Home is where the heart is - Part II

I said I shall be back with more pictures of my favourite things from my home. 

And I am.

Though right now I feel less like some proud museum curator displaying her prized possessions and more like Dr Hannibal Lector meets the Green Goblin. 

Yes you guessed right. 

Today I am not in a great mood. 

No, it is not the dark, grey, wet weather. 

It's my old battered laptop. It has stopped working. 

I am pretty attached to it; I even wrote a parting note cum eulogy for it when I got the new Mac. 

And then, after having written the eulogy, instead of behaving like a normal person and cutting the umbilical cord and moving on to the high tech Mac (that I nagged my hubby for a year for), I promptly shut the brand new Mac, cast it aside into a cupboard so I didn't have to face it and clung on to my old HP Notebook.

What can I say? 

I am old fashioned. Or probably a technology challenged. Or both! 

Anyway, the old laptop, the one with all my photos, is not working. The guy who took it for repair wants £190 for it!

"Are you sure you have the right ticket number?" I asked three times. "All you need to do is fix that charging socket".

An unfathomable East European accent replied, "Yessss. I charge much for labour. 2 hours of work it take me". 

£190 just to replace the charging jack and put in a new one so my laptop can charge? 

"You've got to be kidding", I almost yelled, "I could get a new laptop for a little more than that". 

So furious, I asked for it to be  returned, only to have them charge me 50 pounds for "diagnostics" - i.e. to tell me what I already told them when I handed them the laptop - that my power jack is broken and needs fixing!!! 

The ways and wonders of the First World never cease to amaze me! At times like these, I miss the Third World where everything gets done more efficiently, faster and at a fraction of the price.

So, in a way this is the best time and mood for this post since one of the surest way of getting over my black mood is by looking at pictures of things that always make me happy. Things I have collected over the years. Brought back from my trips. Bought because I felt them calling out to me from across the shop windows. Bought on impulse till the husband took away my credit card (after I bought a painting on an impulse). Here are a few pictures of my favourite things around my home... 

First stop, the antique Tibetan apothecary cabinet. The Chinese furniture shop owner claimed it was 150 yrs old. The antique restorer in London who came to fix a chair the mover broke during our shift, saw this and said it atleast a century older. I have no clue which of them was right. But I sure am glad, it is genuine.

The little bolt on the cabinet

A close up of the painted work on the cabinet

Another of my favourite things is this antique dowry chest from the island of Madura, in Indonesia. Madura is a small island, off the Northeastern coast of Java and is famous of it's carving which is coloured in red, green, orange and yellow. The carving you see on this chest is what you would call a typical Madurese carving. 

This (below) is a wood carving of a man rowing what looks like a carved canoe, I picked up in Jakarta.

Below is the twin of the wooden shelf you saw in the earlier post; I keep them in 2 different corners of the room, but on occasions, in other homes, I have kept these together, to form a semi-circle and they look great together as well. I got these made by a small time carpenter and with a thick ply that was then painted to look like teak. But to give credit to the man, he did a fantastic job and these shelves look like real wood and are very sturdy as well. On display are - top shelf - a family of cats and 2 turtles from Delft, 2 glass blown pigs from Scotland, a glass giraffe from SA and a silver tankard from China.
The silver horse is from Greece and the jade coloured stone one from Taiwan.

This is my favourite nook in the house. This used to be a serving cabinet; a revolving cupboard of sorts between the kitchen and the formal dining hall. I had no need for such a fancy concept and I more, importantly have too many paintings to display, so I used this cupboard to display a few things - the Raja Ravi Verma prints are from Bombay, the little Tanjore painting is a gift from a dear friend, the Apsara is from a flea market in Jakarta and the colourful bottles are from Ikea; bought them simply because all 3 were available on sale! 

I picked the lamp below on a trip to the Borobudur and Prambanan temples in Yogyakarta. It is a hanging lamp with Nandi the bull sitting atop the lamp. What fascinated me more than the lamp was that this lamp with a creature distinctly from the Hindu mythology was available in today's Java, which is predominantly (the only Hindus in Indonesia are mainly in Bali) Muslim. 

