The Romanian Gypsy

Was reading an article on Romanian Gypsies." The women of the house never leave the house". And  I thought that they may be cooking all the time in their kitchens. But the most fascinating thing is that their so called kitchens are the show corners in their contrasting, colorful, high ceiling, gypsy abode showcasing some tastefully hand picked show crockery that they never use. And cooking? They do it outdoors. In open.

The house wall colors are always bright and contrasting. The kind of color we would think twice to put on our walls. The motifs are antique and flowery. The houses are spik and span. These colors remind me of the color palette I use to create with my crayons. When no one would tell me what color to put where. It was just what I liked and how aesthetically it appealed my eyes.
I have also put bright contrasting colors on my walls but have been able to muster courage to team them up with bright upholstery.  In fact i have muted them down with beige and white combination with some highlights of gold and browns.
Though I do have an experimentative streak in me, I have never been able to go the typical gypsy way. Full of Kitch and colors and prints and textures.I like harmony of colors and textures. What do you like?

Go Convertible!

One thing and many ways to use it! I have always been fascinated to explore many ways of using the same thing over and over again but in different way. You may call it my quest of exploring an alternative usage of this. Every new trial gave such satisfaction to my creative skills. I tried this most on my wardrobe. Many times I have mixed n matched the same garment with different kinds of accessories and created a new look every time. 

 

As a child I loved to use my mom's saris and wrap them around in different folds. I found amusement in wrapping the 6 yard cloth and make shift dresses out of them. And called them my Pin Up Dress collection as they would be pinned up to hold on to the shape. 

I was amazed to see how Sari has taken its shape on the Red Carpet when I saw Pussy Cat Dolls, all in black, gorgeous innovation sari and sari inspired dresses. A Sari converted into a beautiful gorgeous outfits.

Recently what has been fascinating me are these convertible dresses and tops. One Garment and many ways to wear it. I have recently bought an automatic black bolero that can be worn in 8 different ways. And I have also been eying upon this Victoria's secrets convertible purple dress that gives you different looks from 11 am Brunch, 3 PM Lunch , 9 PM cocktail and a 11 PM "Let you hair down" party.

And what more do you need apart from some good mix of accessories. Some gold and some contrast colors will make your same dress look drastically new.

So go on! Get convertibles! 

The Regal Touch

I have lived in my Versova house for 3 years now and believe you me, I have never loved it as much as I do it now as it just acquired my touch. "The Regal Touch" of warm earthy Indian colors and alot of gold. Bling of Gold gives me immense ccomfort. Quite strange but I am very particular about my Golds as well. The right shade and the right bling and the right warmth of it.

I have now brought two of my inspirations together and this is how my love pad looks like. First is the love for marigold colors and second is of course, the BLING

I started with my favorite deep marigold colors on the walls about an year ago. Putting together the right accessories one-by-one here I am and i guess its enough for a little pocket house of mine.

One of my walls is in deep wine color and other three are sunset yellow. (How is love this color on my walls!). It has always been a challenge for me to pick colors of upholstery and accessories. I put together a mix of whites, to mute the brightness of my room, browns to bring warmth, wine and mauve cushions to richness and of course bronze gold for add my REGAL TOUCH. Wood in my room is a mix of dark and brown hence didn't stick of one particular shade to make it a match much. The lamp and show peices are in moss green (earthy) color to break the match much of the room.

I also added my personal touch by placing this beautiful Tressorie bag, gifted by my husband as he knows how crazy I am about Indian Royalties, on the chest as a show piece along with some flowers and an antique key box on the wall. I covered the ugly looking switch board with the bronze handmade paper with manuscript and embellished it with golden lace.

With these colors, light plays a very important role. Too bright light would burn out all the bling and too low makes it look dark. Hence i would need to add some lamps to highlight the corners.

How I feel a part of the fairytale I always wishes to live. The fairytale of belong to the Indian Royal families. Aah! And I guess that's how I am trying to keep it close to my heart. I do want to change the theme of the house soon and I know I will not like it for long it if it is a new contemporary or an arbitrary abstract decor.

I also remember what fuss I created when the shade of wine went wrong and I want standing at the store trying to mix the already bought color with deeper hues to get what I had visualized just to get my REGAL TOUCH to the house.

But there is more to do!