Accessories for the house, what will you choose?

Hi there! You have already seen glimpses of my house before. As a next step I will share ideas on home accessories today. Accessories can really lift the mood of a dull house. It helps to accentuate, highlight the interest of the inhabitants and make the house more pleasant, warm and welcoming.

There are various types of accessories available in the market. One can choose from a wide range of readily available accessory to DIYs. Before going all out it makes sense to do some small trials and understand one’s personal style and liking. Is the bohemian style really your type or simple rooms with just one or two well-placed accessory? You can always move from little to more. But if you invest in a lot and then not like the effect well it’s a big waste of time, energy and monies, beside you will have a large stock of things you long like.

So really what are the accessories we are referring to? Let’s start with the walls.

Wall: Wall dressing is suddenly very big now and can really make for style statement. There are several wall paints and effects available to choose from, besides wall papers. Then there are paintings, murals, photography etc to choose from. My style is traditional, simple, functional and clutter free. I have kept the walls simple and added handmade mural on one wall and a traditional rajasthani Jharokha on one wall. I am very happy with the effect.

Wall accessories [Mural made by me], Jharoka and durries etc from my house

Plants: I love plants and cannot function without them. Variety of house plants are available like the money plants, succulents, palms, peace lily, and cactus etc.. The plants are a very good option to add colour to a dull room. The colour is of course very pleasing to the eyes. The plants can be kept in pretty ceramic, plastic or brass containers. Plants are the cheapest form of accessories available.

Plants around my house

Flowers: Rely on flower power for instant mood lifting. A variety of flowers are available and suit various occasions. There are the lilies, chrysanthemums, carnations, sunflower, dahlia, roses, marigold etc.. I prefer marigold for festivals. The other come in on and off. As the bouquet grows older and stems shorter I change containers and eventually the flowers are kept as floating flowers. This season is blessed with one of my favourite frangipani which are perfect for floatingJ. I also use artificial flowers in nooks and corners to add colour and just beautiful dull corners.

Flower power for various seasons and reasons

Other accessories: In the ‘other’ category I have brass lamps, brass figurines, ceramic figurines, terracotta objects, shells and conch etc.. These can be used to create vignettes on the centre tables, dining tables or any surfaces. There are the door accessories in form of bandhdwar [havediscussed a DIY on a post], variety of wind chimes [discussed in a post before] and other wall hanging available.

Bandhdwar, chimes, brass lamps, figurines and conch etc in the house.

Lights: This is yet another type of accessory that is ever evolving. There are thousands of lights to choose from the market. Traditionally we just had the up lights, down lights, table lamps, and chandeliers to choose from. But now in the range of decorative lights the colour material functions of lights have evolved. Wide range of fixtures, LED lights, and pendant lights etc. to choose from, that can bring about drama in a dull ambience. I prefer simple functional lights and my favourite is the sunlight.

Afternoon sun in the kitchen

Drapes and Upholstery: While this is not my personal style I thought it’s a good ideas to list it since a variety of drapes and upholstery are available in the market. I prefer simple light weight curtains and sofa covers. There are sofa dressings also available which again I do not use. But one could explore options in the market and try it. The sofa dressing I think is a great idea to conceal very old sofas. Instead of redoing the entire upholstery the dressings do the job well at affordable pricing.

So yes, you have a wide variety to choose from. Do try out and let me know what your personal style is. I love to hear from you, do drop a line below.

Rangoli designs in under five minutes.

I know a lot of people who love Rangoli but just cant find the time to draw one. Lets do a show of hands. How many in this category? Hmn I know many isn't it. This post is just for you! Yup you read it right, it is about...
Rangolis designs that can be drawn in under 5 minutes!

Seriously, I have actually timed myself on these. Some of these have taken about 3 minutes. So if you are an ardent lover of the floor art but cant find the time to devote to it, here are a few inspiration designs for you.

Over the years I have come up with a few tricks. Firstly you need to have the design in mind atleast the basic. Often what I have in mind is very different from what comes up on the floor. But a gist does help. Second and most important keep the design simple. Third is the colouring. This stage takes up a long time [not referring to the Sanskar Bharati variety]. This is where I have learnt to cheat. Yup, we do not really have to colour the entire rangoli. Colouring just a few parts really enhance the design. Alternately you could choose to leave the rangolis white. However some cultures consider it inauspicious to do so hence colouring is a must. 

My designs are a representation of all the above mentioned tricks. And now without much ado presenting some of my Rangoli design drawn in under five minutes.

I know you loved them, didn't you? So I want you to drop a few words in the comments section below. I also would like you to try out these designs and let me know your experience.

For more designs you could visit:
Borders
Contemporary
Traditional
Others

Alternately just search on the blog for Rangoli designs. Together lets celebrate and revive the floor art in our urban living.