Vastu Gyan: Guest Room Vastu

In Indian culture guests are always considered as God. Therefore you should follow the principles of vastu for guest room also. It ensures the happy, peaceful and short stay of the guests at home.

Best location for guest room is Northwest direction this corner represents air element that is considered as the most unstable and movable element. Guest bedroom in this direction will ensure short and happy stay of guests at home. Other option is South or Southeast direction.
Avoid Southwest direction for guest as it is reserved for master bedroom. Guest will dominate or interfere if the guest bedroom is in Southwest direction.
Color of the walls can be white, cream, soft pink or light blue.

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South or West is the right direction of placing a bed in guest room. Place the bed South-North so that guests should sleep with head towards South and legs towards North. There should not be any beam just above the bed. Always keep bed little far from the wall for proper air circulation. Avoid pacing bed directly in front of bathroom's door.
Windows in East and North direction is right option though it can be in West also but avoid South.
All the electric and electronic items should be in the Southeast direction, as it represents fire element.
South and West direction is ideal for cabinets and cupboards.

With a little care in the relative positioning and arrangement of the rooms one could expect to live a peaceful, happy & prosperous life.
Read about Master Bedroom Vastu here

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Fall-Winter Living Room Decor Ideas

As the soft morning sun rays peep into my living room I am pleasantly reminded that winters have arrived.

Everyone wants to escape from chilling winter weather outside and this is the right time of the year 

to create cozy, warm and inviting interiors. How can you achieve that look for your living room...oh let me share some very easy ideas here to welcome winters.

The key is to create cozy living room by adding some warm colors, plump cushions, woolen throws, thick rugs, soft warm lights and may be a woolen blanket to snuggle up with piping hot tea/coffee. 

Give a coat of rich color to a wall to make your living room warm and cozy instantly. Colors like yellow, terracotta, gold, purple, orange and red can do wonders. Add rich colors with accessories, furnishings and furniture too.

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Lay soft carpets and woolen, knitted, crochet or thick floor rugs to cover up cold floor. Rugs not only give warm and cozy feel but it looks elegant and add element to your decor too. Choose one in right color and texture. It enhances relaxing feel of room.

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Plump cushions & pillows scattered or lined up on sofa with matching fur or woolen throw feel as good as bear hug in frosty winter weather. Floor pillows and ottomans in warm fabric create a perfect cozy living room for winters. 

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Soft lighting is better way to add warmth and create perfect ambiance for winter. Dim and mood lights are more appealing than brighter ones and give wintry charm. Candles centerpiece and fall flower & leaves decoration not only beautifies the surrounding but glow of candles bring calming, warm and inviting effect also. 

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 Now some more things that you can do to make your living room comfortable and relaxing for winters. Line curtains with thermal lining or simply swap them for heavy ones. Create cozy reading nook to add a touch of winter. An arm chair placed near book case with some floor cushions scattered around make winters more enjoyable and your home interiors more inviting and cozy. 

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Hope these ideas will be helpful in transforming your abode into a warm, inviting, relaxing and cozy winter retreat. Enjoy winters!!

Link Love @ ShowAndTellFriday

 [This post is a part of the Fab Blogger contest by FabFurnish.com, the one stop destination to buy trendy sofa sets and living room decor essentials online.]

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How To Make Faux Chalkboards

Recently I shared with you a few pictures from my Son's wedding.

To not step on any toes, I told my Daughter-In-Law (DIL) that she needed to tell me if she wanted me to make something for the wedding.

One of the things that she asked me to make was a couple of chalkboards.

This was my problem...How would I get these chalkboards from Illinois to Kansas in our car without messing up

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A Floor Lamp to Drool Over!

I recently did a post on this side table






Now I want to show you just how UGLY







This floor lamp started out...






When I saw this piece at a garage sale, I loved the lines of the legs and the double lights. I hated the brass table part. But I had a vision for this.

But wait, be patient with me because I must start at the real beginning.



This lamp was found in this exact

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Indian Art: Tanjore Art Of Tamil Nadu

Posts in 'Indian Art' series on my blog is my endeavor to bring back the lost charm of various ancient Indian art forms and to let more and more people know about rich culture and heritage of India.

Tanjore or Thanjavur is an age old art form of South India and got its name from 'Thanjavur' a place in Tamil Nadu where this art form originated and it was the capital of Chola Empire. Origin of this art form dates back to 1600AD.

Image Source: Click Here

Origin: 

Tanjore originated during the reign of 'Nayaks' 'Marathas' and 'Cholas'. Marathas encouraged the art form and it flourished during 16th to 17th century.

