Its a Twin Thing!

My twins are born on Aug 01, 2013....I know, its quite recent. But before they were born, I had a lot of work which needed to be done at home. Of course, I had no idea about how much I would need to do after they were born....Gosh!!! :O

Anyway,  a part of my twin project was making their room ready. I didn't know if I was going to deliver 2 boys or 2 girls or a boy-girl combo. Hence, wanted to create a space which would cater to any pair that would be born to us.

A lot of my friends suggested I make ample storage. A toy trunk, some drawers for their little clothes, etc. One of my architect friends called Aloka even suggested that I make a diaper changing station. I knew I had to plan this well. I needed enough storage and at the same time make arrangements to have all the above. 

This diaper changing station below is simple. I also use it as an iron board. It is just a simple folded shelf which I pull out and unfold....it gives me a a whole long platform of 4ft. Voila...my babies get a changing space and I get a pain-free back! :)

Just recently, I also got my kitchen done. It had some old baskets which were in good condition. I didn't have the heart to throw them. I wondered what could be done with them....until then, I realized that they could be a part of the wardrobes in the baby room. I was so happy, I could reuse so much!

I believe in hand-made things. After I got the room painted white and blue, I wondered what could go up the wall. I decided to make some wall frames myself. I wanted to use some basic material and have delightful picture frames mounted on the wall. Since the room was going to be shared by twins...similar frames were made. In this whole little craft making session, I did very less while my friends Aditi & Tanu, relished cutting, pasting and organizing these little newspaper hearts cuttings....

The twins being so little, still do not have their own beds. I decided to retain my futon for the time being. This futon is low and ideal for both of them. I turn it up into a sofa during the day and as the day ends, we convert it into a bed.

The kiddie room has long windows which overlook beautiful tall dense trees which is swamped with lovely birds, we decided to make a bench alongside the window. We designed it in a way, that kids can sit and enjoy their meals a little later at age. Since the window was 5ft long, we even decided to make small drawers for slender storage. 

To make the room look happy, bright and cheerful, I decided to decorate with little things. Things like bright bold knobs on the wardrobes, cascading red jute lights and some pillows which would make their tiny room full of life! They say "It's double the giggles and double the grins...And double the trouble if you're blessed with twins." I think I am blessed! :)

Home of Eternal Triangles

High ceiling, open terrace and airy was how I would call this home. As much as fresh it was, it needed to be spiced up. Breaking walls, opening windows and refurbishing furniture is what I thought about when I saw it first. A long stretch of space had to accommodate living and dining area. The living area opened into the dining and then the terrace. At one glance, it seemed like a room which didn't quite end soon! The trio that lives here demanded openness and simplicity. A room full of furniture was not their style. I wondered how and where I should get started. The kitchen and dining area needed to be attended to first by breaking the mid-section wall. This would make more space and make the kitchen more accessible to the dining area. So there went down the 10” thick wall and the house looked bigger already.

Now I had a long wide space to work with. The family wanted a low seating in their dining area since they like sitting low and enjoy their meals. At the same time, they wanted a flexible dining table which could accommodate 10 people and yet be stored away only when 3 of them had their meals. So, we decided to make a huge dining table which could be detached into 6 different pieces. So for everyday meals, the family uses 2 tables and stacks the remaining. All 6 are used when they have company. So the 6 piece dining table yet needed tinge of unusual grace. Using browns didn't seem like fun. So we picked up the theme of eternal triangles and painted them on 2 tables. Duplicated the same on the opening of the kitchen entrance. This area looked charming as ever!

The dining had a futile cabinet pushed into the wall. We carved out a notch as per our requirement and sealed the rest. I wondered what I could do here since I wanted this place to look unique. This family had abundant old copper and brass urns and tins. They were keen on getting rid of them since storage was becoming difficult. I was increasingly happy to see them and asked if I could use them which meant drilling holes and converting them into lamps. So the urns became lights which hung gracefully with copper chains and got adorned by traditional brass bells. A mellow light inside them looked dazzling and romantic.

The dining area was not yet done. In the excitement of all these beautiful embellishments, I pleaded them to dig out more things which they didn't remember they had. Then slowly more and more antiques surfaced. They had forgotten most of it and almost did not believe what they inherited. So the junk according to them became a huge part of their décor. I arranged shelves abstractly and set all the antiques perfectly on these platforms completing the look of the dining area. We also converted a water container and a traditional water heater into side tables which became a part of this room. As far as I think, this is the best part in the house!

I could not neglect the living space which of course was the first place when you entered the house. Again, the family was ready to replace their bulky sofa with something trendier. It took me a while to convince them about retaining this piece because it was made with the finest teak wood which is impossible to procure today. I promised them to refurbish it so that they don’t get bored with it anymore. Later after some work was done on it, we realized we have saved a lot of wood from the remains on the sofa. The best part was, this wood was used in every bit of the furniture that was made new, like the coffee table and divider. Let me explain, this part of the living space needed the motifs of the eternal triangles to balance the dining area since it was the same extended room. We built a pretty coffee table with the wood salvaged from the hand rest of the sofas. The piece turned out to be remarkably pretty and took the attention of the living space.

The rest of the living room got converted into a simple space. An old wall cabinet became new where we displayed a beautiful sculpture of Buddha. We made a settee to make the place look cozy and keeping in mind that the family enjoys sitting low. A slider was made into the settee so that 2 people could sleep there if need be. The sofas got compact and prettier. We also converted the 2 chairs of the sofa set into stools with lower back support. This really changed the look of the living room. Two warm table lamps were placed on each side of the television set. The whole place looked cozy and welcoming.

