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No expensive curios needed. No designer artifacts.
It's the simple things in life that add that sparkle to your home and a smile to your face.

Yes, I am talking about fresh juicy fruits & colourful fragrant flowers and the magic that they bring into our homes.Today I share with you all loads of beautiful moments created by flowers & fruits in my home...

Take out that old brass 'matka' or 'kalsi' and fill it up with seasonal flowers, just a couple of them will do the trick.Let your creativity flow, write down happy notes;-)Don't have a brass vase, no worry go ahead and use empty glass jars......or empty wine/beer bottles. The brand lettering adds to the beauty. Add some whimsical touches, ceramic ducks picked up from a local fair...Don't have a florist nearby, no worries pick up some wildflowers from the roadside or some seasonal flowers from the trees:-)

Painting your front door makes a big difference in the first impression your home gives. Paint your door a color that you love like orange or red. Replace your house numbers with new modern house numbers. While you’re at it, repaint your mailbox post. You could also repaint your porch railing to make over the entry way to your home.

Even if you don’t have a room in your entry way, you can create an entry way easily. All you need to do is place a bench near the front door with coat hooks above it. Put baskets underneath that pull out for quick storage of shoes and other items such as library books. Having a bench in the entry way is very convenient as well as looking good, most people find them to be quite useful.

If you want to give a room a comfortable country style make over try putting wainscoting around the room topped with chair rail. Paint it a color that is a couple of shades darker or lighter than the wall color or go bold and paint it a contrasting color.

Laminate flooring that looks like hardwood is a breeze to install. You could do a small room in one weekend quite easily. There are also stick down bathroom floor tiles that look like tile floor. If your bathroom floor is linoleum and outdated, this could really help the look.

Check back soon for the next portion of this blog.

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Paint or wallpaper one wall in your bedroom a brighter color than the others. This accent wall will make your bedroom look more interesting. Wallpapers are available in practically any texture and color you can imagine, so have fun shopping around.

If you have an old dresser you’re using somewhere in your house that isn’t very attractive consider giving it a makeover. Sand it down and paint it a bright color or stain. Add polyurethane so the color will last. Add new drawer pulls that are up to date. You may even want to makeover other pieces of furniture in the same room to match.

If you dining room chairs have fabric seats you will probably need to reupholster them at some point, because the seat fabric always seems to get dingy far before the table starts to look dingy too. Choose a stylish fabric and cut it an extra two inches wide all the way around the shape of the seat. Wrap the fabric around the seat and staple it in place.

Home offices always seem to be places where clutter loves to live. Take the time to organize all of the clutter. Investing in a few matching boxes and files will help a lot. Label everything and pay attention the layout so it will be easy to put things where they belong before clutter gets the better of the room again.

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A self taught artist, who doesn't restrict herself to one single medium and paints on just about anything. She has transformed mundane things like tea kettles, buckets, plates and even a foldable chair into pieces of art.
Aarohi paints with acrylic, oil, pastels & watercolours. Her acrylic paintings of Hindu Gods with her funky twists is quite interesting.
I am completely in love with these Ganesha paintings!
A little bling, a little kitsch, with unrestraint use of colours makes her work really beautiful!
If you want to get your hands on these colourful pieces of art, you are lucky!

Aarohi is having an exhibition of her art at
The Oxford Bookstore,
Leela Galleria,
Old Airport Road, Bangalore
from the 21st November to 23rd November 2008.

She describes her work on exhibit as 'My take on India, folklore, and dance amongst others. Varied expressions on objects of everyday use. Kettles transform to lovers meeting amidst zebra stripes. The ubiquitous Autorickshaw drove through my art on its way to London too! Things I see around me represented onto objects to form art.'

So if you are in Bangalore, do visit 'Art by Aarohi' exhibition.

( Images from Art by Aarohi.com)

Large home projects are daunting tasks, and often they don’t get done. But, there are plenty of small home projects that you can easily get done in a weekend, some even in a couple of hours, that can make your home look cuter. Another good thing about these small projects is that they are mostly fairly inexpensive and can be done on a budget.

