Festive ready home (Diwali - Part 2)

I usually get décor hiccups for any festival but for people who know me would nod against it to say that isn't obvious. With an array of enchanting pieces we own, I don't need a better excuse than Diwali to deck the home with my brass galore. My all-brass route is carried forward in our Diwali -II too. After throwing the cyber gates open for you dear readers, to reveal our festive entrance (I am so thankful and happy beyond words with the response of our entrance décor, thank you lovely people) you are invited to take a peek at the festive touches in our living and family rooms. Savour the brass, smell the fresh flowers and enjoy this impeccable and uber stylish appearance of our brass, on this Diwali.

 

Just like every year, Ganeshas are taking the center stage on our coffee table this year also but in a fresh setting. Flowers, candles and brass...each element earns its place visually here. Impromptu grouping of more brass at the corner of the room flatters the style of entire vignette on the coffee table. With my brass at its best, I always hear the murmurs and sprinkling of intrigue in our guests :) and why not, it’s the time of the year when I long for accolades by all means. 

I love playing around with my accessories and it often makes me wonder how things start to gather up when I create a vignette. I run in all directions being excited and anxious around the home to gather the correct accessories. And the results after few trial and error combinations is a purer delight. Does it happen to you?

I have been craving to try something different on this fertile place to enliven this fireplace mantel space and with no rule approach this Diwali I came up with this. Sometimes a little enhancement is all that is required to convert a corner from functional to fanciful. With Ganesha being an anchor object,  this corner for now is updated with various heights.

Try making a grouping of small items in a fertile corner or space of your home. Elevate objects within the group adding different heights and play around layering with accessories. Trust me; it is actually so easy that you can whip one up on any bare floor in no time.  

Mingling great styles that is flexible and constantly evolving keeps the décor alive.  Small details of flickering lights can add a powerful impact on any corner. Don’t shy away to try diverse forms of votive holder in one frame if you ever run out of your Diwali diyas. Also, leaning a frame or covering up with a bright runner against a wall has always been a ‘win-win’ for me to uplift the entire look for me.  

Flowers are championing fresh and unconventional approach in all vignettes. Here is the closer look at all the ones that I used freely mixing unexpectedly in every vignette. The flower need of this season has been taken care by all home grown flowers. The bright and most B-E-A-U-T-I-F-U-L roses in the urli are graciously given to me by a very dear friend.

As you know, I drain every last bit of my flowers and I almost didn't had a heart to throw away those beautiful petals of the fallen roses hence I used them floating in the brass plate along with more candles until they survived :) 

As a part of Diwali celebration, we spend lot of time indoor with the company of close friends and having a communal space soaked with festive appropriate touches accurately conjure a touch of nostalgia and pleasure. Here is our prettified corner in a family room. With a bright kutchhi runner, used as a backdrop on the couch, it strengthens the point of focus in the room.

Unlike every year's blogpost on rangoli I shared my this year's creation a wee bit early for you all to inspire and create one in time for your home. If you missed it on my social media...here it is! As a true ‘Ganesha’ fan, we always have his presence in every décor and this year's rangoli is also not an exception. Since tackling the dusty rangoli colors is not my forte, we use two simple ingredients (rice and food colors) to make our rangoli every year. To personalize the design, I threw in some craft mirrors in the design.

My readers have a mild obsession with our chalkboard in the house and why not, it is my undisputed decor accessory for any festival. Our artist daughter always comes to my rescue when it comes to highlighting it for any season. Winding up this post of our home which is welcoming and festive ready with her ‘Diwali Creation’. Hope these lush festive ideas will inspire you to implement few Diwali touches at your end also.

Gobble up countless pieces of ‘Mithai’ this Diwali with many laughs along the way with your family and friends. Signing out wishing you all heap of joy and prosperity, until we meet again, enjoy Diwali, toodles!

Diwali Decked Entrance (Diwali Part 1)

Not that our home needs help in the looking good department but this Diwali surely does wonders. I have already started to hit the ground running for Diwali but before we invite our first guests for Diwali it is my yearly ritual to invite you (my dear reader) to our home where festive touches will greet you at every turn. Come on in, welcome and stay a while.

Our entrance is already a stunning sight. Serving here the major pop of color is our new Benjamin Moore's OXFORD GOLD wall which brings out the festive look effortlessly. To typify my style and choice for the festival of lights I have chosen all brass route because I believe in doing something I know is going to be a hit and brass surely does that magic in my décor. 

We did not buy any festive ephemera for Diwali this year (okay, except few red t-light candles to go with my theme). Instead, best suited tucked away pieces are combined with complimentary accessories to up the game at our entrance. Every shiny vase housing flowers is bought from an antique dealer this summer and many other accessories on the console dates back to my school years. And you know already...these gorgeous paintings are the best gift given by our artist daughter.

Here is the final look, the warm and welcoming spirit of Diwali is aced naturally without breaking a sweat.  With the fistful amount of candles and sparkling clean brass (tamarind is my best friend when it comes to rubbing all my brass) this corner quintessentially reflects the traditional tone of the season. 

How much is too much brass? It is raining brass at my end and boy, did they step out in their finest. I often wonder if it is possible to be born with a keen love for brass threaded in my DNA? These brass pieces enable me to express my evolving décor style in a unique way every time I bring them in. Rustling up the existing ingredients for an inviting setting always works for me, and that's what I did ;).

