Tuesday 28 October 2014

Man & His Minimalistic Needs

A minimalistic bedroom mood-board for a sophisticated man.



Simple living and high thinking: that’s how this mood board goes.

The space is divided into 2 solid sections. A concrete wall to the back and rolling down to take up some floor space as well. Concrete walls have a very powerful & restraining impact. The rawness of them imparts that rugged-awesome look.
The dark wood flooring takes up the remaining floor. It overhauls the space with its depth and provides the required levels of sophistication.

minimalistic bedroom mood-board for a sophisticated man - quirk it design - mancave - layout - design in a box

But, the champion of this space is the industrial pipe & wood wall bookshelf. Its contrast against the concrete wall is really impactful. And don’t miss the three raw bulbs hanging at the end of the pipe-way.

A low contemporary wooden bed with out-stretched drawers looks seamlessly comfortable and provides the necessary partition between the concrete and wood sections.

minimalistic bedroom mood-board for a sophisticated man - quirk it design - mancave - layout - perspective

A bit of blue & bronze in the form of the drawers, artifacts and accessories is added to round off the room.


The solid, sophisticated yet simple layout of this space adds up to compliment the tastefulness of the man who lives in here.  

minimalistic bedroom mood-board for a sophisticated man - quirk it design - mancave - collage

Get the look:

Sunday 26 October 2014

The Scribble Lamp

Metal wires randomly bent to make a whimsical lamp


The first thing we learnt when we were given a pencil in our hands was not to write… but to scribble. Don’t we all still love scribbling? Just pen and paper and our whimsical thoughts – with these 3 elements, we have all drawn many a master-piece. There are actual psychology tests, in which your state of mind is determined through the scribbling you do! Brilliant, right?


Why restrict scribbling to pen & paper. Thus, we decided to scribble up a decor lamp. All we require is a few meters of thin metal wire that can be easily bent with pliers. To start the scribbling process with the wire, simply keep on bending the wire at random intervals and in random directions. No kind of uniformity is required. It is literally like scribbling.


After the entire wire has been randomly bent, we will have a haphazard mass of wire. To give it a little structure, fluff the wire together and twine it up with thin wires. The eventual structure need not be well defined; it can be completely whimsical. Finally a bulb-cord is suspended in the middle of the wires.



This DIY actually had a de-stressing kind of effect. I wonder what our scribbling has to say about our state of mind?

Thursday 23 October 2014

DIY Diya Stand

Diya holder made from idli making moulds


Happy Diwali to one an all!
May this festive season bring you immense prosperity and joy.

We all know that diyas are an integral part of Diwali. These simple clay-baked, wick & oil candles lend the traditional warmth to the festival. I feel every house should most definitely light up a few diyas to welcome prosperity home. 

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Quirk It Design_DIY Diya Stand_DIY_Quirky_Home_Decor_Diwali

In order to arrange the diyas, a simple technique is to use your idli maker stand. The grooves of the idli maker are ideal to hold the diyas. Also, the tiered formation gives an enhanced look with diyas being stacked one on top of the other. So just pour in some vegetable oil in the diya, add a cotton wick and arrange them in each groove of the idli maker.

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Quirk It Design_DIY Diya Stand_DIY_Quirky_Home_Decor_Diwali

Light up the diyas and bring in three tiers full of prosperity.

Tuesday 21 October 2014

Diwali - Easy Home Decoration Ideas

Light up your home this festive season with 5 simple tricks.


Diwali is that festival in which every home and every face is bright and lit. Don’t we all love everything about this festival of lights? The greetings, the gifts, the delicacies, the fire-works, the joy…all aspects of this festival are of utmost beauty.
So why should not our homes be ready to greet us and our family & friends with the same beauty? It is never too late. And with these simple ideas & DIYs, our homes can be spruced up instantly to be made colorful, lit up and full of joy – basically ready for this Diwali.

1. Diyas:
Nothing can match-up to the famous, old diyas. Simply buy in bulk the same kind of diyas and line them up neatly or make a circular design of it. When lit up, the flickering lights, will always make your home instantly captivating. You could also color up these diyas in different bright colors. An easy way to incorporate light & color and that to at a cost of almost nothing.
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2. Lanterns:
The variety of lanterns available in the markets is crazy. A quick trip to your local market will definitely ensure that you’ll find one that you’ll completely fall in love with. Hang it out on your windows or at your door. For the more adventurous, make a lantern from colorful card paper. We have all learnt how to make one in school!
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3. Light Streamers:
Flowers, diyas, butterflies, lanterns, leaves – yes, you can get light streamers in all these different forms. And let me not get started on the color of lights. And if in doubt of the colors, always buy the golden ones – they look the best and is easy on the eyes. Buy the LED light streamers, as they are more long-lasting and also do not heat up. Drape these streamers anywhere you want to. My personal favorite is to hang multiple streamers in front of the curtains – to make sort of a light curtain.
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4. Bring in some Color:
Diwali without color, is no diwali at all. Add splash of color to your homes. The easiest way is to throw in vibrantly colores cushions on your couch. Serve your guests in funky-colorful glasses and crockery. Will make your delicacies look even more sumptuous. Play with as many colors you want to. The only rule – make sure they are bright.
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5. Go Traditional:

