Art for a good cause

I am back from vacation! Yes, the visas came, and we went! And, to kick-start my back-from-vacation-week, it's a pleasure to share with you, the launch of a new collection by a dear e-friend, all done for a good cause!

Aarohi Singh, the gorgeous artist at Art By Aarohi, is passionate about stray dogs. Putting her passion and skills to good use, Aarohi is launching a new collection of home and personal accessories, called the Poonch collection, in Bangalore, India. The great news is that 50% of profit from this collection would go towards the welfare of strays in perpetuity, particularly towards spaying and neutering them, managed by VoSD.

For the folks in Bangalore: The Poonch collection is being showcased at the 100Ft restaurant, Indiranagar from the 10th till the 12 of Feb. Do go and pick up a special something from this hip collection and contribute your bit towards the welfare of strays.

You can take a look at the entire collection here. Event details here, and get in touch with Aarohi here and here!

[All images: Art By Aarohi]

Some thumb twiddling

And some loving!

 

The Husband and I intend(ed) to take a long overdue holiday this week. But the visa consulate played, and is still playing truant with our reasonably good intentions. The visas are already delayed by a day, and I am fretting and sitting at home with the luggage packed, the household help sent off on a break of her own, work plans re-scheduled, the fridge emptied, and pretty thumbs being twiddled (yes, my thumbs are kind of pretty, thank you). It's a national holiday in India tomorrow (Yay! Happy Republic Day folks!), so no visas tomorrow either. I have my fingers crossed that we get the visas on Friday and off we go to celebrate the Husband's birthday in faraway land. With all the finger crossing and thumb twiddling, the only thing I want to do is something that can make me calm - like looking at pretty rooms and talking to you lovely folks out there, who I am sure, would never mess with any one's visas. Sigh. Over to the pretty rooms now:

 Love the retro mood of this room

 And look! A fabulous post I spotted on Remodelitsa.  

A bungalow in San Anselmo designed by Alison Davin of Jute Interior Design

So long my friends. If you don't hear from me next week, you would know that I am frolicking in a far away land. And if you do hear from a very grumpy me, you would know that I have a serious serious bone to pick with a particular country for having a nincompoop visa consulate!

[Image credit: Top two from Tumblr, Rest - Jute Interior Design]

Orient 499

I have long been an admirer of Orient 499, an eclectic boutique in Beirut. Founded by Aida Kawas and Frank Luca, the boutique is a modern version of a treasure cave, filled with absolutely stunning textiles, original handicrafts and indie designs. Aida and Frank source their products from places like Syria, India, Damascus, Istanbul, Cairo and Uzbekistan to name a few, and also design and produce a large part of their collection in-house. Working with local artisans and designers, Orient 499's products are a contemporary take on age old craft tradition and materials.  

 

Orient 499 also designs and stocks gorgeous jewelry and beautiful dresses. I have always loved whatever little jewelry they showcase online and can only imagine how tempting the rest of collection must be!   

I could keep looking at these pictures for hours. Sigh! If only they sold online!

[Image credit: Orient 499]

Digs on 1stdibs

Found these gorgeous rooms on 1stdibs, the go to online marketplace for exclusive luxury (and very expensive!) items and antiques. As you browse through this collection of beautifully designed rooms, shot by some of the best photographers, you can also shop for the 'look' on the site itself. While I am not buying anything from the site any time soon, I had to, but of course, share my favorite India inspired and bohemian rooms with you :)

 

[Images shot by following photographers: Melanie Acevedo, Tim - Street Porter, Tria Giovan. Source: 1stdibs]

Mona Hajj Interiors

I am helping my dad do up his new apartment these days, and have been looking all over for inspiration. Something elegant, something cozy but not too fussy, something that easily fits in the older heirloom pieces, textiles and art with newer stuff. Mona Hajj's interior work spoke to me immediately and I bookmarked several of the finer details that she has beautifully created in rooms and homes. 

Mona Hajj, one of the Architectural Digest's top 100 designers for 2010, grew up in West Africa and Lebanon, and was educated in Europe and the US. Her diverse experiences and global awareness is reflected in her designs, which are not only graceful and timeless in their appeal but also quite functional and comfortable.   

Find many more examples of Mona's tasteful work on her site - Mona Hajj Interiors. Her first book Interior Visions will be out this April in stores and will also be available online. 

[All images copyright : Mona Hajj]

Heaven & Home

Update Deux [June 21, 2012]: I heard from one of the core members of H&H, and looks like the site and company has shut down. Please don't make any purchases from this site. I'll keep this post up for a couple of months so that people are made aware, and remove this post once a public shut-down announcement is made by Heaven & Home.

 

 

Update: I have been getting comments from folks who have shopped from Heaven and Home and haven't either received their ordered products, or have had a bad customer service experience. In view of these experiences, and my own recent experience with H&H, please order products from H&H at your own discretion. In case of any issues you can write to H&H at this email ID.

Heaven and Home, a new shopping site for home decor enthusiasts in India, aims to bring the best of brands and products at  great prices. Started by Tara Kaushal, Nishrit Shrivastva, Tushar Ahluwalia and Sunnyraj Agarwal, the idea of the site is to bring the fragmented home and living market in India to the comfort of the user's home. The site in itself aims to become the style authority for your home, so all products are hand selected by Heaven and Home's style team to bring only the best from national and international home decor lines.

 

Set on the lines of One Kings Lane and Fab.com, Heaven and Home has new collections for sale at discounted prices almost every day. I personally love their selections so far!  The site also brings the best from different well known export houses, and provides an excellent opportunity to buy products that we would have found only in international markets.

Nishrit has very kindly created a personal invite from me for new members to join Heaven and Home. Click right here, and shop away! And, you can connect with them on facebook too!

[All images: Home and Heaven]