Tuesday, 2 April 2013

Longitude Pillow




I have been wanting to make a Longitude/Latitude Pillow for a long time.




I first saw one in the AWE (At West End) catalog that looked like this...





I didn't want it to say Paris, but my home city of Quincy, IL. So I just Googled Quincy's longitude and latitude to find out the correct geographical coordinates.

Remember, back when I showed a tutorial of how to print on freezer paper,

Monday, 1 April 2013

Interiors: Traditional

Traditional style is timeless decorating style that is very calm, inviting, comfortable, orderly, casual and uncluttered. Main feature of this design style is consistency. If you want to achieve traditional look for your home then this post is surely for you.

Furniture: Wooden furniture is the essence of traditional style. Furniture in dark wood, oak wood, red wood or mahogany will work best to achieve the traditional look. In traditional style of decorating you should opt for furniture with good combination of curved and straight lines.  Placement of furniture should be in pairs and it should be symmetrical.

Image Source: Click Here

Furnishings: Furnishings are classic and luxurious, fabric mainly damask, floral, understated stripes or small overall pattern are common. Fabric should be comfortable and  soft like silk, velvet or leather in rich color is always a best choice if you are doing home in traditional style.

Image Source: Click Here

Walls: For walls there should be moldings or rails to give the home a perfect traditional look. Wall colors should be neutral. White, cream, off white or some warm colors can be a good choice. Color scheme should be lighter for walls and deeper color for  upholstery.

Image Source: Click Here

Floors: Wooden flooring is the first and the best flooring option for traditional style decorating. You can place jute or velvet carpets and rugs also to achieve the perfect traditional look.

Image Source: Click Here

Lighting:  Lighting fixture should be  classic, silk lamp shades, table lamps, floor lamps, wall sconces & candles can be used. Decorative chandelier looks classy and give traditional look to a place.

Image Source: Click Here

Accessories: Accessorize traditional style home with, mirrors, vase, urns, lamps, oil paintings, crystal chandelier. But keep in mind use accessories in pairs and arrange them in symmetry to achieve traditional look for your home.

Image Source: Click Here

Follow these guidelines and it will be easy for you to achieve the traditional look for you abode.
In case you missed earlier post on Contemporary Interiors read it here. Keep decorating!!



   

Sunday, 31 March 2013

Monthly Roundup

This month was action packed. I did lot of things, from rearranging to recycling it had been a super creative month.
First post was on my living room that I rearranged and it looks bigger and better now.

Living Room Decor

Next we met a very talented artist Ritu Dua. Her inspiring interview you can read under 'Inspiring Eminent Bloggers' series.

Painting by Ritu Dua

Then we learnt about Indian Art: Madhubani Paintings this time. You can find everything about Madhubani art like origin, style, theme and process in this post. More about other Indian art forms under 'Indian Art' series.

Madhubani Art by Bharti Dayal
Then comes my upcycling project of making Decorative Tray out of old newspapers. You can find out some more exciting DIY projects here.

Decorative Tray: DIY

Spring is here with its magic in air. Check out my 'Spring Garden' and do let me know how spring is treating you.

Spring is showing up in my garden

Here comes second DIY of this month 'Plastic Bottles Hanging Planter'. Are you hoarding junk, have some soft drink bottles then you have to read this post and make something useful.

DIY: Plastic Bottles Hanging Planter

And it's not over here I have one more DIY for you in my bag this month. A 'Birdhouse' made of plastic container. Summers will be arriving shortly and to save lovely birds make a bird house and hang it in your garden.

Birdhouse: DIY
First time I tried my hands on Warli Art. Check out my First Warli Painting and let me know your views.

Warli Painting

Wish you all a very happy Easter and  very happy and creative weekend!!







Saturday, 30 March 2013

A Marriage!




Hubby and I went to a fabulous flea market about three hours from our home. It is in Bloomington, IL and it called, Third Sunday Market!

We have been before and I even did a post on it the first time we went. You can see that HERE.

This time, as our house fills up, and we don't want to be called the H word...Hoarder's. We kept our purchases to a minimum. I know it doesn't sound like fun, but

Wednesday, 27 March 2013

It's a Spring Thing (I Think)!

Greetings, friends!

