The terrace of any house provides unlimited opportunities; a blank canvas with extra square footage open to nature that you can give any shape you want based on its intended purpose. From a spa on the terrace to a home office and den for the boys, I have seen many amazing transformations over the years. But, this one is a sophisticated and utilitarian transformation of a 1,200 sq.ft terrace in New Delhi for a young entrepreneur couple designed by Studio Wood. About the project: Who lives here: a young entrepreneur couple Location: T9, Green Park Extension, New Delhi, India Total Area: 1200 sq.ft Constructed Area: 400 sqft Project name: Studio for Two Completion Date: December 2016 Designed by: Sahej Bhatia, Navya Aggarwal, Vrinda Mathur of Studio Wood ( e-mail: hello@studiowood.co.in) Completion Year: 2016 Photo credits: Rohan Dayal In 2016, a young couple in Delhi wanted Studio Wood to design a light weight…
We bought this wooden cabinet as a multipurpose storage unit to store footwear, newspaper, and odd hardware tools. This was one of our first purchases after we moved into our first home. To be honest, I had zero understanding of decorating, interior styling, or what to buy for what. If there was a dire need, we bought that piece of furniture so long it fulfilled its function and our not-so-deep pockets. Form had not entered our lexicon. So, yes, our home was a concoction of disparate elements from tan sofa to geometric tiles. But, you hold some things dear, when they are reminiscent of good ole memories of your first home. So, this piece came with us despite our best efforts to sell it on Quikr. Make no mistake, it got sold two times, and both times it was returned and money refunded to the buyer due to a technical…
My heart skipped a beat when I saw this image. I get yours will too if you see how this space looked like before it went under the hammer. A mindblowing transformation that aimed to bring together the cooking, grilling, and entertaining part close to each other. This balcony is part of an apartment that belongs to an entrepreneur and a lawyer in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Yes, this is the balcony that gave way to that bright, jaw-dropping entertaining space. I believe there should be one space in your home where you can let your hair down and entertain your guests in a no-fuss manner. Barbecue, grill, drink the night away, play music over several rounds of food — whatever your entertaining style is, and whatever works for you. What do you do when you are short of space? How do you make room? Well, there is a lesson to…
What are one’s choices for using a 150-sq.ft room? If you are imaginative, it can be multi-utilitarian: a study by day, guest room when you have guests, entertainment room by night. The choices are endless when you flex your creative muscles as Sandesh Prabhu proves with this brilliant transformation of a study room in Mumbai. When it comes to interior projects, there are few things as exciting as a makeover project. The novelty that before/after pictures bring is unparalleled. Sadly enough, I couldn’t get the before picture for this makeover. But that shouldn’t stop us from deconstructing the constituents of what makes this a standout. Three takeaways for you if you are planning on a renovation: Choose one focal element: it could be a rug, a piece of art work, or furniture. Select everything else that complements this focal point. In this case, it is the horse artwork. If you…
This week I’m going to showcase some inexpensive projects done around the house. We’ll cap it with a easy, DIY project on Friday.
If you remember, I’d spoken about wall cladding a while ago. The project, in itself, was easy to get done, but making the decision was hard. We went back and forth choosing the tiles, questioning often if it go well with the new paint color or not. Of course, if you don’t intend to re-paint anytime soon, it might be easy for you to decide. Initially, we were inclined to clad the walls perpendicular to the orange one as it is in the line of sight from the main door in an earthy palette or render it a stoned look.
Last December, we changed the look of the focus wall in living room with Asian Paints’ decorative paint as part of their Surprise your Spouse campaign. Now, I’m looking at various options to transform a wall in the dining room for a budget under Rs. 10,000. The partially open wall divides the dining area and the kitchen. I would love to give a fireplace look to the wall with some lanterns and low-seating wooden dining table. The look is fresh in my mind but I’m having trouble deciding on the tiles.
