Spectator by Seema Goswami: Make light work of it

Your home doesn’t need a fancy makeover for Diwali. Update the upholstery, swap dull plates for new ones, and sparkle away

There is just over a month left to go for Diwali. And as is usual every year, I have embarked on an expedition to give my house a fresh new look for the festival. Not because I have a raft of parties scheduled – no, I am not a great one for entertaining – but because I like to use this festival as an excuse to spring clean (okay, autumn clean, if you want to be pedantic about it) and refresh my own surroundings.

If that sounds like a daunting prospect, rest assured that it isn’t. I believe in achieving the maximum bang for my buck, and making tiny incremental changes that come together to create a new look. In case you are tempted to do the same, then here are some handy tips:

Buy one statement piece, such as a stunning light fitting, an elegant sculpture, or a Ganesh-Lakshmi set. (ADOBE STOCK)

· All of us dream of re-doing our living spaces to keep things fresh and new. But ditching every piece of furniture and starting afresh is a drain of both time and money. A low-cost way of achieving the same result is to focus on changing the furnishings. Changing the upholstery of your sofa and chairs can update them instantly. If that seems like too much of a bother, then you can just buy new cushions covers or rugs that will achieve the same effect. And if you want to expend even less effort, then just buy some colourful throws to place on your furniture to give it a new look.

· The dining area is even easier to update – and at an even lower cost. All you need to do is invest in a new tablecloth and matching tablemats and napkins in a colour scheme that differs completely from your current one. If you want to push the boat out, buy new crockery in the same colour scheme, and in one fell swoop you will have completely changed the way your table looks and feels.

Greenery can liven up any room. (ADOBE STOCK)

· Dressing up your walls is another low-cost way of giving your surroundings a new aesthetic. You don’t have to spend a fortune on costly curtains and oil paintings. Just be creative with what you have in the house. Old saris that you are tired of wearing can be used as sheers on your windows. A particularly beautiful scarf can be framed and hung as wall art.

· The best way to enliven a room, in my view, is to bring greenery into it. And the best way to refresh the look is to keep rotating the plants so that you never get bored of looking at the same thing. If you have kept areca palms in the corner of your living room or in your foyer for a few months, then swap them out for a plant with variegated leaves. And so on.

To update a dining area, get crockery, placemats or a table cloth in a new colour scheme. (ADOBE STOCK)

· If you are in the mood to splash out a little, then you could buy one statement piece as a gift for the whole household. It could be a stunning light fitting, an elegant sculpture, or better still, a silver Ganesh-Lakshmi set that can do double duty during your Diwali puja.

From HT Brunch, October 3, 2026

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