Rang Decor Readers Creative Spaces: IX

Mishta & Anirudh

Today under Rang Decor Reader's Creative Spaces, I take you to a colourful Goa-inspired home in Bangalore.

Entrance Porch...

Mishta and Anirudh are a 30-something couple, both designers, one a product designer and the other a graphic designer, decided to build over Anirudh’s family home’s existing ground floor bungalow on a 60 x 40 plot in Sadashivnagar, Bangalore.

The design of the house revolves around three courtyards and two trees.

Avocado Tree at the entrance...

Mishta explains,"A courtyard on the second floor at the back of the house is carved out to let a mango tree spread it’s limbs...

...and a main courtyard, also on the second floor, at the front of the house, is designed to pay homage to Geoffrey Bawa’s tropical style with a pond and landscaping."

The over-arching theme of the house has been heavily influenced by the couple’s love for Goa, a destination they run off to, to recharge, every two and half months.

Mishta adds, "The idea was not to recreate a Goan house, but to pick Portuguese influences, through colour and form and combine that with the sense of an open Asian tropical house."

The drawing room...

The dining area...

Balinese Lamp against coloured glass at the stairwell...

The Master bedroom...

Guest bedroom...

Second floor lobby...

Mishta adds, "The main colour scheme for the house is yellow ochre and dark green. The flooring is cool green kota stone with small floral tiles inlayed at intervals.

Common passageways are in black and white checks. Rustic tiles in terracotta and green have been used in the flooring of the courtyards. Ceramic floral tiles were sourced from Spain and fitted into niches in all the courtyards."

Custom-made nameplate tiles from Velha Goa...

Mishta & Anirudh~ Thanks for sharing so generously photos of your vibrant home with readers of Rang Decor.

P.S. If anyone has any queries regarding Mishta and Anirudh's home, feel free to ask in the comments section.

( Images by Mishta Roy)

Kitchen of Serenity

First, let me apologise for my husband's disgraceful behaviour. Hijacking my blog? Who does that rascal think he is?

♥ ♥ *swoon* ♥ ♥

I felt such a lovely mixture of extremely embarrassed and extraordinarily happy. I'd say this would be an accurate portrayal:

Are you feeling it?

The blush? The giggling? The lurrrrve?

Anyway, ahem....moving swiftly on, now that V-day is over, shall we get back on track with a bit of Kitchen Delectability?

As a little reminder, here at Modern Country Style, we're going through, step by step, how to makeover a kitchen on any budget....with plenty of other delightful distractions along the way.

We've looked at:

Step 1: Kitchen Foraging

Step 2: Narrowing Choices

and I do believe we're currently stopping off at:

Step 3: Colour Inspiration

I want the feel of my final colour choices to be calm and peaceful and this Kitchen of Serenity sums that up perfectly for me.

The Kitchen of Serenity has a very limited palette of white, pale grey and charcoal. So restful and gentle.

{L:O:V:E those pendants.}

The Kitchen of Serenity is spacious and airy. No clutter at all, apart from carefully placed objet de gorgeousness, as I like to call them, in an unbelievably pretentious fashion.

But, for reality's sake, I feel I have to ask 'Where's the kettle and the toaster?'

Is it a little bit *too* clean and clinical?

A bit *too* lacking in any colour or personality?

{What do *you* think?}

Images via Plain English

Valentine's Day Part Two.

Er....

Hello - is anybody there....?

This is the occasionally referred to Mr Modern Country speaking.

It is Valentine's day and this is the closest that I could get to shouting from the rooftops.

Mrs Modern Country:

I LOVE YOU!

Not so secretly, your adoring husband.

PS, please forgive me for resetting your password and ruining your lovely blog with a lack of arty pictures. XXXo

It's Valentine's Day

Whether you're smooching with your partner.....

{how romantic is this?}

or spending the evening with good friends (doesn't that look fantastic fun?)......

.. or on your own, curled up in bed, with a good book ...

I really hope that you have a very

Happy Valentine's Day.

 Images via Wedding 0011, Casa Tres Chic and Cabbages and Roses

Pale Sofa: Sin or Saviour?

Well? What did you think?

I think Wednesday's English Garden Party was one of the best Garden Parties I've ever been to.

Really and truly.

There were so many fantastic posts linked up from all over the world, in all different shapes and sizes. It was just amazing seeing it all come together.

Thank you all so much for coming. I had such a brilliant time.

Now...question of the day: pale sofas with little children...yes or no?

Would you? Could you? Should you?

Spill the beans, please.

{Not literally, obviously. That might stain, might it not?}

My English Garden Linky Party

Welcome to My English Garden Party!

And some ground-breaking news too. It's an exciting moment for me at Modern Country Style....I've just set up my very own Facebook page.

I'd LOVE it if you'd click on the little Like button over on the right on my sidebar. It's a special button that allows you to Like Modern Country Style without being whisked over Facebook.

It's the perfect way to have a bit more of a chat with me and each other than blogging allows. You'll be able to hear the inner workings of my brain.

Frightening.

Will you join in? It's just to your right? See it? Yup, that's the puppy. Now, just a little click and you're away....

There. Simple, eh?

**********************

So.

This is my garden in about May/June, looking away from the house.

