Dressing up the walls

'Home' is such a beautiful word. The four letters mean so much to a homebody like me and many others. Doing up or dressing up a home has so many facades to it. It's not just the pieces of furniture but a whole lot of other trivial aspects that combine together to give a home its look. Dressing a home starts right from the entrance and moves inside. The most common and important element of dressing up the home comes in the form of furniture and accessories like cushions, throws, curtains, etc,etc....but what about the wall? The walls that make up the four sides of a room or space, too, need their share of importance, right? Today we are going to look into some simple and easy to incorporate ideas of dressing up and accessorising our walls. 

A couple of weeks ago,I visited a friend's home. What caught my attention were a few pretty and colourful frames on her walls. They ranged from Batik to Madhubani paintings to gift wrapping paper. The Batik and Madhubani framed pieces weren't the regular paintings that we generally get to see. They were actually pieces of cloth that were bound in pretty frames. A few of these grouped in clusters and behold! You have a unique look! The gift wrapping paper,too, were given a new look by being framed. On speaking to my friend, I got to know that she and her son have together done this:-)....good way to keep our children busy, isn't it? Many a time, we have these pretty ones that we are reluctant to throw away. I remember how many times I have folded and stored the gift wrapping paper after unwrapping the gifts. They had been too pretty to be thrown away! Now I know what to do with them :-).... The wide varieties of these paper can give dull corner an instant glow. 

Well, this was an easy peasy instant idea! And we have many many more such ideas up our sleeves :-).... A virtual friend and an extremely talented person has used basketry on her walls! Unique, isn't it? Want to try out? Go on and try for yourself. I am sure you will come back to us with your pretty walls. 

Another idea is to dress up the walls with pretty rugs and durries! And who says that they are meant only for the floors? Try this out and see the effect. Not too sure of the durries? Never mind, try out draping a section of the walls with a colourful dupatta or a stole:-)....go on and be a little different..... a little bold and a bit dramatic! And once you are done with giving a new look to your walls, do share your experiences with us here :-).... You could actually have a virtual party here in your homes......don't forget to invite us then:-D.....

Images 1 and 2 are from my friend Aparna's home. Look, how cleverly gift wrapping paper has been turned into a piece of walk decor!

Reshma Sharma, another friend who blogs at Dreams are made of these,(http://rishhhhriti.blogspot.in/?m=1),has innovatively used her colourful baskets as a decor element. Isn't it gorgeous?

I loved this idea of framing up fabric pieces and this image is from the internet. One can use all prints and colours of fabric depending upon one's choice and requirement.

This is another image from the internet. A few pieces of fabric or colourful paper can be framed and grouped together.

A woven wall piece from the north-east. I have also used a framed and painted tile in my dining area.

Image and inspiration from the internet

A gallery wall in my friend Kakoli's home. I loved the funky Ganesha photographs! Well, this wall decor is passé now.

Home! A decorative comb has been framed; idea borrowed from my blogger friend Padmamanasa :-)......

Finally, a recent photograph from my friend Kakoli's home. The rust wall has been painted and all I can say is that the pale background is complimenting the Ganesha gallery.

Three of the photographs have been borrowed from Pinterest ( fabric wall art ideas).

Wishing everyone a happy and blessed new year. May all your dreams be fulfilled. May there be peace everywhere, within and all around us.

An afternoon spent at the Sampoorn Santhe.......

The much needed break seems to be zooming ahead without 'brake'. The days are packed up with lunch meets, rendezvous-vous, visiting friends and trying to catch up with a long list of pending chores. Every time, I decide to complete all my pending work during the break but never seem to be able to accomplish them! This time was no better! My earnest wishes to be a person who never ever keeps things pending hasn't been of much help. Sigh! As I step into the holiday and break time mode, I seem to become lazier and an easy going person! The 'shall do this tomorrow' syndrome takes the better of me! I soak myself in the real holiday mood and before long find myself at the end of the break time with a huge pile of unfinished chores. As usual! I guess, this is how it will continue to be!

So I decided not to think of my woes much and really take in all the fun and happiness that this short spell of holiday has to offer. It was one of those days when I met friends for lunch, chatted endlessly with them, enjoyed the absolutely gorgeous Bangalore weather and went shopping at the Sampoorn Santhe! Sounds fun, isn't it? And believe me, it was a perfect day spent with the loveliest of people I have met and bonded at the institute; friends with whom I have become so comfortable :-D.... A trip, a visit or just about the silliest of activities become so enjoyable when there is good company:-)...

