Diwali tablescape - ethnic inspiration, the Aalayam way!

Hello! It is Diwali and there will soon be a billion of us celebrating this festival of light and food and cherishing the bond that we share with our friends and family and I hope the preparations have picked up speed at your end as well?

A DIY diwali card ...for that personal touch!

Here is our annual Diwali edition- an Aalayam tradition!

 This time my Diwali tablescape is swathed in earthy colors and carries a haveli-esque feel and this was my attempt at capturing yet another shade of our fascinating culture.  

I have always wanted to travel to color and culture rich Rajasthan – maybe next year… This year though, I brought flavors of Rajasthan to my Diwali dinner table.  

My tablescape is a tribute to the pomp and pageantry of Rajasthan that I have heard so much about. I have combined vibrant hues, miniature paintings, rustic and brass accents to reflect the earthen flavor of the Thar.

This tablescape includes the hallmark of Indian décor –it is full of life and fit for a Maharajah! I had fun working with this exciting palette of colors and patterns. Did you like this Diwali composition? Write to me.

It is going to be a quiet Diwali at home for us this year but I still want to savor mom’s epicurean delights, relive childhood traditions and soak in the sparkle that only Diwali night brings. And here is a simple attempt at creating a setting that appeals to the senses. This is going to be a festival seasoned with meaning and gratitude and we have much to thank for. The tepid glow of the flickering lights that metaphorically represent the essence of Diwali will serve as a gentle reminder of all our blessings.

Supriya and I want to wish all of you a very happy Deepavali. I hope you all revel in the symbolism and gaiety and indulge in beautifying your homes as an uplifting reminder of the spirit of Diwali!  We hope your celebration is beautiful regardless of whether you are honoring religious traditions or cultural customs. And we also wish that all of your dreams come true this Diwali.

Wishing you all love and peace this Diwali!

Cheers

~Deepa

P.S: All images in this post are from my home and subject to copyright

Swagatham, Suswagatham - A Bengalooru style home in Virginia!

Hospitality is second nature to any Indian, as I am sure the Aalayam culture aficionados will agree. Hospitality reigns supreme in this sublime South Indian abode, nestled in suburban Virginia, USA. 

With cheer and vitality sparkling in every corner, this home resonates with the warm welcome  (Swagatham) of namma Bengalooru.  Hence, the title of this post - "Swagatham, Suswagatham" : a glorious welcome to the Aalayam readers into this gorgeous Kannada mane, resplendent in ethnic glory. 

Welcome to the home of Gowri and Vikram, whose sweet story has fascinatingly lent itself to making their living space, one to remember!

I met Gowri and Vikram at the local Indian store. Many Indians living abroad will agree that the Indian store, and the local temple is the best place to run into fellow desis living in the vides. :)

The conversation picked up simultaneously with the connection, with our language, our home town, our customs and the fact that we had Twins!! drawing us closer with each passing meeting. It only took one visit to Gowri and Vikrams' home for me to realize that I HAD TO FEATURE IT IN THE AALAYAM HOME TOUR SECTION!!

Gowri and Vikram graciously agreed to get featured and let me stomp around with my SLR taking pictures of their home's beautiful nooks and crannies. And as usual, I had to pester them for their life story. Here's a synopsis of the tete-a-tete !

Tell us a little bit of your story - how did you meet? how did you imagine your home is going to be when you "grew up"?

            My husband and I, we are childhood sweethearts and we know each other since we were 10 years old. He was my next door neighbor and we grew up together as best friends. Our friendship grew into something special and before we knew we were in love. 

As teenagers and in our early adulthood we both loved going for long drives and exploring nature. One more interesting and relaxing past time for both of us was looking for beautiful houses, architecture and landscaping. So we explored various neighborhoods for hours driving around and appreciating all the beautiful ideas and creations. 

We always talked about having a dream house of our own one day and thanks to my dear hubby he brought me to a foreign country which is an amazing land of opportunity, where we could lead a dream life and also bring harmony by balancing Indian culture and American ways.

What makes your home "your home"?

