# Indian Spring ... ;)

 It is always nagging me ... the thought as to why I have given up blogging. Time and again I do come back to try the same hand at it ... but something feels amiss. Well ! I get a lot of queries if I'll get back ...  honestly, I am going to give it a shot again.
So here goes ... sharing another of our rituals you all may be so familiar with. My lil' one and I are so crazy about getting the back flowers and twigs from our sojourns into the world outside... :) ... this time I got these gorgeous blossoms from her school ... yes, the entire school bag full of them ... :)
Here, in North India we have a very short spring ...  it starts on the Basant Panchami Day ( official first day of Indian Spring according to our lunar calendar) ... and we'll probably be done by a little into March.
But the blossoms on the trees around shall be spectacular ...  as these ... from the India Coral tree. Soon to follow are the Semul ( red silk cotton) ... Gul mohar ...  Laburnum. oh! ofcourse the Kachnar (Bauhinia) is blooming like crazy these days ... but I am waiting for that time when forests come alive with the Teshu (Flame of the forest).

Not sure why we jump from winter directly to summer ...  short but truly spectacular is our Indian Spring ... I suddenly have a new found fascination for this time of the year... :)
How about you ...  cause I know I haven't even covered half the blossoms out there ... I do find my self hastagging my posts with spring thoughts as #indianspring ... would love to bring more attention to this gorgeous time of the year here in India ... what do you think ... have you got some great #indianspring stories at your end ... ;)

thanks for asking ...;)) ... it went well ... :)

 Had an absolute fab time shooting with the team from one of India's Shelter magazines ... so let me be honest ... I was soooo freaked out. Its quite one thing to style and shoot my own styling projects and product shoots... quite another story to do it for someone else ... :)

... the house still smells of all the flowers ... and that testifies ... natural fragrances for the home ... sniff... sniff .. :) ... juuust lovely. Am I glad I had a complete free hand at the styling part in this shoot ... and seeing the professionals shoot ... is really something else.

... completely thankful to the team for laughing off my gitters and having total faith in me ... :) Now I am super excited to see how the pictures turn out. Will keep you all posted as to how it turns out and share more about it as I am updated myself. 

In the mean while, this has sure put me in the festive  mood ... so lets head oooon ... :) 

I 'm lovin' this ... :)

I am completely in love with this bedroom at the moment ... every other blog seems to be posting pictures from Lonny Magazine ... and I completely understand. Its a magazine ... like a breadth of fresh air. I am a big one about Architectural Digest and Veranda ... Lonny Magazine is right on that list. And you'd love it too ... check them out... here.

Glaming up working from home ... Inspiration ... :)

                                                                                 via lauradayliving.com

If you work from home ... then you are sure to understand and feel for ... what I am blabbering about in this post.I am honestly tired of sitting in a corner balancing my tea and laptop and I am completely missing a work area. A pen and notepad would mean, I need to be a talented juggler ... ;) haha ... :)

I want to do up my working space ... and in case you are feeling any of the thingies I am listing below ... just jump on board ...

 ... I want my workspace to have  that awesomeness to pull me ...

... I want it to inspire me ....

 ... I want to get organised ...

 ... and honestly I want to have a great place to make all those office going people  ... like...as in absolutely ... Super J ... ;):)

 ...( the cheeky me would love that bit ... and please read ,victim intented... my husband ... Oh! I soooo want to make him Super-Duper J) .... ;);)
 This picture of Tamara Mellon  sitting at her Maison Jenson  desk is sure inspiring me ...

     source unknown

... this very contemporary office space feels fun to ... I actually liked this picture 'cause for quite sometime I have been thinking about this style of tables ... and love the colors too ... like the table lamp ... curtains ... aa..aahhhh ... :)

                                                                                                         Aerin Lauder's Office Space
... I love the black and white picture across ... and that the upholstery (of the two chairs on the left ) adds to the room ... in non glam talk I'd say ... it looks nice and light and bright ... now I don't have any particular leaning towards cream  (in this particular home office case)... but I like how this room looks ...

