How To Style Your Sofa

Sofa is always the main highlighting feature of any living room. If your sofa is dull and life-less, then it can totally spoil the show of entire living room. A well styled sofa can achieve very polished and designer look for your living room. So if you are having a boring sofa at your place, then few tricks can uplift the look of the sofa and your living room. 

 

Whenever you are thinking about styling the sofa, it’s not about styling only its upholstery or cushions. Its overall look of the space needs to be styled or uplifted. 

Let’s start from the rug. To define the position of your sofa, add a rug below it. If you are having neutral coloured sofa, then coloured, vibrant rug can make it interesting. It can bring focus to the seating space. 

Side table with some beautiful home decor accessories can also enhance the sofa setting.

Nature can always uplift any bland backdrop. It brings freshness to the surroundings. You can go for a beautiful potted plant beside the sofa to make the space nature friendly.  Selecting colourful pot or interestingly shaped pot can provide designer look. There are a various options available for the succulents.

If the backdrop of the sofa is plain, then salon wall or little collage of frames can do the trick of making the backdrop interesting. Having your favourite artwork or family pictures can make it a conversation point in your living room which is actually a basic purpose of living room. If you have window behind sofa, then choose beautiful curtains for the backdrop. Always go for curtains which has high quality fabric and interesting design or print. You can also go for a sheer curtains which allows natural light and ventilation as well as retains the privacy. 

Choose the lighting near the sofa bit carefully. If you have side tables beside the sofa, then opt for side table lamps with beautiful shade which can complement the sofa upholstery and the throw pillows. If you do not have side tables, then go for floor lamps. Taller floor lamps also help in adding the height to the room. Another highlighting feature can be a chandelier placed at the centre of the rug or centre table. Design of the chandelier can be royal and regal or modern or contemporary as per your living room decor.

Beautiful, well organized centre table with assorted accessories is also important to uplift the seating space. Make sure height of the centre table will not be more than the seating level of sofa. Always keep the centre table clean as it tend to get cluttered. You can keep some beautiful accessories in a well-organized manner to give your living room luxurious look. 

Last but not the least, cushions or throw pillows. Cushions has the ability to change the look of seating in an instant. Bright coloured, patterned cushions help in finishing the look. While selecting the cushions, check the design, print, texture of the cushion covers. Quit the trend of matching all your cushions and go for the min 'n' match look. For full look, go for 4 to 5 cushions. Mix up the shapes and sizes as per the design and size of the sofa. Also mix up the prints. Golden rule for mixing up the prints is keep the colour family of the cushions same. This will help you in putting up the well-synchronized look even while having various patterns. There are luxurious textures available for cushions or throw pillows like velvet, satin, fur, leather or linen and many more. Play with various textures to achieve that rich look for your living room.

Image References:

http://modernsofas.eu/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/miles-redd-how-to-style-a-sofa-for-spring.jpg

http://modernsofas.eu/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/A-few-tips-on-how-to-style-the-space-above-your-living-room-sofa..jpg

http://st.hzcdn.com/fimgs/c3e1550a0502eada_5033-w618-h419-b0-p0--contemporary-living-room.jpg

http://i0.wp.com/blog.potterybarn.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/caitlin22.jpg?resize=1000%2C625

http://www.utrdecorating.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/Pillow-styling.jpg

http://ab.weimgs.com/weimgs/ab/images/wcm/products/201616/0054/overarching-floor-lamp-polished-nickel-c.jpg

Rain Rain all the way

Born and brought up in old age Calcutta (Kolkata now) and working life spent in Mumbai, Monsoon has been a dirty word.

It brought misery and loads of it.

Overflowing sewers, flooded streets, damp walls, dripping water from wet clothes all over the carpet, running nose, stuck in a car half submerged… I have had gone through the entire gamut. 

So imagine my surprise when I moved to Goa.

Rains came down in buckets. Then suddenly, the sky would be blue and the Sun would come out, shinning and smiling. Again, half an hour later, dark clouds would roll in, blocking away the light as day time becomes late evening. Another downpour would begin.

Lying on the bed in my 4^th floor flat near Calangute beach, I would keep staring at the sky through the large sliding window, fascinated.

What 50 shades of grey? There must be 500! I used to marvel at the low lying clouds drifting by, changing colours, moulding from one shape to another in those myriad shades of white, greys and black.

I asked my interior designer friend her take on Monsoon. I was surprised by her spontaneous response and I quote, ‘Rain, Rain Come All Again….Quoted from a very old nursery rhymes “RAIN RAIN COME AGAIN...” means Monsoon is all in. 

When monsoon is in mind the picture is more like pastels and  vibrant colors, fancy rain-coats & umbrellas with  dark romantic sky.

