Friday, July 29, 2016
Friday, July 1, 2016
Monday, June 20, 2016
2000 FAQ's on Home Interiors and Interior Design Best Practices - Best Home Design Ideas
Imagine a repository of 2000 Frequently Asked Questions and how to's on interior design and home interiors....how cool would that be.
Well, surprise surprise, we crossed the 2000 Q&A milestone on THIS blog last week - look through the comments under each of the blog posts. The content in there put together is probably richer than whats there in the blog posts themselves.
So do take time to browse through and if not all then you may find most of your questions on home interiors and design answered in there. In the unlikely event that you don't find an answer to whats pressing on your mind, then, as always, feel free to pop it across.
Keep chiming, signing off
Nandita
from Home Design Ideas http://ift.tt/28KCYXQ
2000 FAQ's on Home Interiors and Interior Design Best Practices - Best Home Design Ideas
Sunday, May 29, 2016
Is your home Elder Friendly? Home Design makeovers to make your home safe for the elderly - Best Home Design Ideas
News of senior citizens tripping, falling and injuring themselves at home is nowadays something that one hears of quite often. Such injuries often result in altering the quality of life of the elderly, sometimes even affecting longevity and self esteem.
As a designer I have felt that a number of such domestic incidents are avoidable with good interior design, minor home makeovers and an eye for detail. I have been wanting to write on this topic for some time however for one reason or the other have been unable to do so. With the IPL final on in the backdrop tonite and RCB getting a good drumming from Hyderabad (Cutting just knocked the ball out of the stadium ...ughhhh) and not much to look forward to ...or so it seems, thought that there is no better time to pen this one down.
------------
If you have an elder member at home below are the design elements that you can introduce into your home to make it safe for them. I will go room wise rather than giving you a laundry list as that would be easier.
The Bathroom: This is the "room" that sees the maximum number of accidents by far. Apart from using anti skid floor tiles it is important to have hand rails next to the WC and in the bath area as seen in the pics below
The other thing that you would have observed in the pics above is the tall stool, another must have in the bathroom. Most bathroom stools are NOT full height and for the seniors just the process sitting on and getting off these is inconvenient and risky, a tall stool to sit on when taking a bath is therefore a must have.
It is also recommended to have a hand shower in the bathing area as it is easier to take bath with a hand shower compared to a bucket/mug or an overhead shower.
(Ok..so Virat Kohli just got out at 54....more ughhh)
Talking about bathroom fittings, in case you are "making" a bathroom for a senior person at home and have the flexibility of choosing the tiles then it is recommended to have the floor tiles to be a couple of shades lighter than the wall tiles as that provides better visibility, in addition the height of the WC should at max be 16 inches.
(BTW... ABD also out, now really not looking good for RCB)
"Just outside the bathroom" is another space that one needs to pay attention to. With wet feet falling on slippery tile/stone, this is another place that sees a number of accidents. It is hence necessary to ALWAYS have a good heavy foot mat just outside the bathroom, it is also recommended to have good lighting in this area.
The elder friendly design elements in the other rooms are few hence unlike RCB, we will pick up the pace here
The Bed Room
It is recommended to maintain the height of the bed at around 18 inches (including the mattress), in addition its important that the mattress is not too soft as getting out of a soft mattress is difficult.
Another recommendation is to have a night light in the bedroom. Nowadays there are battery operated motion sensor lights available in the market that do not need any wiring, these are also useful if the elders are used to sleeping in complete darkness and an "always on" night light is not an option
The Kitchen
For senior citizen managed Kitchens, much to the chagrin of my customers, I recommend having NO wall units. Wall units are difficult to reach and most accidents happen when someone on a stool/ ladder tries to pull something out of the top most shelf. If one needs the additional storage space it makes sense to have a large tall unit instead of the wall unit.
(talking about ladders, RCB just fell off one just now and my daughters are howling we loooost, we loooost, need to take a short break, will be back in a min)
Ok, back now. The last bit for an elder managed kitchen is the height of the kitchen counter. For the typical Indian height a counter height of 32 inches is recommended for an elder managed Kitchen i.e. lesser than the regular modular kitchen counter top height of 36 inches.