Rearrange your living room furniture. Simply rearranging a room is free of course, and it can make the room feel fresh and new. Try planning out how you want to arrange the room on paper to save the time and effort of trial and error when moving things around. Think about getting rid of any extra tables or junk you don’t need, or bring in a table or accent piece from another room if you actually don’t have enough in your living room. Make sure you put the coffee table close enough to the couch to easily set drinks on it.

Adding a small shelf at eye level to a wall that doesn’t have enough pizzazz can really give a room more personality. You can use the shelf to display small framed pictures and art, candles, or some other item. You can layer them a little bit for a more interesting look, or space them a few inches apart for a modern sleek look.

Check back soon for the next portion of this blog.

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If you want to display your kids’ artwork, but you don’t like how it looks cluttered on the refrigerator, try a more stylish alternative. You can hang a linen covered bulletin board covered with a cute pattern or just a solid color that matches the room it is in. Hand the artwork on this with small pins. You can also hang colored string across the ceiling in rows and attach clips to it to display art work all along the ceiling.

Apply the same rules to picking out a kitchen table as discussed above for coffee table selection. Also, kitchen tables that are round can be a big plus if you have a family because it will help encourage conversation. Also, the less corners the better when you have kids in the house.

There are even paint types available today that can help you reach your design goals. Use high quality latex paint and your walls will wipe clean easily. Use magnetic primer under your paint and you can display art directly on the walls. Try a chalkboard paint in a kid’s room or a play room if they like drawing with chalk.

Carpet is probably not the best choice if you have a family. A spill can turn into a stressful cleanup that ends up staining. Hardwood flooring or even a laminate that looks like hardwood, can stand up to messes and look great at the same time.

Get a big cupboard for your living room or playroom and fill it with labeled baskets. These baskets can be used to store toys and can be easily organized. If you get cute wicker baskets you could even store them on shelving and the room would still look nice. Benches are good in playrooms or kids’ rooms too, because you can put baskets underneath for extra storage.

There are several things you can do to help your home look stylish when you have kids with products that will stand the test of abuse. Some of these tips can help organize and reduce clutter but they also look good.

Have a bench in your entryway. This will be where all shoes get removed. You can place a couple of baskets underneath the bench in which shoes can be stored. You can get a cute rug to go under the bench that will gather the dirt and help contain it.

Keep a basket at the landing of your stairs. Use it to hold things that you know you’ll need to take upstairs or downstairs. This way you can keep surfaces in your home clutter free without having to run up and down the stairs to put away each item individually.

Take care when you pick out your coffee table. Coffee tables tend to get dinged up quickly, so you should make sure you choose a table that is durable. If you are going to go with wood, choose a hard wood like oak and choose a table that has been polyurethaned. Steer clear of glass coffee tables, not only could they be broken during roughhousing, but they show finger prints much more easily than wood does.

Leather is a good choice for upholstery because you can wipe it clean. Leather tends to look better as it gets older too, which you can’t say about other upholstery materials. Leather is quite durable and should be able to hold up well if you have kids and pets.

Check back soon for the next portion of this blog.

This blog is brought to you by locum tenens.

Christmas tree ornaments can be used creatively in a variety of ways for decorating, and the best part is the low cost.

Buy two medium or large clear ornaments and remove the metal part on top that attaches to a hook. Fill the ornaments at least half way with spices to use in hot chocolate or egg nog. One could be filled with ground nutmeg, and the other could be filled with ground cinnamon for example. Other options would be vanilla or chocolate powder, whatever you’d like really. Now, cover the openings with squares of cheesecloth. Secure the cheesecloth around the opening with silver or gold string.

Large clear ornaments can also be used to fill with bright candy, peppercorns, popcorn kernels or any other bright colored small food item. Tie bits of ribbon to the loops meant to use hooks in for hanging.

