Chamiers, Chennai | India.

I was in Chennai during my India trip this summer. I was meeting two very talented artists at Chamiers.

Chamiers is a store which has the old-world charm of Chennai, while housing contemporary brands within it's beautifully designed walls.

As soon as one enters, on the left is Anokhi with an interesting stone sculpture welcoming you.

Vintage bicycle is part of the window display.

The stairs lead you to the upper level that has a Gift Store and a Cafe.

The walls have line drawn illustrations of bicycles, birdcages, books, mannequins and sewing machines which seem to mirror the many vintage displays.

An orb with fairy lights and flowers.

Illustrations of books.

A glimpse of Anokhi through the stairs.

While I was clicking away at the Gift shop I was joined by one of the artists I was meeting:-)

Colourful Gift shop with home decor accessories and quirky products.

Loads of quintessential Chennai products.

We entered the Chamiers Cafe which quickly lured me with it's colour palette and old world charm.
Neatly tied cream curtains standing out against the Mango tree in the backyard.

Vintage black & white studio family portraits formed a gallery wall against a floral wall-paper.

A pleasing colour palette with the cushions matching the patterns on the wall.

Antique knick-knacks placed in a glass cupboard in the cafe.

Delightful old typewriter!

The glow of clusters of ceiling lamps.

More sparking lamps and illustrated birdcages.

Chamiers is the brainchild of Kiran Rao and Mathangi Srinivasamurti. It is located on Chamiers Road. 

It also houses Amethyst Room, a space for many designers to showcase their work, many pop-up events and trunk shows are held here.

Overall a place to indulge in some retail therapy, surround yourself in block print designs and catch up with friends over a cup of tea while looking out at the mango trees.

Hope you liked the little tour through my lens.

…and stay tuned for the posts on the two talented artist I met here:-)

( Images by Arch and is copyrighted)

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From Fountain to Pond

Remember this homemade bubbler fountain,

 right off our back patio?...





I made it by sinking a huge plastic tote in the ground, covering it with three barbecue grill grates and topping it off with rock and a rock-looking fiberglass form. 




That was after plumbing a hose connecting a fountain pump in the water. It was a nice sound but I longed for something louder, bigger...



Enter a

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Designing With Dell Venue 8

Dell's newly launched Venue 8 tab is what I am using for blogging these days.
 I must admit that I loved its features. Being a design blogger I need lot of images and work on several design projects at a time. Venue has made it real simple and easy for me to click fine images with this tab and then directly insert it in my post without any hassle.

For design projects earlier I used to draw so many sketches to conceptualize the design and then tried to visualize them that how it will going to look once the design is complete and believe me I hated the overall process but with Venue it has become much easier. I click the image of object/place with the tab that I am going to design and then with the help of some image editing software online, I am done. Voila!! I never had so many images to conceptualize my designs in such less time that too without any hassle.

For an instance I was doing a balcony designing project recently and for that I needed to conceptualize the design. I clicked the image of the wall with Venue tab and then I went berserk with my imaginations and then after a while I had good number of designs to show my client and she happily and easily chose one out of them according to her taste.
Let me show you a video of everything that I am doing with this Venue 8 tab. I never made video of myself not even for DIY tutorials on my blog but  all thanks to Dell for giving me this opportunity to make one. Here is my first video where I am showing some best features of Venue those are really helpful for design blogger like me.

                                               

Now my dear readers let me know two things that I am desperately waiting to know from you:
1. What do you think of Venue 8 tab and its mind blowing features.
2. How do you find my first ever video :)

More about Venue 8 will be coming soon on my blog. So stay tuned!!

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My Homemade Orb Chandelier!

I am in love with these orb chandeliers.  I bet you are too.

When I keep focusing in on something, I realize that I really love it and would love to have it in my home...but always I want it the cheapest way possible...if I can find the space for it.


Initially, my deep kitchen window held a table lamp. Then I made this hanging basket light. We have ceiling can lights and this light is

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Handmade With Love

First let me thank you all who participated in GoodHomes Colour Contest!! Got lot of entries will share them all in a post soon and I ensure you that you will get to see lot of eye candies!!
Now about today's guest post that is contributed by Reena Bino of KnitnPurlocean.

Today we are talking about handmade.

