Living room transformation - From drab to drool - Part II

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Sincere apologies for not getting back on how our living room make over is progressing (Read about the BEFORE and AFTER-PART 1 posts before you proceed). Our daughter has kept us on our toes and we are busy baby proofing every single item in the house. From the time we published our earlier post, we have added a few things to give our living room the traditional South Indian feel.

A wooden trunk, restored from an antique wooden trunk- We got this shipped from an antique dealer in Kottayam, Kerala. Thanks to a friend, a native of Kottayam for giving us his contact (for those interested in knowing about this seller, please email us). 

Antique Rose wood trunk

Apparently in the olden days, wooden trunks were used by ‘chettiars’ as a dowry chest and is gifted to the bride during her wedding. It is normally made using rosewood or Burma teak to showcase the extravaganza. This one is made of rose wood and has brass pieces embedded on it to further adorn it. It fits in nicely as a side table in my living room. I added some brass pots (called ‘padi’ in Tamizh and was used to measure grains in the olden days) on them. My ever favorite Buddha piece rests nicely on it (Now don’t ask me how Buddha adds to the Kerala/ Chettinad interiors). I just love the serenity it brings to our home. A Kerala mural is also in progress and I will post the pictures of it once it is complete.

The serene Buddha

We also added wooden wall brackets to hang our peacock diya. The wall brackets are made of teak wood and I got it from Kraftome in Coimbatore. They were reasonably priced and of good quality. They may be a bit small to be hung near the roof. But I am ok with the current look until I find bigger ones for a reasonable price. The peacock hanging diya is made of brass and was purchased online. I gave it an antique polish to give it the desired feel.

Note : Could not capture the photo of the brackets as we could not get a good composition at that height.

Peacock Diya

Diya hanging from the wooden brackets

Finally we fixed a Ganesha brass door knocker. It serves two purpose. One, it forces our guests to use the knocker instead of the bell (with a baby around, a door knocker is better than a loud gong). Two, I think it adds a native touch to our entrance door.

Ganesh door knocker

Door knocker - Lord Ganesh protecting the home

We are taking things slow. I am exploring laying athangudi tiles as the border for our floor. We will update about it in the next post. 

Please let us know what you think of the progress.

~ Preethi

Mini home tour - Part 1

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A long pending post and finally I get to take you through a portion of our home. The saying “home is where heart is” is so apt  as Somu and I spend a lot of time at home - in front of the TV, in the balcony, in our kitchen and just about any corner of the house. Since this was our first home, we gave it a lot of thought, love and care before doing up every piece of it. I still recollect the umpteen number of store visits and countless arguments before we had to choose the color theme, the mood and the accessories that brought life to our little abode. During the time we spent on making our home, we discovered some interesting things about ourselves - our tastes, our love for art and how we longed to personalize everything in the house. Today, as I write this post, it is such a pleasure to look back, remember and cherish every moment of it.

Here are some pictures of our home that speaks a million things about us. Take a glimpse of the walls and every object, each having a happy story to tell.  

Living Room

The living room mostly has accents of red, orange or yellow which are supposed to create an environment for lively conversations and happy times. We wanted to have a Buddha sculpture and went with a painting to give it a serene look. The couples painting, the center table and the lamp shade were all added to match with the color theme of the room.

Living Room again

My kitchen is my own space and is the place where I spend maximum time. The decision that took the most time was the selection of colors for the kitchen. And despite all the conventional choices thrown at our face, we went ahead with real bold colors. I have this unusual craze for reds and my friends would relate better to that obsession of mine.  Proud that it even made through the nominee list of Apartment Therapy's small kitchen content.

Dining and Kitchen Space

Notice how we had the cot and side table customized to match the wardrobe in the room ? This was one time that we decided that buying off the shelf does not make sense all the time.

Bedroom Space

And that’s about what I wanted to show for the moment. Every room has some stamp of our DIY and we take immense pride in showing them off to every visiting guest  I still have to put up the images of the foyer, the balcony and some of my favorite nooks and corners of the home. But then I will save it for part-II and for another day.

Meanwhile, do leave me a comment. Would certainly love to know your feedback.

~ Preethi

"All Photographs by Architectural Photography Chennai."