9:13 PM
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Do you sometimes feel like there’s too much clutter in
our day to day lives? There are too many demands, commitments, lists, desires,
necessities ... just too much! Do you wish your home would be a haven from
these constant demands of the outside world; a place where there’s more space
to do, think or just be, and less clutter? Well, you’re not the first. The
first person or people who had this idea are probably credited with the creation
of the modern style of furnishing.
However, if you’re not one for steel and chrome but
still love the clean lines of the modern style then you might want to try going
Oriental with your home decorating style. Now, adopting this style in
practicality may take a little more research but the basics that you need to
get yourself set for a Japanese style...
Monday, April 30, 2012
Friday, April 27, 2012
“Have You Been To Vaital Deul?” - Unconventional Temples in Odisha
Vaital Deul is a tantric association of fearsome carvings at Odisha. Located in a serene environment at Bindu Sarovar, the Vaital Deul, has been built in 8th Century. Vaital Deul houses some well kept secrets. From outside, the temple is covered with the inscriptions of innocent women (kanyas) trying to lure the passersby. What lies inside the temple is much more intimidating. The temple is marked by stupefying inscriptions which depict goddess 'Durga' as an eight armed deity 'Chamunda'. This certainly is quite overwhelming.
The deity also referred to as 'Mahishasuramardini', sits on a carcass surrounded by a jackal and an owl. Exactly...
Lucid Luminosity - Lighting Solutions for your Haven
A house...is not a home until well lit...Lighting makes up for the most vital aspect of your home. The elegance of the ambiance is embellished by quality lighting and nothing can attract an eye in every house as a bright light does. Proper lighting adds up to the artistic stature of a house and make it a home. It is a fact that good illumination enhances the overall look and ambiance of your haven.
Brilliant lighting solutions add radiance to your home. For the overall lighting of a room and to bring out the best in the room furniture, soft, non-glare wall lights in white or a color to compliment your walls are recommended.
The style...
Fat Tuesdays! - Mardi Gras
Mardi Gras is without doubt the biggest and most colorful party in the world and provides you and your guests an excellent opportunity to impress everyone around you. The most important elements to any Mardi Gras are Mardi Gras decorations and, of course, Mardi Gras beads and masks. Mardi Gras history has seen tens of thousands of revelers transcend on the French quarter wearing the most colorful and elaborate costumes and you should try your best to recreate this party atmosphere when you are Mardi Gras party planning.
The celebration of Mardi Gras included private masked balls, and random street masking, in the cities of Mobile,...
Thursday, April 26, 2012
Bring India home!
Bring the warmth of India into your home with the use
of rich colours and textures. Whether it is your bedroom or the living room, a
touch of warmth in a home never goes amiss.
Use warm colours on your walls, or keep your walls in
a neutral shade and add a splash of warm colour to your interiors; get a bright
rug or frame an antique sari and put it up on the warm. You can also opt for
cushions in bright colours on your couches or warm lampshades. Get interesting stone
or brass work floor or table lamps to go with these but be careful not to
overdo it. Bright draperies can also add life to your room.
Look into other ways you can...
Wednesday, April 25, 2012
5 tips for the pocket sized garden
Unfortunately, in today’s Lego block world, garden
space is not a luxury most of us can afford. In fact, you’re lucky if you own a
patch of grass to call your own. And if you are, in fact, one of these lucky
souls, we have just the ideas you need to make that little garden space turn
into your personal haven!
1.
A good imagination always helps so
that when you look at your little piece of land you don’t extra garbage space
but a potential garden.
2.
We really liked the idea of small
step gardens. They’re exactly like the terrace gardens you studied about in
school, only a lot more compact,...
Monday, April 23, 2012
Low Cost Housing
Low cost housing seems to be the buzzword in today's news. The Government commits to it, companies want the contract to it, people are skeptical about it ... but whatever it is, it's in the news. So, what exactly does low cost housing entail?
Apparently, low cost housing or LCH as it's also known, is not necessarily synonymous with low-grade products or the use of untrustworthy material. Low Cost Housing includes effective budgeting, use of local resources and improved skills and technology that eventually reduce the overall cost of construction of the project without sacrificing the eventual strength of the structure.So, essentially, LCH is about the economic management of resources, making the eventual product more affordable for all classes of society. The cost of constructing a...
