This week I’m going to showcase some inexpensive projects done around the house. We’ll cap it with a easy, DIY project on Friday.

If you remember, I’d spoken about wall cladding a while ago. The project, in itself, was easy to get done, but making the decision was hard. We went back and forth choosing the tiles, questioning often if it go well with the new paint color or not. Of course, if you don’t intend to re-paint anytime soon, it might be easy for you to decide. Initially, we were inclined to clad the walls perpendicular to the orange one as it is in the line of sight from the main door in an earthy palette or render it a stoned look.

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It is time to talk about the surprise. 2010 drew to a close on a good note and December was been a fabulous month. Before I begin, wish you all a very Happy New Year. And thank you for stopping by, asking for suggestions and all your kind comments.

There was a time, year 2004 to be precise, when I was hooked onto the makeover and event series on TLC. You know The Wedding story, The Baby Story, The Home Makeover story and such…I would watch back to back episodes. Have you seen those home makeover surprise episodes when a spouse goes away for a weekend? And the husband/wife along with the TLC team renovates the yard/room beyond recognition. When the spouse returns, he/she is in for a HUGE surprise. Imagine the adrenaline rush!

The dream came true. It all began in November end as part of “Surprise your spouse” campaign for Asian Paints. It was like a dream come true. In a way, it was a torture for I couldn’t tell my husband or anyone about it for nearly 3 weeks

As per the campaign, I could choose a wall to be painted in a color and texture of my choice and Asian Paints Home Solutions would paint it. This had to be done when the husband was away on work. Everything feel in to place in the first week of December as my husband was away on a business trip for 3 days giving us enough window to execute the whole process at ease.  I was as thrilled as my son when he gets a new RC helicopter. Alright, more about Royale Play and the process now…

Color and texture selection:

This is perhaps the most important step in the whole process. A lot has been said and written about color selection for walls - furniture, wall decor, artifacts, lighting, furnishings play a critical role. If you do not intend to change the rest, then it is wise to choose a color that blends well with furniture and furnishings.

We are in the process of re-doing our home in parts. After a bright orange drawing room, for two years, I was game for a more subdued and neutral color, preferably monochromatic. I wanted to bring color to the room through vases, flowers and rugs. This limited my choice of colors and the selection process easier. But you never know how it would look once done. This is where the experts help. The Asian Paints’ team leader vouched that silver-Aluminium dapple gives a royale look.

To be honest, even after selection, I was skeptical for two reasons. One, it is easier to transform a room and surprise everyone by painting a focus wall in the darker shade. Though a standard and fail-safe approach, it is not novel anymore. in our case, the hardest part was to move away from a darker shade and still make an impression. Two, as I said before, one can never be sure what looks good on paper will stand out in reality as well.

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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.

Image courtesy:

House Beautiful and Country Living