Where do you draw your inspiration for home makeover projects? Do you flip through your personal collection of home décor magazine, watch TV shows, subscribe to Google alerts, browse through websites like Martha Stewart or Elle Decoration, or do you just have the creative genes in you to come up with something breathtaking?

I do a bit of all the above. There are a dozen sites in my Google Reader under the category (Arts & Crafts) and some more under Home Décor. Apartment Therapy and decor8 provide my daily design fix (akin to nicotine for me)! They are more personal in nature. No doubt, there are scores of sits and blogs that do the usual lists like 8 things not to have in your bedside table to 101 ways to add a spark to your kitchen - one gets tired of these after a while.  They are the same ideas repeated in different words.

However, I came across some makeover ideas recently on House Beautiful and Country Living that were refreshing and is worth sharing. Nothing radical there. Most of them are simple projects that we tend to overlook.

A picture wall

An odd-shaped tree branch

I did this using Eucalyptus seeds a while ago.

Check them out and let me know if you liked them. Have a good weekend. See you again Monday.  For more ideas, look at these classic rooms.

I fell in love with this collection from Ecoscapes the minute I saw it. This pristine white ceramic offering is an exception for a color lover like me.  There’s something about it that I can’t put in words.  The texture, the patterned lines, the dots, or the careless shape? Whatever it is, isn’t it lovely despite the neutral color?

White Ceramics

You can make a modern vase such as these using recycled glass jars.  (link via How about Orange)

Image Source : Ecoscapes

Hope you all had a good weekend. It was a busy, crafty weekend for us as my three-year-old son and I got into action. I had a set of six wooden coasters that badly needed some revamping. In the past, I’ve tried painting them with acrylic colors but the results were not satisfactory. I was wondering how to give them a face lift when an idea struck me. I noticed the tiny bottle of Modge-Podge lying ignored on the craft supplies rack; I’d picked it up from staples a month ago for another project.

Wooden coaster

Modge-Podge, and dozens of Femina and other home décor magazines collected over the years was enough to get us rolling and get our hands dirty for the decoupage project. Over the next two hours Sunday afternoon, I flipped through Femina/Elle cutting out interesting words and colorful pictures. Once I had enough, we started sticking them onto the coasters. And, this is what we made -

Decoupaged Coaster

It reads - “Life’s a journey. Some say you must never look back. Why not?”

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I finally got around to uploading pictures taken during this Diwali. A few things about the festival never change. There’s the colorful kolam (rangoli), diyas in various sizes and shapes,  and flowers. I’ve never used candles to lit up the home before. This year, however, I lit a few scented candles on the dining table and on the center table in the living room. It was magical. So candles are going to be a fixture for every occasion from now on. And guess what, the ones I made at home burned longer than the store bought ones. More incentive to make those at home.

Here are a few pictures from my new Sony Cybershot camera:

Kolam

Rangoli with diyas (Notice the strewn colors - the kids in action)

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What does it take to transform the look of a home in less than 30 minutes? Any home décor site will preach the same mantra in different words: bring out the silk cushion covers, add a few throws to the sofa, change the curtains, light a few candles, and make the bed with the finest linen you own.  There you go, no secret after all, huh? Yes, new upholstery in rich colors is all it takes to turn on the magic.

I went looking for what’s hot this festive season. Two stores that caught my fancy are Zara and Good Earth.

What I liked about Zara:

The embroidered with minute detailing, the liberal use of contrasting colors, and the sequined red cushion with the rich look. Don’t you think the red cushions will look great on a white/cream colored sofa?

Zara Cushion

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Do clothes fall out when you open your closet? Can you find your socks, hankies easily when in a hurry or do you have to empty the closet to find that red scarf? Is your personal space a treat to one’s eyes - with neatly ironed and folded clothes (with the fold facing outward) lining the shelves and crisp cotton saris and work suits arranged meticulously on hangers?  Many of us fall somewhere in between, don’t we? For a few days, however, after all the contents of the closet has been emptied out and organized, it does sport that Martha Stewart-closet look.

But why is it so hard to maintain an always well-organized closet? Lack of space, time, or no fixed space for accessories? It’s a combination of all of these factors. How much ever large one’s closet may be, if you don’t take the time out to discard what you haven’t worn in 6 months or if reorganizing is a quarterly affair, a disheveled closet will come as no surprise.

Here are some stimulating pictures to get ideas for organizing a closet (read: organizers, drawers, adjustable shelves, cubes and towel holders).

I saw this and fell in love with it instantly. Who owns such a large wall to wall closet? I mean who gets such a HUGE one all for themselves. See all the nice things that fit in there..

California Closet

Closet

Kids' closet

Some other tips:

Maximize your closet space by providing a two-feet tall hanger rack for  saris at the bottom of the cupboard. This way you are not wasting space.

Design a closet that works well for you instead of buying an off-the-shelf product. Keep your belongings in mind.