Welcome to our "Spring" breakfast area (even though it's in the brisk 40's outside ... blech), where I've made a few, fun changes!

While "Miss Bessie" (the cowhide rug) decided she'd had enough of the wear and tear on her while resting under the table and moved on over to our quieter sitting room, I think the most noticeable change is the addition of a new farmhouse bench! 



I've become a big fan of buying furniture "au naturale" and then painting it to match our decor.  Once my sweet hubs put the bench together, I gave the legs and frame two coats of Annie Sloane's "Pure White," layer of clear wax and then stained the top Minwax Dark Walnut and Red Oak.  I love how it adds to the French Country feel in here!


I'm not *quite* done with it though ... I'll soon be adding a cushion to the top covered in this pretty, checked fabric: 


I think (**hope**) the fabric it will tie in nicely with the panels, bamboo shades and parsons chairs.


Back on the table, I added a simple Spring vignette:


I started with one of my favorite wire trays from Pottery Barn ...


added another one of our cute bunnies from Pier One (that I gave a little burlap collar):


along with a glass apothecary filled with a few delicious *faux* green apples (yum), and ...


of course, added a vase full of *faux* fragrant tulips (thank you, Big Lots)! 


Annnd, well, *what* Spring vignette is complete without a stack of dishes,  colorful napkin and pile o' spoons ... as if we're about to enjoy a fabulous cold treat on a warm, Spring day!  (But, because Mother Nature has declared it still Winter here, that cold treat will have to wait!)  Boooo.


I also added a bit of bling to our chandie, since I don't need it anymore in the sitting room (can't wait to share what I did in there):


The bling chain is from Pottery Barn, and these lengthy *pretties* are actually Christmas ornaments that I simply hung from each arm:


And, there ya' have it ... our Spring breakfast room trapped in Winter!  If you are one of the fortunate ones to actually be warmer Spring temps, would you *please* send them our way?  Thank you!


And, as always, thanks for stopping by!

I'm linking up with:

Savvy Southern Style/WUW



post signature

Tuesday, 26 March 2013

Burlap Roses




Just a quick little diversion from a harder project that I was working on! 


 Let me explain. I was working on making a chair slipcover that was challenging. Sometimes when I get overwhelmed and need a break but not from creativity, I do a simple little project...feel like I accomplished something and can resume the challenge before me at hand.

That is the case with this little lamp shade.

Warli Art: My First Warli Painting

I must say this month has been action packed for me. I kept myself busy in various activities and learnt few good & new things. I think this is the mantra of happiness- keep yourself busy and learn something new.

I have always been a great admirer of all Indian art forms . It was my dream to explore and learn about various Indian Arts and that's what I am doing these days. Let me share my happiness with you all wonderful people who always keep encouraging me by reading, commenting and liking my every post.  Recently I learnt about 'Warli Art' and found that it's not only the simplest art form but looks magical too. 
Earlier I had done Warli art only on a small pot but this time I tried it on paper with all the details and tried to depict social life of Warli tribes.
Here is my first Warli painting. Theme is wedding. 

http://designdecoranddisha.blogspot.in
My First Warli Painting.
Here are the details. Sun and sparrow can be of same size in this style of painting, as proportionality doesn't  matter.  

http://designdecoranddisha.blogspot.in
Warli Art: Sparrow and Sun
Groom on a horse arriving for wedding. Banana leaves, earthen pots and decoration with flowers and leaves  to recreate the scene of wedding ceremony in a village.

http://designdecoranddisha.blogspot.in
Warli Art: Groom
People are welcoming groom and playing instruments. All the shapes are geometrical circle for head, triangles for trunk and pelvis of human body. Faces are bereft of features.

http://designdecoranddisha.blogspot.in
Warli Art: Men Playing Instruments
Palm trees and hut to recreate a village scene. Again geometrical shapes are used and filled them with fine lines as no free space should be left in this style of painting.

http://designdecoranddisha.blogspot.in
Warli Art: Hut & Tree
Animals and birds are very common in this painting. Here is my Warli peacock.

http://designdecoranddisha.blogspot.in
Warli Art: Peacock
I enjoyed a lot while I was doing this art. I felt like I am achieving something with every stroke of brush. I am so happy so content. I don't know which art form I will be working on next but I will surely share with you :)


Joining PPF!!!