Objects of Art for the Home

My article above was published in Deccan Herald today. You may read it here http://www.deccanherald.com/content/535128/art-homes-sake.html

However.....since, as readers of this blog, you are special - I am posting the unedited, original and the much cooler version of the same article for you below. 

As always, will welcome any thoughts, inputs & suggestions
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I remember my elder sister, long number of years back, never coming back empty handed from any of the home improvement fairs that used to be a regular affair in our neighborhood. Be it tribal art, handicrafts, monkey faces made from coconuts, wall hangings, stone carvings from Orissa, we saw it all.

You may ask what this bit of family history has got to do with our topic on Art for the home. When I started thinking through the topic I went back to the core question of what defines “Art” for one’s home and the thought that resonated was that it’s something that gives a certain “character” to one’s home…be it the MF Husain that the rich amongst you hang on your wall to that tiny water fountain you bought to put under the staircase, including all those coconut monkey faces, handicrafts and stone carvings that my sister collected and dutifully showcased in her home all these years.  That definition also makes each one of us an Art Collector … ladies & gentlemen - welcome home to art.

Aligning with the theme of your home

When choosing art work for your home it is important to think through the “character” or the theme that you are looking to give your abode – is it contemporary or is it traditional. If yours is a villa or an independent home then the theme is highly dependent on the overall architecture. The theme decides the kind of artwork it can accommodate. Just to give you an example – terracotta vases would go well with a traditional theme while a contemporary theme would need classic white ones. I recall a customer who got this beautiful madhubani type painting done from a well-known artist in Bangalore. The home on the other hand was designed all contemporary with straight line and minimalist furniture. We struggled placing the painting in different parts of the home as it just did not gel in. In the end we had to redesign the bedroom in traditional brown with curvaceous and flowery light fittings just to accommodate the painting.

What goes where – the fitment puzzle?

Pieces of art find a place just about everywhere in the home - from the foyer till the balcony, the walls to the ceiling and the flooring. At the same time over doing it may make your home look….well, overdone while under-doing it may make it look barren. Below a guide you can use to decide what kind of art work goes where in the home.

The main Door-The place where it starts:  One might argue that the home starts with the front porch and the entry gate. However the architectural style of the home is not part of its interiors and hence not covered here, maybe part of a separate discussion. Coming back to the front door – There are 4 things to play with here – the door itself, the door knobs, knocker & the name plates. If you are not builder dependent and do have a choice to customize your front door then both hand carved as well as slick machine made doors are available in the market today to suit your character – you can even get customized carvings done on the door. Based on the style of the door one must select the handles and the knocker. On top of this an arty name plate gives your guests an idea of what to expect when the door opens.

The Foyer – This is the hi-traffic part of your home and the place that creates the first impression of your abode. Depending on the space you have the foyer can have anything from carved murals & paintings on the walls to sculpted artwork in metal or stone in spaces specially created for the same. Artwork encased in glass with proper lighting looks especially appealing. Murals in metal and stained glass are also becoming popular nowadays, a lot of these are good old China imports. At the same time there are local artists in Bangalore doing their own works in metal and glass that might appeal.

Hand painting the foyer wall is another option, if there is an artist in you then this may be the best place to showcase your talent, if not then there are artists who can hand paint it for you. Though expensive, this does create a unique “creative” signature for your home.

The Living Room – The living room can really take all you’ve got, from Jaali work on the ceilings to Mosaic and marble cut work on the floors – nowadays with artisans available in Bangalore from Rajasthan and other parts of the country, there is exceptional beauty and creativity that can be laid out especially on the floors. At the same time artwork on the floors typically requires large spaces over 20X20 feet, in small sized Living rooms the look may not be noticeable and the outcome may not justify the investment

The quieter walls of the living room - the ones along the line of sight such as the passages & internal staircases can be done up with the family photo album while the prominent ones should host your collectibles or paintings to your liking. In general a showcase for curios from travels and all those impulse purchases (recall the coconut monkey face…) is also recommended in the living room.

The corners in the living room are places that can host sculpted artwork in wood, stone or glass. Make sure to highlight these with appropriate accent lighting

The Bed Room: While some may like their bedroom to be arty I somehow feel that too much art in the bedroom comes in the way of a good nights sleep, maybe just a painting to undo the barren-ness of the walls is enough. I remember this hotel room that we checked into sometime back that had these carved faces in wood hung on the walls. The kids felt that someone is watching them and could not get any sleep in the night. The next morning we had to ask the hotel staff to take the faces off.

