A Home Symphony

{I love this}

noreply@blogger.com (meera) — Wed, 23 Jun 2010 18:24:00 +0000

What a lovely arrangement of colors... Bouquet by Geninne

Waka waka ! This time for Africa!

noreply@blogger.com (meera) — Tue, 22 Jun 2010 08:46:00 +0000

Image courtesy : World cup murals by ESPN here

I hate world cup football! Four years ago, I could not resist myself from watching Italy win, and that cost me whole lots of precious marks in my semester exams. I always damned the world cup for happening at the wrong time. And hated Italians for not being out of the world cup so early so that those teams which I don't like could have gone and won the cup so that I need not have watched it so that I could have studied and got the marks.

Ok, truth be told, I love the World Cup football tournament. India's not playing (and I don't think will play in another 100 years), and that means I can take any side. Last time, I loved Italy although many people hated them for their defensive style of playing. Maybe it's the colour of the jersey!

But Argentina's my favourite. I become an Argentine for about a month once every four years. If some miracles happen and in the 99th year of my life, if India will indeed play the World Cup, I am sure I will have a hell of time choosing the team to which I will be loyal! I want Messi to score a hundred goals (at least ten would be okay). Some other teams I like are Spain, Portugal, England, Japan and South Korea. And I have no issues if France or Germany lift the cup. My only hatred is against our arch rivals Brazil, but my wishes don't seem to matter as they do play well.

Now that's three paragraphs about football and this is meant to be an interior design blog for invisible readers (Google analytics doesn't capture their data). No more football in this post. What I wanted to originally tell in this post is that I searched the net for South African designers and have found many many cute and possession-worthy things and wonderful bloggers. I love the wild colours and prints that my mind usually associates Africa with. Check out these African shops/blogs/designers on net.

Laura Hewgill's Veldt inspired by the African bush veldt. I liked her clean, floral designs and subtle colours.

Rainbow collection benefits artisans from SA and is specifically associated with the world cup.

Ikhaya means home in Zulu. They sell ethically made African interior products in Australia. Those featured here are Zambian cushions. So colourful!

Babazeka calls itself 'the online store that's socially aware'. Great recycled paper boxes, hand painted things and many other stuff on sale here

Funky Bokkie shoes at sale on Etsy.

Beatnik Bazaar which sells handmade items. The designs are most amazing and original and adorable and super-cute and damn pretty that I feel like buying the whole shop now itself. Check the blog here and the shop here.

That's it for now! Enjoy the football. And the Vuvuzela.

Color inspirations

noreply@blogger.com (meera) — Fri, 18 Jun 2010 07:42:00 +0000

Couldn't resist posting this one, gorgeous colors (on second look though, I feel that the darker blue {anyone knows the shade name?} is kind of overpowering). Charleston Fashion Week, via SouthernFlourish In tune with the theme of this blog, I am dreaming of a room with the same color theme. A bit over the top, may be, but who knows unless one tries?

{By the way, it's my 3rd post of the day! There's a Malayalam proverb, 'puthanachi purappuram thookum'. It means, 'the new wife will sweep even the rooftop'. The same way, this new blogger can't resist posting. I hope I will keep the momentum going}

Rooms I love

noreply@blogger.com (meera) — Fri, 18 Jun 2010 07:23:00 +0000

From Elle Decor

yellow and orange highlights

the carved wooden chair

brick wall

and not to forget, the figurine behind the chairs...

It's a home in New Delhi, that much I could make out from their site! {shhh.. it's written on the top left corner of the photo}

I love this

noreply@blogger.com (meera) — Fri, 18 Jun 2010 06:24:00 +0000

Exquisite Indian block prints and subtle golden hue. Deccan at John Robshaw Textiles.

Free art download

noreply@blogger.com (meera) — Wed, 16 Jun 2010 04:58:00 +0000

Free art available for print at Feed Your Soul. Via Holly Mathis Interiors

DIY : beaded vase

noreply@blogger.com (meera) — Tue, 15 Jun 2010 05:00:00 +0000

I made this beaded vase long time back. Unfortunately, the steps were not photographed as I did not even have a wildest idea then that I would be sharing this with the world one day. I searched all over the net for a tutorial with photos, but couldn't find any. In fact, I could not even find the idea in the net. I am too lazy to make one again for the sake of blogging, but I will try to explain it in words. But don't tell me I didn't warn you, this thing could test your patience. The bright side is that your friends would be surprised to hear that you made it yourself.

Things you will need:
-plastic beads. See if you can get some with big holes, as that could save some effort.
-plastic thread. Find something strong and yet thin.

Take a long piece of thread. First thread 18 beads on to your thread. Your aim is to make a circular base. Once all the 18 beads are threaded, insert your thread again into the same circle once more to make it stronger. See the circle in the photo below.

Once the circle is done, take 5 beads and thread them again in the same thread at the end of the circle. Bring back the thread and loop it again to your circle two beads after where you started. Confusing, is it? I hope the below pic will clear your head.

