Home is where the inspiration is.

Announcing the winner of the giveaway posted early last month.  Canada based architect and entrepreneur, Liza Skaria's answer  bags her  this limited edition print signed in verso :

A detail of make shift , plastic and canvas tents that house pilgrims at Kumbh city, Allahabad.

On the subject of homes and what they mean to us,  a couple of conversations I have had with friends and readers recently brings me to today's  post..

In which what one surrounds oneself with finds organic and subconscious expression in what one does sometimes.

Its going to be a series of quick collages I posted to a secret Pinterest board recently.  One that a fellow blogger friend the inimitable Archana Srinivas of Rang Decor encouraged me to put together. Archana needs no introduction, but this much has to said, she is a major motivation for mine among a score of other blogs like ours . Read her lovely blog here.

That my  home is an expression of what drives me internally is something I  knew intuitively.  But to realise how much took this little exercise.. 

One morning for me, and an evening for Archana who currently building her nest in Minnesota, USA, many steaming cups of tea and a free wheeling chat about work inspiration and `style' prompted me to look into my work and  and inspirations.

With some thinking I juxtaposed work from the Photo+ series I launched last year against vignettes from my home and work, in collages and came to a realisation...

Like every book read, ever word written, every movie seen, every place traveled what you photograph, and what you curate as an environment around you has a say in who you are and what your inspirations will be. It matters what you say with your home..!

Have  shared the mood-boards I created for Archana with you via these hurriedly put together collages. Do leave me a word if this resonates with you at any level ( of agreement or disagreement both ) at all!

Down but not dirty.

The relative quite  on my desk lately in spite of the enthusiastically penned mission statement earlier, is mostly due to a home project underway at frenzied pace. Yes, am preparing to move yet again... ! Luckily  the move is just to another apartment within the same city.  As the space takes shape over the next few weeks, there will be more to share  until then,  here is a post about ideas. 

Have been engrossed in all manner of things. Floors, flea markets, furniture, paint and the like.
Today's post is going to be about an aspect of home dressing that I never really paid too much heed to until a few weeks ago when rotten parquet became a bone of contention. Three floorings needed to be ripped and relaid.  The humble grounds beneath our feet indeed, only somehow they end up making or  breaking spaces completely.

I grew up in a house  with wildly coloured, wildly patterned mosaic tiles.  My grandfather designed  these himself.  I remember watching him supervise the laying under his strict gaze. This was in the early seventies.  Dadaji, had spent his youth in a Bombay in the throes of art deco craze.  Only  later when I moved to the city myself and saw things up close did it become clear  to me where his love for elaborate mosaic tiles and checkerboard floors came from!

Mumbai or elsewhere, go looking for floors and you will come across a barrage of jargon,  Moroccan, Italian, marble, heritage, Athanguddi, Azulejos, stone, ceramic, sandstone, composite, Jaipur, chevron, mosaic, terrazzo, painted, inverlochy. There is just too much to choose from.

Having lost much sleep over a wide range of choices,  I finally know what I am going to do with the rotten parquet.. It is impossible to list my entire reference file here, but will share ideas and inspirations I have picked up along the way in today's post.  I don't have particularly  pretty pictures of floors  tiles and the like, for those you need to head to pinterest, which is rife with stunning effects! These are mostly humble records I made with my iPhone for my reference, while scouring the markets and else where.

Hopefully  with the final finished product which will make a future post and this one, it will be possible to piece together a picture of how exactly the ideas translated to actual floors.

A final word about the inspiration :  The choices I made rest on three different factors, first- the relatively tiny budget, second- somehow ideas registered from travels or surfing the net etc muscled their way in (not just on the floors but rampantly and randomly in other corners too ! More about that later though ) Finally, from in and around Mumbai- my forever Muse!! 


Starting with the city it self. I  am taken by old Mumbai  Heritage floors....

