interior decoration

Creating lasting first impressions

Styled by Om Sweet Home

Styled by Om Sweet Home

How often do we judge a book by its cover? It’s only fair to assume that in most cases a home will be judged by its foyer. Nowadays many people realise this home truth and are including the foyer in their renovation or decorating plans. The foyer is not just a spot to physically dust off the world’s worries before you ensconce yourself in the comforting embrace of your home, it is also the space that will create the first impression your guests will have of your abode.

The foyer or entryway, as it’s sometimes called, is the first sight that greets visitors to your home and gives them an inkling of what’s waiting for them inside. Besides that, you and your family will pass your foyer several times a day, so make it’s up to you to make it an interesting route.

 Allow me to give you some pointers on how to make your foyer welcoming and  create a great first impression.

When your main door opens directly into the living area, a decorative room divider provides a minimal and elegant solution of creating a demarkation between the entryway and the sitting area.

When your main door opens directly into the living area, a decorative room divider provides a minimal and elegant solution of creating a demarkation between the entryway and the sitting area.

In the case of small or no foyer: Firstly, not every apartment or house comes with a spacious foyer…in fact quite a few have no foyers. In that case, you can create an illusion of a foyer through a few simple tricks.

1.    Contrast: Starting from the main door itself, contrasting wall colour/treatment or flooring immediately creates a visual boundary between the foyer and the living room.

The teal blue door and a graphic print carpet coverts this small foyer into a  striking entryway.

The teal blue door and a graphic print carpet coverts this small foyer into a striking entryway.

2.    A room divider: To give your visitors a clear idea as to where the entrance ends and the living area begins, another technique is to use a minimal decorative room divider or a shelving unit to clearly demarcate the two spaces.

This clever shelving unit doubles up as a classy room divider.

This clever shelving unit doubles up as a classy room divider.

Lighting: Some foyers have compact and narrow spaces with no natural light. There’s a way to fix this. Bounce light into this space by using mirrors. This helps in making the room look bigger and brighter. Lighting can be used effectively to make an dramatic impact – nowadays there are several beautiful pendant lighting fixtures available in the market that are perfect for foyers.

Furniture and Decor: Utilize the foyer to add elegant décor details that will help to elevate the overall ambience of your home. The foyer is the ideal spot for a sleek console table, a striking mirror, a bold painting or sculpture. And if you have ample space in your foyer, you can include other refined accents such a statement couch, lamps and an eye catching carpet runner, all of which spell sophistication and class.

This sleek console, coupled with a bold painting , table lamps and indoor plants creates an inviting atmosphere. Styled by Om Sweet Home.

This sleek console, coupled with a bold painting , table lamps and indoor plants creates an inviting atmosphere. Styled by Om Sweet Home.

Accent wall: An accent wall can beautifully offset an art installation,

Add colour to your foyer without having to paint the entire space. Alternatively, you can choose to paint a mural on this wall or play with textures such as stone or wood. Another idea is to create a collage of family photos – an instant conversation starter.

Simple tricks such as  painting one wall a different colour and off-setting it with an antique console and striking carpet  immediately elevates an otherwise boring entrance.

Simple tricks such as painting one wall a different colour and off-setting it with an antique console and striking carpet immediately elevates an otherwise boring entrance.

Storage: Last, but not the least, when your guests enter your home, you wouldn’t want them to trip or dodge carelessly scattered footwear. Ample shoe storage is key to a clutter free entrance. The foyer can also be used to store shoes or sports gear with thoughtfully built in storage that integrates with the design of the rest of the house. Placing a beautiful bench by the door will make it easier to remove or put on strappy sandals or lace up shoes and also give the space an inviting touch.

Recommend.my shoe.jpg

 All photographs are for representational purposes only.

Pic credits: Om Sweet Home, Aliexpress.com,, Recommend.my, Decoist, Hotpads, Lazada Sg, Pinterest.





















 






Some home truths in the times of COVID 19

This is my favourite to-do home project - creating a collage of my fondest memories. I call it  Wonderwall.

This is my favourite to-do home project - creating a collage of my fondest memories. I call it Wonderwall.

Now, more than ever, our homes have become the most important and over-utilized space in our day to day lives. It’s June and most of us are still working from home and will continue to do so for at least a few months more if not a year. Our children have been schooling online for the last few months, and soon with the summer holidays, they will continue to spend more time indoors until and if normalcy returns. Tempers are frayed and morale is at an all-time low.

Today I am going to address a few key concerns that we all have.

1) How do we strike the right balance between work and personal spaces?

2) Considering the whole family is together and  indoors most of the time, how do we prevent our home from becoming a war zone and instead turn it into a calm sanctuary? How do we ensure that we retain our sanity, and insulate ourselves from this global atmosphere of uncertainty?