This season, sparkle comes imbued in all our heirloom pieces. This Diwali, I have surrounded ourselves  with the things that have meaning so that our home tells a story. All the pots housing the flowers in this corner are heirloom pieces which belong to my great grandfather that I proudly own. So thankful to my mom who handed me over these treasures on my last visit to India along with many other pieces that I will cherish forever and hopefully pass it on to my kids.

I love to surprise the guests adorning the home with festive décor through out and even in the places where you wouldn't expect. With brass making waves on the décor frontier this dull corner at the end of the staircase has been revamped with new styling this year. This jumble of my brass will not only offer a moment of pause for my guests but it will also let me deposit that applause in my compliments account :).

Hope these corners have intrigued you enough to know what lies ahead in the living and family room, well, my little self is running around in all directions with all the hurly burly of Diwali but promise to be back soon to crack open the rest of the decor in next post  in mean while, you may go here and here to see Diwali Decked yesteryear at my end. My Facebook and Instagram accounts are equally enticing to get you Diwali ready. Until we meet again, eat those Diwali goodies and enjoy the festivities, toodles!

Our Darling Ganesha!

With the celebratory occasion...‘Ganeshas’ are having a moment right now. And just like every year, we too have invited eco-friendly “Bappa” in our home. No corner of our home is untouched with the celebration. Especially our pooja room, which is brimming with his love and presence. The sound of soothing 'Bhajans' and the rising of chanting 'prayers' has left a purifying effect in our temple room which I look forward to enjoy every year.

Festive look this year has been created with the burst of yellow and green colors with some red thrown in. Strings of artificial marigold garlands have been placed on the runner (dupatta) to uplift the aura of the room. Our daughter's Lord Ganesha portraits are adding enough splashes of colors making it a perfect backdrop.

Taking care of the environment while we celebrate the festival, our daughter has been making idols at home since last four years now. You may peek here and here for our last two years' idols.We immerse him in a 'kundi' at home and let him be with us by pouring his left overs in our little garden.

Though one must visit India in order to experience the grandeur and splendor of ten days festivity of “Ganesha Chaturthi”, which is celebrated with much zeal and fervor.

With more festivities lining up to our calendar, I have so much to do, to plan and celebrate the festive joy at this time of the year. Signing out for today, as I head back to tick off the long list of things to tackle for the upcoming days. Stay connected until we meet again friends, toodles!

And we welcomed Bappa......

The décor demon inside me is hard to tame when the festivity ranks supreme. This year also the spirit of the festivities has created quite a stir in our home, and as a result of that great fervor, a seized corner in our temple room is breathing elegance in the presence of our eco-friendly Ganesha. 

Traditional theme has been injected in every corner anchoring my brass pieces.  My artist daughter’s artwork as a backdrop does not only rivet the attention but also gives a powerful impact on this year’s setting.

The same set of Bandhani dupattas used for décor here and here are called in service to imbue more color and draw the eye. Don’t miss the frolicking troupe of ‘Ganeshas’ with brass diyas (that I used freely mixing unexpectedly) adding festive touch on the table.  And the garland adorning on the “bajoth” of ‘Ganesha’ is actually a “toran” (door garland) that adds a decorative tone on the setting.
The tall wooden Ganesha statue is graced in the center as a great impetus. The dark and soft color contrast make both idols stand out. In between the festivity chaos and complete madhouse, the traditional ladoo recipe has been dumped and new (an easy peasy) coconut ladoo recipe (stolen from YouTube) has taken care of his cravings.  

Few traditional, pretty and colorful decorating, relevant to the celebration has surprisingly created a spiritual ambience in our temple room. I love it especially when the lit up candles cast a warm glow in the room throughout our prayers.  From my end, I am leaving no stone unturned to please our darling little “Ganesha” this year :).

 

Up next on the blog is our first giveaway, stay glued on facebook page or Instagram feed so you don't miss out any details on the post or more decorating ventures. Until we meet again, toodles!

Ganesha collage wall of happy memories!

The zone of serenity in our home, our temple room is a blessing to me and to those who enters. I have been tearing through every possible fascinating choice and countless other thoughts about the bare canvas /wall in our temple room. Finally, the wall opened up a steam of variety to pour in my list of criteria for decking the creative art pieces of our artist daughter.  To keep the touch of warmth and personality of our daughter (which we will appreciate every day in her absence) unique composition of frames now adorn this wall.

A perfect mess of a collage wall that sings the medley of our artist’s great work and favourite frame of Ganeshji collected or gifted is now filled up in the temple room with a visual impact.

Started off with the big frame and surrounded it with rest of the frames with tight space. To escape from a lot of unnecessary nailing, I laid out the frames on the floor and reshuffled each piece until reached to a perfectly grouping of my liking. After visualizing the final effect by moving few frames around, I sealed the deal.

Laid out the various sized frames with dissimilar shapes to create variety, ensuring to balance the selection with repetition of same medium. Here I have mixed the same medium of Ganeshji canvas and other frames I had, varied by different heights.

Loving the effect of filling photographs or pieces arranging into haphazard cluster. In my previous home, the stair wall was dazzled with the memory of our children growing up. Now in this room,  our cherished art collection and personal flair of daughter's paintings are adorning the wall.

Splash dash of colours on the frame added the characters and made the space more inviting. There are endless options to hang out the photos or make a collage wall but I narrowed down my options before picking that hammer and nail.

Give your "imaginative muscles" some work out and pull out those hiding away frames for some twist of admiration. Up next on the blog will meeting our eco-friendly home Ganesha before we bid him farewell, stay tuned on facebook until we meet again, toodles!