Home tour- An ode to antique brass!

Are you a lover of antique brass accents? Then you are in for an absolute treat - this home is a brass collector's inspiration! We wanted to kick start our home tours for this year with a home that celebrates our cultural patrimony and a brass collector's haven seemed to fit the bill consummately. 

Join me as we tour the Westerville, Ohio home of my dear friends  - Shalini and Bhagavan.

It is not just another Indian home in North America but it is an ethnically exuberant space that pays homage to its roots. Their home is also a true reflection of Shalini's vivacious smile and Bhagavan's affable persona and my husband and I experienced their affection first hand when they hosted us for a photo shoot of their home over Thanksgiving break. Shalini served up one of the yummiest Masala dosas I've ever eaten and Bhagavan brewed the filter coffee to perfection. I knew right then that theirs was a match made in heaven. And today, the readers of Aalayam get to experience their virtual hospitality. 

Over the course of a wintry afternoon, with light playing peek-a-boo, my husband managed to capture a few good shots of their beautiful home. Here's to merry conversations, our common love of home decor and several cups of freshly brewed coffee! 



Shalini and Bhagavan moved into their home 9 years ago and over the years , she has lovingly and painstakingly transformed their home into a stylish and inviting space. All it takes is patience, an innate interior design capability and a willing partner. She is the designer and he is the DIY guy- again, a match made in heaven! Shalini's passion for a good home is also shared by her sister-in-law, Veena (maybe she will share her home too on Aalayam, someday?) whom she describes as her decor soul mate! Shalini refers to her sister-in-law fondly and remembers bonding with her over their shared passion for ethnic Indian decor.  She expresses her gratitude for this kinship entrenched in common taste and says her sister-in-law who lives in North Carolina has been her long distance design partner!

As soon as you walk into their home, you can tell that Shalini is drawn to Indian decor. Brass accents with amazing detail and intricacy adorn accent tables and greet you at every corner. For me, it was a transformative moment- I forgot that I was in Westerville, OH! Interestingly though, most of Shalini's far flung home finds are sourced from local stores - Pier one imports, World Market, Home Goods and even Kohls, she says. 

The key is to collect over time and buy pieces that intrigue you. Shalini never began with an inspiration board or a look-book. She has stayed trued to her inherent style and bought and stored pieces over time. And that's how she has an assemblage of antique accessories that are similar in style but different in detail which she has lovingly placed around her home for a cohesive look.  Several of these pieces were brought much before the home itself and she chuckles at the thought of how they boxed and carried them across several states before they moved to Ohio. Every home decor enthusiast has a unique home making process and story and this is why I am inspired to tell the story of real-life home owners!. 

I requested Shalini to allow me to showcase her beautiful home on Aalayam over a year ago. I was stuck by the layers in her home that added so much visual interest and at how effortlessly she had pulled it together. Shalini wanted me to wait. She said they were working on getting some of the walls painted. And when she called me a few weeks ago to tell me the home was ready, I was thrilled. I am amazed at the transformation. It was a beautiful home to begin with but the accent colors infuse a vibrant personality into their space! I love the rich terra-cotta in her family room. It lends an earthen appeal and paired with house plants and indoor greenery, the space has a natural freshness to it. Bold colors punctuate the other rooms too and serve to create a warm and cozy space to beat the long and cold Ohio winter!

 Shalini loves entertaining- they have friends and family visiting them year-round and her culinary skills are legendary in our local social circles! They have created the perfect home for relaxing and entertaining. Stylish, uncluttered, personalized, love-filled and welcoming - nothing formulaic about this home!  

This is also the home where their two adorable girls are growing up and a part of the home rapturously reflects the girls' personalities. 

Their rooms are playful and fun and mom says she knows what the girls like best and she took the liberty of decorating their rooms as well! A family that functions in harmony!

You can tell that the look and feel of the whole home has been crafted with profound consideration and Shalini tells me that it has taken her a few tries to get it right and that speaks to her ardor. It is not done yet, she adds -" After all, our home is our joy and we keep adding new things. I plan to work on our study next and add some much needed shelving"

What I like the most about this home? The synergistic blend between the home and the home owners' cheerful personalities and of course going home to INDIA!

Hope you've enjoyed touring our first home of 2014. Please share your thoughts with us and we will pass them along to the homeowners who were kind enough to share their beautiful home with all of us!

Thank you Shalini and Bhagavan.

It's a new year and we are only warming up! A design blogger will be in the house next with her stylish inspirations - join us then!

If  you are looking for more homes filled with Indian decor inspirations - check out our other features here, here and here

Cheers!
~Deepa

p.s: All pictures are copyrighted to the homeowners' and were taken by my husband. Please ask before using!