Friday, April 20, 2012
The Tower Of Victory - Qutub Minar
A visit to the Qutub Minar complex is a must visit for tourists, many do not understand its context. Arguably one of the most pivotal monuments, it symbolizes the continuity of invading powers in India and the Minar is inevitably associated with the ascension of Muslim rule in India. It was constructed to overwhelm and subdue the native populace. As a visible and potent symbol of power, it continues to play an axis role in the Indian political psyche.
In its finished state, the Minar is a symbol of architectural perfection and is known to have no parallel in the world. The foundation of Qutub Minar was laid in A.D. 1199. The tallest...
Cordially Concrete! - Concrete Landscaping
Concrete landscaping has come a long way in the last decade or so, and now it's all the rage. Most people use concrete sidewalks as a design feature for the walkways and paths that wind through their yards and gardens. An attractive option for any size yard would be a very inviting stamped concrete patio. Stamping is a process where the concrete is impressed before it sets with different patterns, such as stone and brick. Color can also be added in several ways to add more depth and realism. Additionally there are plenty of other options, such as exposed aggregate for those with larger yards.
Stone walls are another form of concrete landscaping...
Your Home Needs A Scrub-a-dub Too! - Spring Cleaning
Every spring
people start to talk about spring cleaning, not only to discuss
how much they hate it. Now, this may make you wonder what the
importance of this tradition is. Decades back, before most homes
were heated by gas or electricity they used to be heated with
other methods, such as burning coal, wood and kerosene lamps to
give light and some heat. These heating methods not only warmed
the home, but also left behind a layer of soot, dirt and grease
on everything in the home. All winter the family stayed close
together in a couple of heated rooms, which progressively got
dirtier and smelled aweful by the end of winter. Therefore, when
the weather finally started getting warmer, and they could go
...
Wednesday, April 18, 2012
Furniture Time Travel: A touch of French romance
Ever wondered what is with the French
cabinet-makers and the hullabaloo regarding Louis XVI tables? Well, here’s your
quick guide to decoding the basics of French furniture history and perhaps,
bringing some of that romance home.
French furniture has a history that’s as
rich as the nation as itself. From the Middle Ages when the furniture was
largely improvised to the famous pieces created during the time of Louis VI and
then Napoleon, it’s had a long and eventful journey.
It might have taken a century for France
to come in contact with the Italian Renaissance but once it did, its effects
were to be seen everywhere. Cabinets became...
Tuesday, April 17, 2012
5 Green-ovations you want to look into!
Consider
yourself ‘Green inclined’? Do you want your new home or your soon-to-be
revamped home to be as Green as possible? Well, then the possibilities of what
you can do boggle the mind. And if money’s no object then sky really is the
limit as technology comes to your rescue.
Eco-friendly paint for your home has now been around for so long that there's hardly anybody who doesn't know of it. Just as we've all (in the days before eco-friendly paint) walked into a freshly painted space and felt dizzy with the fumes before the tour was even over! And the answer came in the form of Low VOC paints - paints that emit fewer fumes on application...
The Green Ec(h)o!
Eco! It’s nothing if not the new buzzword. It’s the wagon everybody seems to want to jump on to. But eco, like charity, begins at home right? So, what exactly is an eco home, then?
Now, before you picture yourself hitching a bag and heading to the woods or living in a drippy thatch hut in the middle of town with high-end cars and SUVs zipping past or a house with walls of corrugated paper – don’t. All this hue and cry about eco homes is not an underground conspiracy to get you to move into either of those. What an eco home, undoubtedly, is about is an attitude, lots of sensitivity, sprinkled generously...
Saturday, April 14, 2012
Bringing in the wild, blue yonder!
Have you ever been awestruck when you’ve walked into a home? Have you tried to pick your gaping jaw up off the floor as your mind continuously chants ‘this is where I want to live!’ or some version of it? Have you ever walked into luxury so plush that as you insidiously dig your toes into it you hope nobody notices them as they start to turn green in envy? Have you ever walked into somebody else’s home and felt like you’ve walked into your dream home? Have you ever thought about what your dream home would be like?
