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

Home Tour - An ode to Southern Hospitality!

I am fortunate to have many favorite "home away from homes" here in the USA, far away from my own parents' and friends' home in namma Bengalooru. An escape... a place where I can just be, without having to "run the house", but just relish in the receiving end of thoughtful pampering and scrumptious good food!  Waking up in the morning  to the smell of freshly brewing coffee..and mouth watering South-Indian tiffin... sitting in my pajamas until I have to get ready to go shopping or to the spa or some such indulgent endeavor instead of rushing to work with vestiges of a hastily eaten breakfast, if any!!!! 

   

You see, when we immigrate, we make USA our home, we develop networks of friends and extended families here, and it becomes an imperative fall back, a much needed retreat, in the chaotic, corporate, stir-crazy worlds we live in! 

And a retreat it was, with my lovely friends - Ashok, Anitha, and their kindergartner Abi. Not to forget their rollicking chocolate lab Ginger! Ashok and Anitha have just welcomed their second baby into this world, and are delightfully giddy with their new arrival! So, join me Aalayam family, in congratulating this lovely couple who opened up their hospitality to me.... to Aalayam, and shared their gorgeous Southern home replete with the modern Texan charm!!!

As with most homes in Texas, the most striking feature of Ashok and Ani's home is its gorgeous high ceilinged architecture. While this style of construction can be a design intimidation for some, the home owners have embraced this feature and played it to their advantage. The Texas sun streams into their family room which has this gorgeous showcase fireplace feature, rendered even warmer with the spicy cinnamon color splash on the wall!

Ornate Tanjore paintings and brass artifacts in shadow boxes adorn the feature wall that reflects the rippling sunshine and add an elegant grace to this home.  Many of these vintage, much loved pieces are gifts from family and friends and have found a pride of place in this beautiful Texas home.

Its rare to find tufted leather seating in a warm and cozy living space, much less, an Indian living room. Leather always evokes images of sleek, sophisticated and modern and cold, yet, the homeowners get the balance of chic classy and warm classic just right! The chocolate brown sofa adds that gorgeous neutral grounding to the earth tones sprinkled all over this living room!

And of course their island kitchen is a dream one for me! Large and spacious, with a tons of above and below counter storage, it's the perfect hub for family dinner preparations, conversations and baking projects. 

The kitchen veers off to a sunny, informal dining area which the homeowners use for eating, homework, and other daily, comforting activities young parents indulge in with their children! (Read messy crafts, endless drawings, puzzles..midnight milk and cookies..and endless coffee and doughnut conversations!) And how easy is it to clean up messes on the lovely, cool stone floors? Thank Heavens for some small favors.

I had to sneak peek into Ani's pantry and share this quirky and functional spice box arrangement. Isn't it so cute that all the spices are labeled in Ani's neat handwriting? This spice box medley pays perfect homage to Ani's neat and organized lifestyle. 

Now, get ready to get transported into a modern seaside retreat in the middle of suburban Austin! This gorgeous master bed room has been hand painted by Ashok and Ani with painstaking precision. Can you think of how many things could go wrong while painting stripes on a textured wall? Yet the room looks lovely - modern, sophisticated and classy with metallic accents and subtle seaside themed  decor. Just the perfect retreat for the home owners!

I heard most Texas homes have their master bed room on the first floor. These Texas birds don't have to fly high to find their nest, do they! Just off the master bed, is the mocha colored staircase for the second floor. The colors around the home are perfectly complimentary to each other. Never too overwhelming, never too dull. Just perfect.

Upstairs is a visual treat. A cute little kids room which Ani is planning to remodel for the new baby and her big brother! Ani, please share with us the picture of the new room when it is ready! We are curious to see how the lil nest turns out, after all our design pow-wows! 

Ashok is a movie buff. And a tech geek. He is also the coolest guy to visit because he has a larger than life, home theater media room setup upstairs, done up in fire engine red,  replete with sound masking curtains, digital dolby sound, Hollywood themed trivia, dozens of Blu Ray discs and accouterments thrown in for good measure! 

Aah, to recline in those chairs with a big bag of popcorn and be lost in a true-blue Indian movie! Sheer "home away from home" nirvana! 

This vintage box office style media room is a design inspiration, and a superb personal stamp the home owners have brought into this modern Texas home. I can easily imagine hiding out in this media room doing movie marathons after a stressful work week!

The guest room gets some design love too! Coffee and Gold colored accents are interspersed with teal blue...A never fail combination. My favorite part of the room is the vines that start from the window, looking like a real branch has made its way through the window into the room! 

Finally, the perfect topping to Ashok and Ani's hospitality, is how they appealed to my gastronomic cravings at all times of the day! Did you know Ashok brews his own lattes and cappuccinos? He has a dreamy coffee machine which he put to delicious use during my visit there. I almost wept to leave that java junction behind! 

Now, I leave you with an image of succulent Texas mangoes topped with French Vanilla Ice Cream! I added crumbles of Krispy Kreme Original Glazed doughnut into mine... Pure and Simple Dessert Heaven!!

Thank you guys for letting us into your home! Soon your beautiful home will be bustling with the patter of lil anklet clad feet...Congratulations once again! 

With lots of warm tidings from the Aalayam family! 

Love,
Supriya

Come Home to a Sanctuary!

Dear Aalayam family!