Style: 

These paintings are very ancient and miniature type of paintings. Paintings mainly consist of a main figure usually deity, figure appears prominent in paintings with well rounded body and cherubic face. Main figure is enclosed in a meticulously crafted enclosure in form of arch or curtain. Paintings are bright and vibrant. 

Most striking feature of the paintings are that they are decorated using 22/24 carat gold foil, semi precious stones, cut glasses and pearls to give it a rich look. 

Image Source: Click Here

Theme: 

Theme of the painting is mainly Hindu God and Goddesses, mainly Krishna, Balaji, Lakshmi & Ganesha.

Paintings are bright and faces of main figure are made divine.

Image Source: Click Here

Process:
There are several steps involve in making Tanjore painting.

1. Canvas Preparation: Canvas is prepared by pasting a clean cotton/muslin cloth (that is dipped in glue+water solution) on plywood. Let it dry. Now apply a coat of chalk powder paste (Chalk powder + Water + Glue) on canvas and let it dry for a day. Now rub canvas with emery paper to make canvas surface smooth.
2. Choose and then trace the design on canvas using carbon paper.
3. Muck work or embossing: Muck or paste of chalk powder + Arabic gum + glue is then applied on the desired area of the painting using round brush. Let it dry
4. Gem setting or decorating: Now stick stones, gems and pearls on the design and let it dry for a day.
Apply one more layer of embossing paste to make painting more beautiful. use ball pen to make design on embossed areas. Then comes the most important step of the painting, pasting of gold foil on the embossed design. Apply glue on the embossed area and paste gold foil carefully on it and press gently with your thumb, cut the extra part of foil using cutter. Now remove gold foil that is pasted over stones, gems and pearls. You can use any needle like sharp object to remove foil that is over the stones.

Image Source: Click Here

5. Last step is painting the remaining area of the painting, like body of the main figure and the background. Body is painted mainly in white color with tint of pink or blue. Slight shading is done on main figure. Background is painted in bright colors like red, green or blue. Once the painting is complete it is then framed.

I found Tanjore paintings breathtakingly beautiful and process of making these paintings make them even more special. This framed art in any place never fails to add charm and beauty. Hope you enjoyed reading about this art.
Read more about different ancient Indian Art forms here.

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Fall in the Breakfast Area

Thanks so much to my sweet friend, Laura, from Top This Top That for including me in a fun "Better Late than Never" Fall gathering!

Will you be hosting Thanksgiving this year?  While I'll be cooking a few staple holiday goodies for the upcoming day of thanks, we won't be dining in our breakfast area.

BUT, if we had, I hope that our guests would've felt welcomed by my simple vignette using my favorite chicken wire basket (from Pottery Barn) in the middle of our table, filled with colors and elements of the season,

along with a book of thanks reminding us what Fall is all about.

Over on our dry bar (which, by the way, I STILL love in its shade of Annie Sloane's "Chateaux Grey"), I would've gladly moved our Fall pieces out of the way to make room for all things carbs! 

Yes, this glass cloche filled with tiny pumpkins nestled in between corks and pinecones, could easily have been "scooched" on over to make room for the loaded mashed potatoes! 

Mr. Roo (and his surrounding Fall picks and oversized acorns) would gladly have made room for the turkey!

And, um, WHO wants to even *see* a scale on Thanksgiving, right?  Pumpkin and apple pies would be much easier on the eyes!

Another reason why it's probably a good thing that we're not eating our Thanksgiving meal at this table is because, well, it doesn't quite look like this anymore.

That's right, it's now filled with all things Christmas!  Stay tuned ...

Oh, and before I go … IF, by chance, you have a double pedestal antique table that you'll be seating guests at in a few weeks, make sure you check your legs (to the table, that is) to make sure that one of them isn't loose or cracked.  I'd hate for you to be greeted by this lovely scene that I experienced in our dining room last week … oops!  Thank goodness, I somehow managed to laugh and not cry!  LOL!

Thanks so much for visiting our Fall breakfast area!  Be sure and pop on over and visit these incredibly talented ladies who are sharing their Fall spaces, too!

Between Naps on The Porch 

From My Front Porch to Yours

Our Southern Home 

Stone Gable 

Top This Top That

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Some Glitters and Sparkles

Hope you all had great time with your family and friends during this festive season.

Mine was glorious one. Here are some sparkling moments that I am sharing with you.

Welcome...........

Rangoli made at the entrance.......

Here's bougainvillea that I planted in my 'Pot full of happiness'.  Spreading happiness all around :)

My heena candles all lit up and adding warmth and glow.

Here is 'Stained glass jar' with candle inside it, to add some more cheer :)

Serene corner in living room.

My home bathed in light....

Hope you enjoyed this virtual tour of my home. 

Stay tuned for some DIY posts.

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