                                                    source unknown, though I remember seeing this in Architectural Digest
... this look is a little too serious for me right now ... but it gets into the inspiration file anyways for some reason unknown ... :)

 ... uuuuh! I completely fell for that soft board ... I always wanted to get one of those Saharanpur carving frames to do a soft board for myself ... though a bare no fabric one was in my mind ... this one with the fabric on, makes me like this too. Been toying with the idea of the teal blue color on my walls ... but I sleep over it and chicken out by morning  ... only to start thinking about it again by evening and repeat history ... :)

 ...  I am loving the colors in this picture too ... the lovely play of tone on tone with the curtains ... walls ... carpet ... and the table adds that glam ...

                                                                            Pamel Skaist Levy's Desk
 ... loads  of glam out here ... I guess ... :)

                                                                                                 Mary McDonald
... the whole teal ... turquiose  ... thingy happening in my head started when I saw this beautiful room designed by Mary McDonald ... if you are ever wondering what colors go with this blue  ... this would be a awesome source to inspire you ... I liked the tree painted on the wall behind the frames ... so you kind of go beyond the frames ... love the Pagoda shades on the lamps ... the table ... the chair ... :)

 ... the colors  ... the tones ... in this picture ...are quite like what's happening in my house. I added this in,  for those moments when I am having doubts about pairing colors  and textures ... yep ... working on your own space is one of the most challenging things ... and everytime I read the blogs of some  amazing designers  ... it is very reassuring that they all feel the same ...

,,, wooo ! to be surrounded with all my collections ... dream like work space ... ??? ... how about fun space ...

 ... mixmatch and I am in love ... the not the same chairs had me completely here ...

... I am quite excited  to get cracking on this project ... I have furniture that I actually need to keep in mind ... its not going to be a bare canvas ... but I  have prior commitments to make me keep staring and waiting ...

but non the less it was a fun thought to share some inspirational rooms with you all ... incase you too may be in my shoes ... or incase you weren't ...well! how about it ... a whole new revamped home office ... how does that sound to you ...

And if you never heard of it ... here it is a designing - homeoffice- support group .... :) ...if you got a story to share ... we got ears for you ... so go right ahead and tell us your story ... ;):)

Goa Style ... Diaries

For the longest time ever,I have been dreaming of the Goa style interiors. Does the  mention of Goa make you imagine ... sun swept sand ... thatched roof ... whitewashed walls ... mattresses with throw cushions ... well ! Beeeep ... wrong answer ... that's probably Cancun you are thinking of or may be the Greek islands ... :o)

Definitely not Goa style ... cause the real Goa style is a different thing alltogether ... :)

It is truly an indigineous style ... a style that evolved out of the Portugese, Hindu and Islamic influences.There are elements which strongly speak of local life ... as it was and as it is ...

We took a vacation to Goa before moving to Gurgaon.And let me show you what a beautiful  Goan bunglow I got to enjoy.It is over a 100  years old ... and restored in ways which would make any romantics heart melt ...   O.K so mine was all over the floor... :)

 This is the home of Bennita and Ganesh and their two darling girls Trikaya and Trisha ... and its a very a warm welcome to this bright yellow bunglow  Arco Iris with its beautiful Azulejos tile entranceway.

Goan interiors are often decorated with this beauitful decorative borders ... around the doors ... around inbuilt shelves ... cupboard spaces ... I enjoyed discovering the hardwork that goes into these... many times very ornately handpainted designs.And not surprisingly there are not many involved in this art these days ...

Being authentic to the Goa Style ... Benny and Ganesh have created lovely mosaic  tiled flooring  in all the rooms of their bunglow ... added  to this ,their every growing collection of old Indian colonial furniture ... the drawing room is soooo ... inviting ...with eyes wandering to every corner and not wanting to miss out any details ... while light filters in through tthe beautiful french doors theat open out on to the veranda that  runs all along  front of the bunglow.