The Study & the Hobby Room: If you have the luxury of dedicating a space to your hobby - could be a full room or just a space in your study – then do up the space in the theme of the hobby – this could be sports, music, dance, philately, coin collection, even software, electronics, architecture, woodworking, pets … the list can go on. I know of a friend who in his younger days used to collect matchbox labels – I just looked it up on Google and found that nowadays it is recognized as a formal hobby called Phillumeny. I myself had a collection of soft drink bottle caps. Haven’t each of us collected pebbles or sea shells…. I guess what I am trying to say is the each one of us has something that we feel or have felt passionate about at some time in our life. As Billy Joe Armstrong of Green Day once said…”Take the photographs and still frames in your mind, hang it on a shelf in good health & good time” – that to me would be true art for your home – of your self, by your self and for your self -  the “Character” of your home that we discussed earlier….your Character.

Signing off

...Nandita

Home Interiors Maintenance Tips - The "Anti Wrinkle Cream" for your home

After spending a bomb on interiors in terms of resources, time and love -  it’s painful to see things slowly (sometimes not so slowly) coming apart as the home ages and matures. As a home making professional even I have felt this anguish seeing my creations going down especially when just basic maintenance could have ensured longevity.

Below are simple maintenance tips that I have learned over the years that should help you keep your interiors in top shape and you (...and me...for the homes I have done) feeling great about your now "not so new" but "matured” home.

1. The essential “Yearly” carpenter visit: 

Like how we need an annual health check up, your woodwork needs one too. The hardware that’s used nowadays (zero crank hinges, hydraulic lift ups, sliding systems etc) tends to gather play with regular use. You would have noticed the space between the shutters either becoming bigger or smaller with use – sometimes the shutters may clash, rub against the adjoining panel, wall or slab or bend/ get damaged if the issue is not arrested in time. The carpenter will tighten things back & it will take him no longer than a few of hours to do it – “quality” time well spent with your home I am sure.

2. The over enthusiastic scrubber: 

The maid under guidance from the super clean ma'am sometimes, in her enthusiasm, scrubs away the grouting along with the dirt. Grouting (for those not so enlightened) is the filler that’s put in between tiles/ granite slab or between the slab & the sink to fill the gap. The purpose is to (1) fill the gap aesthetically and (2) to prevent water leakage in wet places. A scrubbed off grouting is the single biggest kitchen killer known to man woman & child – it leads to water seepage from the sink, into the woodwork underneath leading to sure death. Also – the “artificial rain” in your bathroom due to the seeping ceiling is probably because of the over enthusiastic scrubber upstairs.

As you may have guessed already a scrubbed grouting has a simple solution – (1) Check for its absence on the floors (especially bathroom floors), between the kitchen slab & sink and where the slab meets the walls and (2) put the grouting back.

You can in fact do it on your own using white cement for the floor and silicone gel for the Kitchen

3. The “stuffed” drain pipe: 

Imagine yourself in the Kitchen drain pipe’s shoes….no, throat, and you will feel its bane. The spillage resulting from the choke also affects and spoils the woodwork around the drain. A monthly “drainex” down the drain (literally) will help avoid the quarterly choke providing respite to the woodwork around it.

4. Formal, Formal, Formal pest control: 

So many of us come under the spell of the humane (to the cockroaches) "herbal" pest control guy or are busy lining our homes with numerous “lakshman rekhas”. Trust me, nothing (with an underline) works better than a formal pest control treatment. Depending on the size of your place it costs between Rs. 3000 – 10000 annually and is worth every Rupee. 

The black “sand” that the cockroaches leave behind in your cabinets and drawers is their droppings – not only does it look messy, it also find its way into your utensils, cooking etc. etc.……you know where I am leading with this.  So fix it before it fixes you.

5. Lemonade & fizz for your bathroom fixtures: 

With use, you will find a frosty white film settling on your bathroom fittings. It’s a pretty stubborn piece of flab which, when attacked with regular cleaners, leads to the chrome itself getting damaged. The solution – a tiny yellow lemon. A scrub with lemon juice will melt away the film and bring the shine & smile back. If you are out of lemon then (this one is awesome…) use Coke…yes “Cocoa Cola” – in fact Coke works better than Pepsi for this one. A sure Thumbs up to Coke for winning "this" Cola war.

6. Corian Top - The 2 year itch:

If you have a Kitchen/ Breakfast Counter made with an Acrylic Solid Surface (called Corian in layman's terms) you may notice mild scratches on it within 2-3 of years of use. What a lot of folks do not know is that you can get the surface re-buffed (the guy who installed it will be able to it) this will make it looking as good as new.

That’s it from me for now but if YOU know any maintenance tips then please send them in a comment below and I will publish. Wish you all happy up-keeping.

Cheers

Nandita

PS: A large part of this article was written by me for the Elita Community magazine, Some of you may therefore have read it there already & sorry for the repeat.