Tray Gardens ... catch my column in Page7 seven ...

I started this blog ... thinking more the pictures...lesser I'll need to talk ... I do admit I love to talk ... and I can get carried away ... but I am experiencing its another thing to be writting for a magazine ... :)
Rack your head honey, come up with those pages ... phew!
Never the one to miss trying out something new ... I have agreed to pen down my thoughts for Jaya... editor over at Page 7 Seven and MediaVoice Mag ... based out of Chennai.If you manage to get your hands on one of the issue ... catch up with my banter ... yeppy yeah! more of Rajee ... ;);)
 My column in the Feb. issue was about tabletap  ... well ! ahem ... I like the sound of ... the Tray Gardens ... really one hell of a fav. and absolutely fun ... thingy to try ...

... I was over at a friends place sometime back and I have to admit I loved her version ... with big river rock and seasonal flower pots ... right off the nurseries ... you'd have been immediately drawn to that corner  too ... :)
Would love to hear all your thoughts ... may be you are already hunting for a tray  ... a platter ... so what is it going to be for you  ... sand or stones ... ;)
I really love sharing my thoughts here ... and hope you enjoyed this one as well ...
Will update you about the March issue which just hits the stands ... Ah! didn't I say more of Rajee banter ... share with me your thoughts and stay tuned for tons of my banter ... ;)

Slowly but surely ... on his road to recovery ... a lil' bitty about ... Doginder

an old pic ... Prerna introducing Doginder and Aimee to Bamboo shoots ... :)

We can't thank you all enough for all the prayers ... in moments of despair ... hope and prayers ... keep you chugging along...don't let you give up ... and we know that there were soooo many being sent up for our lil' boy ...

Many of you wanted to know how Chotu Singh is doing ... so I thought I'd update you of his current recovery status. Shuttling between home and hospital everyday for his doses of steroids and physio,Chotu is yet to support himself on his hind legs. Due to nerve compression he has lost the control over them ... I don't want to use the P word to state his condition ... because somehow I feel more comfortable saying he is working towards getting up and about on his legs again ... I don't know why but ... I guess its about denying and dealing with the issue ... keeps the optimism going ... ??? ... my way I guess  ...

His family is working sooooo hard. It is a labour of love ... loads of labour and tons of love ... :) ...  to keep those beautiful eyes twinkling and cheerful ...

His buddy Aimee is just soooo excited to go and see him everyday ... keeps his spirits high and gets him excited enough ( for sometime) to chew his fav. chewy bone ...  Ah! and some bit of Pigeon chasing by Aimee also gets him to sit up ... Sofiee, his naughty buddy will have to wait a while because we want to be carefull about not hurting his backbone at the moment and Sofiee the baby that she is ... can get all excited and jumpy ... :)

It is the most amazing feeling to go and see him everyday ... thankful for all the prayers that have made sure he is with us ... his beautiful eyes slowly trying to follow Prerna's every movement ... and his blissful look when he knows Jaspreet ( Prerna's brother ) is home ... 

Its a patient wait  ... and we are all praying that he is able to get back onto his legs and give some more morning joggers a run for their ... ;) ... you know what ... but that's another story ...

Loads more prayers ... tons of love ... all headed your way... Chotu ... GET WELL SOON ...

The magic of gold ... ;)

 One of my fav. craft projects is a can  of gold spray paint  ... and exploring the next thing that'll look ...WOW !  all sprayed up ... :) ... seriously ... I've tried ... bug infested dry leaves of almond trees ... you can see I used those for a tablescape here  ... dried flowers ... fruits ... and I have to say  ... they do look nicey ... :)

... so when the good folks from Hindustan Times called up for that photoshoot and interview I mentioned in an earlier post ...  I was a lil' hesitant ... honestly haven't had much going with the home projects ...

...and so to get the house ready for some good shots ... I got cracking with accents ... and ofcourse the old fav. can of gold spray popped out of the store ... :)

...this whole gold thingy with gold spray paint started quite by accident ... as a new bride ... and no budget for a home do-up ... I once used a spray painted river rock as a paper weight on all my magazines on the coffee table ... thanks to that windy apartment ... this idea has stayed with me ...

... only this time I used small pebbles I had collected from the beaches of Porbandar (Gujrat) last year ...

... oh! this big one I stole from Sarah ... Hey! nothing like a smart talking mum eh!... ;) ... uhuh ! no harm done  ... my lil' girl is really happy with  her gold stone (I did return it to her after this shoot ) ... what did you think ... :)

... the paint may be the same ... but  the texture of the stone or the thingy you are spraying ... is a defining factor ... when it comes to the final look ...

... the cool ... magic working ... can of spray paint ... you'd actually get a whole range of brands ...  the stationer's keep brands like the can you see in this picture ... but your hardware guy will have a whole diff.brand range ... and ofcourse more shades of gold than you'd be comfortable to decide between... :)

... some old ... shell plates came in handy to display my collection ... this time ...

... hope you got some idea brewing in your mind ... may be silver is the color for you ... oh! have you been thinking of covering some old piece of furniture with spray paint ... wow go for it ... of if not than hang on ... I'm sure I'll be doing some more goofy things around the place ... I'll sure give you that final push of confidence ... ;)

And I'll look forward to hearing from you incase you kind of likey some ideas here ... I sure hope you do ... :)

Please,say a lil' prayer for Doginder ...

This is my Styling and Design blog ... but the special bond that I share with each one of you ... makes me feel like sharing a lil' more of my life here ... more often than I imagine I should ... in hapiness and in sorrow.