 The Bishops chair ... a lovely piece of colonial furniture... reminisent of the Colonial history of Goa.Do forgive the shaky picture the photogapher was overwhelmed ... :)

I am absolutely in love with these chairs ... saw them in a lot of antique stores all over Goa ... some day I'm sure to pick up the entire set ... ;)

The seat at the entrance ... of Goan homes is a very typical feature ... it served many purposes in feudal homes ..and a lot of activities the ladies indulged in happenend here.This here is a beautiful balcony adjoining one of the rooms in the bunglow ... and who but my older girl Aimee enjoyed it the most ... :)

Benny and Ganesh have a passion for collecting... restoring ... and adding new pieces to their collection of furniture ... and these beds ... weee ... the whole feel takes you back into another era... :)

...the true feel of dining in Goa, is not in dining at the Leela Kempinski or the Taj ... its here at the Arco Iris ... the red flooring ... with mosaic borders ...the curtorim wind blowing throughout  the bunglow... :) ... the chairs that had many tales to share if they could ... that they once also belonged to Heta Pandit ... who is an absolute bible for me when it comes to talking about Goa ... and the lady behind the Goa Heritage Action Group

These columns are made of local Laterite stone ...patiently carved piece by piece by a craftman (something not so easy to come by these days) ... but then if you are as passionate as Benny and Ganesh ... you figure your way out and search high and low ... untill the whole bunglow was a piece of authentic Goan restoration...

... the beautiful cast iron grills all over  Goa ... soooo make me wish, I was the pied piper of Hamlin ... walk down the streets and magically all the beautiful grills come off the balconies and follow me away... don't ask me what I'd do with all the goodies ... may be all that excitment would drive me nuts ... treasure  ... treasure at last ... ;) ... don't believe me ... ??? ... you really need to take a walk down the streets of Goa ... :)

You also absolutely must, read the whole story of the restoration of Arco Iris ... here ... here (this one is their Face book page) ... I do hope you enjoyed a peek-a boo into the world that is real Goa Style ... and I shall share more on Goa Style details as I bump across them ... so do tell me what you felt ... was it a wow wee moment for you as well .... :)

Rooms in Black ... uber cool ... super chic ...very... very classy ...

Theres nothing quite like the black ... here are a few rooms for you to enjoy ... you're sure to figure out if black is the thing for you ... or may be not ... or you just may have a sudden wow ... that's my thing moment .... :)

... so whether you had a wowwy ... or not my cuppa tea moment ... hope you'll come back to join me in more on this series of Rooms with Color ... write to me your comments and suggestions ... do you have any particularly fav. and not much talked about color ... well! do share with me ... would love to explore the world of colors on the walls ... :)



Image Courtsey:
image 1 , 8 , 9 - unknown , image 2 - Home and Garden via www.stylefiles.com ,image 3 - Ruthiesommers via www.pinkwallpaper.blogspot.com , image 4 - www.stylefiles.com ,image 5 - via www.bellemaison23.com , image 6 ,10 - via www.girl-world-decor.blogspot.com ,image 7 - via www.searchthesea.blogspot.com , image 11 - via www.thestateofthings.com

Bringing the Adobe feel in ...instyle ... indoors ... Inspirational Series

A lot of homes may not be really adobe ... just styled to look Abobe ... personally I really enjoy it ... well then what about the interiors ... are you in doubt about how Stylish they can be ... you know those questions that go pop-pop in the head ... is it really my kind of style ...


... well any style can be you ... if you enjoy it... and as for the stylish enough for me factor ... well , honey ... that's what you bring to it ... and what you make of it ...

... bring in the look and don't compromise on the function ... and bring in what you think is you ... and you 'll do just fine ...

... give me this look in my city home and ...I'll always feel like I am far ... far away ... and give me this look in my home far...far...away ... Oh! ... I'll know I finally am away ...

... I really love the earthy and welcome to my home ... feel of this entrance passage ...

... uuuuh! that carved piece over the bed ... I think it makes the room soooo romantic .... and cozy ... comfy and classy ... wow rooms ... as you style them to be ... Hope you enjoyed these pictures of some adobe home interiors ... Wonder , if you'll style that second home of yours ...somewhat on these lines ... or better still how about a second home that looks like this ...

Image Sources -

Image 1, 3 , 9 ... Unknown ,Image 2 ,5 , 8 , 11 ... Susan Brookes Interiors , Image 4 , 6 , 7 , 10 , 12 Barracan builders...