            When we move into a house it’s just a house. For us a house becomes a home when we start a new beginning, bring in new life, capture beautiful memories, joy and laughter, treasure moments, decorate each wall, each corner and each room with our presence in our home. Our best ideas and creations has flown into our house making it our home.

 Does the decor in your home fit the bill for any one particular style - if so, what drove you to that style?

                              I grew up back home with lovable and caring parents who showed me the righteous path of leading a beautiful life. I have brought those family values into a foreign land and put it into use. I am my parent’s reflection, emitting love, following tradition and bringing value systems into my family and into our beautiful home. 

Every artifact and décor in our home is fulfilling my childhood dreams and my beautiful Indian culture. As I started to bring closer those pieces, my vision of completing the puzzle in each room came together as a fusion of Indian culture and American blend.

 How does your personal decor style influence your personality or the other way around? 

                              Our personality has influenced all the décor pieces and styles in our home. We love to collect very unique artifacts for different places. I must say when it comes to choosing a décor for our home my husband and I have a unique quality of visualizing our home with that décor in it. 

All those beautiful pieces which we hand picked together over a period of time and each one of those unique collection reminds us the beautiful memories of our love together in this journey of life thus imprinting memories of different time zones.

 What are your favorite places to shop for your home? Are you budget savvy or would you rather own pieces that truly strike a chord with you even if they are expensive? 

            There is no one particular places that we shop at, we have collected artifacts from different parts of the world. Budget was never a big issue and I must thank my husband for that. Sometimes we might go overboard but at the end of the day we enjoy and relive the beautiful moment we captured into our lives which makes it totally worth the experiences.    

 Where do you draw your online inspirations from - any favorite resources that you can share?

            Speaking frankly and openly I am not a much of an online shopper or a browser. I am old school; I love to window shop and like to visualize that article in our home. 

I want to share one of my wonderful memories here, as I was growing up along with the love of my life. We loved shopping together; he wanted to buy me jewelry for a special occasion. We  went out shopping and I  liked a piece in the first jewelry shop we walked into but guess what? we didn’t decide on it and buy it until  we both visited another 13 more  jewelry places and then coming back to the first one and then brought it. 

Why I wanted to share this with the reader is to express our meticulous search of something which we both agree upon and confirm in our hearts that THIS IS THE ONE…

 Are there influences from your home state  (Karnataka/ Bangalore) in your décor? How do you balance the modern, clean convenience of the western decor to the intricacy of Indian decor? 

            Yes, to some extent our décor reflects our home town, Bangalore. We both call it the melting pot of modern lifestyle and also traditional living. Lots of our décor as been collected from various exhibitions, some exclusive handicraft shops in and around Bangalore. 

The famous Channapatna Gombe (wooden toys) was introduced to our twins to give them a flavor of Karnataka heritage. We have also displayed many heirloom objects in our home to depict our family legacy. 

We have collected relics not just from our home town but also from different states of India. We have furnished our formal living room with traditional Indian furniture giving our ethnicity and warmth for the people how walk into our home. 

We also wanted to bring in western décor and nice even blend with our India décor. 

We have furniture depicting a long deep Amish culture in American history, these Amish craftsmen bring in lineage of tradition into present times. 

Live wood end tables, warm leather couch and excellent choices of wood with detailed craftsmanship used in our dinner room set, and again our fusion of merging American furniture with traditional Amish furniture gave us a taste of rich sophisticated American culture.

We live in Virginia Beach and enjoy beautiful weather and sunny beaches. Our sun room gives us the feeling of coastal living stirring our heart and cleansing our thoughts with its serenity & peace.

 Finally, what is your favorite place in your home to relax, recharge and rejuvenate?

            There is no one specific favorite place in our home. If I had a pick one I would pick them all because every room is filled with beautiful memories as to how all the things came together. When I walk through each room they talk to me and remind me what a cherishing and a blissful journey it has been for me and my family. 

Reminds us about all our hardship in life and also how we, has a team over came that and remolded to make it magnificent memory. Life is beautiful and we as a family live it to the fullest.

Hard not to adore them and their home right? 

