Fresh flowers for your home

This conversation started the other day. We were standing on the bus stop facing an artificial flower & plant shop. Now it was Kensington and the window display was beautiful. But if you looked a little  closely you could understand that those were all artificial flowers. We got talking about whether it makes sense to buy artificial flowers or  go for the fresh ones.

How do you like decorating your home ~ with fresh flowers or artificial ones? In hot countries like India where flowers spoil rather rapidly, I guess it makes sense to buy artificial ones. Now a days in the market there are such lovely artificial ones. I love those silk flowers, created with so much attention to detail. They look pretty darn real.
But if you buy artificial ones, you are stuck with that bunch and can't buy different varieties that you can with fresh ones.

Do you like buying seasonal flowers like tulips for spring or do you like sticking to the same flowers which you always buy?

Though I don't have a traditional brass urli, I like arranging flowers in an earthen pot once in a while. This one came from the sweet shop when we bought misti doi (Bengali sweet yogurt). Once the doi was over, I cleaned the pot and kept it for my flowers.

Fresh flowers can bring in a pop of colour and brighten up a space instantly even on grey and dull days.

You don't have to buy expensive flowers all the time, a few from your garden/pots in the balcony can make all the difference. I love picking up wild flowers and putting them in a jam jar.

By now you must have guessed we love fresh flowers, ah the sheer variety of them in the market and the different shapes and colours, not to mention the smells. Let us your preference.

The Magazine Gawker

Decorating a room, garden or the entire house, whatever the size of the project, the first thing we all do is to go magazine shopping. Oh, how I love to stare at the magazine racks in the shop, drool over the cover pages and browse through the options. They are not only a great source for inspiration but also a  great way to unwind and let yourself sway away in some ‘me’ time. Who wouldn't want some time away with a nice coffee, cookie and your favourite magazine. I totally love the early morning serenity of cold breeze, birds chirping, the intense aroma of coffee surrounding you completely de-linking from the ever so connected world. Even though it lasts only as long as you sip that coffee, believe you me, the few minutes of sitting down and taking a breather in the morning takes you a long way during the day. Sit down with your favourite magazine, be it home, garden , or lifestyle magazine, it definitely  takes you to a place where you are happy, more refreshing and recharges you for that mad day ahead :)

Although I am also a total foodie, when it comes to my choice of magazines to gawk at, it will always be Home & lifestyle. I don’t really get the gossip magazines going on and on about the so called celebrities which are mostly made up, misleading, boring and absolutely useless pile of papers. For me, it's always a nice home magazine with loads of pictures and to -do articles.Also, something that these magazines do is to have that balance between different ranges of products catering to all pockets. The effort they put to collect different pieces and create a place which you can take some inspiration from is commendable and worth the money you spend :)

Here are a few of my favourite magazines :

Homes and Gardens are a beautiful magazine with lots of inspiration for decorating. Introduces you to the current trends in colours, fabric and themes. They feature houses from UK and abroad which I particularly like because you get that global reach in terms of trends.

Real Homes is the one if you just need to gaze endlessly into beautiful real homes with new kitchens, they talk about barn conversions, extensions, garden rooms which is quite good if you are gathering information on home extension to make your own do(s) and don’t(s) list. They also feature mood boards which are a great way to create the colour/pattern/texture you want.

Kinfolk is my new found love, which is about all things life. Their latest Volume 15 is about slow living, learning to unlearn and achieve that satisfaction in life which we forget amidst the usual day to day activities. It talks about how to use the senses like scent, vision, taste, feel and sound in our space to our and the family/work’s advantage.

Elle Decoration has got loads of beautiful compilation of decorating pieces, comparing products and interesting articles on how to make your space your own which reflects your personality. The upcoming events, stores directory, offers are too tempting to turn away from.

25 Beautiful Homes - I really love the way they feature all sorts of homes from around Uk. From studio flats to huge extensions they have covered it all. Lots of ideas on how to use the space for different rooms. Keep reading these beautiful books, unwind, get inspired and fall in love with yourself !

 G

Love for Vintage

When you are doing up a house one of the first challenge is to pick a theme, a mood for the house which makes a 'home'. I am going through a similar turmoil at the moment. As if moving into a new place is not enough challenge we have decided to leave all our existing furniture behind and start fresh. Some have been disposed, and some have found a new home in our garage waiting to get a new transformation:). Although, it’s a sheer pressure of getting things done, this is one of the kind of stress you enjoy. The whole process of researching, browsing endlessly for those unique pieces, clicking on the checkout button and finally unwrapping the delivery is ecstatic.