Nature in Miniature - Bonsai

A gorgeous Bonsai can add  visual drama in your living space..like it does in my living room!

Dear Aalayam Family - I am privileged to present to you Bonsai, a wonderful accent to your living space and a quintessential and sustainable way to bring the outside..in! The age old Japanese art form that so elegantly captures the grace and beauty of full-grown trees in motley containers of your choice!

The Japanese word "bonsai" (bon - 'basin', sai - 'plant') refers to a plant, tree or a group of trees or plants growing in a container. Bonsai is a living art form that can provide a lifetime of joy to botanists and aficionados and natural eye-candy to design enthusiasts all over the world.

Harmonize your end table or coffee table with a Bonsai and some of your favorite picture frames or accessories! A picture from my family room.

The first examples of penjing, the Chinese version of bonsai, and bonsai were made from trees and plants collected from the wild mountains areas within China and Japan. Indigenous, naturally stunted trees were arranged and planted in ceramic pots and containers, kept in or around collectors' homes, and regarded as natural works of art.

Bonsai art forms across the world serve to create picturesque tableau! (via Google images)

Bonsai trees and plants are often contorted into interesting shapes, structured by the bonsai artists' loving hands to mimic old, gnarled trees found in nature. From the time a bonsai is created, it's shaped to limit growth, redistribute the vigor of its foliage to areas requiring further development. 

Root reduction, pruning and  potting a Bonsai ..lovingly rendered on a Juniper by my mom!

My mother is a proud collector of over 150 Bonsais. She has one as old as me (well, almost) in her collection. As the story goes, she snipped a little ficus seedling off of a fence just after my 1st Birthday and created a Bonsai out of it. Today, that very Bonsai tree stands magnificent in my mom's terrace garden in India, making a grand appearance into my parents' living room during dinner parties. On my parents' recent visit here, I coaxed my mom to design a few Bonsais for me. The montage of pictures you see above is the photographic capture of the process of root reduction, pruning and potting of my very first Bonsai!

My Green Sargent Juniper suns itself on my backyard bench!

A bonsai is created beginning with a specimen of source material. This may be a cutting, seedling, or small tree of a species suitable for bonsai development. Bonsai can be created from nearly any perennial woody-stemmed tree or shrub species that produces true branches and can be cultivated to remain small through pot confinement with crown and root pruning. Some species are popular as bonsai material because they have characteristics, such as small leaves or needles, that make them appropriate for the compact visual scope of bonsai. 

Pruning the tap-root of the Bonsai, before potting

The practice of Bonsai development incorporates techniques like leaf trimming, pruning the trunk, branches, and roots of the candidate tree, wiring branches and trunks to allow the bonsai designer to create the desired general form, clamping using mechanical devices for shaping trunks and branches, grafting new growing material (typically a bud, branch, or root) into a prepared area on the trunk or under the bark of the tree, defoliation, which can provide short-term dwarfing of foliage for certain deciduous species and Deadwood bonsai techniques called jin and shari that simulate age and maturity in a Bonsai.

Create a feeling of zen in your room with Bonsai!

Bonsai aesthetics generally adhere to Japanese cultural characteristics, in particular the influence of Zen Buddhism and the expression of Wabi-sabi (acceptance of transience and imperfection). Some of the aesthetic mantras to follow while designing a Bonsai are: Miniaturization: where a bonsai is kept small enough to be container-grown while otherwise fostered to have a mature appearance, Proportion among elements: where the proportions mimic those of a full-grown tree as closely as possible, Asymmetry: where strict radial or bilateral symmetry in branch and root placement is discouraged and Poignancy: where the grower creates a tree that expresses Wabi-sabi.

Isn't this fascinating? If you are more interested in this ancient art form that has given joy to generations of nature lovers, let me recommend this great read: 

The Complete Practical Encyclopedia of Bonsai: The essential step-by-step guide to creating, growing, and displaying Bonsai with over 800 breath taking photographs.

http://www.amazon.com/Complete-Practical-Encyclopedia-Bonsai-step/dp/0754821803 

If you are a beginner, and would like to enjoy the zen of Bonsai without crafting one, why not buy one for your living space. Beautiful Bonsais are available for sale in local nurseries, and neighborhood super stores all over the country. What better way to get the outdoors into your home than with a beautiful Bonsai? I hope this feature post has brought out the nature lover in you. I for one, sure enjoyed sharing my new found passion with you, my dear Aalayam family! I leave you with another picture from my home. A cozy window seat, a Bonsai, a book and some herbal tea...how much more zen can it get?

Love,

Supriya 

Bonsai - Bring the outside in!