A silver bowl with potpourri on the center table in the drawing room. The tray on which the silver bowl sits is an antique teak wood tray again from Jakarta. The colourful glass bowl is a cheap one I found in a shop but thought went well with the pink table runner. 

The wooden dolls on the side table below are actually Javanese wedding dolls. They are also called "loro blonyo" meaning two together and are gifted to the bride and the groom as a part of the wedding ceremony. They are displayed prominently in most Javanese households and are believed to guarantee longevity of the relationship, fertility, health and prosperity for the family (Source : Virtual Tourist). I fell in love with them and bought them when I saw them at an antique flea market. Maybe they are the reason why I never clobber Vj on the head even when he is at his infuriating best! I paired these with a wooden candlestand from (believe it or not) Hypercity in Mumbai! My sons broke this candlestand too but luckily this could be salvaged thanks to superglue!

This is an East meets West fusion of sorts - the little porcelain dolls are from Chatuchak night market in Bangkok while the blue candle-stand is typical Delft pottery.

A couple of knick knacks that grace the fireplace mantel in the drawing room - Natraj or Shiva the Destroyer, a dancing Ganesha which was the first gift Vj bought me when we started dating (and before you compliment his taste - the poor chap didn't know what to get and made my sister choose something I might like). I paired the Ganesha with the 2 little metal men playing the trumpet to give them some semblance of a divine band with Ganesha dancing and the 2 little musicians making music. 

This 3foot tall Buddha statue is made of wood and is one of my favourite things in the house. After my sons destroyed the terracotta soldier from Xi'an, they focussed their attention on Buddha. So to prevent a repeat of Bamiyan in our home, I have to keep threatening them that if they ever go near Buddha and he wakes up from his sleep, he will not treat them very kindly. (I am not sure if Buddha would approve of my strategy of threatening them but each time I lie, I ask for his forgiveness and also remind him that I am only lying to protect him!)

These are a couple of wooden masks from Jakarta

Finally, a picture I love - The antique fireplace came with the house. But the painting hanging above it is actually 2 wooden carvings of dragon boats I picked up in Jakarta. I took them to a framing shop in Mumbai and explained to the person what I wanted done, i.e. stick the two on a black background. So he put black jute on a piece of plywood and gave it a black frame which highlights the colours of the wooden carvings beautifully. The frame cost me far more than the carvings did but the end result was worth every penny spent.

And that is the only piece of decor advice I will give - never scrimp on the frame. I have always believed a good frame can make even something ordinary look great and a bad/ wrong frame can sometimes ruin the show and make even the most amazing things look less beautiful.

And with that we end the house tour. 

Thanks for visiting. And for all the compliments and love.

For more pictures, please visit the Rainbows and Cloudbursts FB page

Home is where the heart is.... Part I

This has got to be the heights of narcissism, me doing a Home Tour of my own house!!! 

But October has been a month of surprises, and some really pleasant ones so far. As I said earlier, I had sent two pictures to My Dream Canvas for a series called Stories to Share and Anuradha who blogs at My Dream Canvas  got back asking for more so she could do a post on my home.

Before this happened, I have never really thought much of my decor skills. My hubby keeps complaining about how we have too much furniture and knick knacks lying around. According to him a home should ideally be a place where he and our two 3yr old boys should be able to play football indoors. Which currently they are not allowed to do. And my mom is forever cribbing about how my home feels like a museum and how she hates me insisting she use a coaster every where. So I definitely haven't had any in-house fan club till now. 

So this was a big, pleasant surprise. And after My Dream Canvas featured my home on it's home tour, I was simply overwhelmed with the number of messages I received. So, brimming with a little more confidence in my decor abilities and giving into the inner Narcissus in me, I am doing this post to share a few more pictures from our home here in London.

Most of our furniture is teak from Indonesia. We lived in Jakarta for a few years and I fell so much in love with the large, carved pieces of furniture there that I spent months scouting for furniture I loved, and ultimately picked what I have. A few things I picked up were ready-made, but some pieces were custom made in keeping with the vague notions in my head.

