Year: 2016 - Page 2 - dress your home | India's top home decor & interior design blog

2 BHK

Home Tour: Step Inside This 600 Sq. Ft. Renovated Home

AD is a treasure trove of homes that excel in design. This 600 sq.ft. renovated home in Mumbai featured in the latest issue of AD. I was floored by the space utilization concepts of this apartment in Mahim belonging to Nikhil and Rima Bhende. Before-after pictures alongside would have accentuated the breathtaking transformation. Location: Mahim Area: 600 sq. ft No. of rooms: Living, 2 bed rooms, kitchen, 2 bathrooms, and a loft space above a bed room. Type: Renovation Who lives here : a family of 5 Time taken to complete: 6 months and 10 days A striking balance between functionality, aesthetics, and space utilization is best put to test when space is a constraint. With its brilliant design of clearly demarcating spaces and creating additional ones in the form of a loft takes it to a whole new level. When space is minimal, there is no room for clutter. What…

HOUSE TOURS

Home Tour: Manisha and Ajay’s Colorful Haven Featured in GoodHomes

No Comments

Where do you go to (my lovely ~~~ too much Peter Sarstedt over the weekend) for interior inspiration? Blogs? Facebook groups? Or good old magazines? My favorite go-to place for home tours is the GoodHomes magazine. I have some of the best issues stacked on my coffee table in the living room. It’s been a while since I have featured some of the bright homes from GoodHomes. First, it is Manisha Vinod and Ajay Raghavan’s home. Calling this a colorful home would be an understatement. This home is bold, bright, cheerful, and as the article rightly puts it, it takes us back to our childhood of fairy tale living. There’s chaos; there’s splashes of color; order goes to the wind; that’s what makes this room a delight. Characters and fables come alive in this room. May be a bit too much to calm the mind at times for someone like me.…

INTERIORS

Kitchen Tour: A ply kitchen where budget meets fancy accessories

No Comments

This post is sponsored by Capricoast. We often associate wood as the material for interiors. After a radical introduction of stainless steel as the prime material in our previous kitchen tour, today I take you through its traditional alternative: a ply kitchen that is budget-friendly without compromising on accessories. This is also executed by CapriCoast. Just like the previous post, all frequently asked questions are addressed in this post: how much should a ply kitchen cost, will the vendor undertake civil work, what material to use in a kitchen, is waterproof ply necessary etc etc. This home is part of the Zed Homes community, an eco-friendly project that is close to our hearts. Key details about the project: Name of the project: BCIL, Zed Homes Location: Bangalore Size: 8 feet hob side (hob and sink on opposite walls) 11 feet sink side Material used in kitchen: Ply Shape of kitchen:…

INSPIRATION

How much does a stainless kitchen cost and should you get one? Hint: Well under 5 Lakhs.

7 Comments

As you tour new homes, how often have you wondered how much the interiors would have cost? Most of the fancy kitchens cost an arm and a leg ranging anywhere between 10 and 15 lakhs. I personally find designing the interiors of a house akin to taking any competitive exam when it comes to stress levels. If you are not fortunate enough to have zeroed in on the right interior designer, you wake up in the middle of the night in a sweat with so many unanswered questions. When we were designing our kitchen, so many questions ran through our minds on a daily basis, and without a proper designer, Google was the only answer. I’m sure you would have faced these at some point of your home building journey: Marine ply or BWR ply? Or stainless steel? Hetitch or Blum? Steel hob or glass hob? Granite or Corian top? How much…

CLEANING & ORGANIZING

Day 11: Shine the brass/copper/silver

3 Comments

A big part of Diwali festivities is the copper, silver and brassware that comes out on display. In many homes, this has been passed down generations. For me, they hold a special significance as these were given by my parents during our wedding. For years, I kept them tucked away in a loft. Now they are on display adorning corners and console tables in the house; in many ways, it’s a remainder for me from where we come and a reminiscent of the past. Things you’ll need: Tamarind or lemon or vinegar. I use tamarind. Salt A chrome polish of your choice. I use Autosol metal polish (furtively, of course) that my husband uses for his bike. Gloves, if you are using commercial cleaner. Microfiber cloths Dust all the items of any dust before you begin the cleaning process. How to shine copper the easy way: There are two copper glasses…