The living room
When optimizing the living room for the elderly look for walking spaces that are bereft of furniture. One may not realize this but furniture gives holding support while walking and if you watch closely you will notice the elderly taking active support from furniture as they walk around the home. Furniture bereft spaces typically include the foyer area and the passage from the living room towards the bed rooms. There may be more such spaces in your home depending on the floor plan and the furniture placement.
In such "furniture barren" spaces it is recommended to have hand rails that the elders can hold on to and take support of as they walk.
Another good practice is to have floor level lighting mounted along the skirting in the passageways and staircases as these would make the floor clearly visible and the step more firm, one can use sensor based lighting as mentioned above for this as well. In general for the elderly the home needs to be well lit.
Lastly, if you have rugs and mats on the floor you would do well to firmly stick these to the floor using Velcro as loose mats may just slip & cause a fall.
That covers it I guess. As always would welcome your comments, feedback and any additional thoughts on aspects that the above write up did not cover.
Signing off
Nandita
As a designer I have felt that a number of such domestic incidents are avoidable with good interior design, minor home makeovers and an eye for detail. I have been wanting to write on this topic for some time however for one reason or the other have been unable to do so. With the IPL final on in the backdrop tonite and RCB getting a good drumming from Hyderabad (Cutting just knocked the ball out of the stadium ...ughhhh) and not much to look forward to ...or so it seems, thought that there is no better time to pen this one down.
------------
If you have an elder member at home below are the design elements that you can introduce into your home to make it safe for them. I will go room wise rather than giving you a laundry list as that would be easier.
The Bathroom: This is the "room" that sees the maximum number of accidents by far. Apart from using anti skid floor tiles it is important to have hand rails next to the WC and in the bath area as seen in the pics below
The other thing that you would have observed in the pics above is the tall stool, another must have in the bathroom. Most bathroom stools are NOT full height and for the seniors just the process sitting on and getting off these is inconvenient and risky, a tall stool to sit on when taking a bath is therefore a must have.
It is also recommended to have a hand shower in the bathing area as it is easier to take bath with a hand shower compared to a bucket/mug or an overhead shower.
(Ok..so Virat Kohli just got out at 54....more ughhh)
Talking about bathroom fittings, in case you are "making" a bathroom for a senior person at home and have the flexibility of choosing the tiles then it is recommended to have the floor tiles to be a couple of shades lighter than the wall tiles as that provides better visibility, in addition the height of the WC should at max be 16 inches.
(BTW... ABD also out, now really not looking good for RCB)
"Just outside the bathroom" is another space that one needs to pay attention to. With wet feet falling on slippery tile/stone, this is another place that sees a number of accidents. It is hence necessary to ALWAYS have a good heavy foot mat just outside the bathroom, it is also recommended to have good lighting in this area.
The elder friendly design elements in the other rooms are few hence unlike RCB, we will pick up the pace here
The Bed Room
It is recommended to maintain the height of the bed at around 18 inches (including the mattress), in addition its important that the mattress is not too soft as getting out of a soft mattress is difficult.
Another recommendation is to have a night light in the bedroom. Nowadays there are battery operated motion sensor lights available in the market that do not need any wiring, these are also useful if the elders are used to sleeping in complete darkness and an "always on" night light is not an option
The Kitchen
For senior citizen managed Kitchens, much to the chagrin of my customers, I recommend having NO wall units. Wall units are difficult to reach and most accidents happen when someone on a stool/ ladder tries to pull something out of the top most shelf. If one needs the additional storage space it makes sense to have a large tall unit instead of the wall unit.
(talking about ladders, RCB just fell off one just now and my daughters are howling we loooost, we loooost, need to take a short break, will be back in a min)
Ok, back now. The last bit for an elder managed kitchen is the height of the kitchen counter. For the typical Indian height a counter height of 32 inches is recommended for an elder managed Kitchen i.e. lesser than the regular modular kitchen counter top height of 36 inches.