After a super delicious lunch, we decided to pay a quick visit to the Santhe...my quick visit invariably stretches itself to as much as it can be done! So an hour, as we had decided, went beyond a couple of hours and even at the end of it left me craving for more. I would have loved to spend some more time there. But then there are always these time issues, these checks that act as the great barriers to anything enjoyable! The environment at the Santhe was beautiful; the weather added to the charm. It was extremely pleasant, cool, breezy, cloudy at times with the sun making brief appearances at times and lighting up everything so beautifully. The crowd was comparatively thin, yesterday being a working day. So it was perfect for us to linger on at each of the stores, examining the pretty wares, speaking to the artisans who were more than eager to share their stories with us. The Rajasthani folk music added to making the place lively! The folk singers from the most colourful state in our country sang effortlessly creating an eclectic atmosphere. There were those visitors who could not control their urge to dance gracefully to those catchy tunes:-D...artists who sat amidst all and sketched effortlessly, young and talented designers who showcased their creations, the artisans who explained to us about their art that has been in their families for years together. No art school experiences there for these local artisans who have been talented enough to learn things themselves and experiment with their forms of art. All these and many more made us wonder about the storehouse of talent out there in our rural regions. These are places where I do not even ask for a discount! I feel, these artisans deserve their prices and maybe much more.

I tried capturing a few photographs; some of those gorgeous, colourful things that we got to see. I wanted to pick up something from each stall but then I did mention about those 'restrictions' earlier here, didn't I ? So I had to do a lot of mental as well as visual calculations before deciding on anything. I loved a lot of things; the dokra figurines, the terracotta planters, the colourful Khurja pottery, the Patachitra, the Peepli work on fabric, the kitschy metal hooks, the list goes on and on! I absolutely loved the bottle gourd planters, lamps and chimes! Imagine! The humble 'lauki' adorning our homes in a visibly creative avatar! 

Before I make the post an extremely lengthy one, I better stop here! Bangaloreans can always drop in to the Chitrakala Parishad for a real 'dekho'! Seeing is believing as we all know:-D.... In the meantime, I shall give you some visual treats here; a few of the shots that I managed to take at the fair. Hope you all like them:-)..... Do share your takes with me here.

Radha and Krishna- applique work from Peepli

Patachitra from Bengal...... This particular form of art exists in Orissa as well but this one is by the artisans from a tiny village in Bengal.

another one from Peepli.....I loved this one! The artist told me that this one has been done by his mother...

And look at the entrance;amidst the thick cluster of trees, this gives such a rustic feel.....

and when i had the chance to click the entrance without much obstruction.......

my love for the Peepli art!

riot of colours!

Pretty wares made out of the dried shells of our lauki or bottle gourd!

the folk singers from Rajasthan adding to the charm at the santhe

another view.........

Patachitra again!

Dokra love

Look at all that!

Such prettiness!

Isn't she a beauty!

Some more from the same stall!

colourful terracotta knick-knacks

metal wall decor pieces

I am completely smitten by these beauties!

What can I say to these!

Completely kitschy!

Kalamkari never seems to go out of fashion!

Of leisure and 'loisir'.......

Sometimes we are visited by some memories. They just spring up from nowhere. This morning while I was checking out the drafts of certain posts for the blog, this particular one attracted my attention. I had started composing this a while ago but had left it unfinished for some reason. Now, on going through it, I could experience a sense of calm. I wanted to retrieve it and finish it :-)..... some days act strange! With our festival just round the corner, the sky wears a brilliant blue! The crisp morning air heralds the advent of autumn and thus the visit of the eternal Mother along with her family:-).....It is indeed a happy time; there is that air of frenzy in my hometown that I miss here but wait there! Isn't happiness a state of the mind? So what's stopping me to be happy? Let me start with this happy post. Old it is but it makes me happy when I read it :-D......

A leisurely hello to everyone out there! How has life been treating you? Mine has been good so far:-D.... The weekend has been a relaxed one after a long time and I give the credit to the rainy days! The heavy rains throughout the Saturday noon and post noon created that wonderful feeling of leisure, of doing nothing,  of a sluggish day. Well, such feelings of nothingness can be so welcome in our pre planned,  must-do weekends. And I simply soaked in these moments of unplanned lazy afternoons and evenings. For once I did not have to run errands, visit the green grocer and the departmental stores; for once I did not have to take stock of what is there and not there in the fridge and run to fill it up for the new week ahead. I liked this feeling of not caring an iota for what would happen the days to come. It gave me the much needed peace.

I love this pretty combination!

Nature's bounties!

That's the brilliant sky!

Of tranquility and peace.......

"Wherever you go, go with all your heart."