Use small sized festively colored ornaments for decorating the fridge. Tie two together using red ribbon, and hang them over a metal fridge clip that is clipped to a holiday photo or card.

Small ornaments also look cute used as decorations on cupcakes, one small ornament per cupcake.

You can make a cute centerpiece for a table using ornaments stuck on wooden skewers displayed in a vase. Use pieces of your Christmas tree in between ornaments.

Small ornaments can be tied in pairs around napkins with cute ribbon to create unique place settings for parties. Write the guests name who is to sit in each place on small pieces of paper and slip the pieces into clear ornaments, one for each pair in a setting.

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It is that time of year again when people start to think about the coming year. In 2009 hairstyles are exciting, with a strong forties influence bringing gloss and glamour to long, short and mid length hair alike. We are seeing quiffs and kinks adorning starlets around the globe and hair accessories also are adding some extra sparkle this coming year.


Quiffs add height to otherwise flat styles and are easy to achieve using a little back combing and wax for extra hold. Even long hair looks nice with a quiff, as the front section can be styled up, whilst the rest is tied back for a stunning updo.

Color this year is all about reds, from pinky reds to auburn hues, shiney red hair is very popular and will remain so thorughout 2009. Hairstyles maybe retro, but always have a modern twist. Layers instantly update a tired hairdo and are all the rage in 2009.

Use styling irons or curling tongs to add waves, kinks and interest to every type of hair. Do not be stingey with the serum, as gloss and shine will make all the difference.
However if all that sounds too much effort, never fear as the bed head look, fluffy curls and almost punkey unkempt looks also find a place in 2009 hairstyles.

To see pictures of 2009 hairstyles part 1 click here

To see pictures of 2009 hairstyles part 1 click here

inner journeys...outdoors
That line has been playing on my mind ever since I finished with the hectic but enjoyable festivities of Diwali.
Today I take you far away from the hustle-bustle of daily life, to the snow-clad mountains of Himalayas to experience Shakti.

Shakti a concept, where one can escape the noise and stress of city life to a space where the splendour of nature can be experienced in the serene landscapes and by interacting with the local people and their culture.Shakti Village Experiences~ An experience where one can walk through the remote villages of Himalayas accompanied by guides and porters, interact with the locals, stay in traditional homes that have been made more comfortable for the guests without losing it’s original charm.How can anyone not fall in love with this turqouise room?The rooms are rustic, minimalist but with bright splashes of colours.
Oh! How I'd love to have breakfast here with those shiny vessels in the background:-)

Shakti has three village walks to choose from~Kumaon Village Walk, Sikkim Village Walk and Ladakh Village walk.

So pack your bags and your mind to a land of divine beauty.

As I leave you with these breathtaking images I can only quote these lines from the movie 'Sound of Music'

"Climb every mountain, search high and low

Follow every byway, every path you know.

Climb every mountain, ford every stream,

Follow every rainbow, 'til you find your dream."

( Images from shaktihimalaya.com)

Since most of us are trying to save money right now, I thought I would post a few do it yourself home decorating projects. These are all inexpensive projects that you can save money doing yourself. Do it yourself projects can end up being a lot of fun too, and the results will be creations you made, so you’ll feel more sentimental about them than if you had simply purchased the work from a store.

Artwork to adorn your walls with can be quite expensive. Not only are even prints expensive to buy, but they’re even more expensive to frame. Fortunately, there are some creative do it yourself alternatives.

Framing a piece of fabric can look nice. Just use a matting board for a border in a contrasting color. You can make this into a series if you prefer, framing matching fabrics or maybe fabrics that match in texture but differ in color.

Framing dried plants and flowers can look very pretty. Use a colorful mat board to hot glue them to. Another option is to make a colored photocopy of an arrangement of leaves and flowers and frame that.

Take a trip to the thrift store or to a used book store. Find books with pictures you like inside and use them to frame. You can get more creative and make a collage of several if you like. Try adding some text too and spraying over it in a clear coat before framing.

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