An Indian Summer

Monday, June 11

After Vacation Blues

Is what I have right now!

I am back in town

After a week in the hills

Refreshed by the crisp mountain air

And, eager to turn around and go back

As soon as I can :)

The lovely cottage Dak Bangla Homes in Himachal Pradesh

Carpet of daisies covered the hills

Lazy afternoons in the cottage

My recipe for getting over the vacation blues is to start planning the next one! And I have stumbled onto another pretteh place today while browsing through my favorite travel sites. Don't go anywhere, the aforementioned pretteh place coming up in the next post!

[All images by me]

Monday, June 4

Checking in

Hello my favorite peeps!

Hope the week has started on a bright note for you

I am taking a break this week

At one of my favorite places in the hills

I'll be back later in the week

With stories from the hills

And of the creeks

Be good till then

Much love!

[Image: Via my husband's iphone]

Thursday, May 31

Just for you

And for no one else

Discount codes from two lovely shops!

Turquoise Peach

The passion for travel and entrepreneurship brought the two sisters behind Turquoise Peach to India. Working with the local artisans, they have sourced unique products for you and your home, which they showcase and sell via exclusive trunk shows, events and their online shop. Turquoise Peach's collections can be viewed on their webshop and on facebook. An Indian Summer readers can avail a special discount of 30% on all featured products by using the code anindiansummer, valid for two weeks from now.

LetterNote

LetterNote is a product design brand focused on work and play tools. LetterNote's range of fine stationery products are designed to be simple, functional and minimalist and feature an eclectic mix of beautifully crafted designs. LetterNote would like to offer An Indian Summer's fabulous readers a 15% discount on all it's products. The discount code to use is SUMMER15 (in caps), and this would be valid till June 25th.

Happy Shopping folks! And thank you Lindsay and Anisha for these lovely offers!

Tuesday, May 29

Just a little something..

..I put together for you

On this beautiful 29th day of May

A room here and a nook there

Gosh, they are all so pretty

Hooray!

Somebody

Stop me

From rhyming!

a little something from here, there and elsewhere

How are you doing, my favorite peeps?

How about leaving me a comment

That rhymes

And sweeps me off my feet!

[I'll shut up now. I promise]

Thursday, May 24

It's showtime!

Artisan Luxe

Artisan Luxe, conceptualized and owned by Snigdha Shekhar, is a new interior and lifestyle store in Delhi. Snigdha, a textile designer by training, offers a carefully hand-picked range of interior products like furniture, lighting, textiles, tableware and home accessories. The products reflect the best of Indian craftsmanship with an accent on fine detailing and quality. There are so many things that have caught my eye in this store, and I can't wait to visit the store myself!

The store is located in Delhi's Meherchand market. Take a look at Artisan Luxe's many products right here.

LouLou Des Indes

This distinctively French line of children's clothes, with delicate Indian accents, has been designed and launched by Daphné Ghesquière, a French national living in Delhi for the last 9 years. Daphné has two young children herself, and her line is inspired by their fantaisie, joie de vivre and freedom. Such lovely sheer cotton clothes and motifs - I hope Daphné launches a clothing line for adults soon!

LouLou Des Indes is available at Artisan Luxe (yes, Snigdha's store above!), and you can take a look at their collection here.

The Summer House

The Summer House is Shivangini Parihar's labour of love. Inspired by the times when life was simpler and unhurried, Shivangini designs housewares and clothing, which are then hand crafted by craftsmen based in villages. What I love about her products is that even though utilitarian, careful thought has gone into the design of each product and they are so well crafted and finished.

The Summer House products are available at Sanctum in Mumbai, and would also be available online very soon. Stay connected with The Summer House here.

Arastan

The story of Arastan was born from Nisha Misra’s wanderlust and her deep curiosity about art, craft and architecture that flourished along the fabled Silk Route. She has travelled extensively, developing a deep interest in Islamic art, architecture and craft. Wherever she went, Nisha would collect rare and beautiful products as memories of the journey. Over the past year, Nisha has crisscrossed through Central Asia to Turkey and Morocco to put together Arastan – a curated store with exquisite collection of rare and beautiful products from souks and bazaars. It was a tough task for me to pick just a few products to showcase for this post - each product is a must have!