Confucius

"Certainly travel is more than the seeing of sights;"

Mary Ritter Beard

And I could not have agreed more to these sayings. During each of our travels, I have accumulated memories of places, people and things; memories that keep coming back again and again and leaves beautiful sensations in my mind. We keep planning our short trips with passion, eagerness and a lot of love. This time was no exception.

Our short and sweet trip to the Nilgiris was something I had been looking forward to after a whirlwind six weeks of engaging and hectic class schedules. In between those, we selected a few places around Bangalore. After a flurry of emails and telephone calls, we managed to zero in on this utterly gorgeous place near Ooty. And then came the waiting time. The interest kept building up in all those days of waiting for the D Day! The travel time as estimated went for a toss as we were not aware of the road widening that was happening on the Mysore Ooty highway. It took  us more time than we had thought of. It was quite a hinderance to the otherwise smooth drive. But the fact of taking in the crisp mountain air very soon kept us going. We both have a love for mountains and forests, some strange inexplicable emotion connected to these. We drove through the forests of Bandipur and then Mudumalai. The road took us through the sound of the crickets and chirping of birds,through herd of deer and troop of monkeys. The occasional rains have been washing the leaves clean making them glisten in their coats of green. It was a beautiful sight. We have driven on this road many times before and each time has been enjoyable. On reaching Masinagudi, we decided to save time and take the shorter route to Ooty. This route has its own charm:-). It has 36 hairpin bends, a little tricky to negotiate but absolutely gorgeous view. So off we started our climb uphill passing by thick forests, deep gorges, pretty flowers dotting the mountains and several breathtaking view points! The wild mountains this time had a lot of colours on them; the reddish and greenish leaves looked like autumn leaves. All along my heart sang a happy song and my eyes danced to the play of clouds against the blue mountains. Tiny hamlets dotted the mountain trail. Colourful homes of the mountain people looked like a pretty postcard. I have always felt that we live in a beautiful country! The sentiments and emotions surge whenever we travel. There is so much variety. Incredible India, indeed! 

Ooty town, of course, does not inspire or attract us! We find it extremely commercial and over the years it has become crowded. But the serenity of the mountains can be experienced the moment we leave the town behind us. By now, we could feel the crisp cool mountain breeze! The ferns springing up from the mountain side, the wisps of smoke from the pretty houses along the mountains,curling up into the sky, the pristine lakes dotting the landscape; what an absolutely charming picture this made! These were not mere sights to us; they made us philosophical and wonder at the marvels of nature............

The Destiny itself was a stunning place! Adorned with rolling green meadows, farmland, dainty cottages and a placid lake! Does it conjure up a delightful picture?  :-D..... It was no less than a real picture, one from the pages of those glossies.... One from those travel magazines.....so gorgeously beautiful it was! I am certainly falling short of words to describe the place! One needs to be there to experience the beauty! The view from our room was too, too pretty for words! Something like my painting while I was in primary school! A lake in between the mountains, the trees so green, the tiny colourful flowers dotting the green grass, the birds flying all across the skies, the smoke curling up from the chimneys of the hillside hamlets; well, well....I am running out of words now! Our Moby Dick was a beautiful one, too! All I did there was read, take long walks, pamper myself in the in house spa and watch the lake and the rain:-)... C'est la vie......:-) what more did I need! I forgot to count calories as I gorged on those delicious dishes, the homemade chocolates and what not! 

Overall, it was a beautiful holiday. It left me craving for more :-)... Greedy me! So now it is time to start planning for the next one; one more of those beauties up in line.

The mountain side was dotted with tiny pretty flowers; nameless to me but what a pretty picture they made with their simple unassuming beauty! And those ferns were so very pretty!

And here is another peek at them! I had to stop on our way down to click a picture of them :-)

The view from our deck was mesmerizing!

Another one while it rained in the evening! The beds of cabbages soaked in as much as they could, glistening and shining!

A favourite of mine :-)... What isn't there here! The blue and the white and the green and the purple.....

Those rainy evenings............

Our room, Moby Dick :-)

Another view...loved the warm colours and the earthy tones.......

Half open, half closed but the most perfect view........

The tripod stood there, all of those days......probably enjoyed all those pretty captures!

I simply loved this view! Never for a moment got bored of seeing it!

Destination chai point! On our way back from The Destiny, we stopped at a shack for some hot chai and along with it got to see the most amazing view!

Couldn't have enough of what we saw!

How about some chai here? We stopped over to enjoy some lemon tea here!

Coffee with French and some awesome view !

:-D

The postcard :-)

This field doubled up as a stadium and the horse riding pad!