I really have no design thought in my mind as we worry over Doginder ... my dear friends baby ... and the star of our home as well. Aimee,Sofiee and Doginder are an inseparable ... three some ... all the while fighting and completely inseparable ... but today Doginder lies in the hospital fighting for his life ... having been run over by a careless driver ( who was in everyway wrong by the traffic book ... including his inhumane ... I DON"T CARE atitude ... while he drove away) ...and all this ,while Doginder was playing in the doggy area and was running with joy towards his mum.
Do keep a distraught mother in your thoughts and we all pray for our lil' CHOTU SINGH (Doginder's nick name) to come back home to us ...
Please ,do say a lil' prayer for him.

Incase you'd love to drop his mum a line ... find her at ... http://wild-word.blogspot.com/ ... sorry Prerna ... I take this liberty ... but this is to let you know how much we love your boy ... and how much he means in our lives ...

Absolutely Beautiful Things ... and A Great Good Morning !!!

 We all have our fav. morning blogs ... I love Anna Spiro's http://absolutelybeautifulthings.blogspot.com/ ...

... her shop displays ... the colors  ... are my good morning magic ... she really does know how to work with colors ...

... and her lamps ... those colorful shades ... the painted furniture pieces... and my fav. oriental accents ... Oh! well I have to see her blog every time she posts ... happy and cheerful  ... :) Good mornings are made of this ...:)

From the style files ... rooms in cream ... :)

When I have nothing better to do ... nowhere else I'd rather be ... I love to flip through the images I save ... just lovely room ... inspiring ... points I'd like to remember ... and these are some of my fav. ones ...

                                                                        Pheobe Howard

 ... another of my fav. and what I love about this room ... the walls don't make the room ordinary at all ... infact makes for a great frame for all the textures the designer has added to the room ...even the gold dining chairs don't appear to bold ... love ... love ... love this picture ...

                                                                NZ House and Garden

... creams ... beighes ... are known as designer fav. colors ... you seldom go wrong with them ... but it basically has to work with what the room calls for ... the way you accesorise a room is what makes the color work  or turn it into a disaster ... or just that case of ... ooops! something isn't quite happening here ...

Hope you enjoyed a peek-a-boo into what's catching my fancy today ... :)

Now Retailing ... the spring cheer ... :)

In case you were not sure about these gorgeous textiles now on sale exclusively at Rajee Sood ... heres a better sneak peek at them ...

... for all queries about pricing please e-mail me at rajeesood[at]gmail[dot]com ... and hope the spring  is working its magic on you too ... :)

Happy and cheerful fabrics ... :)

 Its spring ... its spring ... never mind that rains have us soaking wet here in Gurgaon ... but thats just till thursday ... ;) ... we are all set for all the lovely sunshine and beautiful flowers all over ... and as for indoors ... bright cheerful fabrics  ...

... in the market I am enjoying these beautiful pieces ... many would assume looking at the running stitch on the textile that these come from Bengal ... nopes! these are from the west ... I mean Gujrat ... ;) ...

... its quite amazing to discover that many regions in India have such stitches in their traditional embroidery work ... with loads of different names in every region ...

... these particular design come in some lovely spring -summer shades ... I got the reds and raspberry's ... but there are whites with same floral prints ... lilac/ purple ... black ... mustard ... a few shades of pink ... and I am pretty sure a few more shades I yet have to discover and  fantasise about ... but these beautiful cottons are a must to check out this season.Bring in some cheer ... spring ... spring ... its spring ...

If you can't find these locally and want some help ... e-mail me @ rajeesood [at]gmail[dot]com ...  would be glad to help you find out more about these happy textiles ... and you can sure be looking at some happy bedcovers ... cushion covers and for those crafty you, out there ... chop them up and what do you get ... ;) ... so get all creative and spring -summer ready ... what do you say ... :)

A Photo Shoot and a wake up call ...

 Past two days have been crazy ... I had an appointment for an interview and a photoshoot at home ... it was a very reluctant, yes ... because somewhere in the maze of all things we get involved in... in settling in, I let go off a lot of doing up in the house ... it was a wake up call and a great one ...

 ... I felt completely guilty and pathetic at the same time ... quite like the same feeling when you bake a cake and it collapses on you in the middle of the baking ... ;)

 ... God! I have a new home  ... I have to attend to making it look all gorgeous and the works ... aaah! ... phew!  ... o.k I haven't ... bet atleast some of you may share my sentiments ... :)

 ... its ironic ... but I actually love having guests and friends over ... keeps sloppy people like me in the check ... ;)

 ... it was a lot of last minute huffing and puffing  ... and truck loads of flowers  ;)... and the plants ...

 ... I really love the moment I carried the plants in ... they fit right in ...and  yep! I do a load of heavy dutywork around the place ... an ex-tomboy ... there you see, that 's why ladies have big cars and not because it makes them feel powerful on the road ... ;) ...o.k so that bit is actually fun tooo ... :)

 ... I was beginning to get concerned about the proportion of the space ... some how all the furniture looked dwarfed in this house ... the ol' trick with oversized plants ...worked just fine ... and am I glad ... got a great deal on those palms and ... suddenly the room feels a lot more snug and comfy ...

... everthing said and done about design ... but the look is just not complete if you don't add those small details ... they are the last straw literally ... styling ... its almost as if you need those props to complete the look. In our homes ... its the lil' things that compliment the space ... and the more they have to do with you ... the more it feels home ...

... as somebody said and all design schools and pundits always preach ... success of any design is all in the details ... yep!  ... it is ...

Does this post make you ... contemplative ... as my situation was ... do you love a wake up call ... I really need one everynow and then ... do share your thoughts ... would love to know what you feel ... :):)