Dining Room, Take 2 ...

Happy Wednesday ... we're halfway through the week!  It's getting quite chilly here and, unfortunately, 'tis the season for getting sick.  My poor kiddo has strep.  Not to worry though ... a little bit of Keflex and a lot of TLC, and he'll be good as new!

Well, I've slowly been attempting to transform our dining room from dark and cozy to light and somewhat shabby chic (I think)!  This lighten and brighten kick I'm on has attacked almost every room in our poor house!

BEFORE: The walls were painted RL Metallic Paint/Lush Brown ... area rug in red/black and traditional hutch buffet: 

NOW:  Yes, this is the same room, I promise!  (Please go easy on me.)  The walls are now BM Manchester Tan ... smaller sisal rug ... hutch buffet replaced by antique sideboard and one *ha-uge* mirror, and I slipcovered the side chairs in cotton duck slipcovers: 

BEFORE:  Window treatments done in gold and red that just seemed to get lost against the dark wall color:

NOW: A new "mis-treatment" done in a gold satin *swirly* material.  I raised the height of the panels to compliment the high ceilings and added a few tassels for fun. 

This bench used to sit at the foot of our bed.  I placed it in the window and added a fun grain sack pillow from Tuesday Morning:

On the other side of the room, I decided to make my first attempt at a plate collection.  And, of course, I had to steal PB's idea of adding the twine and pictures:

I found this beautiful sideboard and mirror at my favorite antique store.  I *really* want to paint the sideboard cream and glaze it, leaving the top its natural color.  Okay, all of you painting experts ... whaddaya think?  Paint it or leave it?

Love the detailed edges on the mirror:

The tea service was also purchased from the same antique store:

I found the floating shelves flanking the mirror/sideboard at Lowes and asked our friend to add small, simple molding to them to dress them up *just* a tad:  And, while I love the clean look of them, I may end up adding small corbels underneath as I'm just *waiting* for the shelves to all to come crashing down!

I also found the *perty* silver vase and candlesticks as well and love it on the table, mixed with the burlap runner:

I'm not done in here yet (imagine that), as I'd love to replace my existing chairs (which are on their last legs ... no pun intended, lol) with french country chairs, along with adding crystal magnetized charms and beaded chain to our chandie.  So, stay tuned ...

I'm off to join some fun parties!  Come on over and visit these wonderful blogs as there are so many inspiring and creative sights to see:

The Shabby Chic Cottage

Color Outside the Lines

My Romantic Home

French Country Cottage

Southern in My Heart

Funky Junk Interiors

BNOTP for Metamorphosis Monday

Thanks so much for stopping by,

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Add Gold!

As great Indian festival Diwali is around the corner all of you might be thinking of decorating your space in a unique way. Here are some tips to add glitter of festive season to your home. Gold is in....be it your jwellery, cloths or decor you can use lot of gold everywhere. Throw gold color cushions and see how it can transform the place.



http://www.indiaexotics.com/

 Mirror can make your room look spacious and beautify the place as well. Gold is the color that rules during this festive season.

http://www.goldencrafty.com/

http://www.goldencrafty.com/

Curtains covers the larger area as compare to any other element in your room. So pay attention and use color that can add warmth to your place and gold is always a good option.


http://www.touchofclass.com/

Diwali is incomplete without candles and diyas. Use golden candle holder that will enhance the overall beauty of your decor.

 

http://www.thefind.com/

candle holder by Tom Dixon

Diwali is something about light and fragrance. So don't forget to add some gold vase containing nice bunch of flowers.

http://www.infibean.com/

http://www.infibean.com/

Bedspread and rugs in gold looks just awesome and completely transform your place to palace (and you as a Queen ;-)

http://www.touchofclass.com/

http://www.wikio.com/

The last and most important decor.....table decor where you can add variety of items at single place. Be little creative and all your friends and neighbours will admire your decoration.

http://www.prontohome.com/

http://www.zcater.com/

So ladies Good Luck to all of you. Clebrate this Diwali your own style.

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Wall of fame!

Wall isn't just a wall it is your own canvas, blank canvas. If you consider that the simplicity is the best policy in case of wall, then rethink because having a cold blank wall shows your dull personality.  Everyone wishes to have a beautiful home. You can add drama to your space and for that you have to be little creative.

I have lots of ideas to share with you.  

First of all select the wall that is focal point of your place. Now you can adorn your wall with number of elements like...

Wallpaper

Using wallpaper is the easiest way to give a texture to the wall. Choose light colors if you have small rooms. If you want to create an accent wall then wallpaper on just one wall can create that perfect look.

Wall Cladding

Another idea of having a textured wall is wall cladding. Cladding is use of  material like wood, fabric and metal on wall, right from the floor to the ceiling. Wood is elegant and classic cladding material. Other cladding materials are fabric, metal, coconut husk or anything interesting around you.

Shelves
Shelves not only change the look but can solve purpose of storing some stuff or showcasing your accessories too. Shelve enhances the beauty of wall dramatically. 

