Indigo, sapphire or azure?

I came across these on Elle decor and though I am not a huge fan of blue rooms or blue accessories, these pictures with so many shades of blue got me salivating. I especially love the vases and the tapestry on the wall. Enjoy!

Images : Elledecor

Trend Alert

This morning while browsing through Elle Decor i read about this Trend Alert, Floral patterns are IN. They say "Flowers burst into full bloom on the season’s prettiest designs, from delicately painted tableware to boldly patterned textiles."

As I read about it I realized I didn’t possess a single bed sheet/cover, a vase, a piece of china, a rug or anything for that matter with a floral pattern. I have never been the types to like floral prints. Do you like floral prints?

But on the other hand i love fresh flowers. I always try and get them home. On big days like Diwali, New Year, etc i always make it a point to go to the Phoolwali mandi at Mehrauli and fill up my home with flowers in every little nook and corner. Even when I don’t have fresh flowers at home I like getting greens from my little garden in the balcony and arranging them in transparent glass vases. So I guess I am more of a fresh flower person and not the pattern types. And I don't think even this trend alert will make me buy stuff with floral designs. What do you think of trends? Will you go and get a little bit of trend in your house even if you are not the type to believe it or you just go with what you like? I'd love to hear about this from you.

Leaving you with some pictures we had taken at a Flower fair. Enjoy.

p.s. Hey, i just found something floral at my place. This batik painting i did at this awesome centre for batik at Kuala Lumpur in 2006. More about this in another post.

Hello Mix & Match

Eclecticism : It is characterized by the fact that it is not a particular style.

What better way to add a personality to my room by following the first style manta of 2008. Mix and Match. Yes, Eclectic style it is. I mean wow; I can mix themes, accessories, textures, colors and whatever else I can think of!! Of course one needs to take care that all this blends together beautifully and doesn’t leave the home looking chaotic.

Pictures : Ikea Room design 2008

It gives me the chance to fill my home with all that I love ;) All those tips and goodies from places I have been to and will go, whatever I see around me and touches me, whatever I have bought and will buy. This is like bringing my past, present and future whims together. I am loving it ;)

• Think Ethnic and modern together...grandmother’s antique table in a modern study
• Think bringing together different textures...accessorizing the leather couch with velvet, silk cushions
• Doing up the room in contrasting colors
• Think stripes and dots and florals…all at the same time…lovely…( I would keep the colors complementary though)
• How about a modern black and white art on a red wall.

Well, this takes care of two of my New Year design resolutions. Changing the look of my home every season falls just in line with this mix and match trend and this will definitely help me leave a personal stamp on whatever I do ;)

A colorful 2008

A very happy new year to all of you!! I am really sorry for not being around all this time but I promise to be regular from now.

New Year is the time to make new resolutions and start afresh. So what are your New Year design resolutions? Mine is change to the look of my house every season, leave my personal stamp on everything I do, create adorable lil “somethings” out of lying at home “nothings” and get inspired by so many of these creative people who are out their designing some awesome stuff. I was just reading about the home décor trends for the year 2008 and thought I must share the same with you. Here are some I loved.

Style trends for the year

• Goodbye minimalism, Hello textures and Layers: Mix and match is the mantra for this year, a contemporary coffee table with a velvet couch. It’s all about mixing theme from different periods of history and combining textures.
• Eco Trends: It’s all about being responsible home makers and hence the use of organic and recycled furniture, paints, accessories et al. Design savvy yet eco friendly.
• Leather with a feminine touch: For long leather has been associated with bachelor pads but this year its all about bringing out the softer side with caramel, cappuccino, cocoa and cinnamon as well as colors ranging from pastel pinks to robin egg blue with contrasting accent colors of dark chocolate. Yes you have read it right.
• Multipurpose furniture and accessories: Utility not only at the product level but also in design.
• Scaling down and scaling up: Oversized furniture is out but big patterns on furnishing and accessories are in.
• Understated glamour and Metal: Glamour that just whispers and is not over the top. Metallic finishes, grey tone metals like silver, pewter, brushed nickel, aluminum, steel, and platinum will be in.

Color trends for interiors the year

• Warm reds of the watermelon and carrot orange types
• Lime yellow, kiwi and tangerine
• Black & White still rule but combined with yellow, lime orange and fresh green
• Blue with camel and tan, pale green and yellow

I love the first two palettes they are so wonderfully cool for Indian summers. So go ahead and choose your favorite and even if you can’t change the entire décor of the house lots of accessories thrown around the house will definitely bring in the trend for 2008 into your homes.

Sources: Trends as predicted by Design consultant Davis Remignanti at furniture.com & Janice Simonsen at IKEA. Pictures are from the web.

Color Trends for the year 2008

2007 coming to an end and the little piece I did on the color purple yesterday set me looking for the color palette for the year 2008. So for those of you who own homes (Unlike some of us who stay in rented houses and can’t do much with the walls ;)) here are the international color trends for the year 2008 (Courtesy: Debbie Zimmer from The Rohm & Haas paint quality institute)

Go Green: She says, “Green may just become the newest “neutral” color”. Springy Greens & Aqua Blues to create a fresh and an outdoor feel or tans and browns for that earthy look. Now green is supposed to be very restful to the eyes and can reduce fatigue. So for all you stressed out people, I think it will be a good idea to go ahead and try this out.

Sophisticated Elegance: Zimmer says “Gaining popularity in 2008, black and white paint hues will enhance opulent living spaces filled with accessories, lighting, mirrors and rich fabrics”. Now the trick in using these yin and yang colors would be to strike a balance and use various hues rather than a striking black & white interior which can become a little difficult to live with after some time. Rohm & Haas suggests using silver metallic and dramatic red accessories to give the room an edge.

Crewel Colors: Rich cranberry reds, warm browns, along with pumpkin orange to create that soulful personalized feel is what she suggests here. All these colors above are such warm and snug colors and they remind me of orange carrots & all the citrus fruits that are so very there in winters and yes the orange cake that we baked last sunday…yummy ;)

Some random pictures of rooms from the internet illustrating the color trends for 2008

Now, just because I can’t paint my walls doesn’t mean that I won’t be bringing in these colors in my home. A good idea would be to experiment with accessories and bring out the same effect. With winters setting in at Delhi I like the idea of going ahead with the Crewel Colors theme (Refreshing Green & the frosty Black & White can wait till summers)

Some elements like lampshades, curtains, table top stuff, bedcovers, cushions can definitely do the trick. Happy doing crewel work!! Leaving you with a picture of a corner that I created in our dining area inspired by these colors ;)