Thank you Gowri and Vikram for letting us into your homes, your hearts and your cozy living corners. Aalayam readers and I will forever be grateful!

Lots of love,

Supriya

There is no place like home!

Have you been feeling like you need some downtime? I know I have! The frenzied pace of events of the past few months is finally catching up or so it seems. Festivities, changing seasons, social engagements, work, home and family priorities have all snowballed into a giant circle and I am constantly on the move! I know Supriya is swamped too and I offered to write all the posts for Aalayam this month. But for the past couple of days I have struggled to bring myself to work on a post and today I read this article in the WSJ blog titled “Five Ways to Take Control of Our Runaway Lives” where the author was making a case for breaking away from the frenzied pace of life.  

One of the tips offered in the article was to do nothing and reflect and it got me thinking.  How often do we schedule a “do-nothing time” in our daily/weekly or monthly calendars?  Do we ever make time to “escape “ and I don’t mean a getaway or a vacation (believe me going on a vacation can be a lot of work too!). I mean escape  as in do nothing, look within, reflect, sleep–in, enjoy a long drive or  savor a steamy cup of chai. Simple things that let you take control and refocus..  

The year is coming to an end rather quickly and I know many of us start making plans  to nurture ourselves with healthy new year resolutions. Why not start early this year?  It is o.k to hit the pause button when you really feel the pace heating up. A little down-time can go a long way in recharging our batteries and helping us to become more productive in the next leg . And yet, I need to constantly remind myself that it is o.k to slow down . I guess, we all put self-preservation on the back burner. We get caught up in trying to keep everything at home and at work running smoothly. Supriya will be talking about work-life balance in a later post and therefore I will defer the discussion on “balance” to her. 

Here at Aalayam, we strive to bring you beautiful inspirations to lead a wholesome life and in line with that thought, I bring you images of Home (or I should say our former home) as a reminder that we all need to unwind and relax and make time to nurture ourselves.  And what better place to start than home? Cherish time with your loved ones,  sit by the window and pay attention to the pitter-patter of the falling rain drops, enjoy a good book by the fire  - things that will  rejuvenate you and help you move forward . The holidays will be busy for all of us too and that is when we will inadvertently be overextending ourselves and it may be well worth it to focus a little on ourselves.

I am sharing some images of our former home. It was our first home and  a rather modest home. But it was still a place where we cherished time with each other as a family, dreamt happy dreams and created warm memories.  Of course, I was not writing for Aalayam back then and  therefore I do not have a lot of pictures. But  this home was featured on Priya’s blog and this is what I had written about our home then-

“Home and entertaining are central to our existence and after a hard day’s work or at the end of a busy work week, we love coming to a home where we can relax and unwind. My husband and I have always taken pride in our home. Overall, our home is a reflection of our ethnic roots.  From art work in the Warli and Tanjore style to the foot stool in the Rajasthani patch work style, our home is filled with treasures that speak to our Indian origin. Even our choice of furniture was largely guided by our Indian aesthetic sensibilities. We reached for pieces with a lot of sculpting in it – columns and arches. We went for darker tones and solid wood but the challenge was to balance style and function. Also, you will see a lot of black pieces in our home and that was our way of adding a modern twist to the antique styling”

If you are a regular Aalayam eader, you probably realize I have carried forward the same accents, furniture and design sensibilities into my current home but the big difference is color. Yes, we did a dramatic 360 with color in our current home (intentionally)!

Home means different things to different people. To me- it means an oasis! A place where I can enjoy the simple pleasures of life like the warmth of a fire on a crisp autumn evening or a quiet conversation or soulful music with my family.

I hope as the year end approaches you all  will make the time to embrace what is important to you and find a happy middle ground as you strive to balance the various demands of every day life.

Pardon me as I turn down the frequency of our posts a little bit temporarily but  please note that we are working on some exciting posts for the holiday season!

I will also announce the winner of our TJ MAXX home goods gift card give away winner in my next post. Keep commenting, we are adding a surprise twist to the giveaway!

 Cheers!

~Deepa

P.S: All images in this post are from my former home and taken by my husband. Please do not use without permission.