Wall Hanging

You can use fabric, quilt, tapestry or any other cloth that is no longer in use but you just can't throw it away because of its beauty. You just need to be bit creative while using all these.

Framed Art                                                                                                                                              Use framed art work in interesting way to give your wall a warm and pleasing look. You can use single art piece or can create a gallery wall. Pictures can be your family photographs or art work done by any artist or your little one.

                                                                                                                                                                               

Wall Painting/Murals      

This can be a great fun for you. Add charm to your walls by painting either floral motifs or any other kind of art forms. It can be free hand or stenciled but outcome will definitely be rewarding.

• Click here to read about how I transformed one of the walls in my home.

Metal Work/Mirrors

Be it wooden, iron, brass or copper panels, you can use any kind of metal work according to your room's theme your taste. Mirrors are latest trend to give you an illusion of bigger space. 

Wall Decals

Wall decal is a cheapest and quickest way to add some drama to your walls. Decals come in myriad variety and can be chosen according to the room, for kids room some colourful and funky decals are available while for living room there are decals with some lovely quotes that says a lot about love & family. 

• Click here to read about which decal I chose for my living room. 
• Click here to see colourful & lovely decal in my son's room.

Last but not the least, lighting also plays an important role to add warmth and to illuminate the area.

Adding few of elements from these given ideas can transform your place from dull to elegant, pleasing and wonderful.

Hope you find these tips useful. 

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Varnam

Remember the lovely Creative Corners's of Karthik Vaidhyanathan's home in Bangalore?

He's back this time with Varnam~ A colourful line of home furnishings.

A full-time media professional with a passion for interior design, Karthik's Varnam showcases the amazing beauty of traditional Indian handmade textiles.

Karthik explains, "Varnam is a sincere attempt to highlight some of the inherent beautiful qualities that traditional Indian fabrics possess.

The product line consists of table runners, curtains, cushions, etc. all handmade from Indian sarees and blouse materials.

Pillow Covers made from saree and blouse materials...

Curtains...

Table runners...

I felt these were apt since Indian stories incorporate some of the most beautiful patterns, colours and motifs. The sarees include traditional nine yard Maharashtrian sarees or ‘Navvaris’, cotton sarees from Tamil nadu , Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka.

I have also made use of the very popular and blouse material traditionally used by women along the Maharashtra-Karnataka border, ‘Khan’."

The products are simple with no added embellishments.

Varnam is being showcase at The Ants Store in Indiranagar from October 22nd to 24th, 2010. If you are in Bangalore do drop by and check out the stunning range of home furnishings from Varnam.

(images from Karthik)

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Keep Learning!!

This blog is not only for novice artists, crafters and decor enthusiasts but also for maven in these fields. Learning is an endless process. This blog is my earnest attempt to share more about different kind of Indian art forms, showcase various artists and beautiful homes from around the world, DIY, recycle whatever I can and lots of gardening projects too, all at one place. I am collecting data from various sources, from masters to learners.

You can learn as well as share your unique talent here on my blog. As I believe that everybody has got something unique and is gifted. So why sit idle and quiet. Go ahead and show the world your hidden potential.

So this is going to be a great journey. Follow my blog and keep learning!!

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Lighten and Brighten

Hope you all are enjoying the day.  It's absolutely gorgeous here ... I have *no* business being indoors, let alone playing on the computer!

So, I'm taking you into our sitting room today.  Some of you may remember that it used to look like this:

It was a yummy metallic chocolate brown (Ralph Lauren Metallic paint in Lush Brown), which I absolutely loved.  However, because the furniture in there is dark, the room began to close in on me. 

After:  I painted the walls BM Manchester Tan, switched out the furniture, the rug and window treatments. 

The chairs and ottoman are from the great room (which also has a new look). I've ordered natural colored slipcovers for the chairs ... hope they work.  And, a smaller jute rug replaced the larger, darker one we had.  I like having more of the wood floor exposed:

I found this silver tray at a local *ha-uge* antique store called B&B:

I've moved things around in the bookcase and have added a few Fall touches there, as well.  Love the vintage Tequila bottle (also found at B&B):

A baby white pumpkin is perched on a nest of shredded paper which all sit on top of cute bowl I just bought at a friend's awesome gift shop called Crazee Birds:

Fun textured pitchers (and, yes ... a-NOTHER bird plate).  I also lightened some of my books up by wrapping them in painter's paper (from Lowes):

This fancy mirror once *lived* in the dining room, but has since moved here:

And, a fun find from Home Goods:

We're really enjoying the new look in our sitting room, especially in the afternoons when the sun pours in through the windows.   

Well, I hope you have a wonderful day!  I'm off to finish up the dining room:

I'm linking up to:

BNOTP for Metamorphosis Monday

Make it for Monday

It's So Very Creative

Transformation Thursdays

Inspiration Friday

FJI for Saturday Nite Special


Thanks for stopping by,

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