Interiors: Moroccan

Today I'm gonna show you some Moroccan eye candies. In recent days Moroccan style decorating has become so popular. This style of decorating is exotic yet elegant. Located between Europe and Africa Morocco has European, African and Persian influences. Moroccan decor is a perfect blend of styles from France, Spain, Portugal, Africa, Persia and has Mediterranean and Islamic influences. 

Morocco is a warm and dry country so Moroccans love to bring outdoors in and their houses are pots of exotic plants. Main elements that play key role in Moroccan interiors are vibrant colors, intricate work on wooden furniture, mosaic products, carpets, pottery and lamps.

Here is how you can achieve Moroccan look for your home:

Furniture: In this Moroccan style of decorating furniture is mostly made of wood. Seating is usually set low to the ground. Choose furniture that has intricate design on it. Wooden furniture have designs of mosaic tiles on them. On center table put brass or copper trays to serve food and other items.

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Furnishings: Use fabric that is luxurious and rich in colors and to add texture use it everywhere, drape it on furniture, windows and even on ceiling. Four or five cushions wouldn't do much use them in abundance and choose cushions and throw pillows that are vibrant and with intricate designs and patterns.

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Walls: Color is the main element if you want to achieve the look. Choose vibrant colors for wall like fuchsia, red, orange, blue, green, shimmering gold or silver. Walls in textured terracotta is the important element of Moroccan style decor.
This blue room conjures the images of Atlantic and Mediterranean sea.

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Walls of this orange room is evoking the image of sunset in Africa.

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Floors: Floors should be wooden, ceramic or terracotta one. If you are opting for wooden floor then it should be hard and dark in color to achieve Moroccan look. Use plush Persian or Asian carpets and rugs in abundance and stack floor cushions to create perfect Moroccan ambiance.

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Lighting: Morocco is known for its dim, soft lights and variety of handmade lamps. Use lamps and pendants that have carved wood, colored glasses and metal frames. Put aroma candles in them to achieve romantic ambiance.

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Accessories: Accessories give a complete look to any style of decor. Use mirrors to reflect light and to adorn walls. Bring in exotic flora in large and colorful pots or baskets. Use ceramic pots in rich colors on dining table and center table or even on a wall. Keep lamps with intricate designs here and there

                               Eclectic Living Room by Los Angeles Home Staging Madison Modern Home

Try using these simple tips to achieve that perfect Moroccan look you were looking for.  Leaving you with all these Moroccan eye candies :)
To know about different style of decorating read my earlier posts on Interiors here.

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Vastu Gyan: Kitchen Vastu

Kitchen is the most important entity in the house. It is referred to as the treasure of the house in some Chinese scriptures.

This is the only prominent place where fire element plays a key role. In vastu shashtra the principle direction of natural energy field of fire is Southeast. Hence the ideal location for kitchen is southeast. A visible advantage of having the kitchen in the southeast is that it is open to the positive effects of morning sun rays and also gets fresh air most of the time.

Cooking gas should always be placed in southeast direction of the kitchen. As this direction is also referred as having the place of the Goddess of food. One should face east while cooking food.
Windows in the kitchen should be in east and ideal location for door is northeast, east or north to allow the natural light and fresh air through out the day.

Color of the kitchen walls can be green, soft pink, orange, brown or yellow. As these colors are considered as appetite stimulator.
All the equipment like microwave, electric oven , toaster etc should be placed in south or southeast direction. refrigerator should be placed either in northwest or southwest direction. Empty gas cylinders should be placed in southwest.  Exhaust fan should be in east direction as all the cooking is done in this direction. Grain pulses and spices must be stored in the west or in the south direction.
The ideal location for sink and drinking water storage is northeast corner as this direction gets maximum morning UV rays that kill the germs.
There should not be a common wall between toilet and kitchen. Kitchen should not be constructed in front of a bathroom, bedroom or worship room.

One need not panic if it is not possible to follow some or even none of the guidelines provided in the Vastu Shashtra as vastu principles and effects are only secondary to one's inner strength and endeavor toward soul growth.

Read my other posts on Vastu here.

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Art from Sharpie Pens!

If you are like me, you learn so much on what others share via blogs and Pinterest that there just doesn't seem to be enough hours in the day to study it all or even begin to make it.






I do find however, that there are some things that peak my interest so much, especially when it is this simple and fun.





See, the plate? A really simple and fun project that even the kids can get in on.

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Views From My Balcony

After Mercury hit 42 C in my part of the world, short spell of shower in the evening gave big relief from scorching heat. I totally enjoyed the view from my balcony. Can you spot raindrops in this picture.

Even birds enjoyed their flight afterwards. 

Sun peeking through clouds and making view even more mesmerizing.

Vivid sunset colors, chirping birds, soothing breeze, smell of rain and cuppa in my hand.....don't you think made my day completely awesome.

 Coming up with some moroccan eye candies stay tuned!!

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Symmetry Rules My World ...

Happy Cinco de Mayo, friends!  I hope you're all out enjoying a tall margarita to celebrate the holiday! If I were a fan of tequila, I know *I* would be.  ;)

Thank you for making me feel better about my crazy *self-inflicted* OCD rules of decorating that I shared in my last post!  I'm glad that I'm not alone (lol)!  It also makes me feel a bit more comfortable sharing one of my latest projects!  

In our house, which is an open floor plan, our dining and sitting rooms sit across from each other, separated by our foyer.  When standing in our great room, you can see into both rooms at the same time.  And, for 7 years, one thing that has bothered me is that the lighting didn't match ... crazy, I know (see, there again my OCD rears its head)!

We finally solved the problem and added "this" beauty in here, which is just like the one in our dining room:  

My crazy self also added the same fabric that's in the dining room in here, as well:

What do you think?  Is this a place you might like to "GATHER?"

Here's what the other chandie used to look like: (I'm really enjoying the "presence" the new crystal one has over this one!)  

The new fabric is a fun change, too. Another matching pillow (made by my neighbor) helps to tie it all together, too:

Of course, coastal accents are still splashed around: 

And, so easy to even add a bit of coastal to a simple frame of my sweet boy (a few years ago) by resting a starfish on the corner:

Sufficed to say, having these matching elements now makes things okay in my crazy little decorating world ... for *now* anyway!  LOL

Is that wrong?  Probably ... but, just please play along with me, okay? :)

Thanks for stopping by (and come play with us here):

Dwellings/Amaze Me Monday
My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia/Tuesday's Treasures
Savvy Southern Style/WUW

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Artist In Making!!

Whenever I get a chance to dip my fingers in color I never miss the opportunity. Some times I find excuses to play with colors. These days I am trying lots of different painting techniques so thought this is the right time to get organised with all my brushes, pens and other accessories. If you know me well you must be aware of my habit of hoarding lot of junk and I try to upcycle, recycle and reuse almost everything around me.

Here is how I turned plastic food containers into my brush holder, pen holder and tool holder.

Now artist in making is all set to create some magic with these magic wands.....lol I typed it not being serious.  But seriously when I see everything around my home organized, colorful, artistic and done by me it gives me a boost to do lot more.

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Then & Now Part II

Are you ready for Part II of Then and Now?

In this post we will tour the upstairs bedrooms and bathrooms of my home, as well as the man cave and sewing room in the basement!

When you reach the top of the stairs this is the first thing you will see in the hall. The wall now has color. In fact the whole upstairs is what I called builder's white when we moved in. I changed all that...several

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