Little bit of a detour here, from Jaipur. Tamarind Tree; one of the most beautiful man made location I have experienced till date. These pictures are from one of the events at my wedding. The decor was conceptualized by me and executed to detail by Nefertiti;Bangalore. Although the decor added grace to the venue; the old trees, the wooden pillars, the stone statues, the pond and the lawns are manicured to perfection. This location is a pure example of how natural, local materials used appropriately can do wonders.We didn't have to spend a bomb on the decor either. Marigold is a beautiful,under utilized decor element and we just used them to our hearts content. Loving local THERAPY?!

 

 

Photos credit: Joseph,  Richa  & Kalyan. Thank you for these awesome shots!

If you notice the decor its really simple. 

1. Satin cloth knotted thrice in different lengths 

2. Satin cloth tied between the wooden pillars

3. Marigold garlands- used to create the chandelier, used to drape the pillars and just lined along the strairs. 

Most of the Indian viewers know how you can make one. For the others; this is how a Marigold garland is made. 

Disclaimer: Flowers used here are not Marigold

    Don't forget to leave your comments. Thanks much :)

I must have already told you how this week is going to be dedicated to Jaipur. I have always had a certain soft corner for doors. I know its an element we don't often pay attention to; but it can do wonders to how a room looks. Our generation usually likes to be behind close doors, so why not look at a pretty one while we are at it? Yes, my dear lovelies....door THERAPY it is! These pictures are taken by moi and are from the City Palace. I know, you are thinking this would cost more than building a house, but do look at the later pictures where the palace doors can easily be created or bought today. You and I can totally take those home. Remember this? My antique market shopping almost got me one of these gorgeous treats. They cost anything between 2500 Rupees to 75,000 Rupees ($45-$1300). Just be smart about choosing the right one for your space.

this one is made of brass and polished with gold

this door is from the palace; but I could totally use these in my house

sleeper wood doors that look pretty since they have been contrasted with gold bolts and handles

The above doors we can easily get made today that were at Amber Fort centuries ago. Below, here I have some doors that were probably inspired by the ones above but totally for a home today that I found here and there and here too.

I am thoroughly hungover. Well, not from the weekend or anything, hungover from all the culture and art and food I had in Jaipur. What a great city? Sigh!!! The good news is I brought a lot of goodies back and this week will be fun. 

Till I put together all the goodness, here's an amazing haveli(mansion) restored and renovated to detail. It is the Anokhi museum now. This dilapidated Chanwar Palkiwon ki Haveli mansion was bought and renovated for 3 years.With the guidance of architects, Nimish Patel & Parul Zaveri, the building is now a piece of art. It has also won a UNESCO award for ‘Cultural Conservation’ in 2000. See here for more details. Local materials, local crafstemen and innovation comes together here. The black and white is a picture of what it was before , that i found here. Rest of the pictures; courtesy moi .... haveli THERAPY!

before the restoration

interiors in pink and green juxtaposed with checkered grey and black flooring

exterior, the cafe and the seating- simple, clean and useful; everything we love

details...

Ever since I started blogging regularly, I realized that I need a home office. And although, I have a decent space I decided to give it a new look since I spend most of my spare time there instead of in front of the TV (I do need to catch up with multiple episodes of Suits though; for those who know what I'm missing). I looked at my office yesterday and knew that a pin up board would help me declutter and help me organize my space so much more. Then I had an idea..... I went shopping to the antique market and bought an old window for 500 Rupees($10) and used it to create my pin up THERAPY!
The advantage with this pin up board is you can close your pin up board to see these antique shutters, which is wall art by itself.

you need: Cork Board,Fabric,Adhesive,Paint,Brush, Wood, Nails & Misc

Time:4hr 

1. get a frame made with plywood (one that fits the window shutters)

2. cover the cork board with fabric and use adhesive to stick them together, this creates the actual pin up board

3.paint the frame and shutters  (you can paint them 2 different colours if you'd like)
4.attach the cork board wrapped in fabric into the frame

5.use new hinges to fasten the shutters to the newly made frame

tadaaaa.......

don't forget to leave your comments! 

ps: photos by me

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my pretty cheese knives

We are not a country big on wine and cheese, but we are getting there. After my short stint in Los Angeles; where there are constant streams of wine and cheese festivals - I got hooked. And then my journey of reading, tasting, discovering wine and more wine and little bit about cheese started. Besides all that, I have often noticed that there are super creative ways to serve cheese. I have a confession to make about cheese, it tastes good and is amazing when paired with the right kind of wine and all that jazz, but hey; who are we kidding here...cheese is UGLY. However, you can use a fun cheese tray like mine and pair it with pretty cheese knives and deliver this look. Don't forget to line up a bunch of grapes to make it look gourmet. Mine was custom made and gifted to me by my friend as a wedding gift. Liking cheesy THERAPY?

my patriotic cheese tray ......what a twist you say

 

I found some for you guys on ETSY

 HAPPY WEEKEND MY LOVELIES! 