The family wanted segregation between the dining and living space yet I had to maintain the openness. So I decided to make a floating divider between the two. We cut rounded quadrangles and squares and secured them into each other which hung from the ceiling. Even the bar on which we hung the divider was salvaged from the sofa! Every bit of the remains of the sofa made its way through various things in the house.

Lastly, I had to give my last bit of finishing touches. These came in by attending to the walls of the living space. So, with our remaining wood we decided to glue it, paint it and make it into something cool and special which would suit this space perfectly. Keeping the theme of triangles and quadrangles with fresh blue and tomato red toning it down with whites and browns, we completed this work just in time for the arrival of the Ganesh festival.

The Lively-wood Studio

It has been a four years since I started Lively-wood. Nurturing and flowing with it made these years go by and I thought it was time to gift this endeavor a little something. It was time to progress a little! So a shabby little workshop turned into the Lively-wood Studio. A place to display my work, colour, ideas and every little thing that helps me create something new!!



To start with the mirrors, I needed a place to display each and every one of them so that I keep the artwork intact and at one glance, my customers or visitors have a chance to see them all. It also meant, having all the floor space for other things.



A desk with knick-knacks that motivate me, was an important element. I had preserved these mementos from my college days which had abundant memories yet were packed in boxes. I had to get all of it out along with some recycled clocks and put it up right there. I had a artwork, lying around from a project, that I didn't want to throw and was wondering how best to put it to use. So this leftover work turns into a bright bold red grid with the mementos and all my paper gets a display on the soft board hung over my desk!








Like I mentioned in one of my earlier post, I am going crazy recycling! Yes, I went crazy re-using as much as possible even this time! I started with using two steel cut outs which were lying around from Bipin's Dad's factory in the scrap heap. I coloured them and displayed them at the entrance of my studio. For now, I think they look great there! The next I re-used was a window grid made with very good quality sagwan or teak wood. I decided to paint it deep blue and used it as my little chandelier! The list like that, goes on and on...





Lastly, I wanted to display whatever was left behind. A ceramic bell, paper lights, a bird cage and so many little knick-knacks!







Its so nice when some loved ones visit you. I loved taking them to my studio and also felt good to be appreciated.

A Teacher’s Philosophy & Dancers’ Delight

You might wonder, why I have such a strange name for this bedroom project for the Bhupatkar residence! Well as much as I like my friend Maithily & her dear mother, I loved working in these spacious, well-lit and clean bedrooms of theirs. I am glad I got to work on two extreme diverse concepts; one eccentric and eclectic while the other was contemporary with a smack of family heritage!

Now let me start making by making the title clear. When I say Teacher’s Philosophy, I simply mean the way a teacher thinks. The family are a bunch of extraordinary teachers. When I worked with Mrs. Bhupatkar, I was surprised to see how careful and observant she was. She didn’t miss out a single detail when it came to little things like handles, curtains, her picture frames, to the extent of switch boards! The first time I met her, she made it clear that she wanted something in straight lines, and it all had to look clean! That’s when I knew she wanted to go contemporary in her room.





Whites & greens, basic and minimalistic was her choice. Long curtains, patterned bedspread and bold pillows made her happy. We refurbished the existing wardrobes and built a little entertainment centre for her antique TV.





Since all members of this family are ardent readers, creating a corner where they can unwind was important. The advantage of working in this house was that the rooms are good sized. I did get a nice cosy corner to change the focus of the bedroom, which was previously unattended.



Well to my good fortune, they owned a 100 year old antique gorgeously made chair with an even better old trunk lying around. They certainly valued it but really didn’t know how it could be incorporated into their home. When I suggested it’s place, they were truly delighted and happy that these antiques could be a part of their decor. So, this unattended corner became a reader’s haven. I placed good amount of lighting behind it with a few abstract shelves which made the room look cool and contemporary with a splash of the old.



Lastly, I did want to provide a little dressing area. Even though reading was a highlight of the room, I didn’t want to forget that it was after all a bedroom. In a small space beside the bathroom, just on your way out, a simple peek-a-boo mirror cabinet was fixed.

Hence ending the story of the Teachers’ Philosophy, keeping it straight and simple!
Now let us talk about the eccentric dancers’ delight. My friend, who is an outstanding dancer, wanted her room to be eclectic and on one hand and on the other wanted to bring some form of dance into the decor. So let me start by explaining how we went about doing it.

The corner of this spacious bedroom was a bit neglected. I knew not much could be done with it since accessibility to the corner wasn’t convenient. But without doubt, I could make it a focal point of the room and yet give some functionality to it. Hence, we hung some kandeels or lamps from the ceiling and arranged a beautiful old cabinet to display her Natraj (God of dance) statue on it. The lower cabinets could be used to store her books and other brass items. The cabinet was refurbished and glass was put on 2 sides to showcase her collection of antiques.



The next very important part of her room was her beautiful dresser named Surya. We scrubbed and rubbed to make it look old, frayed and antique. The contrast of yellows and blues with ornate brass handles made the corner look brilliantly distinctive. Since that little dance element had to be added, hand-made handles with ghoongroos or bells were installed on the drawers. We also added a touch of golden wrot iron embossing on the deep, rich blue full length mirror with some ghoongroos to match the dresser below. Since all my products have a name, I call this mirror Lavanya because it came out very graceful! With ample storage of 3 drawers, the corner looks exquisite!





To match and balance colours, a similar side unit I call Turmerica was made. It stands next to the bed and has sturdy carved teak wood legs.



Along with these two features, arranging and refurbishing her existing bed and wardrobes, lighting and entertainment centre had to have their place. Below are the placement of the wall mounted entertainment centre opposite the bed and the overall view of the room.





Lastly, I want to thank my dear friend Vikrant for helping me take such wonderful photos of my work. He has been helping me do so always!! :)