She added, her favourite past time at home and especially if it is a monsoon evening, is to curl up on a comfy settee on the balcony, nursing a cup of hot coffee or tea , accompanied with steaming, delicious Pakoras.

But being an Interior design professional, she doesn’t forget to add her warning: Do not ignore what monsoon does in our HOME.

Here are some of her makeover ideas for monsoon.

• Roll up your carpets, rugs in plastic so that you can save them from dampness.

• Keep scented candles nearby. If the electricity goes off (my addition: in Bangalore, they switch off the current at the slightest hint of rain), it might not be a bad idea to keep the generator off while you try to find your childhood ghosts in the flickering shadows.

 

• Monsoon season is the time to have translucent window. Invest in lace curtains or curtains without lining to ensure the daylight passing through, bathing the room in suffused glow.

• Hang some decorative wind-chimes. The sound will definitely soothe your mind.

• Go completely green indoors, the plants will make your home more vibrant and brighten up your space that very moment 

      

And lastly, savour the sound of cascading rain or the steady pritter- pratter of the drizzle as it touches the earth. When the rain begins after a dry spell, go out of the room on to the balcony. Breathe in the smell of the slightly sodden earth. It is something not to be missed.

Hope you enjoy reading…Now Let's enjoy the Monsoon….

HAPPY RAINING…!!!

So that's her take on Monsoon. Well, Women have their way of bringing romantic angle to something as mundane as water falling from sky.

(The blog was shared by Mr Arunangshu M Lahiri, a Marketer, Stock Enthusiast, a writer and heads a Digital Agency.)

Photo Courtesy: www.quotesgram.com

www.jagdishstore.com

Vaastu for Better Living

Vaastu is the craze now. Every aspect of the home is now clinically examined for Vaastu compliance. From neighbourhood Vaastu practitioner to high priced consultants – everybody is in great demand.

Without going into the merit of it, here are some of the basic rules for homemakers for checking their homes on basic Vaastu parameters.

But first, a little backgrounder. Ancient Vaastu shastra – a body of knowledge of Vaas – the home – has been basically an ancient architectural rule supposedly used in building Hindu temples. The earliest example is perhaps the Angkor Wat Temple in Cambodia, built in 12^th century by King Suryavarnam II. The temple has all the tell tale signs of Vaastu compliance architecture.

Angkor Wat Temple Complex, Combodia

However, ancient Vaastu designs seemed to have evolved and have not been rigid. In fact, the principles of Vaastu vary from Odisha to one at Rajasthan or Gujarat.Modern Vaastu has many interpretations and therefore, many rules.

 Here is some Rule-of-thumb Vaastu for you

• Set your house furniture in the form of circle, square, or as octagon

• It is good to fix an image of bright sun in the southern wall of the living area

• Your house dinning hall must never get exposed to the entrance door of the house

• It is good to fix an image of bright sun in the southern wall of the living area

• Setting a mirror in the kitchen room is not recommended

• It is good to place the fish aquarium in the southeast corner in your living area

• It is good to stick a happy family photograph or picture inside your living room

• Building your house rooms in shape of oval, circle, or triangle is strictly not advisable

• Your latrine seat must be kept facing towards northern south

• It is good to set mountain wallpaper behind you in your office

• Building your house rooms in shape of oval, circle, or triangle is strictly not advisable

• Keep the corners bright

• Construct your bedroom, where wind must blow from south to west

• Your house dinning hall must never get exposed to the entrance door of the house

• Do not place the mops and brooms in the kitchen

• It is good to set your windows opened towards out face

• Never keep a ladder that faces towards west or north, as it makes waste of money

• Never wear torn clothing or withered flowers as these will prevent the Goddess Lakshmi entering into the home

Some Vastu ideas for Kid's room 

• The study desk should be placed in such a manner that the child faces east, north or northeast corner while studying. East is the most appropriate direction, as it paves way for enhanced concentration.
• In a kid's room, the bed can be placed in the southwest corner. Place the bed in such a way that your child has his/ her head facing the east or south direction, while sleeping.
• The apt direction for constructing children's room is west. Apart from that, west, northwest, northeast and southeast directions can also be used for constructing kids' room. Totally avoid the southwest direction.
• If you must have a mirror and a television in the bedroom, have them either on the left or the right side of the bed.
• The almirahs and cabinets should always be located in south or west direction of the room.
• Green colour proves the best for kids' room, as it is associated with freshness and peace and increases brain power as well.

So that was a few tips from Modern Vastu for you. We will keep sharing expert advice and insights from industry experts to help you decorate your home perfectly.

 (Acknowledgement: Guru Mukand Trivedi).