BY: Mantri Pragad Markandeyulu
OLD CHESTS FOR FUNCTIONAL AND DECORATIVE USE
OLD CHESTS ARE PERFECT MULTI-FUNCTIONAL FURNITURE PIECES FOR HOME INTERIORS.
One piece of furniture that has great utility and has been around since centuries is the simple storage chest. Old chest or trunks are exquisite pieces that serve both as wonderful decorative accents and as useful storage containers. They can be included anywhere in a décor as long as you know how to iterate them in a room and how make them a great focal point.
DÉCOR AND STORAGE
There are lots of ingenious and creative ways for using an old chest. In the hallway, they would make a grand entrance, and in the living room, a great conversation piece. They art multi-purpose piece of furniture and storage that serves as a decorative piece and provides lots of extra storage space right in your living space. It can be moved from home to home and from room to room, useful
l I every place you put it. A beautiful, dark-stained trunk would really stand out in a bright décor with pastel, pale colors. Indian royalty used highly decorative chests for jewelers and trousseau. Even today, these chests come in numerous varieties and have different uses. It is available in all shapes and sizes; tall and narrow with lots of drawers on top of each other, or short and wide with drawers’ side-by-side. It can be small enough to serve as a nightstand with drawers for necessities, or large enough to hold a whole season of clothes.
Most old trunks found today appear to have originated between 1820 and 1920 and are made of wood, with side handles, ornate carvings, and simple locks.
ROOM FOR MORE
Reminiscent of storage used centuries ago, chests have an aura of mystery surrounding them that evokes tales of travel, adventure, and days gone by. Moreover, given that an old chest is often an heirloom gift which is passed o to several generations imparts more allure to them. Hand-carved antique chests make for a great coffee table, or accent table in the living room, dining room, or bedroom. They are portable and you can take them with you when you move. They be moved from one room to another or rearranged in the room if you choose to redecorate.
You can also use it to hold a plant or to display a collection of crystals. For this purpose, you have to keep the chest open. With suitable shelving and lighting, the presentation looks attractive. For better display quotient, mount a mirror on the inside of the lid.
MULTIPLE ROLES
In the bedroom, you can place the trunk at the end of the bed where it would serve as a great place to store blankets, pillows and other similar items. A short, low chest with two drawers works well for a bedside table. Add a couple of vintage decorative pillows on the bed and you have a cozy bedroom with unique details.
In a child’s room or nursery, one can use old chest to put away child’s toys.
If you happen to get hold of a beautiful old treasure chest then you can even use it purely as a decorative piece. It doesn’t have to be repurposed as a bedside table, coffee table, nightstand or anything else. Just use it as a place to display a few decorations and place on the hallway or somewhere where everyone can see it and admire it.
WINTER IS WHERE THE STYLE IS
You can do a lot for your home this winter by choosing the right furnishing material, color and style to blend with the theme.
You can bring in the warmth and remove the chill from your home this winter by giving your usual home décor a makeover. Yes, it is that easy all it takes is a magic wand and a whirl and swish to your local shop or favorite store.
Here are some tips to spruce up your home with winter furnishings. Some of the furnishings you can get for your home are for bathroom mats, blankets for beds of all sizes, quilts, childhood sleeping bags, room dividers, tablecloths, throw cushions, beanbags, silk and velvet bed spreads and knitted upholstery. Rugs are also trending.
COLOURS AND STYLES
The colors to look forward to are white, black, grey, charcoal, emerald, greens, browns, and kiwi hues. The styles to lookout for are block-prints, king-sized lengths and widths, fluffy, snuggly, thick and soft tassels, psychedelic artwork and vintage prints.
DESIGNS
This season is fun as well. Indian art like Worli drawings of snow-capped mountains, rain-fed rivers and earthy, rustic native designs are spread out on upholstery and dividers in some popular stores dealing with funky designs.
Mirror-work is winter-centric and fashionable. They bring the sun in especially near windows. Wreaths hanging from cushions and curtains are in fashion.
FABRICS
Living rooms swamped by linen, khadi, silk, velvet, jute, wool, corduroy, flannel, fleece, and fake fur work well. They are some of the sought-after fabrics. Faux leathers especially are being sold in assorted sizes. Blankets, cottons tweed, woolen blends woven through intricate embroidery, plastic sleeping bags and old-world silks have proved to be winter essentials. They inhere a subtle delicateness, thereby inviting chilly attention.
MIX, MATCH
While faux leather does come in black it adds an element of cleanliness when wrapped on cushions. Wooden chairs get cold during winter and leathered pillows can be placed on them. Use leather for seating.
Mix and match depending on your style but do keep in mind that juxtaposed images, prints, designs and colors are fashionable and that dark shades, though they retain heat, are gloomy and depressing. Use them sparingly because color reflects mood and can add gloom, or happiness, instantly.