Encaustic tiles in an old Mumbai building

Visit any old Mumbai building and you  are sure to notice the  'Mintons'. Richly patterned, startlingly  coloured and beautifully weathered encaustic cement tiles imported to the erst while Bombay Presidency by Liverpool based Minton's Ltd.
In production since the 12th century when  Cisterician Monks in England  hand made  them to pave  floors of European churches and monasteries- the art vanished a few 100 years down the road.  During the 1830s  several British firms  attempted to revive  the medieval art, one of the most successful  being Herbert Minton.

Most old buildings in Fort and neighbouring areas in Mumbai boast these striking tiles from bygone times..  

These are cement tiles in which the pattern or figure on the surface is not a product of the glaze but of different colors of clay. A tile may be composed of as many as six colours. The pattern is inlaid into the body of the tile, so that the design remains as the tile is worn down. These may be gazed or unglazed and the inlay may be shallow  as an eight of an inch, or as deep as  a quarter inch.

Recently restored tiles on stairs, gallery and corner,  Mumbai.

In  the initial years of  the British colonial period, the  tiles would be imported from England. Until they started to be manufactured locally in the early 1920s. They remained in manufacture until the 1940s. In the recent years,  a few tile makers based in Mumbai and elsewhere have  revived the old style of floorings.

Minton tiles on the landing of the grand staircase of a Museum in Mumbai.

Layers of vinyl peel exposing the  striking original Minton  floor in a crumbling building in Kala Ghoda, Mumbai.

Then there are good ol'  Ceramic tiles ...

Reference  image taken at a tile shop in Fort, Mumbai

Brightly colored, readily available and easy to lay. Add to it, the wide range of tiles and makes to choose from to suit all manner of tastes and decor.

 I chanced upon a stash of these old furniture tiles from Gujarat at a local flea market the other day.. (picture below). I have no idea about their vintage, make and  style etc.. From the look of it, they look like Portuguese inspired, the kind I have spotted in many a old Mumbai buildings. Do enlighten me if you have any idea about these.  

Hand glazed furniture tiles, from a flea market, Mumbai

                     

I am not quite sure about where these will go in the house at this stage.

Finally  getting back to my childhood home, I would like to do a spin on the traditional chequered black  and white with a Chevron pattern floor somewhere in the house..

 Wide V's of the Chevron  on the floor of a Colaba restaurant, Mumbai

Vibrant, contrasting patterns from a heritage hotel in Rajasthan.

Old chequered floor  in an old Mumbai building.

Festive Decor tips at Good Earth

With Diwali just a few weeks away, decor workshops are on offer by the dozen. I decided  to check one out at the popular Good Earth store at Raghuvanshi mills, Mumbai.

Conducted by stylists to the celebrities Kanika Bawa and the Extra Mile cafe, the workshop used delectable accessories and materials readily available at the store itself.   Sharing a few pictures ideas to help  add that extra something to Diwali sparkle this year!

Most of the materials are available at the store, so to recreate any of them, one simply has to head to Good Earth..

 However, many of the elements used in styling table top arrangements are readily available around the house..

Appropriate arrangements befitting the occasion can be created using traditional flowers and leaves such as- mogra's, marigold, tube roses, roses, betel leaves, mango leaves etc.

Diwali is the festival of lights, glitter and sparkle,  a good time to introduce shine and bling to the house using an array of materials- brass, silver, sequins, beads, textiles etc..



While addressing the sense of sight and taste with sparkling clean houses, and delicious food,  it is a great occasion to make the house smell good using natural materials such as fragrant flowers, organic dhoops and incense.




Will be back with more for the festive season, Have a Happy Ashtimi every one !!

Colour stories: Turquoise!

Have not written a colour post for a long time ..Not that one needs to make an excuse for Turquoise anyway.. It's one colour like pink, I absolutely love, but have not imagined dedicating entire walls to!- yet  :)

Today's post is about the colour, used in a mostly traditional, ethnic scheme.... 

