S(teal) the Show!

As the old year rolls its mat to make place for the new year I too needed to make place for my "new finds" from the recent trip. The store-room shelves had to be scanned for articles that could be discarded but believe me, for someone bitten by the "makeover bug" it is not an easy task! 

The first such finding was a remake of a B-Prabha painting, done in water colour by me, that I had actually seen on a greeting card from CRY. It was an exact replica of the original and hence I was kind of proud of it yet it was still to find a place on the walls already occupied by works of painters of repute.

Next was a terracotta jug that I had spotted in an handicraft exhibition by an NGO. Discarding it somehow felt like disrespecting the hard work and talent of the underprivileged but in its current form somehow it did not fit in anywhere.

The Kathakali wooden mask, picked up on my kerala trip, had memories wrapped around it and hence was still lying around but never put up anywhere, probably because it was too bland for the surroundings.

With just few hours to go to the "31st Party" I hardly had anytime so here is a quick-fix done. I gave the terracota jug a quick coat of a neither-bright-nor-dull shade of teal, primarily because it had to match the painting which used similar teal shade as backdrop. I can always work on it further but as of now I decided to keep it simple. 

The kathakali mask was given the same blue and green shade that was there in the painting so that together the three things formed a homogenous cluster.

The before and after of the makeover of the jug and the mask is for you to see. 

Its wonderful to see how a dash of colour can bring in so much life into lifeless things. I guess the "nasha" of makeover is primarily for this joy derived out of transforming non-descript things. So I had two perfect accompaniments for my painting. The only challenge now was to find a place for the three things.

Though I firmly believe that books need no adornment yet I somehow felt they could add a little charm to a small book-shelf lying against one of the columns in the lobby. Few orange flowers in the teal jug just completed the whole look. 

As the setting sun paints some orange hues on the column, I manage to capture it in my cell-phone camera for you to see. What do you think about it?

Here is a longer shot but few rows of the books could not be captured in the frame still!

As I complete this blog I can't help repeating to myself what Virginia Postrel said,

By reshaping or decorating our outer selves, we express our inner sense of self. "I like that" becomes "I'm like that"....!

Meanwhile don't you agree the Teal jug actually steals the show! :)

©Fursatnama 

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The Green Light Project

Today's blog is all about driving away the darkness.

May it be a light to you in dark places, when all other lights go out.

~ J.R.R. Tolkien

The blog may appear philosophical to you (and probably it actually is) but it essentially is a decor blog, at the core of it for sure. A dash of DIY (Do It Yourself) to help decorate the dark rooms around us - aah did we turn philosophical again!

All I have used is a few empty mason jars (you can use any glass jar or wide-mouthed glass bottles for that matter). Thin metallic utility wire is used to make handles for the jars, so they can be hung up from a hook, or tied together in a cluster, Strings of rice-bulbs are put into them, and lit up. Within minutes you have an all-season, no-cost, zero-maintenance, outdoor-lighting, ready! I have these metallic cages hanging all around in the balconies. I have put potted plants, with the foliage hanging out of it, in some while the others are left bare. Stuffing a portion of the light strings, adds to the charm no end.

I use strings of fairy lights (or any string of light bulbs) as my magic wand to transform places into my personal heaven, literally. I have shared some pictures below to give you a glimpse of how it has been used outdoors, in different parts of our balconies, amidst the greens. The "Inside-story" shall be shared some other time.

Believe me, this place feels no less than heaven in the nights, when you are cushioned-up in your cozy chair, sipping your favourite adrak waali chai, as the gentle sea-breeze caresses you, while Kishore Kumar in his most sentimental mood, croons right in your ears, via the bluetooth speakers!

**The pictures are accompanied with some of my favourite light quotes on a (not so) lighter note! :)

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I'm a firm believer that lighting affects mood,

and twinkly lights on strings bring something magical to every ocassion,

though I'm fond of using them as year-round home decor.

~Erin Morgenstern

"To me, lighting really sets the mood for a room. 

A 40 watt bulb in a cheap lamp is the same as a 40 watt bulb in an expensive one."

~Edward Walker

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There's a reason why they're sometimes called fairy lights. 

When the night is right, there aren't any strings at all." 

~ Erin Morgenstern

In Light there is Dark, and in Dark there is Light.

