bit of orientalia.

Her coffee table, the center of her life in the house, always has flowers on it.



Rajee adds "It has to have some of my candles. Almost as if to say my coffee table reflects my moods"

Latest edition of Architectural digest and some recent books picked by the family.



She believes that her home is very subtly evolving with the comfort they look for in their home, with the things they collect, places they've lived, and the family as it grows.

One of the side tables in the drawing room , a lovely little flower arrangement of the latest blooms from her pots, the floribunda roses and hydrangea leaves.



Rajee says, "The strongest influence for my home and me has been California …a few years stint in San Francisco, opened me to a whole new aesthetics of designing with my eastern influences and western sensibilities. It gives me the calm and satisfaction I look for in my space."

Rajee's older girl Aimee snoozing with her teddy in the dining- drawing area.

Old project still underway, photos of three generations of her family.

The crockery unit. Rajee had this made centered around the carved panel from Rajasthan, it now houses her complete glassware, barware and crockery.

Dining area

A lovely corner with blue and white pottery.

Rajee, "My bedside~ another oriental table in my collection, with a Buddha, blue and white pottery piece from Rajasthan filled in with my husbands coin collection. I especially love the Chinese jar I bought at a San Francisco flea market, while antiquing one lazy weekend. A print of Thakur Singh's work."

Red crewelwork pillows and one of Rajee's own artwork in the back ground.



The antique silverware, the gerberas, the gorgeous furnishings and blue pottery blend so well into her unique urbane space.



Thanks for sharing these lovely corners from your home, your world, Rajee!



Do visit her stylish blog Rajee Sood.



P.S~ If you have any questions for Rajee about her home, please ask in the comments section so she can reply to you.

Monday 19 January 2009

Rang Decor Readers' Creative Spaces: II

Shalini Bahadur
Shalini is a freelance writer and researcher. Today she shares a few creative corners from her serene oasis in Dubai. She describes her home as contemporary but also individualistic. Modern lines but with a sense of warmth and comfort. Her philosophy, that truly reflects in her home, is that one need not spend loads of money to buy paintings by famous artists to make one's home beautiful. Being creative and inventive is the key. (She has been extremely inventive given the fact that she left most of her art & paintings back in India, when she moved to Dubai with her husband.) This simple paisley design artwork has been handmade by Shalini.A close-up of the paisley design.
The horse and the rider print in her bedroom is actually a newspaper cutting that Shalini really liked.The black and white framed artwork is a wrapping paper from Borders! Teamed with beautiful cushions from Ikea, makes it a relaxing corner in her living room.* Very creative*

Shalini continues,"I like symmetry and pairing things, but not to the extreme. I definitely don't like the magazine perfect look".Mr & Mrs. as she calls them were picked up from a garage sale in Kansas City.A cotton durrie hangs on the wall was a gift from her mother-in-law.This bedroom corner has simple elements of nature. A set of four framed leaves picked up during her morning walks. The delicate leaf pattern on the table lamp goes really well with the frames.

Shalini loves surrounding herself with things with personal history, mementos from travels, arts & crafts and loads of books.
This photograph in the silver frame is of Shalini's maternal grandmother. * So beautiful*Books form an intergral part of Shalini's home space. Another very important thing in her home is nature's treasures brought back from morning walks:-)Delicate Neem flowers, Frangipani or even few stems of fresh neem leaves add that extra cheer to her space."My home is a place where you can put your feet up, curl up on the couch and simply feel at ease." says Shalini.
I completely agree.
Thanks for sharing some beautiful corners from your home Shalini!
She blogs at of travels and travails and shares her beautiful photographs on flickr as ganobristol

P.S~ If you have any question for Shalini about her home, please ask in the comments section so she can reply to you.

Wednesday 14 January 2009

New Feature~ Rang Decor Readers' Creative Spaces: I

New Year brings with it a fresh new feature on Rang Decor.

Rang Decor has been a medium through which I have 'met' so many creative and talented people from around the world.
For the next couple of weeks I will be featuring amazing home spaces of some of the readers of Rang Decor.
Yes, real people and their real homes.


Megha Punater
Ganesha Idol in her temple in the living room
Megha is one of the
most talented people I have met online. She is a potter, an artist and a designer who studied design in NID and now lives with her Belgian husband Steven and two lovely children Arth and Nitya in Belgium.

The colours in her home are vibrant. She says,
"The philosophy behind our home is warmth. Belgium being so cold and grey, we wanted colours in our home."Bright pink pooja plate in her temple.
There is a lot of Indian influence, given that she is from India and also her husband's love for India.
Megha loves handmade & hand embroidered textiles.
Sitting area with sofa covered with brightly coloured textiles. ( She descibes the colours as Kitschy Indian Bazaar)Popat green wall is a perfect backdrop for these antique casts. Coffee table with books & treasures picked up during various travels.
Hand painted Ganesha jacket cupboard.
Megha continues, " There is a lot of wooden furniture and especially European ones bought in flea markets and restored by me."
Kitchen shelf with books, vases and her grand collection of mugs. *Sigh*Megha's ancestral kitchenware and mesh egg holder, now a cookie holder displayed against a green wall.
Her room is painted in two colours inspired by Indian village homes and here you see some of her handbags displayed on hooks.
These frames were picked up from Rajasthan in India. *Love that peacock feather*
Her verandah wall painted in bright yellow. A paint called 'Delhi Bazaar' by Dulux.This is Megha's workspace. Her latest works and inspirations hang on this gorgeous yellow wall. Last but not the least, this Ikea cast in her children's room has been hand painted by Megha!
I end this post, with my eyes hungry for more colours and my heart greatly inspired by this very humble and hugely talented lady~ Megha.
Thanks for sharing your space with us.

Her blog,
arth and nitya is a glimpse into her creative world. Do say hello:-)

P.S~ If you have any question for Megha about her home, please ask in the comments section so she can reply to you.