Organize the closet at the beginning of every season. For instance, winter clothes should be moved to a storage area in the loft or in boxes once spring sets in.

Image Courtesy:

http://www.californiaclosets.com/

Pottery Barn

Martha Stewart Living

I was just browsing through Shopper’s Stop website for new collection when I spotted something on their kitchenware section. If you recollect, I’d done a post on stylish stainless steel kitchenware a few weeks ago, among which featured the exquisite collection from Artd’inox. The otherwise far-fetched range is now within reach, thanks to the sale at Shopper’s Stop.  So, I thought I must share it with you all. The tea set, for instance, is now available for Rs.2,000 against an MRP of Rs.3,300.

Art D Inox Tea Set

This colored set of 4 cups for Rs.795 makes one consider against the original price of Rs.1,295.

Color Ahoy! Green and Yellow Cups

I LOVE this ceramic cup.

Ceramic Cup

It’s kinda sad that there is no sale on the Magppie collection (very irresistible!).

What are your favorites out there and why?

Do you remember your granny’s kitchen with a attached store room adjoining the main cooking area? A room stocked with enough pulses, rice, spices to last a 10+ member joint family for over a year.

Every summer, when we would visit my grandparents’ on vacation, grandmother would have over 500 coconuts plucked from the trees, followed by a rigorous routine of dehusking, breaking the coconuts, separating the water and distributing it to everyone. There have been days when we’ve skipped lunch, thanks to a bucket full of coconut water followed by trips  to you know where Later, the coconuts would be left  to dry  in the hot summer sun for a week. Once it turned into kopra, she would get them processed in the neighborhood machine for extracting coconut oil. The oil would then be filtered and stored in tins - enough to last the family until next summer.

Various kinds of Mango pickles in huge earthen jars, rice obtained from the village fields stored in gunny bags, sun-dried pulses, and turmeric processed into powder after drying and grinding are among a few things which were done once annually. It was very economical to run a huge family this way though it meant a lot of hard work. But with so many ladies and helping kids around, it didn’t seem like a daunting task, something that I can’t even imagine doing/getting done today.

The biggest factor to accomplish this today as I see is space, with restrictions on time and effort aside. We are the processed food and tetra-pack generation. As much as I would love to shop for groceries just once a month, there isn’t enough space in my pigeon-hole metro apartment (alrighty 1,400 sq.ft is not small, but it pales in comparison to those huge bungalows of my grandparents) for a store room. Maybe a cupboard for stocking groceries might help. For now, I buy groceries as and when required which, in turn, means multiple trips to Reliance Fresh/More  through the month. Due to a lack of space for keeping the 10-Kg containers that I have for storing rice or atta, I make do with smaller 5-Kg containers; its another thing that lining up 10-Kg containers will make the kitchen look like a kirana shop.

The plastic containers for spices is also relatively smaller - 100 gms. Many times, I don’t find smaller packs so I end up buying the 250 gms, which means there are scores of half-filled grocery packs lying around.  Instead of just dumping them in the cabinets, I seal the plastic by showing it in the flame once, and then neatly fold it and store it in a air-tight container.

Half-filled Grocery Bags in an Air Tight Container

What are your tricks? How do you efficiently stock groceries? I’m looking for ideas, go ahead and let your secret out!

I’m fond of bright, cheerful colors for the bathrooms. You know, like dashing green, flashy yellow, or perhaps bold red. The ones I have now are electric green in color, and I simply love them. Bright colors have a way of perking up my mood in the morning. But they are nothing out of the ordinary; they are the ones you see in every home décor  store. So, when I first spotted this metal bath accessories collection at Restoration Hardware, I wasn’t sure what was about it that appealed to me. Perhaps the shine, shape, simplicity or elegance?

Metal Bath Accessories

The two-tone collection is also not bad.

Two-tone collection

What colors and material (ceramic, metal) do you prefer for your bathroom accessories? Does it make a difference?

In other news, my Diwali cleaning is almost done. Organizing the kitchen cabinets is what is remaining which means 2 hours of work. I don’t follow the de-cluttering, painting, cleaning, and organizing routine every year which is usually the norm for Diwali in North India. But this year was different. The house badly needed it. So, I got the bathroom tiles cleaned and filled the gaps with white cement. The rest I managed myself - fans and furniture cleaning, the living room/bedroom tiles, washing the curtains/throws/cushions and bringing out the silken ones, polishing the silverware, giving away unwanted stuff, getting the shine back on mirrors and windows, washing all the doors ..oh the list was endless until a few days back.  I’m glad it’s all over.

Image Courtesy:

Metal

I recently discovered Pinakin while browsing through a magazine, and later did what I do usually - look them up online.  I was impressed that they have a better online presence than most Indian furniture and home decor stores.

The functional yet great looking furniture speak for themselves. So, I’m going to cut down on the text and let you savor my picks.

Center Tables

I loved this alternate seating arrangement, and the stools, in particular.

Side tables

Image Courtesy:

Pinakin