Now I am a flower-o-holic and there are always fresh flowers everywhere around my home. Sometimes I think, if I had saved all the money I have so far spent on flowers, I could have taken a beautiful vacation across Europe!!!

The drawing room 
The orange wooden Buddha is from Thailand. I picked it up in Singapore.
Those 2 chairs are from China - they are called Emperor chairs. They look mighty uncomfortable but are actually surprisingly comfortable to sit in.
The painted wooden cabinet on which the Buddha stands is an antique Tibetan apothecary cabinet
On the extreme right of the picture, is a chest on which a jade Buddha sits. That chest is a dowry chest from the island of Madura, famous for it's coloured carvings. And it is one of my prized possessions.
The rugs - the maroon -red one from Ikea, the deep blue one is a Kashmiri woolen carpet, I lucked out on. There was a slight mistake in the weaving pattern and so I got it for a steal.

The drawing room

A corner of the drawing room.
Table that houses the Bose, is a fake antique.
Masks are from Nepal, India and Indonesia
My favourite piece - the Ferris Wheel photo frame that has a series of pictures of my twins fighting!

Another nook in the drawing room. 

The dowry chest from Madura

I first set eyes on this two coloured teak wood bench when I was being driven through a narrow lane in Jakarta. The car had slowed down due to the ubiquitous macet (traffic jam) and I was generally looking out as I had nothing to do. I saw this in front of a shop; the owner was lying on this chatting with a friend. I took one look at this and it was love at first sight. I asked the driver to pull over, ran to the shop and bargained for the first time in my life. The man was amused and didn't even bargain and let me have it for a steal.

This tapestry was a gift from my friend and colleague when she quit being in my team. It was supposed to be a table runner but I loved it so much I got it framed. And I pair it with a Turkish kilim with an ikat pattern.

The dining room - 

The Chinese believe that a mirror facing the dining table always reflects what is on the table and adds to your prosperity. So true or not, I always ensure the mirror faces the table. The fireplace mantel has a carved wooden boat and boatman from Indonesia and dokra metal statues from my home state - Orissa. The little shelf which houses the knick knacks were made by a carpenter for me.

The dining table is an old teak door that I got converted into a table. The surface is rough and rustic and I love the way it looks and feels. If you look carefully, you would see a little wooden flower on the edge of the table. The lady who made the table put these to soften the rustic-ness of the table.

Another view of the dining table

The bar.
 The child like painting  of the sea-side is from a gallery in Bangkok.
Don't know why I love it but I do.
The Ganesha and the 3 musicians are from India.
The little painting of Arjuna is from Cambodia.

My Favourite corners
1. My study. Also houses my collection of comics

2. The breakfast table in the kitchen. This is where we have our regular meals and spend a lot of time

I must acknowledge the invaluable contribution my husband had in all this - yes he paid for it but more than that, after the first few arguments, he learnt really fast to keep his mouth shut and let me decide what I wanted. And most importantly, when I dragged him to the shops, he would go find the most comfortable chair and fall asleep (yes he did!). And since most of the shops were run by women; they would give me this look filled with sympathy and understanding and I ended up walking away with fantastic discounts, thanks to him!

And yes, as a mother of 2 hyperactive three yr old boys, I have had my share of destruction. A 2 feet high terracotta soldier from Xi'an survived our moving 3 countries but didn't survive 3 days of my then 1yr old sons giving him their undivided attention. And there are a couple of statues of Indonesian aborigines who will never walk again, given that their legs have been crippled by my sons. It is a challenge with 2 toddlers and I (and nanny) have to have eyes on the back of our heads each minute. But I have so far not moved much simply because I wanted them to grow up knowing and understanding they cannot damage things. How far I have been successful, only time will tell! :-)

Finally, since you have awakened the narcissistic beast in me, you all shall pay. So watch out, there is a second part, coming soon which will have pictures of some of my favourite knick knacks!
So long.
Cheerio!