For a fireplace look, the choice is easy if the area is large. Any deep-red brick color should do but I’m skeptical as it would make the small dining room much smaller. While scouting for ideas, I came across these lovely well-lit rooms with a rustic feel in the 2008-2011 BBC Good Homes CD collection (have you seen it?) and Houzz.
After looking at these images, I’m leaning towards a lighter color palette – a mix of silver and grey with a brick pattern to give that rustic look.
It is time to talk about the surprise. 2010 drew to a close on a good note and December was been a fabulous month. Before I begin, wish you all a very Happy New Year. And thank you for stopping by, asking for suggestions and all your kind comments.
There was a time, year 2004 to be precise, when I was hooked onto the makeover and event series on TLC. You know The Wedding story, The Baby Story, The Home Makeover story and such…I would watch back to back episodes. Have you seen those home makeover surprise episodes when a spouse goes away for a weekend? And the husband/wife along with the TLC team renovates the yard/room beyond recognition. When the spouse returns, he/she is in for a HUGE surprise. Imagine the adrenaline rush!
The dream came true. It all began in November end as part of “Surprise your spouse” campaign for Asian Paints. It was like a dream come true. In a way, it was a torture for I couldn’t tell my husband or anyone about it for nearly 3 weeks :)
As per the campaign, I could choose a wall to be painted in a color and texture of my choice and Asian Paints Home Solutions would paint it. This had to be done when the husband was away on work. Everything feel in to place in the first week of December as my husband was away on a business trip for 3 days giving us enough window to execute the whole process at ease. I was as thrilled as my son when he gets a new RC helicopter. Alright, more about Royale Play and the process now…
Color and texture selection:
This is perhaps the most important step in the whole process.A lot has been said and written about color selection for walls – furniture, wall decor, artifacts, lighting, furnishings play a critical role. If youdo not intend to change the rest, then it is wise to choose a color that blends well with furniture and furnishings.
We are in the process of re-doing our home in parts. After a bright orange drawing room, for two years, I was game for a more subdued and neutral color, preferably monochromatic. I wanted to bring color to the room through vases, flowers and rugs. This limited my choice of colors and the selection process easier. But you never know how it would look once done. This is where the experts help. The Asian Paints’ team leader vouched that silver-Aluminium dapple gives a royale look.
To be honest, even after selection, I was skeptical for two reasons. One, it is easier to transform a room and surprise everyone by painting a focus wall in the darker shade. Though a standard and fail-safe approach, it is not novel anymore. in our case, the hardest part was to move away from a darker shade and still make an impression. Two, as I said before, one can never be sure what looks good on paper will stand out in reality as well.
Where do you draw your inspiration for home makeover projects? Do you flip through your personal collection of home décor magazine, watch TV shows, subscribe to Google alerts, browse through websites like Martha Stewart or Elle Decoration, or do you just have the creative genes in you to come up with something breathtaking? I do a bit of all the above. There are a dozen sites in my Google Reader under the category (Arts & Crafts) and some more under Home Décor. Apartment Therapy and decor8 provide my daily design fix (akin to nicotine for me)! They are more personal in nature. No doubt, there are scores of sits and blogs that do the usual lists like 8 things not to have in your bedside table to 101 ways to add a spark to your kitchen – one gets tired of these after a while. They are the same ideas…
Do you have a set of cane chairs that has lost its sheen and natural color? Wondering if you should give it a new lease of life or just give it away to somebody? In this post, I show you how I painted a set of chairs and the cost of the project.
I had a cane furniture set comprising 4 chairs + 1 table + 2 side tables that were over 5 years old. One look at them and you’ll know they had seen better days. During a recent moving exercise from a BIG house to a smaller apartment, I gave away 2 chairs, the center table and the side tables. However, I retained 2 chairs for use as balcony furniture in the new place. One day while scouting the net, I was inspired to give these chairs a new look.
You have two choices while restoring old cane furniture: giving it a polished look while retaining the natural color or painting it in a different color to complement the surroundings.
