A 'houseful' of ideas.....

 Our last home was full of colours; colours that oozed out of every nook and corner making the home literally smile! I wanted to give a short 'pose' before I took you to another home that is not just full of colours but also full of ideas. So I decided to call it a 'houseful' of ideas. Get ready to tour this warm and cozy home, savour in each corner, each room as we move through this home. Before I take you in to this home, let me introduce you to Bembem Kongkham who happens to be a friend whom I met in the virtual world. I met her and within a very short time I realized that we share something common and that is our love for all things colourful! I realized that her kind of decor is something I absolutely heart! Bem, as we all call her, is an extremely creative person. DIY is her forte! She is not just a plant lover but has a wide knowledge about different kinds of plants, too. Her photographic skill is like Cinderella's fairy Godmother's magical wand:-D.....swish and voila! The mundane turns to something gorgeous! 

And now here's Bembem to you........

               Am I timid with colors? - NO WAYS.  I am a lover of all things creative and COLORFUL. Color is ‘My Zen’.

One can’t build a house into a home in a day. With my job that needs much staying away, it is a gradual process and the apartment is shaping up to a home.

There is no planned design process; there is no décor mantra or home decorating style that I follow but rather just pick and group things that come together to be, in my own fun way. One will definitely see lack of a theme in my home. But COLOR being the predominant factor- anything and everything is possible.

I love contemporary, colonial, modern, eclectic, Indian-ethnic too.                                                                                               I love the warm shades and the cool tints too.                                                                                                             I want a sunshine house and a beach house too.                                                                                                     I want it all, so how to a theme I confide and glue.

I want my space to be bright, colorful and infectiously cheerful.Neighbors and guests may be overwhelmed by my color choices, may blame me for assaulting their eyes but hello it's instant va-va-va-voom !

It’s a “colorful chaos” as I call it. The big mix is a bit of a risk but I don’t bother much as nothing is permanent. I went wild with my wall color palette because it’s me romancing it every day from twilight till dawn, accented by few pieces that have been scouted from here and there and  I tried creating a bit of my colorful world. The home is evolving- mostly art and accessory wise…with the season and the budget of course! I am constantly moving things around, changing cushions,curtains, upholstery, adding new arty-kitschy-funky finds. I keep playing,having fun and the ‘Home’ never feels finished.

Among this one, there are too many wants :) ; I also want to live in tree houses and cottages in the wild, having a swing to sleep on, with flowers and vines cascading down. Alas! I live in city in a tiny apartment and can’t keep day dreaming, so I try and get  nature and its colors indoor by adding plants in plenty.  

So have fun touring the spectrum of MY HAPPY HOME.

Welcome to the warm and cozy home of the Inamdars.........

Come on in to this cozy home along with me!

The foyer as it leads us in ; isn't it awesome?

Another view of the colourful foyer as it peeks into the living area......

What a cozy living area!

I love this warm living space!

Such prettiness! I love that framed wall!

A view of the dining area;the quirky pendant lights, the sun-bathed room and the painting of Buddha, all make this space so inviting!

Bem's home is full of such quirky,kitschy decor elements..........

Pretty accessories dot every corner of this home!

modern and eclectic decor

I love this framed wall panel!:-)

Another view.......

A close-up of the colourful pendant lights; and oh! what a pretty tree of life there!

Creativity galore..............

It's too pretty a space!

Yet another fantastic-funtastic idea!

The master bed room.....so full of colours!

Love it !

Interesting knick-knacks making this home an absolute pleasure to tour!

A close up of this corner........

another corner...........

The guest bedroom.........I wouldn't mind being Bem's guest!

Gorgeous! I love the look Bem has given to this four poster bed!

Bem's green corner!

What an interesting display!

quirky knick-knacks

Hope you all enjoyed touring Bem's home; her 'colourful chaos'. I loved taking this virtual tour. There is so much colour making it an absolutely vibrant space. Signing off now as I leave you to savour this delightful home. But i shall be back soon with yet another happy home :-D... Until then, take care and enjoy the festivities.

