Happy Holidays!

Hello my dear dear friends! I am sorry, I have been missing the past few weeks - family, friends and travel had taken over and I happily gave in. Also, in the last couple of weeks, tragic world and local events left me disturbed, and frankly, too angry to blog. I try not to vent on this blog, but such senseless acts of violence, such inhuman behavior - makes it very difficult to remain aloof and not get impacted. I just hope the coming new year sees more sense and humane order, and people understanding and internalizing the very basics of right vs. wrong.. 

Well,

I had to drop in before I sign off for the year. I have been missing you too, you guys! Personally, this year, has been a lovely year, and I look back fondly at all the travel I did, the fabulously creative people I met and the incredible friends I made. The last images on this blog for this year had to be my favorite images from two of my trips this year - the trip to Ladakh and the vacation to Kerala. I am again off to a tiny Himalayan village tomorrow, and shall duly report back with another set of visual travel memoirs :)

As I sign off for this year

Wish you, my fabulous readers, a wonderful wonderful holiday season

Here's hoping that the new year is 

Peaceful, progressive and happy for all of us!

See you in Jan 2013, folks

Be good :)

[Images: Taken by me]

     

For the love of God!

For God is in the details

It's the little things that have caught my eye today

Not the room

Not the ambiance

But the styling

This painting here

That arrangement there

This decor piece

Those flowers 

Hope these tidbits inspire you

As much as they inspired me :)

 

[All images from the fabulous Lonny]

As December Approaches..

...my wanderlust increases!

Not that it EVER abates

But the holiday season

Coupled with the cheer in the air

And the possibilities of vacation and travel

 Makes me hop skip, if only virtually for now

To lands far away.

I dropped into Spain this morning

And brought for you some cozy rooms

From one of my favorite mags

Elle

Ah those months when that fireplace would be lit up, and someone would be curled up on the couch, with one of those many books

 Love the zen and symmetry of this room

Mmm...such a warm bedroom! Love the idea of the painting behind the bed, though it won't be very convenient, right?

 Feels like a gentleman's bathroom this :)

 The charm of mismatched dining chairs..

What a lovely way to wake up, with sunlight streaming in!

Brilliant use of crates. So re-cr(e)atable! :D

 

Just so you know, I am lusting after that bed spread

That looks like an antique cloth on the wall. Or is it a painting?

You can never go wrong with pink and blue. Sure shot way to prettiness.

[All images from Elle]

P.S: A quick note for An Indian Summer's fabulous 5122 (and increasing! Yay!) friends on facebook. Facebook has introduced yet another change (mutter, mutter)!

You will only see An Indian Summer's post in your news feed if you do the following:  

Please, go to An Indian Summer facebook page, hover over 'Liked' and click on 'Show in News Feed' and just to be safe, click on 'Add to Interest List' too. This will ensure that you don't miss a single fresh dose of lovely from An Indian Summer. Thank you!

Some days are made of these

Who Am I To Disagree

The deep blue of the sea

Delicate flowers on a rustic table 

Miniature paintings on the wall

The warmth of a kilim pillow

The charm of a desk by the window

The texture of a linen throw

Those flowers against the black door

These flowers on a rustic table

Sunlight streaming through stained glass

And oh, Morocco!

Some days are made of these...

[Inspiring me today: This one, that one, and always this]

A home in Calcutta

In Elle Decor

While browsing through my favorite decor sites, I was pleasantly surprised to see a feature on Surajit 'Bomti' Iyengar's Calcutta apartment, on Elle Decor. I remember seeing it in the Indian edition of Elle Decor sometime back, and now couldn't resist the temptation of sharing the online pics with you. Surajit's home has such an old world charm to it - the faded walls, colonial furniture, ceramics that seem to have been passed down from generations, rich fabrics, art work from local artists, Burma teak floors - the home is truly a treasure cave for a collector!

I like how various disparate elements like the heirloom clock, old photographs, ceramic plates and the art work, all just come together in this room to give it a distinct character.

The Burma teak floors are covered in hand knotted Kashmiri carpets

Paintings by various young Bengal artists above the writing table

 Period Bengal furniture made from mahogany and rose wood

Read more about this charming apartment right here

And of course, as it happens (to the best of us), there were a few more pretty rooms that caught my eye, and I just had to share these with you as well. A room here and a room there from the fabulous home tours on Elle Decor...

Love the beaten copper ceiling fixture!

Inspiring example of salvaged furniture - the distressed cupboard at the back is a must have!

 

A room from Peacock Pavilions - Maryam's fabulous place-to-be-in Marrakesh

 

Another brilliantly put together room in Peacock Pavilions

 And finally, a bright cheery room with lovely block print furnishing

[All images: Elle Decor]

P.S: Have you entered this and this one too giveaways yet? If not, make sure you do! We announce the winner tomorrow!  

Diwali Sparkles With..

Coppre and Poshlyfe!

Tis be the festival of lights and sparkles

And the season of giving

Two more lovely giveaways

For anyone and everyone with a shipping address in India

Coppre

Coppre reflects the legacy of metal craftspeople. It is the outcome of a creative collaboration with the Tambat metal craftspeople, to evolve a contemporary range of copper products that cater to the present while retaining intact, the heritage craft process. Coppre works with the craftspeople, by contemporizing their products, thereby making the old relevant in the new. The team at Coppre [Rashmi, Seemantini, Supriya, Sudakshina and Anita] bring dignity and efficiency to this ancient craft by linking talented designers to craftspeople and presenting their craft to the world.

Seemantini reached out to me in September this year and shared the beautiful metal work done at Coppre. We decided to host this lovely giveaway during the festive season where one lucky lucky reader will get one meditation urli and a set of 'circle of light' tea lights.

 

And here's how you enter the giveaway:

1. Leave a comment on facebook right here, telling us how you would like to use the two beautiful pieces from Coppre in your home (make sure you are logged into facebook to do so)

2. Double your chances peeps! Leave a comment on this post too!

3. That's it! Wait for result to be announced on Nov 16th.

Poshlyfe

Poshlyfe is a children's online boutique offering fun, fashion forward and effortlessly cool clothes and accessories for girls, boys and babies, was started by Sangita, Sinduja and Bhaskar this year in August. Sangita and Sinduja are both fashion graduates from NIFT, currently based in California, with more than a decade’s experience in design, in various roles. The labels carried by Poshlyfe are a handpicked collection of premium international brands from across the world ranging from popular name brands along with lesser known specialty brands but all well-made, beautiful but-not-terribly-expensive kids’ stuff. Poshlyfe’s unique service is to provide creativity with functionality via our Stylist. The built-in Stylist shows how to combine pieces from our collection to create a look and complete an ensemble. 

 

For the Poshlyfe giveaway, there are three happy readers to be picked, who can chose one from the following products, based on whether you want to pick up a dress for your little girl, or Tshirt for your boy or a knit pant for your baby (various sizes available in all three).

And how to enter the giveaway? Here's how:

1. Leave a comment on facebook right here, telling us which of the above product you would like to win and how would you style your little munchkin in it? (make sure you are logged into facebook to do so)

2. Double your chances peeps! Leave a comment on this post too!

3. That's it! Wait for result to be announced on Nov 16th.

Coppre and Poshlyfe: Thank you girls for the lovely giveaways for An Indian Summer readers! :)

[Images copyright: Respective stores and An Indian Summer]