Now, I’m not necessarily into the Hollywood kind of living but I remember coming across popular singer, Rihanna’s number...
The African way!
Think Africa and you think of vast flatlands, magnificent wildlife and some of the most glorious sunsets in the world. It smells of adventure and is enough to quicken the blood of an intrepid traveller whether or not he’s tasted Africa yet!
And what better idea could there be than to bring magnificent Africa to reflect in your interiors. Warm and earthy yet sophisticated at the same time – African interior decor ideas are perfect if you want the kind of look for your home that is non-fussy, clutter-free and inviting.
Start with painting your walls in the colours of Africa, warm like red, yellow and orange. If you’re not one...
Friday, April 13, 2012
An Awe On The Aussie Land - Architecture of the Opera House
The innovative design of the Opera House has a history that dates back to 1956, when the Danish Architect - Jorn Utzon - won an international design competition. He was later appointed the Chief Architect of the Opera House. However, Jorn resigned in the year 1966 before the construction was completed. His decision was driven by political controversies and mounting construction costs. Despite all odds, the Opera House was completed in 1973.
The Opera House is a treat to the senses. In addition to its marvelous design and stupendous architecture, the scenic view of the harbor can hold you spellbound. Standing on its decks, one cannot...
Park-a-lot With Expertise - Designing Parking Lots
It seems like there isn't much to know about parking lot marking, but there's more to it than meets the novice eye. Marking a parking lot calls for a flair for balancing act between maximizing the amount of usable spaces in a lot, with the most efficient direction of traffic flow and ease of access for lot users, and a few aesthetic concerns. It can be a major design project, depending on the dimensions of the lot you're working with, and this is before even reaching any decisions regarding materials.
Choices in striping design start with the angle of the spaces, ranging from straight, perpendicular 90 degree head-in spaces that allow for two way traffic, all the way to the rarely used 30 degree angle for exceedingly tight spaces, with anything else in between. 60 degrees...
For Your Cootchie-coo! - Furnishing a Baby's Room
Furnishing a nursery can be for your baby can not only be a fun regime but it gives an expectant mother an outlet for those nesting instincts that will soon kick in. A lot of well-wishers people will convince you that you simply must have certain furniture for your new baby's room.
A bassinet is handy for keeping the new baby very close. Most are portable so you can roll them throughout the house. If someone offers to loan you a bassinet, take them up on it as long as the mattress is clean and in good shape. You'll only use a bassinet for a short period, so it wouldn't be well worth the bucks you put in.
If you plan for your child to sleep...
Friday, April 6, 2012
The Empty State Building?! - Architecture of the Empire State Building
The Empire State Building has a rich history brimming with fascinating elements. In its infancy, the Empire State Building was visualized as a contender in a rivalry with the 40 Wall Street Building and the Chrysler Building. The driving force in this competition was the honor of being the innovator of the tallest and fastest built skyscraper in the world. The construction of the 40 Wall Street Building began in 1929, nearly a year after the groundbreaking of the Chrysler Building. Originally, it was proposed that the finished height would be 840 feet, two feet taller than the Chrysler Building. However, in an attempt to combat any last minute...
Stand On The Ground In Style! - Flooring Solutions For Your Home
Your home is your paradise and if you are planning to renovate your home, goes for the changes that are not only eye catchy but also comfortable for you and your family. Remodeling of the home is associated with revolutions and amendments adjusted in every nook and cranny of the home. If you are going to change the flooring of your home there are some tips for flooring of different parts of you house.
Being the most private and personalized part of your home, your bedroom is the place which grabs a big part of your budget whenever you are remodeling your home. You can use carpet, tile, hardwood, bamboo, cork or laminate. Play with different...
Roll On The Floor Launge - Chillax With Floor Pillows And Bean Bags
If you want to add another dimension to your bedroom but it is too small for a separate sitting area, you can create a lounging area in less space by simply using floor pillows. Not only will this create interest in a boring corner, but the pillows can help add to the design elements already in the room. A floor pillow is simply a large cushion that can be used for relaxing on. They are great for sitting on to chat with friends or reclining on when reading a book or watching TV. They are taller than regular pillows and make great foot rests as well as decorative accents.
The color combinations and the patterns used in floor pillows almost...
