Northeast Chic?

A recent post from http://www.thekeybunch.com struck a chord....India's Northeast has been rich with bamboo weaves and textile crafts all along and yet today all we hear about is Rattan, Water Hyacinth, etc etc all from South East Asia.

Here is a beautiful Salon in LA by designer Seyie Putsure in LA who brings her influenced from Nagaland into this contemporary salon. Enjoy!

Time for a good natured debate!

So, what is contemporary design really? I do believe that they are simpler lines, more fluid designs, less crowded prints, combining a dotted salt shaker with a solid coloured pepper shaker. It is about surprising and delighting the senses with the simplest of shapes. Less crowded and intricate motifs. 

Here are some pieces of decor that I have come across that I thought were super examples of contemporary design:

A simple chest of drawers combined with Ratan type baskets for drawers - an ingenious and simple design from a manufacturer in Rajasthan

Use of simple aluminium containers as wall mounted storage from a design house in the UK

A hand made sugar and creamer set by Whitney Smith in the US

And - here are some pieces of decor we have created as part of our launch collection at Stylkist.com

Giving Benarasi silk a comtemporary look.

Quoted Ceramic vase that says quirky can still be gorgeous

A piece of art by Artist Rekha Krishnan that turns the traditional Indian lotus into a contemporary jaw-dropper

So its fairly obvious by now that I am a modernist when it comes to design and decor.

So, we asked Charu Tewari, an Interiors Stylist,  Colour and Décor Consultant as well as a Regional Manager at atmosphere by day, for her thoughts on contemporary:

She believes that Inspite of the fact that minimal and fuss free modern décor has become very popular,Classical and Transistional designs and décor styles are here to stay. The reason according to her is that the  world has a rich historical  past of décor and  design styles. Whether it is Ornate or Gilded frames for mirrors or  Potraits and Art or   decorated niches with  curved  floral  mouldings; and that every classical décor item has a very strong personality.

Here are some examples she shared with us:

A modern set of fully upholstered Stools or Pouf’s with  Classical fabric on them inspired by the european era

 

Roman Blinds and Roller Blinds are quite contemporary. Designers and Decorators add that Pizzaz and Style by  using fabric with bold motifs from the Classical Era 

Plump  cushions  with Classical motifs in  rectangular Marble seating niches in the wall

So modern and contemporary or classical yet contemporary....you take your pick....As Charu and I take our debate elsewhere.

Soaking in Dewigarh

A recent suprise birthday gift put me on a plane to Udaipur and sent me for a weekend with my better half to Devigarh. Inspite of seeing the castle and being struck by its beauty in the movie.Eklavya, I was short of breadth, when I saw it in person. It was so beautiful. It was so much to take in. Many many thoughts rushed to my head as I caught the first glimpse. I tried hard to remember all of them as we walked along. The castle looked like an elegant piece of jewelry - not the garish or the rich colourful kind but rather the quiet, elegant kind. Stunningly intricate and yet so contemporary.

There were arches and there were great views.......

As we entered the room, or the palace suite rather, my eyes were wide open, my jaw dropped and I let out a gasp. The beauty of the traditional meeting the contemporary was like I had never experienced before. There were traditional crafts and artefacts made of local resources placed in contemporary settings. There was the use of stunning red against the stark white walls and upholstery created a dramatic set up.

The only other thing I will add is that I never left the resort for most part of my trip. I tirelessly walked around to every nook and cranny to find surprising little coves of design that existed like these -

Finally, I sign off with cheers (from the devigarh bar) to the Poddars who created this dream as well as the interior designer Rajiv Saini

Ingredients for a Trendy Kitchen

Kitchens are the hardest room to really 'trendify' in my opinion. This is true both in general and specifically in India. Of course, the market is now flooded with modular kitchen units like Veneta Cucina, etc but below are some of the ingredients of a truly trendy kitchen in our opinion -

An elegant basic wood cupboard ordered from a nearby carpenter could make a lovely foundation to the rest of your kitchen. Mix and match an assortment of crockery, glassesss, plants

Source- www.laminex.com.au

Straddle the old world and the new with these. Black or white - you can choose between a ast iron black pestle below or a cream ceramic pestle.

Source - www.silvernutmeg.com

Source: www.eurocosm.com

And last but not least - No kitchen is largely complete without a large over-sized salad bowl-

Source: www.shoppingessentials.com

Rosy Reds to Chase the Bluesy Blues

Its raining pretty heavily these days. It can be quite romantic at first but then very soon you end up confined to the office or home. So here are some cherry reds and more to surround yourself with to chase away the blues this monsoon.

Add a dash of Red with cushions and bedding from Eucalyptus Boutique in Banjara Hills, Hyderabad

 

Merry  Cherries on a long platter anyone? (Source: Verve)

A cherry red leather box to store sweet nothings? (Source Bungalow Eight- Mumbai)

Cos Kids need chic decor too!

A friend has been thinking about starting her own kids decor and accessories outfit. Admittedly it is a bit hard to find great kids accessories and furniture that combine good design and good quality while making it appealing to kids. Sure, there is Mothercare but for a country with such a vibrant and growing population (and hence many many kids ;-)), sure we should have more choice. In that vein, a bit of searching led me to this cute online store called 'Kids at Home'

Image Source: http://www.kidsathome.in/

Of Cherry Blossoms

The Taj Mansingh Hotel in Delhi had a Japanese food festival going on. They left a lovely little card about the festival in the guest rooms. I could not be bothered about the Fancy chef so and so who had come to the Taj for this festival etc but instead I fell in love with the imagery on the card about the festival. So i quickly scanned it to put it down here -

Image courtesy: Taj Mansingh Hotel

Thinking of the cherry blossoms, I remembered this painting I once saw on www.saffronart.com by an artist called Shabnam Mehra called 'Blossom'. I wondered if the artist got a chance to capture this in Japan. Had she made a trip over in perfect timing in April when the weather was crisp and yet with some sunshine in Tokyo. Did she head to the area where you could see the blossoms? If so, I am so terribly jealous!

Source: www.saffrontart.com

And check out this wedding center piece inspired by cherry blossoms. I'snt it gorgeous??

Source: www.flirtyguide.com