Don’t watch a drama.
Make your room pop
Hang Chinese paper umbrellas in different colours and sizes inverted at different lengths from the ceiling. These will brighten a dull corner.
Make fairy lights your friend. Use them on window ledges, over mirror frames and around plant pots to light up a dull room.
Group different sizes of folding fans in bright colours on a wall.
A neutral-hued room always has space for bright accents. A vase in a bright pop shade, quirky wall clocks, objets d’art and candle holders in lime green, red or pink.
Add animal print – a zebra-stripe rug, a spotted bean bag, to any part of the room. It will stand out.
Place a statement furniture piece in a corner as a conversation starter. Tigerlily has unusual pieces like The Gilded Bangle Box Chair or The Crazy Cupboard Chair for luxe kitsch.
Go antiquing. Most clever shoppers scour through flea markets to find rejects that can take on a new and stunning form. Tigerlily’s Bailgaadi Bookseat is an old bullock cart that has been re-engineered to make a sturdy seat with space to store one’s books too.
(Aparna Upadhyaya, Tigerlily by Aparna)
Don’t watch a sitcom.
Make some Space
Minimise cushions; they just add bulk.
Don’t fill up every shelf. Leave some vacant so the room looks more spacious.
Get the eye to look up by mounting decorative plates on the beams.
Go shiny. Put the matte-finish vases in storage, bring out the lacquer, glass and metallics.
Add a wall mirror to make the room seem bigger than it is.
(Rohit Nadkarni, interior decorator)Don’t watch a Bollywood film.
Create a textured wall
Clear away the furniture so you have one vacant wall to work with.
For the base coat, mix a bright shade of Nerolac Impression 24 Carat paint thoroughly and pour in a tray.
Dip a felt roller in the tray. Roll off any excess.
Use the roller to paint the entire wall. Then apply a contrasting top coat of Nerolac Impression Ideaz across the wall. You can move the roller horizontally and vertically.
Wash the excess paint from the roller with water.
Pick the spatula you want (five sizes are available) and applying uniform pressure, move it in a criss-cross manner to remove the excess paint and create a unique texture.
(Information courtesy Nerolac)
Don’t watch a Hollywood film.
Try some DIY
Create the motifs you want on paper – we’ve used birds and flowers – and place an OHP or stiff transparent plastic sheet over it.
Using a 3D Outliner, trace the pattern on to the sheet. You’ll need about 10-14 birds and 15-20 flowers. Fill in the outlines with brightly coloured glass paints. Allow the paint to dry, then cut out your motifs. Cut blank shapes of the motifs from additional OHP sheets. Stick over the painted shapes, using No-Stitch fabric glue or colourless glue.
Thread each motif though a nylon thread with beads, so each shape appears at different points of the string. Add bells. Secure each dangler to a ring (a clothes hanger or an embroidery ring). Hang your ornament where it can catch the light.
(Illustrations: Swati Chakrabarti)
From HT Brunch, June 2
Follow us on twitter.com/HTBrunch
Connect with us on facebook.com/hindustantimesbrunch
Try some DIY
Create the motifs you want on paper – we’ve used birds and flowers – and place an OHP or stiff transparent plastic sheet over it.
Using a 3D Outliner, trace the pattern on to the sheet. You’ll need about 10-14 birds and 15-20 flowers. Fill in the outlines with brightly coloured glass paints. Allow the paint to dry, then cut out your motifs. Cut blank shapes of the motifs from additional OHP sheets. Stick over the painted shapes, using No-Stitch fabric glue or colourless glue.
Thread each motif though a nylon thread with beads, so each shape appears at different points of the string. Add bells. Secure each dangler to a ring (a clothes hanger or an embroidery ring). Hang your ornament where it can catch the light.
(Illustrations: Swati Chakrabarti)
From HT Brunch, June 2
Follow us on twitter.com/HTBrunch
Connect with us on facebook.com/hindustantimesbrunch