TIPS
Try not to get dark with cloth as far as possible. Let all mirror-work be close to windows and where light seeps in, so that they brighten up the living room. By juxtaposing designs and retaining light through the use of bright shades, your winter home will find its soul. By maximizing the potential of your furnishings in order to bounce off light through mirrors, other shades and images will reflect off even more, hence creating a wonderful canvas of light. By being creative and in innovative, by bringing back bright colors and Worli artwork, old-world Indian grace is back this winter. The best part of this year’s winter’s furnishings and furnishings and fabrics is that they can be soft and rough. While velvet duvet can put your children to soundless sleep, rough jute and khadi on chairs will keep them up studying till night. This season’s mattresses ought to be covered with quilts instead of thin bed spreads. Innovate by using whatever is present in your drawing and bed rooms and the result will be a snazzy, less breezy and spacious interior that hinges on the opulent.
MODERATE HOME MAKEOVER
Small changes can make a huge difference to your home.
If you are a little bored with your living space, it might be time to spruce up your apartment.
FEATURE A WALL TO STAND OUT
While walls are safe but a little boring however, painting all the walls in a room with non-neutral colors can make it look garish and worse, create sense of claustrophobia Designating a side as a feature wall will allow the color to stand out even morel You can either apply a coat of texture paint or paste wallpaper. While texture pains have a richer look, wallpaper has the advantage of being scraped off and easily replaced. Today, texture paints arrive with a lot of creative embossed designs while wallpaper patterns run the gamut from dignified too cheeky.
BLIND UP YOUR WINDOWS
Cloth curtains are passé and wooden blinds are in vogue. Nott only do they class up your windows, they can also regulate the amount of light you want to let in. They are also easier to take care of and unlike curtains, don’t require to be changed year after year. For those too attached to curtains, opt for heavy cloth curtains at the ends of the window rod and light sheer curtains in between. Sheer curtains can be used during the day while cloth curtains can block out your windows during nighttime.
INTRODUCE A WATER BODY
According to vastu, a water body in the north east of a room harness positive energy. Filling up a brass uruli with wager and strategically placing it in the living room will infuse an element of serenity into your home. Rose petals add a nice touch. If you are willing to spend a little more, you can opt for a stylish contemporary lamp with running water, which manages to be new age while evoking nature.
MAKE FOR PARTITION SPACES
It is a good idea to demarcate large connected spaces especially when the living room, dining area and kitchen are all connected. A top wooden panel supported by Chettinad pillars is perfect for someone who wishes to add a regal and ethnic touch toll their home. For those who prefer contemporary designs, sliding glass doors could do the trick.
THE RIGHT KIND OF FLOORING
Retiling can also dramatically change the way your home looks. Light colored tiles increase the sense of space and are especially apt for both rooms. For the shower area, pebble tiles can give a stylistic yet calming effect of white pebbles on the floor. Wooden flooring in the master bedroom or the entertainment room can give the place a more restrained look. However, restrict its use to areas that are not water prone.
CARVE OUT A NICHE IN THE WALL
Niches in the walls also add pizzazz to your interior décor. Being clear on the right size of your niche is important. Well-paced niches, especially those with lights that use concealed wiring are perfect places to display your curios. They are also ideal for placing your AC stabilizers, so that they don’t jut out in your living room Cover them up with louvred doors to give a neat look.
PERK UP DÉCOR WITH PEBBLES AND STONES
Enliven your garden and outdoors with interesting accents like stone cladding and pebbles.
Our home needs a revamp once in a while to keep up with the interesting trends in décor and architecture. However, space cramped we may be, it takes a little effort ad time to do up your garden and outdoors. Landscaping has evolved so much over the years that it is not an outdoor thing anymore. One can do up corners and spaces inside the home too.
This natural material lends texture and a rustic appeal in the interiors whether used in its polished or unpolished state.
A natural material that works wonders as a décor element is stone. It is not only attractive but also durable. The varieties of colors and textures in stone make it an interesting element of décor in homes. Apart from its use at the construction stage, stone as an accent looks extremely lavish in beautifying the home interiors. This hard and durable material can be cut and sculpted into fluid forms as an element of décor.
BEAUTY OF STONE
Generally, stones such as marble are graded for soundness for appropriate use as a building material. Slate, limestone and vernacular stones such as Cuddapah or Shahabad are beautiful and contribute to the character of the interiors. The beauty of natural stone is that the color is not uniform or typical. What may be a flaw or vein of impurity in the stone is also the reason for its color or uniqueness.
By : Mantri Pragada Markandeyulu, Litt.D.,
Hyderabad, India
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