Recently, I came across a quote that said, "You have decor OCD if.......your house is a constant work in progress". My home "IS" a constant work in progress and I’m not shy to admit the fact. But to term it as OCD would be an exaggeration. I’d like to use the phrase “a progressive approach” instead, what say? Today, let's take a walk down memory lane and see how my home and decor style have evolved with time.
The different phases in our lives has impacted the kind of homes that my family and I have lived in and the decor style that we have adopted to suit our lifestyles in each phase. We have gone from pegging our style as ethnic Indian, eclectic modern to global eclectic. My husband and I set up our "first home" together in Bangalore (India). The excitement and anticipation of building our new home together was indescribable. Little by little, bit by bit we started putting the pieces together like a jig saw puzzle to create a home that would reflect "us"! My husband and I are both born and brought up in South India and adore the arts and crafts of India, so it was but natural that we were drawn to ethnic Indian decor. Wooden carvings, Tanjore paintings (from our travels), brass artifacts (our own finds as well as those inherited from our families) and colorful Indian textiles came together to create a space that exuded authenticity and was a creative fusion of our heritage. However, within a year of setting up this place, we had to uproot and move thousands of miles away, with job opportunities taking us overseas (USA).
In a new country (USA), we were excited about the opportunities that lay ahead of us. As a working couple, "condo style living" located in the heart of down town, was ideal for us. We'd finish work and most evenings were spent exploring the new place or indulging in one of the many restaurants that lined the down town patch. Like most first timers who come to this country and end up at IKEA to shop for furniture, we were no exception. The modern, affordable furniture from IKEA seemed ideal as we were unsure of how things would play off with time and if we had to move back to India, it would not be a big deal to get rid of the furniture. But living in a home without personality was not for us. Discovering new decor stores and lifestyle brands on weekends, we found pieces that we had fallen head over heels in love with and brought them home. Within no time, we saw a theme evolve organically - we realised we had a collection of Oriental themed decor and decided on an eclectic modern Zen vibe for the space.
The different phases in our lives has impacted the kind of homes that my family and I have lived in and the decor style that we have adopted to suit our lifestyles in each phase. We have gone from pegging our style as ethnic Indian, eclectic modern to global eclectic. My husband and I set up our "first home" together in Bangalore (India). The excitement and anticipation of building our new home together was indescribable. Little by little, bit by bit we started putting the pieces together like a jig saw puzzle to create a home that would reflect "us"! My husband and I are both born and brought up in South India and adore the arts and crafts of India, so it was but natural that we were drawn to ethnic Indian decor. Wooden carvings, Tanjore paintings (from our travels), brass artifacts (our own finds as well as those inherited from our families) and colorful Indian textiles came together to create a space that exuded authenticity and was a creative fusion of our heritage. However, within a year of setting up this place, we had to uproot and move thousands of miles away, with job opportunities taking us overseas (USA).
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| (A peek at a few corner's of our very first home in Bangalore (India - 2003). These pics were taken 8 months after we had moved into this home! (I scanned hard copies of the pictures I had and hence please forgive the quality of the images.)) |
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| (Our condo - Functional pieces, nutty colors and Asian decor accents, create a relaxed eclectic modern living space (2009)) |
Next came "the home for the baby" phase. We had kept the decor minimal knowing fully well that we were ready and wanted to start a family soon. So when the happy day came, it was easy to store away all the breakable decor and other things that could be a potential hazard for the baby. We child-proofed the space and made room for the baby's crib, play pen and all.....With a baby in the house, toys started to take over the place in no time. We focused on finding creative ways to store my son's toys in an attempt to make the place look a little less like the "Target" toy section:)
Once the baby phase was over and our little fella had stabilized on his feet and had found ways to entertain himself with his toys and not our decor accessories, we started bringing out the stuff that we had stored away one at a time. With a firm "NO", we were able to get our little guy to understand that it was NOT OK to play with our stuff:) And finally we decided, it was about time to settle down in a place we can call our own and plunged into buying "our forever home".
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| This is our current home:) A collection of 15 years - things that we absolutely love and truly adore ! A style that is globally eclectic with a strong Indian undertone to it. |
It’s been 4 years since we moved into our existing home. The one thing that my husband and I were sure of while decorating this space was adopting an adventurous style. A style that would blend our Indian roots, travel finds and our personalities as a family. The first and foremost thing we ensured was to have our collections from India brought here. Then we scouted around for the perfect new furniture that met the functionality and style attributes. Next we combined new with the old - this was our biggest challenge! Every weekend, we’d try and move things around until every piece had its place of importance and worked harmoniously in the space. We totally love how everything came together:)
With our son all grown up and 8 years old now, my husband and I have had a little more time to spare and focus on developing our hobbies and interests, this past year. We have successfully integrated the requirements for these into our existing design layout:
With our son all grown up and 8 years old now, my husband and I have had a little more time to spare and focus on developing our hobbies and interests, this past year. We have successfully integrated the requirements for these into our existing design layout:
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| My blog adda and studio! Having a dedicated work space to blog and paint, helps me focus on my task at hand and not loose momentum. |
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| We incorporated a pool table in our basement for my husband! We as a family seem to enjoy this on game nights. Being an indoor sport it comes to our rescue in the cold winter months when its frightfully cold outside and all outdoor activities come to a stand still:) |
As time goes by, I know we will have to deal with the other phases - be it the empty nest syndrome or maybe down sizing to a retirement home where all the rooms are on the same floor ( I know my knees will thank me)!
My family and I, have "LEARNT " from experiencing life, "EVOLVED" and "GROWN"..... and so has our home. And this is how it should, as we strongly believe that our home is truly an extension of us......We love our home and look forward to coming back to it every evening. The process of rotating things from storage to keep things looking fresh, adding a seasonal twist to the ambiance or discovering a new piece to add to the family's collection is something that we enjoy thoroughly and will continue to do so......
My family and I, have "LEARNT " from experiencing life, "EVOLVED" and "GROWN"..... and so has our home. And this is how it should, as we strongly believe that our home is truly an extension of us......We love our home and look forward to coming back to it every evening. The process of rotating things from storage to keep things looking fresh, adding a seasonal twist to the ambiance or discovering a new piece to add to the family's collection is something that we enjoy thoroughly and will continue to do so......
I'd love to hear about your home decorating experiences and what you have to say about a home being an evolving space. So don't forget to drop me a line here or on my FB page.
Wishing you a wonderful week ahead!
Images: Clicked by Sruthi Singh. Please do not use without prior written permission.
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