~ Kami Garcia

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I played around with the flowers and the lighting, 

so that was a good way to educate myself. 

~ Robert Mapplethorpe

Give light and the darkness will disappear of itself.

~Desiderius Erasmus

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To shine your brightest light is to be who you really are.

~Roy T. Bennette

We are indeed the light of the world - but only if our switch is turned on.

~Anon

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We've all got both light and dark inside us. 

What matters is the part we choose to act on. 

That's who we reall are. 

~ J.K. Rowling

In order for the light to shine so brightly, the darkness must be present.

 ~Francis Bacon

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There are darkness in life and there are lights, 

and you are one of the lights, 

the light of all lights. 

~ Bram Stoker

Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. 

Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that. 

~ Martin Luther King Jr.

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Light thinks it travels faster than anything but it is wrong. No matter how fast light travels, it finds the darkness has always got there first, and is waiting for it. ~ Terry Pratchett

It's hard to be a bright light in a dim world. 

~Gary Starta

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Don't wait for someone to Green-Light your project. Start now and spread the joy. Edith Wharton says, "There are two ways of spreading light - to be the candle or the mirror that reflects it." So spread the light of this blog, eitherways! :) 

©Fursatnama 

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Trunk Full of Memories

Decorating at times is a way of keeping trunk full of memories alive! 

For me an object is something living. So is the box you see in the picture [Figure 1]. This box contains a secret life much more intense than that of certain human beings. Probably!

Figure 1

So what is the story of this box? Those of you who have spent a considerable part of your lives in hostels must be familiar with a Trunk of your own. By the time I went to a hostel, Suitcases had conveniently replaced the mighty metallic Boxes.  So while I was packing my suitcases for my hostel sojourn, my father got very nostalgic, recalling his hostel days. I could see his enthusiasm as he shared anecdotes from his hostel days. The conversation finally ended with the revelation of the big secret - that he still had his Trunk from hostel days, hidden somewhere in the box-room.

Many years later, when I was trying hard to convince my mom, to let my stuff from hostel days be preserved as memorablia, I remembered Dad's hostel box. To my utter disbelief it had been relegated to the store room that majorly comprised of junk, or things left to be turned into junk. It was sad to see its state when I knew how precious it was to Dad, and I strongly felt that this was no way to encapsulate his fond memories, of the days gone by!

Thus began the task of revamping a Trunk!

I started off with a thorough clean up  of the box, inside out. Since the front lock was half gone, I removed the small metallic handle too. Next with the help of sand paper i eased out the rough surface, all over. Wiping it again with a dry cloth, I applied a base-coat of paint to the entire trunk. I really had nothing specific in my mind and as always this makeover was going to be impromptu, impulsive and an impatient one!

I found some painter's tape (sticky tape) and stuck it all around the box, making big geometrical shapes, mostly triangles, as the tape-lines crossed each other. I filled all the shapes with bright red, green brown and black, in no particular order. Wait for the colours to completely dry and you would find neatly drawn out boundaries around the geometrical shapes, in the colour of the base coat. I painted that with dull gold, in varying thickness just to make it little less organized. This is how the front of the trunk looked now [Figure 2].

 Figure 2

 Repeating the same on all sides, the complete look was a sight for sure! [Figure 3].

Figure 3

As you can see, there were no restrictions on the dimensions. The impulsive stroke of brush dusted with gold only making it a little shabby but believe me, no one has ever noticed it yet.  

I am highlighting it through zoomed images for you, so that you don't lose heart when you come across it. [Figure 4]

Figure 4

Finally it was time to give it a place of importance, back in the main house. So three brass Buddha statues were arranged in a tray and placed on top.  To create some more serenity for buddha a plant with thick green foliage is placed right behind him. A lamp to provide the illumination for the metal to reflect and spread the "light." [Figure 5]

Figure 5

I hung a vintage brass bell from the ceiling to complete the look [Figure 6] and on days when a little more drama needs to be created, a string of rice bulbs does it with perfection [Figure 7]!

                Figure 6                                   

                                       

    Figure 7

Oh yes, do I need to tell you how Dad feels when he sees the Trunk full of memories being the cynosure of everyone's eye! 

©Fursatnama 


PS: Please don't forget to give your feedback through your comments. It will help me in many ways. If you like it do share and follow. :)