Exhibition of the MULTI-UTILITY FURNITURE....PART-1

This is a very special post and is dedicatded to all my lovely students. This is an exhibition that I organised for my students to display their talent in designing a MULTI-UTILITY FURNITURE. I am always fascinated with the idea of using a furniture for more than one activity. Ofcourse, this is not new ....and I also know that there are many available in the market. Here the challenge for the students was to use the same piece of furniture for a minimum of 3 activities without having to spend too much time and effort on the convertible.

The thought of a multi-utility furniture came to me after considering the following facts:

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  Most of us are living in apartments where we have very less or no storage space at all. (remember the concealed attics of our grandmothers' or the storage rooms in our parents' backyards..)


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  With one fact being proper storage...the second one is easy accessibility to the storage space...which is more often not considered....


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  Living in style with the most modern amenities irrespective of the space.

Considering the above points, the challenge given to my students was to design a furniture which is not only aesthetically appealing....but also a multi-utility furniture. Various themes were chosen by each of the students. Since there are many to showcase...this post will be divided into parts.All the furniture that you see here are not life-size...they are scaled down models of the same.

1. Sindu's HEXTRA - It can be used as a Kid's day-bed, sofa. When the cover is lifted off, it can be used as a table with storage in each of its a stool. Zainab's MOBILE BEDROOM SET - This is the opened version. When folded....it simply becomes a rectangular box. Very ideal for people moving from one location to another.

Nitin's Studio apartment furniture is a kitchenette on one side and a bedroom on the otherside with a movable partition box. Rashmi Jadhav's ALKOOL is a mobile bar counter. When closed...looks like a cool deco unit, when opened up becomes a bar with storage for all types of bottles and glass holders. It doubles up as a barbeque unit on top.....surprisingly..it also houses 2 stools inside it. Ideal for backyard parties.

Akshay's floor lamp is definitely a lamp but....can also be used as a dresser on the one side and an iron board or a narrow desk on the other side. The base unit that you see is for storing a sleek contemporary chair that can be used for either purposes.

Rakshita's FOLDABLE DINING TABLE is from a japanese inspiration of low-lying furniture. This is the opened version. When closed, it just looks like a Chest of Drawers. All the cushions and the legs go in.

Goutham's multi-utility bar counter.

Priti Choudary's KIDS PLAY SET is a wonderful creation which has a minimum of 4 board games with seating and storage .........all packed compactly in a single box...

Nidhi's PARTITION CUM SEATING is a beautiful addition to your homes and plays handy when you have a lot of guests. It is otherwise a partition either in your living rooms, bedrooms or bathrooms.

Likitha's PARTITION BOX (DRESSER and STUDY TABLE) would be a great idea to separate a kids bedroom. Imagine you have 2 of these. Place both next to each other ...but in opposite directions. This means that on each side you will have a dresser and a study table....

Hope you all enjoyed this....PART 2 in Progress.......

Design of the week....All for FREE!!!! ....a new series.

Here's a treat to all my dedicated readers. With mails pouring in from various parts of the world requesting decor ideas, I decided to come up with something unique on my blog. This is a sincere attempt to share my creativity. All suggestions and ideas are most welcome.

This series aims at sharing some of my designs with my readers. This will be mostly residential....unless.... ofcourse....i get a special request from somebody for a commercial design. The idea behind this series is that...I would post one design for a room in a residence every often based on a particular inspiration or a theme........ofcourse, my lovely readers are always welcome to give in their ideas and suggestions. The motive is to enable everyone to have a designer home without having to visit a designer.

So, if you are rethinking of doing your house or possibly buying a new house.... irrespective of the size.....the general questions are.... what colours should we go in for? what furniture to buy? how big or small should the accessories be? and how many should I buy? blah...blah...blah...

Now, you have a ready made solution to your problem. You could also use this as a reference picture to tell your architect or your interior designer how you want your room to be. This makes things a lot easier. So, without too much talking........here's the design for the weekend !!!!!!

DESIGN INSPIRATION - The warm colours Maroon and Golden Yellow of the Marigold Flower.

With due credit to http://www.photographersdirect.com/ for the above photo, let me begin with describing the design for this week. This is inspired by the warm colours of this beautiful flower. which has a fantastic balance of maroon and golden yellow. Inspired by these colours, I have created this living room on my software.

I personally feel that a living room is a place where every member of the family meets to bond over after a tiring day. With warm colours, the place is automatically filled with conversations and induces a feeling of oneness. Here are a few views of the same room. I would like to explain some finishes as well.

WALLS: Base rail or skirting of about 4" in wood-painted white, upto 3ft wainscot panelling in yellow, a chair rail of 1.5", and then a wallpaper in a maroon subtle texture upto the ceiling with a crown rail on the top(match it with the base rail)

FLOORING: a dark coloured flooring of preferably wood or alternatively tiles with a colourful carpet.CEILING: Keep it in golden yellow. You could add some decorative plaster of paris mouldings.

FURNITURE: Prefarably all white in subtle textures.

ACCESSORIES: Minimal but obvious . for eg., a huge abstract paintingWINDOW TREATMENTS: Since there are too many details on the wall, my suggestion is to go for simple roman blinds in white.

You are free to ask me any questions on this. I will be more than happy to answer them.

I hope you all enjoy this series.

Classroom Makeover in WARLI ART FORM

After the stress involved in relocating, one definitely needs a reward. I chose to watch a movie. Coincidently... it happened to be Julie and Julia by Julie Powell. I definitely knew about this book....,but was not aware that this was about blogging. As I sat watching the movie, tears rolled down my eyes and I began to realise...how much I missed blogging. That is when I decided to write and update my blog continuously. This post is dedicated to Julie Powell and Julia Child.

