Whimsically Ethnic Home Tour of Poornima Murthy (Part-2)

After a string of applaud and wowing the readers in Part- 1 (in case you missed it, click here) we are back with characteristically quirky Murthy touches in Part -2. However, the only thing missing from this post is a warning label. Be careful while reading this post, as you might never want to leave this home. 

Just because Poornima's passion for decor bring a certain poeticism to everything she touches, let me warn you that there is no surface (in the home) is unadorned. Every corner, every wall will give you a visual pop. Being adventurous and classy in the same breath, with every stage of her decor voyage, Poornima continues to push boundaries of decor to exciting new corners.

Just because every successful home story begins with a carefully devised corner. I am starting this home tour with a bold yet a total knock-out corner of Poornima's previous home. Before she began to hatch new plans and welcomed new ideas for gallery walls, this was the very first gallery wall she did in her old home. Just like this wall and every other wall in Poornima's home shouts part of her individuality and evokes deeply valued meaning of her culture through her decor. 

With the cultivated taste and deep passion, Poornima had a clear blueprint of what exactly she wanted when they were hunting down for a place called "home". Poornima prompts: "We went searching for our home more than three years and finally found this (4400 square feet) home that we both instantly fell in love with. This is our happy place, where we did not have to compromise in any way. All the countless niches in this home, got my heart racing ever since I clapped my eyes on them..now, I proudly display my collection in each one of them".

With a good beginning and a focused mind Poornima lives with her own interpretation of decor. Masterful mixing is very much of her way of having the best of the both worlds. Gracefully designed with a traditional console table (that mimics the look of a damachiya) from Cost Plus World Market is the focal point here. Layered with clusters of eclectic and global treasures ensure that guests will certainly get a clue of what to expect ahead in Murthy's home.

Poornima is not a rule breaker, she is more of a rule ignorer and this attitude is what got her started making and decorating this home at first place. Poornima has brainstormed many ideas ever since the house was under construction phase. Poornima sums up: "Growing up in India, I was already a maximalist with whimsical vintage sensibility by the tender age. Fascinated with doors of a bygone era, I was itching to have one of those show-stopping piece in our home. When this house was under construction, I had visualized one of the niches to have Chandan Dubey's door panels. I jumped on it and reached out to her and placed the order. Unfortunately, we had to cancel the order after learning about the fact about the weight of the doors and hanging it on US walls was bit tricky. Later my accidental search on internet led me to the talented DIY queen Divya :)." Rest is history. The door was executed exactly the way Poornima had envisioned by none other than Desi DIY Sisters about whom I have shared earlier here. 

Hours are whiled away day-dreaming many of the corners she has created. Poornima is bound by anything but her own imaginations and she has wholeheartedly enjoyed the process. Each room has gone through an intelligent and a deliberate design process.

While decorating her walls Poornima was mindful of not wanting to overpower any visitor with her collection but all the rules went out of the window when she actually started to inject a heaping dose of her collection on the walls. 

                           

Poornima went full throttle and drenched every wall mixing with striking shapes, materials, colors and cultural references...that eventually turned out witty and refined. 

Mixing old and new, rustic and contemporary is a sure-fire recipe for an exciting and eclectic interior. Poornima's hard work, vision and the ability to take risks factoring in every possibility has paid off well on her walls. Having design guts often leads to interior glory can be proved in Poornima's case by looking at these one of a kind tweaked set of frames. She simply attached few accessories on plain black and white frames turning them into envy inducing pieces....brilliant, isn't it? 

Her cultivated aesthetic stroke and stylistic thread of DIY continues to run throughout the home. While giving small updates to this deceptively elegant and giant sized mirror from Pier 1 Imports she has given it a major statement. To jazz up the elegance of this mirror, she has used decal stickers imitating the Chetitnad tile look on the borders. Just in an attempt to see how-it-goes-with-what-I-have she personalized the piece and gave it a bold decorative treatment. 

Her youthful DIY spirit occupies many other corners around the home. Striking a pose in the middle of this collage is an up cycled old bench that Murthy couple manifested into a new avatar. Rest of the wooden frames are also adorned by the art work of Poornima which she fondly defines as trial and error art pieces.