The living room
When optimizing the living room for the elderly look for walking spaces that are bereft of furniture. One may not realize this but furniture gives holding support while walking and if you watch closely you will notice the elderly taking active support from furniture as they walk around the home. Furniture bereft spaces typically include the foyer area and the passage from the living room towards the bed rooms. There may be more such spaces in your home depending on the floor plan and the furniture placement.
In such "furniture barren" spaces it is recommended to have hand rails that the elders can hold on to and take support of as they walk.
Another good practice is to have floor level lighting mounted along the skirting in the passageways and staircases as these would make the floor clearly visible and the step more firm, one can use sensor based lighting as mentioned above for this as well. In general for the elderly the home needs to be well lit.
Lastly, if you have rugs and mats on the floor you would do well to firmly stick these to the floor using Velcro as loose mats may just slip & cause a fall.
That covers it I guess. As always would welcome your comments, feedback and any additional thoughts on aspects that the above write up did not cover.
Signing off
Nandita
from Home Design Ideas http://ift.tt/25ruFqI
Is your home Elder Friendly? Home Design makeovers to make your home safe for the elderly - Best Home Design Ideas
Friday, March 18, 2016
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
------------------
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
Sunday, March 6, 2016
Lighting for your home - Brilliant summary in a short article
Found this brilliant article on lighting for your home on the internet, could not help but share.
https://www.americanlightingassoc.com/…/3-Types-of-Lighting
Regards
NM
https://www.americanlightingassoc.com/…/3-Types-of-Lighting
Regards
NM
Monday, October 12, 2015
Feedback from The ET Acetech 2015 Bangalore
If you have been on Bangalore roads in the last couple of weeks you would not have missed the huge posters of Shahrukh Khan promoting ACE Tech 2015, in fact the newspapers have been ringing with full page ads of the exhibition as well. One wonders what has Sharukh got to do with the Construction and Interiors industry :-P, perhaps this came about via his wife who is a known Interior designer herself. A Google look up on “Gauri Khan Interior Design” throws up a 2012 Bloomberg video that says “Gauri Khan turns interior designer”… huh – how does one "turn into" an Interior Designer?? I got to go and watch that video now :-).
Enough pun on the Khan Khandaan for now, back to Acetech. It has been among the largest exhibitions in the Construction and Interior design space, professionally organized and at one of the better venues (BIEC) in Bangalore. This year they had invited almost the entire Architect & Interior Designer fraternity in Bangalore to stand jury for their awards to honour the best exhibitors at the event. As “eminent jury” yours truly got deep-er insight into the products/ concepts on display with detailed presentations from the exhibitors.
Apart from the regular stuff like tiles, countertops, hardware on display a few themes stood out this year and possibly are representative of how the market and demand around interiors is shaping up for the future
1. LED Lighting is now standard fitment: With LED’s now available in all shapes and designs with a drastic drop in prices they offer a competitive alternative to regular lighting. A number of vendors also had fuzed LED lighting with unique designs in Glass to create a stunning effect. I have mentioned this earlier – lighting if used tastefully can drastically alter the feel of a home be it that of positive energy or relaxing comfort. LED lighting along with its rendition in glass take that effect to the next level
2. Home Automation: While we are still some time away from the refrigerator ordering grocery replenishes on its own, home automation has already come a long way from offering remote controlled switches, curtains, blinds etc. to controlling devices via your smart phone or based on a set time schedule - imagine your sprinkler or water pump automatically switching on at the designated hour, controlling the lighting in your home from a remote location, or your home security system setting off the intrusion alarm on your cellphone and all the while being able to monitor your overall energy consumption via the app on your tablet.