As promised, we are back with the home tour and the much awaited rendezvous with Divya Thomas! There is much left to be said, and we will say it, in this post replete with tranquil corners from Divya's home.

Nestled in the midst of a bustling suburban town in North Carolina, USA, Divya and Sarit's home is a sublime escape. Greeted at the doorway with the heady incense of sandalwood, I could have been ensconced in any plantation house in the glorious spice coast of the Malabar or on the hallowed backwaters of Kerala. Divya’s home reinforces my belief that it’s not where you live, but what you make with your living space, that transforms a home into a sanctuary.

The house sits amidst lush, almost tropical greenery, punctuated with rustic stone steps that start in the front garden, leading to a backyard creek, which shimmers in the sunlight, making its gurgly presence felt through the many wide windows of the house. I hang out on the sandal scented porch, shaded by a vertical limbs of the trees and hanging potted plants, in the front yard, gaping at the variegated earthen masks, terracotta columns and cameos Divya has lovingly put up on the walls. This entrance to her home sets the tone for what to expect inside the home. I get ready to get wowed!

WITH THE OUTSIDE LIKE THIS, DO WE REALLY NEED TO GO INSIDE?

                                                THE OUTSIDE REFLECTS THE VIBE OF THE INSIDE!

                                  LUSH AND SERENE ESCAPE JUST OUTSIDE THE FRONT DOOR - WHAT A VIEW!!


Within minutes of arriving I feel entirely at home, falling into rhythm in this beautiful, intriguing and quirky home with its high ceilings, polished floors and cool, dark rooms rife with antiques and family heirlooms. What is pervasive is the fragrance of sandal incense, it seems to be part of the home, giving it soul, filling it with a stimulating, almost arousing energy.

I try hard to think of a design category in which to place this home in. I fail. But then again, that is the essence of all things Divya – no rules, no playbook, no conformist categories. Divya’s home is a playground for her creative soul-curry. It’s a collection of well-loved and much traveled pieces adoringly put together in ways that please the eye.

I pause and take in the architectural detail, the bold pieces of furniture and fixture that do not by any means, qualify as impersonal store bought “décor”, but define the warm and vital charm of the house as living and breathing boughs. 

                       

            THIS ROOM IS ONE OF DIVYA'S FAVORITE ROOMS IN THE HOUSE!

Each piece, in each room, has a story..a friendship… a trip…a memory associated with it. The net effect is a cozy, yet riotous medley of colors, textures and vibes, evident in all these photographs that made a lasting impression on me.

 DO YOU RECOGNIZE THE ALL FAMILIAR R.K. LAXMAN ON THE WALL?

Divya is a collector, you will see well loved art work displayed all over her home, new age art, hand crafted by her friends, signature paintings, evocative photographs clicked by discerning photographers, all get gallery fame in her various rooms, adding to the drama and visual interest that reigns supreme in her home

It is captivating to notice how Divya has infused her personality into her living space she shares with her husband, her daughter and their precious furry family member – Lola, her onyx colored Peekapoo. Divya insists that her native roots do not influence her design sensibilities, yet, we see strong and bold flavors from her heritage reflected throughout her home.

                                                 THE INTRICATE STAIRCASE IS A SENSORY SERENADE

                                                            A FALL BACK TO CLASSIC, INDIGENOUS ROOTS

                                   DID YOU KNOW THAT SARIT IS A DESCENDANT OF RAJA RAVI VARMA'S LINEAGE?

THE MAGNIFICENT "NETTIPATTAM" ELEPHANT ORNAMENT AVOWS HERITAGE!

Divya harbors a self confessed love for cozy, “cottagey” spaces. She says she would feel lost in a massive room. She believes that her living space reflects her mind space and if I could hazard an educated guess, I would say it reflects eclecticism and intrigue!

            THE BEAUTIFUL PAINTING ADORNING THE GUEST ROOM BY PROLIFIC ARTIST SMRUTHI GARGI ESWAR

                 
                                                                  NOW THAT IS WHAT I CALL A ZEN RETREAT!

               THE MASKS AND THE "PATTACHITRA" MONTAGE SET THE CREATIVE JUICES FLOWING EN ROUTE TO                                                                                          THE BASEMENT WORKSHOP!

          PHOTOGRAPHS BY AWARD WINNING FILM MAKER RYAN LOBO PEPPER THE KARMASUTHRA WORKSHOP. 

                                                             THE WORKSHOP IS A SERENE, CREATIVE ESCAPE

                                                                      
                                         FRAMED WALL ART BY  ILLUSTRATOR PRASHANT MIRANDA (ABOVE)

                                                                 A PEEK INTO DIVYA'S  WORKSHOP (ABOVE)

So my lovelies, we arrive at my most favorite part of the two part series on Divya Thomas and Karmasuthra – a fun and flirty peek into who the real Divya Thomas is. So here goes!

“I feel the world is a playing field…a canvas waiting to be painted on!”

The beauty of the canvas Divya is painting on resonates, in its bold, yet achingly familiar individual expression. Divya says that Karmasuthra is an exquisitely rewarding part of the beautiful journey she is on called life. It is not the destination...as she is still searching…striving…but graciously accepting the joy Karmasuthra has brought to her.

Divya, you have touched our lives...a true inspiration! Thank you for being part of Aalayam's journey.

Love,

Supriya