To find the far eluded calm in this busy-ness of everyday life, Poornima has created “Yoga-room” within the house. To soothe and enrich the souls, she has added clever touches of Zen elements. Her practical requirement of doing yoga is well served here as declared by Poornima: “We have been practicing yoga for 8 years now. When we moved in to this house, we wanted to have a yoga studio at home. We felt that with a yoga room of our own we can spend the whole hour dedicated to yoga practicing. With the ease of excess to this room, we have no excuse of skipping yoga now. I personally think that dedicating a space to practice is a way to acknowledge our commitment to yoga.” 

People love color but are afraid to use it or may be not entirely sure how to introduce it into their space. In the case of Poornima, she loves the idea of shaking up her pallet and can commit to large scale color pieces in more daring shades. In a reply to choosing yellow shade for the living room, she replies: “Yellow is the color of sunshine that we very much miss in Seattle area for greater time of the year. Hence, we chose yellow as the color theme for our living area. It definitely helps to uplift our mood and bring positivity during the dark and grey days 😊" 

Combining chic style and femininity from fabrics to furniture to fixtures hunting in this home is all about vibrancy and comfort. She has left sleek minimalist look at the door and have opted for vibrant layers of texture, color and prints throughout her home but her living room inspires us to be bold while giving a jolt of excitement.

Some colors have power to transport you, yellow itself being an energetic color it adds lots of impact here. However, splashy Pichhwai was the starting point for going all yellow. Mr. Murthy who weighs in for every décor decision of Poornima believes in decorating with one focal point in the room, and following his decor mantra, Poornima made the Pichhwai painting a conversation starter focal piece in the living room. Sharing their sentimental attachment Poornima coins: "For a person brought up in India, it is uncommon to have grown up listening to the glorious stories of Lord Krishna. So, we decided on Pichhwai to have as a focal point and started hunting for it. We got lucky to have find an artist on eBay, who happily agreed to customize the painting to match our rest of the yellow theme.”  

Murthy family’s every room only augment the seriousness of couple’s admiration for our culture and traditions. With Poornima’s vision for the space, elevating a room doesn't mean breaking the bank or spending months under renovation. Adding colorful frames on your plain bare walls can make your home feel grander in a single weekend.  Poornima and her husband completed this room on a weekend like a pro and embellish the room.  

Her collection here is a manifestation of her lifelong interest in sustainable design and commitment to support ethical Indian art and designs. She collected these oleographs from the different sources in India and now they have transformed this space into Murthy family’s own private gallery of sorts filling it with the collection. She knows when the pieces of art come together, they tell a completely different story.  

Bold pieces and mishmash of furniture and unusual naïve accessories create a witty yet relaxed living space full of drama and narrative in this brightly hued living room. Supersaturated tones that leap from the walls and furnishings makes her happy and lifts her spirit...and she really went for it.  

Before we wrap up, sharing a richly layered corner in couple’s master bedroom which shows that every room is endowing with personality and soul in Murthy family’s home. This corner however lacks "desi" touch but I still sniff "desi" vibes here with her choice of accessories and decor. Poornima laughingly admits that they both are polar opposites when it comes to home décor: “I am more of an old-schooler who loves the classic look that never dips out of style and my husband likes modern and fresh looking-contemporary style. However, he encourages and nurtures my creative spirit and follows my ideas with blind faith. We have set boundaries with décor style to fit in both of our choices. Family room and master bedroom are the area that he owns and you can see very less antiques/brass artifacts there.” 

Poornima embraces imperfection, welcomes the charm of worn vintage pieces and prides herself on creating an atmosphere that follows the rhythm of her heart.... after all, the magic lies - as ever - in the mix. As we conclude this part –2 leaving you with a picture of family’s dining room as next we have lined up the heart of the home – Murthy family’s kitchen in part-3. 

This tad bit long home tour will be a memorable one and will inspire a purposeful living experience for many of us. After all, the home is a place to be celebrated and you deserve to live beautifully.

So, go ahead, jump on in, reinvent and refresh your style and to learn how to balance colors, how much and where to use it. I know, after Poornima's colorful home tour, I am at it.  

Until we meet again with part-3, stay connected, toodles.