Our very first.....a colour-laden home

As 'Seasons in the sun' turn one, I wanted to have something special here. Owing to some personal commitments, we couldn't really celebrate our turning one on a grand scale. It was therefore planned to  'fêter' at a convenient time and that hour has arrived. We wanted to celebrate not just with cake and candle but also with something that we had never showcased here. For the very first time, we shall have a home tour of a dear friend, Pryia.

Yes, a home tour! You heard it right! Before I hand it over to her and take a virtual trip of her absolutely colourful home, let me say a few things about her and our friendship. Priya better known as Peeli to me and to all our bunch of virtual friends, is someone whom I met online. We were part of a common group and hit it off well right from the beginning as we had the same decor bandwidth! Once in a while I would see her gorgeous home in 'bits and pieces' and this would actually make me crave for more. I wanted to see more of her home which she has done up so aesthetically. And now I hand the reins over to Peeli who will carry forward from here. Get ready to enter Peeli's vibrant and colourful home that exudes warmth and only warmth! 

  Hi, I am Priya and live with my husband dear and our sweet little girl in the beautiful New England area in US. I love where I live, feel fortunate to be able to be where one can experience the contrasting beauty of all the seasons -  the vibrant splash of bright flowers in spring, the lush green but not too warm summers sprinkled with crystalline showers , the crisp  Fall with fiery red leaves blanketing the yards and downy fluffy snow covering everything that we can see all around for at least 3-4 months a year..

I am an artist following the call of my heart and have a line of colorful jewelry that I retail thru my online store.. and I also work at a regular IT job as a Business Analyst during the day. With the demands of these two very different lines of work and making time for household stuff too, life gets pretty hectic indeed..

This makes me want to savor every free minute and to be able to spend it with the people I love in a setting I love. ( Now there you go! What a beautiful thought! )

  I am the decor fanatic in our home, my husband and daughter tolerate it and occasionally comes up with startling insights that help put things together, otherwise for the most part they leave me alone with my decor trials (and errors too).  

  

I try to keep our indoors warm and cozy and since the house we live in has an abundance of dark wood accents that we have not decided what to do with yet; I feel the warm colors are the best to make them work for now. In our home, there probably is an overdose of shades of red and orange..I love to layer fabrics, pepper the walls and surroundings with sculptures or artwork..

And Peeli, I love it, too!

    

I do not have any specific design mantra as such..  anything I love and that will fit into the current framework of our home goes..If  you still ask me for one, it will have to be  - ' Don't be afraid to experiment’.   I probably could never live in a ready-made designer home as it would never satisfy me if I could not change things around..decor for me is an evolving concept.. replacing one little sculpture from here to there, placing a new planter in the corner earlier filled with books..taking away a picture and substituting it with a wall hanging.. it is always a work in progress and I think a great stress buster  for me !    

.

  Our 'family room'is where I mostly play around with colors.Right now we have a multi- red orange green theme going on.It was purely red a while ago and then totally green before getting to the current setup.Thinking about going a vivid blue or pinkish purple soon. ( Well, that is called experimenting with colours!)

   For the main or larger pieces of furniture we tend to keep to neutral shades and styles so they can fit into any color or decor style we choose.. Brass or gold decor pieces will go with most warm colors.. The mid sized pieces, like coffee tables or lampshades or even photo frames, can always be jazzed up to meet what theme or color way we have going on at the moment. If nothing needs to change, I change up the knobs of the coffee-table drawer handles  to tie it in with the whole style. 

 Lucky for me and my penchant for colors, the world is more or less a Global marketplace now; stores like  HomeGoods/Anthropologie/Vivaterra/Ten Thousand Villages ,etc,and not to mention WorldMarket along with a host of even online Boutiques give us a sampling of  our Eastern ware, both colorful and rustic !!..Almost all of my very Indian stuff at home have been bought in US .. Shipping from India is mostly stressful for me and honestly, patience to wait for anything I need, has never been my strong suit :). So DIY is the way to go many times..

Regular store bought finds get a vivid Indian look with just some acrylic paints/fabrics and/or some of my own clay creations..  My  favorite pics on the walls get photo mat backgrounds based on the color schemes of my choice and colorful pillows / placemats and runners … and that’s all it takes to bring about a room makeover ! I love collecting Ganesha and Buddha sculptures too, large and small. Also fabrics, Kutchi,Suzani, etc, when I can grab them up.