The collection at Arastan is available via it's online store, and the store in Bangalore.

A big thank you to my reader Vyshnavi, who sent me the link to Arastan! :)

Eka`

Eka`, by Rina Singh, is for women who wear their heart on their sleeves and attitude in their clothes. Eka`s gorgeous clothes in natural textured fabrics and soft drapes, are inspired by the traditional clothing in India and fluidity of layering adopted in Japanese fashion.

Eka` is available at Ogaan in Delhi and you can view the collection here.

Spring Rhythm

Sonali Kapoor's love affair with colors started with the calla lilies that she grew at her farm in Bangalore. She begun by opening a flower shop, and more recently, taking a cue from her textile designer mother, set up a block printing unit of her own. Thus was born Spring Rhythm, her store for furniture, ready to wear, and living accessories, all putting good use to the beautiful fabrics from her studio. Describing her style to be elegant but not luxurious, Sonali firmly believes in wabi sabi - 'the delicate balance of the love for beautiful things and the freedom from them'

Spring Rhythm is in Bangalore and you can connect with Sonali via facebeook.

Infonauts

Infonaut is the brain child of Nitasha, Aman and Carlos, trained practitioners in the art of distilling information into clear powerful and aesthetically pleasing visuals. It is also one of my favorite things to do (albeit not as successfully and beautifully as these three musketeers)! Infonaut not only helps companies and brands, but also designs products full of personality and character.

Take a look at Infonaut's impressive portfolio of projects here. Connect with them on facebook, and soon, you will be able to buy their products right here.

Monday, May 21

Rani, Amrita and Shawn..

...invite us to their homes!

You carry a bottle of wine

I'll get the flowers :)

Rani's Home

Rani C. [Charmy Gray's nom de plume] , is an Indian born Australian national, in love with all things exotic, eclectic and Indian. She has lovingly done up her tiny eccentric apartment as a palace fit for a Rani (queen). Her palace-home is a cozy little space of warmth and beauty, filled with textiles, art, jewelry and colorful vintage objects, that she also retails from her fledgling online boutique - One Rose One Ruby. Rani's exuberant personality is reflected in each little corner of her exotic home.

Rani: I hope you let us, mere mortals, visit you in your gorgeous palace! I can't wait to visit!

[Send a note to Rani C. here]

Amrita's Home

Amrita Anand, after having moved three countries in her 2.5 year old marriage, has now created a beautiful and warm home out of a small apartment in Hong Kong. Amrita has always been keenly interested in beautiful interiors and hasn’t let the limited space in her current apartment stop her from creating an uncluttered, traditional, yet modern home. She graciously shared a few corners from her home, that she has styled with flowers, cushions, paintings, frog collectibles and all things colorful and bright. Amrita, with her thoughtful personal touches, has converted an impersonal apartment into a beautiful homely space, that she shares with her husband and their dog, Tutsi.

Amrita: The next time I am in Hong Kong, I am dropping in for a cup of tea in those lovely tea mugs :)

[Send a note to Amrita Anand here]

Shawn's Room

Shawn Lazarus, a student in Dubai, sent me an email with a snippet of his room, and told me that he has been inspired by the aesthetics he has seen on An Indian Summer while styling his room. I'll be honest - I never thought men, leave aside young boys will be among my regular readers, and well, Shawn's email and his beautifully done up room has left me speechless! With the rest of Shawn's home decorated to his mother's taste of swedish minimalism, he has created his very own private Villa Kadiri-esque den!

Shawn - It's the cat. How could I have resisted posting about your room when there is that furball in the pictures? ;)

[Send a note to Shawn here]

Rani, Amrita, Shawn - Thank you so much for sharing these beautiful glimpses from your home with us. We'll look forward to more pictures from you in the coming years, as you change, redo, updo, undo things around :)

If you would like to share your home or room pictures on An Indian Summer, please send me an email, with a link (picasa/flickr/facebook/dropbox) to the images. The images need to be clear, un-edited, taken with the flash off and high resolution. I would love to share the homes Mr. Blog and I like, right here!