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]

 

I like you already..

 ..2012!

 {The warmth of tea-lights, on a cold cold winter day}

I hope, so far, this year has been treating you well too!

Here's wishing you, my lovelies, a wonderful rest of 2012!

I am in the midst of moving to a shiny new laptop and hence the absence of beauteous posts. As soon as I have moved, installed and cleaned up stuff from laptop till date to laptop from date, I'll be back with goodies that make you go Ah! Be good, till then. :)

 

 [Image: Taken by me at home]

Love and Wishes

To my dearest readers

For this holiday season

[Red Online]

In the year 2012

I wish for you and for me

Laughter, hope, passion

And

Lots of inspiration!

See you in the new year

Be happy and be safe

Kisses and hugs from:

Mr. Blog and me

The Satyagraha House

The Satyagraha House, Mahatma Gandhi's house in Johannesburg, SA, has recently been restored and renovated by the  French company Voyageurs du Monde. It is is now open to receive visitors at it's museum and guests for stay. Heritage architect Rocco Bosman, and interior designers Amit Zadok and Christine Pulch, took utmost care to maintain the existing character and sanctity of the site and recreated the interiors keeping Gandhi's philosophy and austerity as their guiding principle.

Khadi and linen fabrics, jute floor coverings, memorabilia from the days Gandhi and the house's architect Hermann Kallenbach stayed here, period wood furniture, old photographs, simple and functional carefully selected decor pieces, all put together create an aesthetic, minimalistic and sustainable heritage home.

Mahatma Gandhi's original attic bedroom, recreated with the help of images from the Gandhi Museum in India

Watch this short video for the story of renovation of The Satyagraha House. Not only am I impressed by the thought behind this project, I also really admire the style guideline and design aesthetics used to revive this house. There is a sense of calm, comfort, and, organization, that permeates through the house and can be felt through these images.  

Satyagraha: Satya means truth, and (A)graha means request/insistence. Read more about the Satyagraha movement here.

[Images copyright: The Satyagraha House]

Wordless Wednesday

A beautiful home...

 

...in Formentera

[All images from woman.es]

And to edge in a few words on this wordless wednesday - do check the Asmi necklace giveaway post for the winner, announced today! 

 

I'll be back tomorrow, with many more words. And visuals :)

Sapna's Jewels!

Excuse me while I hyperventilate...

...for I love Sapna Mehra's pretty jewels!

I just can't pick and choose the ones that I like the best, because I like them all! I know, I know...the yada yada about not being greedy and all...but will you just look at these pretty little things?! How can I resist? Neither can you, once you look through the entire collection here and here! And 'tis being the time to give, Sapna and I have a fabulous giveaway and a generous discount offer just for you, coming up in the post!

As Sapna and I chatted over email, she graciously shared her story and inspiration with me. Reading through her journey, I could see how her passion, persistence and global experience has helped shape her beautiful collection. 

A snippet from Sapna's journey, in her own words:

I grew up in suburban NJ.  My father was an engineer and also an amateur singer and musician and loved classical and semi-classical music and ghazals.  My mother was a graphic artist and had a studio in our home where she painted landscapes, and gods and goddesses in oils. I spent many summers of discovery and adventure in Jodhpur and Jaipur, my parent’s hometowns. Later, in college, I studied Comparative Literature and loved my courses on post-colonial theory, religions of the East, cinema studies and literature of India and the fantastic. 
I moved on to work for many small businesses in different capacities and had a stint as an assistant for a Madison Avenue gallery specializing in South and South East Asian antiquities. I was able to research countless works of art and came to build an understanding of iconography and symbolism in South Asian art.  I especially fell in love with the beauty and playful elegance of Indian miniatures and with the complexities of Buddhist iconography in Tibetan, Nepali, Cambodian and Indian sculptures.

 

Starting in late 2001, I spent months at a time in Jaipur, working with jewelry making artisans and tradesmen learning about gems, traditional jewelry making techniques and the intricacies of production. In 2007, I quietly launched myself as a designer with a clear vision to produce a collection that exemplified the skills of kundan and meena artist while creating designs that were meaningful and fit contemporary and cosmopolitan lifestyles. My hope is that when people wear my jewelry, they feel inspired, empowered and delight in a bit of rustic luxury. I love the idea of the global soul!

"The Giveaway"

Sapna would like to gift a necklace from her Asmi collection to one happy chirpy reader. What you need to do is:

• Read up more about the Asmi range
• Leave a comment on this post with: 
• Your life path number (calculate here), or, the number of the Asmi necklace you would like to win, and
• Tell us "What does being a global soul mean to you?"

That's it! Sapna and I will pick one winner based on the answer. Unfortunately, there are shipping restrictions that don't allow Sapna to ship jewelry from the US to India, and hence, the giveaway is open only to readers outside of India (baaah! I am crying with you, girls!).

The contest is open for a week, and I'll announce the winner by updating this post on Dec 21st. Make sure to come back and check if you are the lucky one! 

And more..

You can buy Sapna Mehra Jewelry from her etsy store or from her site. And for the rest of this month, get a 15% discount using the code AIS15.

Thank you Sapna! You and I will enjoy the lovely comments that come in over virtually shared glasses of mulled wine :)

[Credits & Links: Sapna Mehra Jewelry, Etsy Store, Connect on facebook, Tumblr blog]



~ Winner Update | Dec 21st, 2011 ~

Thank you so much for your beautiful comments! I thoroughly enjoyed reading through your descriptions of a global soul.

Here's what Sapna had to say about the comments, and, the one lucky winner!
 

I read through all the comments many times over and am overwhelmed with the inspiring, uplifting and thoughtful responses!

I want to say thank you to all the people who posted their comments - everyone one of them describes the global soul so beautifully...I will come back and read the comments any time I need some inspiration!

A comment that really resonated for me is from Laura Bourassa. I think Laura's comment speaks to the intimate, universal human conditions, the things that connect us to each other, even as we celebrate our differences and diversity. That is 'the web of life'.  We speak different languages, live on different continents and pursue different dreams, all on this same earth. We are all actively engaged in 'the endless cycles' and that's what connects us. 

As we journey on our own individual paths, and face our own struggles, it's comforting and encouraging to remember that there are so many others that are struggling, achieving, living and loving, just like you. No one is alone.  What a beautiful thought and I'm quite moved by it! 

Congratulations Laura! 

Please write to Sapna with your shipping address and, do let us know how you enjoy your Asmi necklace :)