I love scent in the garden. When I walk out of our back door, I want to be embraced by the heavenly fragrances of my favourite flowers wafting towards me. In May, that comes mainly from the roses and honeysuckles that you can see here rambling their way over our fences.

The back part of the garden is jam-packed with fruit. Yup, I said JAM-packed. Ha!

We have redcurrant, white currants, black currants, gooseberries, raspberries, strawberries, plums, apples, peaches, loganberries and tayberries. All fairly easy to grow in England and all so utterly delicious. I can feel my taste buds perking up at the thought of all that plucking fresh, plump, juicy fruit.

We generally manage to eat it all but what little there is left over, gets made into jams and ice cream.

This is one of the flower beds about half way up the garden, near where we have our table and chairs. I'm on the lookout for some nicer ones this year...now that our twins are hopefully old enough to stop wanting to push them to one side and use the paved terrace for tricycling. 

So are you ready to link up your gorgeousness of the flower/ plant/ garden variety?

Here are three things I'd love you to do.

1) Follow Modern Country Style if you're liking what you see here.

2) Like Modern Country Style on Facebook. 

3) Link back to me in your post so other people can come and share the garden love.

Not rules...but I'm hopeful. ;-)

Now, take it away.....

I'm linking to my favourite parties in my sidebar.

Chai Studio, Honolulu

Today I take you to the gorgeous Hawaiian Island of Honolulu to Chai Studio.

Amerjit Ghag, the lovely lady behind Chai Studio, Honolulu describes it as a lifestyle expression - casual, colourful and comfortable.

The store came into being in 2010, inspired by Amerjit's love for the handicrafts, the culture, the colour and the people of India. She believes that hand- picked products are a natural fit for the type of casual lifestyle they have on the Hawaiian Islands.

Love the warm pink...

The furniture pieces that she selects are mostly rustic and oftentimes repurposed - a chukki becomes a stool, a damchiya becomes a coffee table.

The textiles are rich with stories of traditional use, she has turned them into throw pillows and she includes hang tags explaining the past lives of kantha, phukhari etc.

Whether it is home furnishings , a piece of jewelry or a contemporary tunic, you'll find it all here, lovingly picked up by Amerjit during her many travels to India.

Lovely Rajasthani earrings...

Exotic fragrances... I spot my favourite 'Frangipani':-)

Colourful Indian Kitschy bags...

As far as the name of the store is concerned Amerjit Ghag, a chai-lover ( give me a hi- five;-) loves the fact that everyone has a different, special recipe for chai and Chai Studio, Honolulu is her recipe for a place that offers ideas for an inspired lifestyle...

I wish her all the very best for her venture.

Do visit Chai Studio , Honolulu on Facebook

Valentine's Rosebud Initials

Here are my Valentines Rosebud Ornaments. I've shaped them into our initials.

G for Guy

S for Sarah

And, of course, a heart.

Sarah loves Guy.

Or Guy loves Sarah.

Depending on how the mood takes me.

;-)

The letters were actually easier to make than in yesterday's post. There was no twisting of the wire to be done.  Just gently bending the end back around the last rosebud.

*************************************

One more day to go to my English Garden Party. Eeeeee!

Come on over tomorrow (Wednesday morning GMT) to link up.

There will be a bath available for anyone who gets over-excited by all the scrumptiousness available to drool over.....

{Can you imagine? A bath in the garden?}

I'm linking to the fab parties in my sidebar.

Rosebud crafty tutorial

Hello again, sweet pea,

Well, am I glad to see you today. It's so good to have some adult company.

{Between you and me, the chicken pox saga is somewhat taking its toll on my sanity.}

Have you chosen your outfits for Wednesday's English Garden Linky Party at Modern Country Style?

I'm thinking some posh wellie boots would go down well.

Yup, this is definitely the outfit I have in mind.

;-)

Please will you come along and link up your garden/ flower (fake or otherwise)/ outdoors posts too (the grabbable button is on my sidebar to your right)?

{I can't very well have a dress like that and prance around on my own, now, can I?!

Oh, alright, I probably could but it would be *so* much more fun with you.}

*******************************

Now onto the rosebuds.

This is one of those excellent crafts that pretty easy to put together but looks absolutely awesome when it's done.

Here's what you'll be needing:

A packet of dried rosebuds, which, if you're wondering where to find them, I got easily-peasily from eBay. My second home.

Some firm but malleable wire

Pretty ribbon

Step 1

Take a rosebud and push it onto the end of the wire. If your wire isn't stiff enough then you can use a needle to make a hole and then slip the wire through that.

Step 2

Repeat until you have between 20 and 30 rosebuds on the wire then snip off the wire with a few cm spare at each end..

Step 3

This part depends on what shape you want to make. If, for example, you're after a heart then simply bend the two ends round until they touch and twist together to secure, trimming off excess if necessary. Shape the wire-loop into a heart.

Step 4

Attach pretty ribbon.

Step 5

For a gorgeous finishing touch, swivel the rosebuds so that the stalks all face same the same way.

Step 6*

Love Modern Country Style for always.

Mine are up and look so lovely and romantic. Tomorrow I'll be sharing my rosebud reveal.

Can't wait!

* Step 6 optional