With more than just a couple of vendors offering solutions along the lines above, and mind you - these are not imported, some are in fact being manufactured in our very own Bengalooru, it is evident that Home automation is here to stay. So get ready to install that smart phone controlled cuckoo bell for your home during your next renovation ( …heee)
3. Ready-made partitions and wall murals: Home makers and designers usually have had to manufacture those partitions and panels for your home to make it stand out, no more…
Vendors now offer readymade but built to size partitions for your home. These can also be customized for your specific wants and desires and are available in different material and finishes – from brass, steel or wood.
Additionally a number of vendors are nowadays importing extremely pleasing wall murals from across the world and making these available at your doorstep. With the demand growing for these our desi manufacturers have also picked up steam to make these in country. Check out some of the pics below
4. Skylights: Last but not the very least, with Villa living in vogue nowadays customers are looking for skylights for that classy look to their home and to help bring down energy costs. For lack of better options a number of my own customers have had to compromise with installing fabricated and flimsy skylights for their home during the construction phase. While this may still not be run of the mill, there was at least one vendor that had ready-made skylights (both fixed and retractable) on display at the exhibition. With prices starting from 3000 per square feet these still may not be for the mass market but it is good to know that the option exists.
Signing off for now, as always would welcome your feedback and inputs
Nandita
Ohhh....how can we sign off without due regards to the King...so here goes
Enough pun on the Khan Khandaan for now, back to Acetech. It has been among the largest exhibitions in the Construction and Interior design space, professionally organized and at one of the better venues (BIEC) in Bangalore. This year they had invited almost the entire Architect & Interior Designer fraternity in Bangalore to stand jury for their awards to honour the best exhibitors at the event. As “eminent jury” yours truly got deep-er insight into the products/ concepts on display with detailed presentations from the exhibitors.
Apart from the regular stuff like tiles, countertops, hardware on display a few themes stood out this year and possibly are representative of how the market and demand around interiors is shaping up for the future
1. LED Lighting is now standard fitment: With LED’s now available in all shapes and designs with a drastic drop in prices they offer a competitive alternative to regular lighting. A number of vendors also had fuzed LED lighting with unique designs in Glass to create a stunning effect. I have mentioned this earlier – lighting if used tastefully can drastically alter the feel of a home be it that of positive energy or relaxing comfort. LED lighting along with its rendition in glass take that effect to the next level
2. Home Automation: While we are still some time away from the refrigerator ordering grocery replenishes on its own, home automation has already come a long way from offering remote controlled switches, curtains, blinds etc. to controlling devices via your smart phone or based on a set time schedule - imagine your sprinkler or water pump automatically switching on at the designated hour, controlling the lighting in your home from a remote location, or your home security system setting off the intrusion alarm on your cellphone and all the while being able to monitor your overall energy consumption via the app on your tablet.
With more than just a couple of vendors offering solutions along the lines above, and mind you - these are not imported, some are in fact being manufactured in our very own Bengalooru, it is evident that Home automation is here to stay. So get ready to install that smart phone controlled cuckoo bell for your home during your next renovation ( …heee)
3. Ready-made partitions and wall murals: Home makers and designers usually have had to manufacture those partitions and panels for your home to make it stand out, no more…
Vendors now offer readymade but built to size partitions for your home. These can also be customized for your specific wants and desires and are available in different material and finishes – from brass, steel or wood.
Additionally a number of vendors are nowadays importing extremely pleasing wall murals from across the world and making these available at your doorstep. With the demand growing for these our desi manufacturers have also picked up steam to make these in country. Check out some of the pics below
4. Skylights: Last but not the very least, with Villa living in vogue nowadays customers are looking for skylights for that classy look to their home and to help bring down energy costs. For lack of better options a number of my own customers have had to compromise with installing fabricated and flimsy skylights for their home during the construction phase. While this may still not be run of the mill, there was at least one vendor that had ready-made skylights (both fixed and retractable) on display at the exhibition. With prices starting from 3000 per square feet these still may not be for the mass market but it is good to know that the option exists.
Signing off for now, as always would welcome your feedback and inputs
Nandita
Ohhh....how can we sign off without due regards to the King...so here goes
** Image attribution - ABEC Events/ ACE Tech
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