This post is about how we transformed an interior design classroom into a fascinating world of warli art. I thank all my students wholeheartedly for extending their support and showing interest in this project of mine.

As you can see, its a normal white boring classroom. Unfortunately, in an excitement to re-do the room, I forgot to take any before images of the room. This is the only one that I have and you can see a student working here.

Many blogs have already spoken about warli art. So, I think I will not venture deep into it. But a small note for the novice. Warli art form is a kind of painting found on the mud houses of some tribal groups in Maharashtra. The paint forms depict their daily life scenes in an attempt to showcase their culture. I found a lovely blog titled http://warlipaintingsart.blogspot.com/. Please check this for an extensive research on warli paintings.

So, after the makeover......

the beams that run through the room..........

While the beams and one wall were painted with warli, we chose to keep the other walls in a light green colour and adorned the walls with some colour boards.

I promise all my readers and followers who have been patiently mailing me everyday to update my blog that I will regularly update this blog with more and more interesting and useful articles. I also encourage every reader of mine to send me a message on what you would like to know from me with respect to interior design and decoration.

Linking this post to the July Carnival at The Key Bunch....

How I Surprised my Spouse !!!!!!

Dear Readers!!!!
WISH YOU ALL A VERY VERY HAPPY NEW YEAR 2011 !!!!!

This is the time of the year when people in my house are busy exchanging gifts. The reason being... all of us are capricorns. While it is easy for my hubby to think of a gift for me.... It is really hard for me to think of a suitable gift for him. I have surpassed the usual watches, phones, perfumes, shirts, T-shirts, wallets etc., I was desperate for an unusual gifing idea. This was when I saw the ad of asian paints royale play - SURPRISE YOUR SPOUSE on TLC Channel.

My hubby has always been complaining about the wall paint of one of the rooms in our house. It was mint green. Our intention of painting this colour was to give the room a refreshing feel...something that blends in with nature. Unfortunately after this exercise, we realised that no matter what shade or tint of green you paint....it can never look natural. One of the reasons could be that we are so used to seeing the leaves in nature and each of the leaf comprises of various shades and tints of green. Try holding a leaf in your hand and you will agree with me on this.

I decided to surprise my husband by giving this room a whole new look. I had a very short time and this whole process had to be done without the knowledge of my husband. Now, this was the tough part. This meant that the whole makeover had to happen on the same day. I then contacted asian paints helpline. They first took my contact details. The closest asian paints home solutions representative then called me to find out my requirement. The representative visited my home with all the catalogues of asian paints royale play. I really appreciate their professional approach.

Since I wanted some kind of a textured effect. I chose combing technique with base coat as MANGO YELLOW and topcoat as GREENERY. You can see the pictures of the step by step makeover of the room. My husband returned home from office and was shocked and surprised at the same time. He never expected to see something change all of a sudden. He had seen a green wall in the morning and to see a completely changed wall in the evening is definitely a surprise. Initially he refused to believe that it was the paint effect as paint generally takes a long time. He convinced himself that it could be a wallpaper. Honestly, the effect is marvellous and it indeed looks like a wallpaper.

Yahoo.............I successfully surprised my spouse. I am so happy and thank asian paints for the quick makeover. Here are a few pictures of the makeover........

The mint Green wall getting ready for the makeover

The base coat in Mango Yellow

Combing effect being done on the wall
A closer look of the same

The wall after the effect resembled a wallpaper

Loved the whole process which happened so effortlessly.............

ALL THANKS TO ASIAN PAINTS

Hope you all enjoyed this post.......

Please do leave your comments.....

Diwali Inspired Post.....

Hi Readers !!!!
WISH YOU A VERY VERY HAPPY DIWALI. MAY THIS DIWALI BRING IN LOADS AND LOADS OF HAPPINESS THROUGH HEALTH & WEALTH.

Here are a few pictures of diwali celebrations at my home.

Inspired by the same....I have created a diwali inspired decor for your living rooms. Please take a look...

Clockwise from top left:

"Gold Mosaic" from Bisazza, "Tanjore painting" from Tarang Gallery, "Red silk" brought from a local store can be stitched into drapes, "Carpet" from First impressions, " Wooden jaali or lattice" can be done by a skilled carpenter, "Silk cushions", "Striped glass tile" from rdwglass, "Handpainted diyas" from rural handicrafts, "Perlato gold tile" from marbonite, "Gold coloured candles" from crafted candles, "Vases" from asian design house, "Paints" from asian paints.

Marquetry....or Wood inlay work....

On my recent trip to Mysore, I stopped by at a place called Srirangapatna. It had been years since I visited this old and famous temple. Although I had admired this town...this time more from a designer's perspective. Today, I would like to discuss about an artwork, that I have grownup seeing in most of the traditionaly decorated houses in Mysore and around. This artwork by the local artisans is called MARQUETRY. In simple words...we call it the wood inlay work. This is similiar to Marble inlay work. Traditionally, Mysore artisans were known to work with rose wood and ivory. Lovely rosewood doors with ivory inlay are still preserved at Mysore Palace and is a treat to the eyes. These doors have won many accolades at the international fairs all over the world. Today, rosewood and ivory are very expensive and so is subsituted by other compressed woods. The artisans have to spend hours of work to detail out a master piece with intricate patterns. Marquetry is the art of inlaying wood or ivory on another wooden surface to form a pattern. Generally, themes such as elephants, florals or a nature scene are typical of Mysore artisans. I spotted a few such pieces from a street artist here. Please take a look at them. Sleek bed side tables, center tables, art frames, coasters, Polster beds are an excellent choice for Marquetry.