 NOBODY CAN BRING YOU PEACE,BUT YOURSELF  Ralph Waldo Emerson

I figured you guys will be tired with all the red and pink after today. So, I decided to give your eyes some therapy. I've heard from multiple sources that the colour blue is a good choice for the interiors. It gives a sense of freshness, authority and also adds elegance. Feng shui experts claim that blue and green are the most therapeutic colours. These colours make us feel calm, balanced and less emotional (less emotional!!!! I'm sure if my husband reads this post, my entire house will be painted blue by tomorrow). It's true though. Remember the lemonade picture in my last post? Ahhhh! Colour THERAPY it is.....

My blog is about simple things and small accessories and all that good stuff. However, I never claimed that I don't get inspired from palaces- where most things are larger than life. That's right, today I'm going to take you through Falaknuma Palace in Hyderabad. Its a luxury hotel now and is run by the Taj group- I'm not running you through the history or the story right now, for all that you have wiki therapy. I, on the other hand want to tell you, how inspiring old buildings are; the feel these locations give you is unimaginable. Even though its a palace and most elements came from all over the world- there are still some factors that make you feel at home.The white walls, the corridors juxtaposed with nature, the wooden ceilings, the lights, simple cane furniture; I want to say soooo much, but I'm going to let the pictures speak for themselves. Besides, GOD is definitely in the details.

you can never go wrong with white

the detailing ......

 i love the plain,clean, crisp look- one touch of blue and that's it

some lemonade therapy...before we continue?

obejcts of perfection...

obejcts of perfection...

 

god is in the detail.....sigh!

 

 

This post is kind of a sequel to Valentine Therapy. Strawberry butter: Its such a simple recipe with simple ingredients, tastes amazing and we shall not talk about the calories. You can use it as a spread on bread or in your crepes. 

My favorite is some hot banana bread with fresh strawberry butter. Ready for some breakfast THERAPY?

Strawberry Butter 

Ever since, I first ate this with biscuits in a restaurant in New York, I have hunted for this recipe and finally put together my own variation.

1 cup strawberries- diced

1 pinch of salt

1 1/2 cups of butter (i used home made butter here, any white butter will do)

1 cup powdered sugar 

Beat the sugar and the butter till light and fluffy. Add the salt and fold in the diced strawberries.  Mix, till the strawberries are tiny pieces . Refrigerate for 30 mins and serve. Garnish with mint leaves.

 

 

Personally, I am not a huge fan of valentines day. However, that being said its almost like a holiday and its a super famous day. I love how all the bakers in town have special cupcakes and restaurants have specials, flowers out there everywhere (some really pretty lingerie specials too...shhh! this is a design blog)..... I admit, I got sucked into it and I am making excuses now. "If you cant beat em, join em", right? All I'm saying is food, flowers, cupcakes, the other thing I mentioned- how, just HOW do you say no to valentine THERAPY?

 

Want to know where I got these bows? Just follow these instructions 

What you need:

•  2 rectangular pieces of cloth (size depends on the size of the bow you want)
• needle, thread and scissors
• 30 mins of your time

• Stitch the 2 pieces of cloth on all 4 sides. 
• Make a hole in the center on one side. Little bit of tact there- pull it apart and cut with scissors. 
• Reverse the stitched rectangle through the hole to turn it inside out.

• Gather the center by pleating it and use another piece of fabric to hold the center together. 
• Add a stitch or two to hold the center on the bow together. VOILA!

Use these on your hairband, dress, broach or even on your dog.

 

I know its the second post this week on framing, but I couldn't resist putting up this one. I have always wondered how you can put up one or at the most two pictures of your wedding on your wall. For me, I had a blast and it showed in my pictures. I wanted to look at them everyday. Why not right? If your married to the same man for your entire life (yea! my fingers are crossed), what's wrong in putting up tons of pictures of your wedding? Here was my edition of wedding photo THERAPY!

BEFORE

Before we moved into our house, my husband used it as his bachelor pad. I'm not going into the details, but you can imagine how exciting a mechanical engineer with his love focused on cars would keep the house. 

Here' s a basic BEFORE & AFTER styling of our bookshelf. Please do note, I have jut played around with things I already had and some hand me downs from our family. The bookends were our biggest buy for this area. I'd like to call this light on the pocket THERAPY- still therapeutic right?

AFTER