Also love having a lot of indoor plants.. Most of my plants stay out in Summer and come indoors in Fall  (So you see a bit of a crowd indoors in these pictures ) .. I love having at least a few of them in at all times..They bring lot of positive energy into our homes and hearts !

That was certainly some tips from the designer herself! I loved your decor mantra, the tips you shared with us here and your attitude! I am sure all our readers, too, enjoyed every bit of this colour-laden journey.

Look at that colour palette!

Stunning in one word!

And who would not want a space like this? Perfect for a good read with some chai!

Pretty knick knacks tastefully displayed! I love that Suzani!

  

And can we miss this green corner? My favourite !

And some more here!

Such prettiness!

Splash of colour amongst the pretty foliage!

I am in love with all these corners!

The neutral walls seem to be the perfect backdrop for the pops of colour in the form of paintings and artifacts! 

A closer view of the landing....this homeowner loves fabrics of all kinds!Look at way she has displayed the Kutchi wall hanging!

This home speaks and breathes colours! Love those pretty patterned cushions.

Absolutely gorgeous!

Brass decoratives, candles, urlis...the homeowner's love for traditional and ethnic decor elements is clearly visible.

The bookcases displaying some of the handpicked artifacts. A splash of green makes this corner come alive!

Peeli had sent me all these photographs and i had intended to use just a few. But i could not resist myself and wanted to use all of them! After all, i couldn't have been partial to the others, could I? I am sure you would have enjoyed this colourful tour as much as I have enjoyed putting this post up. We would love to hear from you. And now, it's time to log out. I shall be back soon with another interesting place. Until then, stay well and have a great time. Enjoy the festivities!

As we turn one......

Hello everyone! Time to celebrate here at Seasons in the sun! That moment finally came in! A whole had year passed by, my new born completed one year today :-D.... And who can be the happiest? A thought, a wish, a hope that some day I shall have a tiny little space of my own where I can express myself without hesitation; a space that will grow on me and will be a connect between me and all my wonderful readers, finally became a reality on this day last year. Since then, this has been a cherished virtual corner where I sipped my chai, talked to myself and to many of you, had my story telling sessions and captured and shared many a loving moment. 

      Days, weeks and months passed and my little blog grew. It grew in experiences as I kept sharing here. Each little post had stories to tell; pictures to show and left us all with a pleasant feeling :-).... Well, I am assuming that they did bring in a smile as you read through the lines.... And meanwhile, Seasons in the sun experienced all the glorious seasons, it celebrated with me, gave me company and made lots of memories. 

       And while we celebrate together, I feel immensely proud of this little space created out of love and with the support and encouragement of a few of my close virtual friends. A big chunk of today's birthday cake is for them :-D <3..... Seasons and I together say 'Thank You' to them! Today's celebration is an informal one as I have my 'finale examen' a couple of days later. We shall be here very soon with an elaborate celebration. So see you around very soon! Do join us when we celebrate once again.

As we turn one today ; hoping for many more to come......

Happiness unlimited..............

Can we have a birthday without some candles and some cake?

Of mountains and lakes and a magical trip.....

'I want to make memories all over the world....'

      In my case 'all over the world' gets replaced by 'in my backyard'.... I had once come across this quote while surfing through some sites for quotes. And found it apt, simple yet something that made so much sense. I want to roam all over the world making memories and have already embarked on it :-).... While planning for it, I realized that there is so much to see in my own country. So why not start from here itself!  And we have been travelling for some time now. We come back from a short trip to the mountains and hills and I find myself planning for the next! Do I sound crazy? Possible! Looks like I am a victim of 'travel-mania'! The travel bug has gotten to me with all its strength and isn't leaving me at all! To top it all, I have been lucky to live in Bangalore; the city spoils one for choice of destinations! There are n number of places around here to take a pick from. 

Red Hills was our destination this time; and while selecting the place I never knew that it will be such an out of the world experience! Yes, we have visited this part of Ooty before so were a little prepared about what to expect in terms of weather, roads and the natural beauty. But this particular place surpassed all expectations. It was tranquility personified; the peace, the calm, the weather, the natural beauty and also the comfortable stay all rolled and packed into this holiday at Red Hills. While I enjoyed the serenity of Lake Emerald from the resort, I experienced a slice of heaven on earth! I remembered how I harboured this intense  craving to visit the Swiss countryside. The colourful photographs I have seen of those places made me dream of them....sometime, maybe sometime, I kept chanting in my mind. But this visit to Red Hills had certainly impacted my dream; we have all of that here, in our very own backyard:-)....