Finish your first round, remember 7 beads per circle. At the end of this step, you have a sort of bead flower in your hands. This is your consolation prize if you feel too fainthearted to go forward. Going forward, I call this layer as layer 1.
Next step is slightly confusing to explain. You have to continue making circles in each layer. Make a circle of 5 beads - 3 new, 2 from the previous layer. This 2 from below layer should ideally be the adjacent beads belonging to 2 different circles from layer 1. Got it? Finished your first circle? Then, you have to again make another circle of 5 beads, now with 4 new and one from the below layer circle (the center one of the 3 new beads that were used in layer 1 for a circle). Again, another circle of 5 beads - 3 new & 2 old. Alternate this circles for your second layer. You will understand it once you start making it.
Layer 3 - circles of 7 beads each - 4 new, 3 from below layer
Layer 4 - circles of 5 beads each - 3 new, 2 from below layer
Layer 5,6,7 - circles of 4 beads each - 3 new, 1 from below layer - This is the neck of the vase
Layer 8 - circle of 5 beads - 4 new, 1 from below layer
Remember that adjacent circles share 1 bead in all layers. So in the layer 3, after the first circle, you need to take only 3 new beads, as one bead is shared from the previous circle in the same layer.

You can use beads of different colors to make a brighter vase. Share me the photos if you have made a similar vase :)

There is one similar vase for sale at a Chinese website - you can see the vase here - the number of beads is different in this case.

Indian lamps at Bhatik

noreply@blogger.com (meera) — Mon, 14 Jun 2010 18:47:00 +0000

Delightful classic Indian lamps - handblock printed lampshades, tealight holder, filigree design lantern, nickle finished hanging lamps - on sale at Bhatik. Originally spotted by the Keybunch.

DIY ideas : hang them above

noreply@blogger.com (meera) — Mon, 14 Jun 2010 17:58:00 +0000

Hanging paper flowers at Martha Stewart. They are great to decorate a party table, but I think it would be an even greater addition to a teenager's room.

Not sure about the above idea? I love this room from Ohdeedoh - a whole origami cranery hangs above this tween's bed.

String lampshade at Pickles. This looks like an easy project.

Paper lanterns with oomph, featured at CraftyNest

This is not a DIY. These pretty paper garlands are on sale at the Etsy shop of bookity. And these are made of Shakespearean poetry, literally!

Rooms I love : Beth's living room

noreply@blogger.com (meera) — Mon, 14 Jun 2010 04:52:00 +0000

Spotted at Apartment Therapy
One of my motives behind starting this blog is to own an online collective of images I love. When I move into that dream home of mine, I will have a ready source of inspiring visuals put together over years. I wish this room was mine. It is a visual eye candy with its nearly white walls and eclectic decor. Yet that is not the only thing that I love about this room. It has the feel of a room which is lived in. No bare spaces on the walls, yet no hint of clutter. The appealing and quite original color of the art wall. The cute six and the white star that looks lost among the art. The book case. The striped cushion. The painting with the orange curtains and the man in the bed. No color is dominant, there is no color scheme at all. Everything has been put together to create a great living space. Beth sure loves her home. Love is written everywhere in that room. I want to buy this house. I want to live there. I imagine sitting in the sofa and reading stories to children seated on the floor. I would love to sit in the orange chair and daydream.

All in all, Beth's house is a little darling beauty. Go and see the entire house tour at Apartment Therapy. You would be charmed, just like me.

prints of the elephant

noreply@blogger.com (meera) — Sun, 06 Jun 2010 12:03:00 +0000

Believe it or not - these coasters, cards, magnetic clocks, photo frames and other cute stuff here are made from elephant poop! I saw the elephant poop paper products at Mother Earth - a store for organic products- at Bangalore. The paper was strong, hard and fibrous. The paper notebooks and albums were priced a little too high, yet I loved them.

Find these at Haathi chap - elephant poo paper. Unfortunately, I don't think they retail online.

butterflies from beer cans

noreply@blogger.com (meera) — Sun, 06 Jun 2010 11:49:00 +0000

via Wundercammer

All of us are guilty of mindlessly throwing away and creating wastelands. Thankfully, God has blessed some men with an abundance of creative energy to offset our bad deeds and to craft something immensely beautiful from the junks of modern age. I am thinking about the stories behind each of these beer cans.. a teenager party, graduation day, forlorn love, celebration of a new birth, a victory ... And what better words to capture the spirit behind the creation than the artist's words,

"Who leaves these crushed beer cans – forlorn evidence scattered in the streets of the city? I take these “dead soldiers” – every one of them once raised to someone’s lips – and breathe new life into them, changing them into images that suggest the possibility of change itself."
Check out Paul Vilinski's beer can butterflies.

Worth thousand words

noreply@blogger.com (meera) — Sat, 05 Jun 2010 09:48:00 +0000

Collage of photographs from the first twelve months. I love this idea spotted at Making it Lovely. What better way to record the growth of a sweetiemunchkin in the first and best (for mummy) of the years! Besides the baby, the chair, the dress, the flowers in the background also make the cutesy list. Oh lovely!