Turquoise in all its shades- wether  an intense burst of blue or a softer and paler version- is so unique to the gem stone it derives its name from, that the stone and the particular shade of blue are now synonymous to each other...

Called Turquoise as it was thought to have originated from Turkey at first, the gem stone hails from the Alimersai Mountain in Persia (now in Iran). The best quality Turquoise to this date  is credited to the region.

The intense shades of turquoise have endeared it to many ancient cultures:  Ancient Egypt, Aztec, Mesopotamia, Indus Valley and China. Despite being an old gemstone, it was introduced to Europe via Turkey only with the silk road novelties and  not until the 14th century was it used commonly in jewellery. The stone was introduced in India only during the Mughal times and remained unknown to the far east until the 18th century..

The color to me, denotes a relaxed, fresh and contemporary feel ..  It goes well with a bunch of warm colours, reds, oranges, pinks and yellows,  and provides a fun visual pop against muted, earthy tones of natural materials- stone and wood. It also provides a lovely foil for ethnic objects like baskets, textiles and jewelry..

Every once in a while, I change up the accessories around the bedroom and more private 

spaces of the house to make way for the Turq :)

Hopefully  in some near future, I will gather the guts for an all turquoise wall .. until then, this will have to do ..!

1,2,3 : About Inspiration

Three quirky uses of pictures hurriedly taken with my phone camera. A word about inspiration, when one really looks , it is everywhere... Travelling, browsing through books, mags, wonderful blogs and sites online. Thing about ideas is that they strike when one is not even looking for them... quite pensive hectic days, driving through congested roads, shopping at local bazaars, peaceful contemplative moments, fragments of dreams and in recesses of long lost memories.

What inspires you? Where do you seek that initial spark of an idea? When does it strike? How do you keep in touch with an idea and utilise it when the moment arises...

Good thing that with a camera in the mobile phone, one is always ready to pin that flash down.. listing three quirky inspirations and how they got utilised around the house.

Taking a break from reading Charle's Correa's `A place in the shade' one quite afternoon. I noticed the graphic monochromatic pattern on the jacket against a red silk cushion. We had our wall!

Even attempted playing with the texture with the help of my painter bhau before painting it solid black :)

An arrangement on a coffee table inspired by the days adornments placed in a startling red ceramic dish on the bed side table.. ( Pic above: Silver plated platter from Goodearth, Lapis and coral Buddha heads from the Jade market in Kowloon, Hongkong, Burmese lacquer tray from Kinnari, Hong Kong)

Finally, window dressing and a jute lamp shade against a terracotta wall inspired by a familiar sight at local bazaars. (Pic Left: Lamp and shade from Contemporary arts and crafts, Mumbai)

Colour Stories :All things red and ravishing

Ceramic Platter from Earth Home, Hong Kong, assorted seasonal fruits in red . Silk sarong from Altfield Interiors, Hong Kong. Silver Cuff from Khan Market, New Delhi.

Holi just went by, spring is out there is in full bloom, Valentines day, Chinese new year all wonderful occasions, that bring colour to mind one way or the other. Particularly the last two stand for a very vibrant and bold hue....Yes, I am talking Red !!

Bright, bold, hot and the irrepressible red!

Lately because it has been on my mind to, I see the colour every where.. In stores, books, magazines, in nature, in my kids crayons and paint boxes, clothes, lipstick ( a la Sandra Bullock rocking the colour on Oscar night)... every where. Since a lot of what one sees comes around, let me post some pictures of all that was red the past month.

Red and orange kantha reversible sheet from Anokhi, Delhi, Kantha cushion covers in Maroon (Anokhi) Red rectangular cushion covers from Tequila Kola, Hong Kong.

Red Lacquered bamboo tray and runner from Laos, hand glazed Tea pot and cup from Lane- Crawford Hong Kong. Wooden opium grinder from Rajashtan.

Red and turquoise necklace, Lhasa. Red Dzao tribal neck piece from Vietnam

From the archives: Red and yellow Ranunculus.