Honestly, it didn't take much time for me to decide on the look of the house. ‘Vintage’ was an outright winner. Although I love shabby chic, it is getting more and more ‘high street’ status off late with mass production of shabby chic look alike furniture. Don’t get me wrong, but the whole point of refurbishing an old rustic piece of furniture is gone out of the window and the authenticity is lost. Having said that, finding an authentic piece can prove to be a really tough and pricey affair. So the secret lies in striking the right balance of high street, authentic vintage and handmade products. Don’t be scared to take up a DIY project and give the place a personal touch. If I am attempting it, anyone can - you can totally trust me on that ! Style them with your finds from some of the stores which have stuff worth dying for like notonthehighstreet, anthropologie, loaf, Butlers. One of such products I was able to lay my hands on was this gorgeous dining table from Made.com. Quiet affordable at £329 and perfect for a humble dining area with a classy rustic finish. I personally like the chipped finish they gave to the base of the table and the embossed flower pattern against a lovely grey background on the legs.

Coming to my choice of colours, I wanted something bright and lively. Playing with colours with your statement furniture pieces is far more easier than trying to use them on the walls.  The whole process of choosing a colour for the walls, sampling, test paints, busying the colours, painting or briefing the shade to the painters is all too much of an effort for me. Keep the walls white or very neutral and add fun accessories which have a pop of colour. My present obsessions is blue - all shades going up to a very light green are catching my eyes these days. My very first buy as an inspiration for colour and design is this bright Jug with a classic blue English pattern. It almost gives you a feeling as if it's taken out from an old Doulton collection:). 

The blue printed mug which is also part of the inspiration purchase is my favourite now and I bought it for like £2 in a garden shop which makes it even more adorable and my morning coffees even more refreshing. That also happened to be the mug when my son made me a coffee for the first time - so it's ever so special:) 

So when my enthusiasm was reaching its high and just when I am making these 'inspiration purchases' left right and centre I received these two gorgeous, absolutely beautiful stools as a gift from a cousin congratulating on our new house, I took it as a sign of approval for my colour choices from my guardian angels of designing and decided on 'Blue'. The styling and design for rest of the furniture was also inspired  by these two pretty things.

I really loved the vibrant blue pattern and that's something I am working at incorporating in some of my soft furnishings too, I shall keep you posted :) Watch the space for more and more pictures, design crushes and inspirations from Damsels in Distress.

XX  G 

Our Story

So it all started with our homes. You see, of the three of us, G is currently setting up her new home, N is frantically searching for one and S is constantly rearranging the furniture in her dream home. So whenever we get together {which is pretty often}, we talk 'homes'. Just like the way some men talk sports, or teenage girls discuss boys, or new mothers discuss their precious babies, we natter on about whether to have a circular dining table rather than a rectangular one, the merits of an electric fire to a wood burning one, the new range in our favourite furniture shop's catalogue.  We constantly pin house photos, stalk lifestyle blogs, send each other home tour links, explore home decor shops  in and around London, flag textile exhibitions, compulsively buy home accents and hide those from our husbands, the list goes on and on. Basically we super obsess about homes. Rather the decor side of our homes. So much so N and S recently did an Annie Sloan paint workshop, and currently are in the process of painting up every other piece of furniture they can lay their hands on. G on the other hand is battling with husband and builders in trying to keep her vision of her home from going haywire. 

Why this blog: Since each of us are doing a lot of research and constantly emailing links and photographs to each other, we thought we will store all our stuff in one place. So this blog is our virtual scrapbook for all things to doll up our homes.

Who are we: G = Gayathri is an IT consultant by day, a fledgling food blogger, mommy to a cute boy and a harried second home setter. In her first home she had an extensive collection of Ganeshas. In her second home, she has decided to go country and shabby chic.

N = Nisha, the frantic house  hunter is actually a macaron baker by profession. Yup sounds like a dream job, doesn't it? She will beg to differ, specially on days she bakes around 600 of them tasty little morsels. N also has a food blog and is a nifty photographer. 

S = Suchi, the day dreamer, has exhausted all home shows on television, and is looking for inspiration elsewhere. She knows exactly how her dream house should look and feel like. She also has a food blog, but she has realised that she spends more time checking out lifestyle blogs than working on her blog. 

Our connection: We met and connected through food blogging and now supporting each other's home obsession.

What can you expect to find here: Lots of home inspirations.