Well, there is a little history behind the name of the place, Red Hills. According to Vijay Kumar, who owns this magnificent place, ' Willie Collins came from Red Hills in England. This place reminded him of his place and he named this as Red Hills.' As you keep reading on, you will know who Willie Collins was and  have more information on this splendid property of Mr.Vijay Kumar. I read about this beautiful place in a few sites. And armed with all these information and reviews from the various guests who lived in this gorgeous property, we chose the place. We had visited this part of the Nilgiris before and were absolutely blown over by the magnificent scenic beauty! The emerald green water of the Lake Emerald blew us away completely! What a spectacular sight it was! Straight out of a travel magazine; on the other side, Lake Avalanche made a pretty picture with its forested islands and meandering course. The verdant vegetation all around, the lakes visible through the trunks of the tall trees; oh! I would say this would be a painter's delight! 

Such places can soothe our tired minds :-)...such visits can be so relaxing. Our drive up to Red Hills, though tiring physically was relaxing mentally ! Once there, we fell in love with the place instantly. The bungalows resembling those of the colonial style with high ceilings, large windows, fireplaces, wooden flooring, a neat little sit-out, all added to make the place even more charming. What caught my fancy was the dining room with a view of a tall peak, shooting straight up. The table by the window overlooking the mountain was to be my place for the next two days! I had already made up my mind the moment I saw this! Every time I sat there for my meals, I felt as if I was traveling by train through the Swiss countryside. I know this might sound strange to most but my imagination ran wild. The numerous times I  have read Heidi can be squarely blamed for this fertile imagination! So that was the story of the dining room. And now comes those benches with a view. I call them' the benches with a view'! The white painted benches on the  green carpet of the grass with the meandering lake Emerald is something I shall not be forgetting anytime soon!

As I write about Red Hills here, I would like to include a few things about the estate as has been told to me by Mr. Vijay who owns the place. In his words, " The property was established by Willie Collins in the year 1875. My dad bought the property in 1937. It was my family home and I was born in this house. In 1992 we opened this place for guests as a home stay and we continue to do so."
And we were lucky to have come across this beautiful place. We not only had a pleasant stay there but also made great memories.I guess it is time to let the photographs do the talking. Most of the photographs might look a little hazy as it was cloudy and we tried to capture it as it was :-)....

The star attraction was Lake Emerald.

the view from our veranda..........

as the lake meandered on............

It was cloudy as can be seen and most of the photographs have been clicked in the regular setting.

One side was the Lake Emerald and on the other side were the mountains and the tea plantation...

one more view.................

What a lovely bungalow! I wouldn't mind staying here forever :-D

the tea bushes along the slopes.........

Can you spot the waterfalls?

top of the world........We trekked up, huffing and puffing as we climbed up to have this magnificent view!

at the top of the mountain ( ? )......... I would love to believe that I climbed a mountain!

The dried up branches created a beautiful pattern.....

What a pretty sight these wild flowers made!

view from the top...........

Loved the perfect contours!

To me, seeing is believing!

The mountains in the background, the wild flowers strewn all along our way, the tricky climb up, all made for a glorious morning!

Seeing is believing at times and we shall do just that! While I document my experiences at Red hills here, I shall upload a few photographs of the place, too. But believe me, when I say that these visuals are nothing compared to what my senses have taken in:-).....

And here come the clouds like a whiff of smoke !

I loved the tiny temple :-)

Pretty, isn't it?

And there were these pretty wild flowers all along our path ........

A group of bikers stopped by Lake Avalanche to enjoy the beauty and made for an interesting photograph!

And look at those colourful houses on the slopes of the hills!

selfie time up on the mountains.......

picturesque.............

Lake Emerald

The mountains behind me and the lake in front of me ; I couldn't have asked for anything better!

One of my favourite places there........

 And finally Moby here! The friendliest one I've ever come across!