1.Striking the right balance between work and personal spaces:

Eroding boundaries between work and relaxation can give rise to exhaustion. So make sure that you do not work on your laptop from your dining table or from your couch or the patio. Instead, assign each family member a room or a section of a room and keep it separate throughout the work day. Most importantly, make sure that your family occupies these work spaces only during your work times. Treat each other’s working spaces as if they were offices or schools. Let each member create a desk space for themselves in their favourite corner. Make sure that these work stations have a good amount of natural light, sockets for electronics, and most importantly earphones. Simple touches like a vase of flowers can add a dash of colour and cheer.  If you have two or more kids using the same room, separate their work spaces with a make shift curtain, a book shelf, or any other visual divider. This visual divider will give them privacy. Another great idea is to have the children’s desks facing outdoors through different windows. “In” and “out” trays or boxes will help maximise efficiency and help keep the work space neat. You can also use small kitchen jars to store small items like pens and paper clips.

Do not eat lunch or have your mid-morning coffee at your work desk. If you want your coffee fix or your kids are feeling snacky, put out some bar stools in your kitchen and use your kitchen as an office/school cafeteria. Insist on having your lunch together as a family at the dining table. It’s a good way to break the day’s monotony, to connect and recharge.

A two-in-one work station like this one is an ideal space-saving solution. It provides each kid with privacy within the same room.

A two-in-one work station like this one is an ideal space-saving solution. It provides each kid with privacy within the same room.

2. Making your home an oasis of calm:

REFRESH AND RECYCLE: Accommodating the entire family 24/7 is not an easy task. But an easy and cost effective way to refresh your living space and also gain some added space is to rearrange your furniture.  Involve your family in this project. And while you are at it, use this opportunity to declutter your home. Clearing the physical clutter in your home, also declutters the mind and opens up spaces that you never knew you had. In the process, you might find some stuff that can be efficiently recycled and repurposed. At the end of this exercise, you will be surprised at the shift in energy – in your mind as well as your home.

 

MAKE A WONDERWALL: This is my favourite and once again you can involve the whole family in the do-it-yourself project. Begin by painting one wall in the house, preferably a corridor wall or a staircase wall. Next identify your fondest memories. We all have special photographs on our Instagram. How about printing them out, putting them in frames (the frames don’t have to be uniform) and creating a wall collage of people and places that you love the most? Intersperse these frames with hand-painted sayings, palm prints of every family member, prized art works or curios that you bought on your travels.

IMG_1750.jpeg

BRING THE OUTDOORS IN DOORS: Natural light is an instant way to perk up any room. Maximise natural light in every room, by first dismantling your heavy curtains. Instead use only your sheer day curtains.

Incorporate plants and flowers into your living spaces. Other than adding colour and cheer to any room, plants are also proven stress busters. If you are lucky to have a balcony or a garden, use this downtime to nurture a herb garden.

 Another fun way to get the outdoorsy feel is to unpack your Christmas lights and install them along your window ledge or wrap them around a shelf in any room. Soft lighting that resembles a starry night brings instant coziness to the room.

 

So that’s it from me! See you soon on the other side. Until then #hanginthere #takecare #staysafe

Convert your balcony into a sanctuary.

Convert your balcony into a sanctuary.

All photographs are for representational purposes only.

Pic credits: Om Sweet Home, Decor It Yourself, Better Homes And Gardens, Pinterest

 

Saigon, mon amour!

These old fashioned and elegant wooden slat windows are part of a hotel built as recently as 2005, but pay a nod to the country’s colonial history.

These old fashioned and elegant wooden slat windows are part of a hotel built as recently as 2005, but pay a nod to the country’s colonial history.

The euphoria of ushering in the New Year is slowly, but surely dying down, well intentioned New Year resolutions are weakening and before we know it, we’ve already completed two weeks of 2019! So before it’s too late, let me begin by wishing all of you and your loved ones a very happy and productive New Year. 

If most of you are like me, then you too are having holiday withdrawal symptoms. It’s only natural as holidays are that time of the year when there are no to-do lists, and the only agenda is to relax and have fun. During this Christmas break, my family and I made a trip to Saigon (or Ho Chi Minh City as it’s now known). Prior to our trip, I hurriedly brushed up on my history of the Vietnam war. One quick tip, in Vietnam, the war is called the American resistance war. I was most curious to see the intricate labyrinth of the Cu Chi tunnels and was awestruck by the sheer tenacity of the Vietnamese people, who have seen so much of political upheaval and suffering.

Among all the other sights and sounds, what really caught my attention in Vietnam was the beautiful and elegant Indochine furniture.

Indochine style is a fusion of Vietnamese and French style, and this can be seen throughout the country in the colonial villas, tree lined boulevards, especially in the French quarters of Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City.

To take you back a bit, the Treaty of Saigon started the French Colonization in Vietnam in 1862 and until the Geneva Accord of 1954, Vietnam was part of French Indochina, a colonial possession which also included Laos and Cambodia. During 83 years of its colonization, the French not only imposed their political systems in Vietnam, but also significantly  influenced the cultural scenario, ranging from architecture and  cuisine to religion and art.

In Ho Chi Minh, my family and I stayed in the heart of its French quarter overlooking the elegant Opera House and within easy walking distance of the Reunification Palace and the Notre Dame Cathedral of Saigon. These well preserved buildings transported us to another era and give us a peek into the city’s French colonial past with it’s stylish French façades, wooden slat windows, teak wooden floors and inspired Indochine furniture.

What did I get back for you from my trip you ask? These pictures of exquisite side boards and display cabinets – classic examples of Indochine furniture that blends French structure with Vietnamese motifs. Feast your eyes, mon amour!