GARDEN

Day 9: 5 easy ways to clean and maintain a healthy garden

No Comments

Gardening is a mindful activity. Having my ginger tea in the morning on this bench over the weekends is soothing and sets the tone for the day. This piece of green was what appealed to both of us about this house. A garden can also be high maintenance if not tended to every morning. I spend about 20-30 minutes on an average each morning after son goes to school to deweed and water the plants in the terrace and lawn. Every Sunday morning, I add manure. So except trimming the grass once a month, there is nothing much for a gardener to do. Usually I trim the grass myself. this time I called in the gardener. If you haven’t been maintaining your balcony/terrace garden regularly, here are 5 easy steps to get it back in shape. Things you’ll need: Weeder: I use this steel rake. A broom and a waste…

CLEANING & ORGANIZING

Day 8: How to deep clean bathrooms

No Comments

The routine of cleaning bathooms is more mechanical and methodical than the remaining parts of the house, and one that you need to do regularly. There are 4 bathrooms in the house that I take turns through the week to ensure they are clean. Only two of them are used extensively on a daily basis. The biggest enemy in your bathroom is that one factor which is used the most: water. If you let water sit, it will lead to limescale buildup and dirt accumulating in the grout. Ensure the bathroom is dry after every use. My tricks to keep it dry: a floor wiper near the shower area for anyone who takes a shower to clean the water. a glass wiper to run down the water from the shower partition. a old dry rag/towel within reach to wipe the shower partition and taps once everyday. This takes about a…

CLEANING & ORGANIZING

Day 5: Let’s make the windows squeaky clean!

No Comments

The favorite feature of my current home: floor-to-ceiling windows and wall-to-wall glass windows. This ~ translates to a flood of natural light. But, that also means tough deep cleaning once in a while. it’s quite a task to keep the shine on large glass windows. They looked the best the day professionals from MyBlueBottle cleaned the windows. Within weeks, dust and grime formed a layer on the tracks and the shine became muddy. I took it upon myself to periodically clean all the windows to keep the shine on until the next time they are deep cleaned.. What you’ll need to clean the tracks: Vaccum Old socks A sprayer filled with equal parts vinegar + water + two drops of liquid soap Old toothbrush Microfiber Old cloth How to clean the tracks: Loosen the dirt with a tooth brush first. Vacuum the tracks with a crevice attachment. I use an…

CLEANING & ORGANIZING

Day 4: Surface clean fans, switchboards, light fixtures, and doors.

No Comments

Some of the most dustiest places in a home are above our heads – places that are out of normal sight and reach. Ready to look upward? All the surfaces over your heads will get a shine! If you can spare a little over 30 minutes, it will be wonderful. What you’ll need: collect your supplies I’m getting a little inventive with this one after having tried a number of cleaning methods to see what fits best: A bucket to hold your cleaning essentials. 2 to 3 old pillow covers. Colin or any other surface cleaner. Microfiber cloth. Ladder. A pollution mask to cover your face and safety googles. A cloth to wrap your head Vacuum. Wipes How-to: If your house is a duplex, I prefer starting from the top floor and then going down. But, the choice is yours. If it is a single floor, start from the bed…

CLEANING & ORGANIZING

Day 3: Clean the guest bed room closet

No Comments

How did the past two days of cleaning go? Were you able to take out 30 minutes from the day to go through the sorting and purging? Today, we deal with the last of the closets in the house – the guest bed room. This is where I usually stash the bed linen, long coats, jackets, extra towels, and the other racks are often empty for guests when they come. With winter a few weeks away, that is if we have one this year in Bangalore, it’s a good time to air the blankets and comforters in the October sun and put them back. This room was a breeze, wasn’t it. Leaving you with a picture of our guest bed room..