My weakness in life is tea; it has to be perfect with the right amount of sugar, spices (cardamom + ginger; sometimes a dash of cinnamon or a sprig of lemon grass or crushed basil).
For a nation obsessed with tea, it’s a painstaking effort to find a good place that brews a good cup of masala chai and pakoras to go with it. In Bangalore, the places where we have ordered a second cup are at Tea Brew and Chaipatty.
Naturally, I find the decor of tea cafes the most interesting. This post is in celebration of that: decor you can copy from restaurants and cafes to bring that effect home! Call a few friends for a cuppa and you have the perfect setting minus the drive thr traffic!
#1: Bring in the roadside cart indoors, and paint them. If you have a terrace space, this would be a great addition to the decor to grow your greens, or just to be used as a cart for the weekend parties.
Elle Decor India Image of Kiki’sCafe Deli in Alibaug
#2: Paint a wall mural
If you can’t get away to the beach, do up your decor for that feel at home. A wall mural in eclectic colors will definitely make you feel you are at a beach shack on a holiday, as Lady Baga India in Delhi, by AD Singh and Sabina shows us.
#3: Words on walls: Interesting quotes and film posters add an instant quirk factor to any space. When you working on a shoestring budget, this is one fool-proof way to immediately give a facelift to any space. Order prints of your posters and get them framed. A 24″ * 36″ should not cost you more than Rs.1000. This one’s designed by Purple Backyard.
#4 Use suspended handpainted kettles in vibrant colors as planters. Paint steel chairs to be used as furniture for the balcony.
#5 Be bold with lighting
One of the biggest lessons I have learned from decorating our new house is lighting makes a world of difference. You may spend all you want, but if you don’t get the lighting right, then the rest just fade into darkness. You can draw a lot of ideas from looking at commercial lighting: focus lamps, offbeat pendant lamps, clustered glass pendant lamps, bamboo baskets as holders etc. Isn’t the storyboarding wall lovely too in the image below?
Which places are you drawn to the most when it comes to design? What are your favorite places to hangout for tea in B’lore on the city you live in? Grab a cup and let’s keep the conversation flowing!