Image Source: Click Here

“When Life gives you

HANDS

Make

HANDMADE”

Just plain walls and empty living rooms are not appealing to the eyes. Every nook and corner of the house can have its own elegance, its own beauty and its own charm with just a little addition of handmade items. Someone rightly said “When design and craft meet they create a wonderful combination called “Handmade”

A  warm welcome to the world of handmade.  ‘HANDMADE’ as the name suggests is a piece of art done with human hands with great effort, care, lot of passion, creativity and minute detailing in every product. You cannot compare handmade products to mass produced products.

An artisan uses imagination, creativity and the skill to create a product. Some are purely handmade. Artisans put in all their effort in creating every single piece which consumes lot of time, patience and energy. The creativity flow in these items is beyond imagination.

Artisans can’t escape the urge of creating things and they put in all their feelings in the paper, glue, clay and all sorts of things. They leave their mark in the works they create. This applies not just to one type of handcrafted item but to all types of handcrafted items. In any Handmade product the raw materials are of the best quality since they are personally selected by the artisan, the workman ship involved in creating the product is of much superior quality  and the final ready product is something that one can treasure for his life time, something that brings a smile on everyone’s face. Something that makes one wonder “How beautiful is this”. One can consider himself to be a proud owner of this truly magnificent piece.

Each individual item has its own persona, creativity at its best, enormous ideas, imagination and a identity of its own. These sort of elements cannot be replicated in mass produced items.

Some Artisans can use their creativity, skill and knowledge to create a custom made item for you as per your requirements for a particular occasion. The one of its kind and uniquely personalized just for you.  It can be a special gift to someone or just a home decor piece in that special corner of the house. It takes  a lot of time, the best of raw materials and you have to well appreciate the finished product.

Image: Pinterest

Sometimes we get to see some really breathtaking designs which are created after long hours and days of hard work and dedication. Every Artisan’s imagination is Unique and this can be very well seen in the items created.

More and more people should buy handmade items and support small business and this in turn, can be a boost to our economy as a whole.  Small business can help everyone to prosper in their own field, be in in the local markets or their own small organisation. In today’s world of online technology there are various online market places where buying and selling are both very easy and comfortable. It’s a One Stop Shop for all your needs.  Paying the right price is what you can do.

There are numerous opportunities for sellers to reach new customers and to display their products as

Well as for buyers who want to purchase handmade for the house or as gifts for those special occasions.

When you buy something made by a person, there is something special there, and you do feel it. The consciousness with which a thing is made is often more important than the thing itself. - J. Donald Waters

Image: Pinterest

Happiness is handmade!!!!

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Welcome to Our Foyer!

Greetings, friends !!

Thank you all so very much for your thoughtful comments about our recent feature in "Decorating Shortcuts" magazine ... it meant so much! 

We're still settling into our new home, and, as it's only fitting to start from the beginning, I'm inviting you all into our foyer!

BEFORE: Here's our foyer as shown by the builder, Hour Homes, on their website after it was completed: 

AFTER: TA DAAA!  I have much more planned for this space, but, here's how it looks today:

I was happy to be able to add our Annie Sloane "Chateaux Grey" accent chest in here, which I then flanked with two parsons chairs (that used to live on the enclosed porch in our old home).  I plan on adding different slipcovers, as well as adding "blingy" candle sconces, above the chairs eventually.

Of course I had to splash coastal accents in, especially since we're not right down the road from the beach anymore ((**sniff sniff**)):

This little fella (or is it a gal) from Home Goods has been overseeing my madness!

Our vintage secretary seems to fit perfectly in the little niche towards the back of the foyer:

Unlike in our old home, I decided to give it a "crown" of inexpensive decorative plates that I look forward to changing out with the upcoming seasons!

Even though a 2 story foyer can pose a bit of decorating challenge (for me, anyway) as far as the "empty" space above, I love the natural light that pours in:

I'll be back soon to share more of our new casa ... hope you'll join me!

Thanks so much for stopping by!

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Ice Cream Chairs Transformation!

Don't you just love the look of



Feed Sacks?





Who knew that they



Would become so popular.





They bring back the simpler times...



That warms the heart.








If you remember this picture...


Of when I showed you the vintage wooden ironing board turned Welcome Sign (you can see that post HERE), that is also the first time you saw the green chair. I actually have TWO!

I first

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