Diwali is as traditional a festival as there can be; so why not infuse some traditional aspects into your home. Traditional wall prints & hangings or décor articles, would all give a nice Indian impact! One quirky technique is to use old colorful sarees and convert them as curtains or use them as couch-throws!
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With these simple tips, we all can quirk up our houses to be diwali ready. Let the festivities begin.


Saturday 18 October 2014

Tropical Punch

 Quirky mood-board for a tropical-colorful decor scheme.


Taking a cue from regions where sun, forests, flowers, creatures and colors never fade. From there, we get inspiration of elements that make for an emphatic punch of tropical vibes within our home spaces. Over the top use of bold colors, the spunky motifs and the large foliage are some essentials of tropical décor. 

The best part of tropical décor is your license to use colors in bold and emphatic ways. The drama is also highlighted by use of tropical plants and flowers, which give a feeling of living right within wilderness.

Another striking feature of tropical décor is the use of motifs and creatures – parrots and pineapples and plantains – anything over the top, fits rightly well.

tropical punch mood board - quirk it design - living room layout
A tropical styled living room concept
The simplest way to bring in the tropics in our homes is by using a large artwork with a myriad of colors and abstract forms. Another easy and sure technique is to throw in pillows of various bright colors and natural prints, and then make an ensemble of sorts with these pillows.

But amidst all this vibrancy, it is critically important to have solid-monotone woods and upholstery elements to make the space a tad bit neutralized, so as to not over kill the room.

If you are tired of playing it safe, then a tropical makeover is on the cards. But this kind of décor is definitely more for the bold hearted, who are willing to live in a frenzy of colors, patterns and wilderness.  
tropical punch mood board - quirk it design - living room layout

Get the look:

Monday 13 October 2014

5 Quirks @ 'The Sassy Spoon'

The boutique styled restaurant at Nariman Point, Mumbai is the talk of the town. Not only for its fine cuisine mix but also its sassy-quirky décor. All the elements in the space are enough to start a conversation of its own. The 5 things we loved the most are:

1. The Pink Name Cycle: Right at the entrance, the bold-pink static cycle bearing ‘The Sassy Spoon’ sets the tone for the place you going to ride to. The eccentricity of the cycle and the bold hue are what lays the perfect first punch.

2. Fairy Lights Bird Cage – the foyer is lined by hanging bird cages, simply wrapped in light streamers. This is a simple DIY, to spruce up any space and give fairy-tale like feel.

3. The Vintage Wall – the minute you step indoors, your eyes are guaranteed to stare and stay at the massive vintage suitcase & trunk wall. The wall is seamlessly crafted, with wooden niches of varying sizes accommodating the luggage of various sizes. The wall also has a camouflaged door to the tower lobby – so discrete that up till the door is not opened, you will never realize that it exists.

4. Color Block Chairs – the tables are stacked with solid-single hue upholstered chairs: in fuschia, grey-blue, dirty green and beige. The 4 colors contrast the sand walls and mix so very well against each other - as if having a conversation of their own!

5. Raw Collage – A large –squarish collage of country-styled paintings of vegetables and meat, is neatly arranged on a polished wooden plank. The centre frame reads a quote of Julie Murphy – “You are what you eat. What would YOU like to be?” Such a collage would look lovely over your home diner or on a blank kitchen wall. Simple prints on simple frames and just a thought on arrangement is all that is required.

I hear the new Sassy Spoon is soon to open up in Bandra; can't wait to watch the new quirky stuff this one is fashioned with.

Sunday 12 October 2014

Garden Glamour

Home terrace-garden made glamorous!



 In a city like Mumbai, with all the space scarce, it’s a big boon to have an attached garden to our flats. And my aunt & uncle precisely have this absolute luxury of an outdoor escapade right outside their living room. But the outdoor space wasn’t exactly as beautiful as it ought to be. It always irked me that such a blessed space has not been done justice to. So luckily they were off for 3 days and the house was empty. This was the ideal time for us to do justice to the outdoor space that it deserved. And definitely surprise my aunt & uncle upon their return (hopefully with delighted notions).

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So my wife and I embarked upon this garden transformation project. We had 3 days to complete it and boy it did look like quite a task before we started. We had loads to do, but the first question was - what to do? We definitely wanted this place to be lively and colorful and all lit-up. So that was our cue.

First we started to de-clutter that space (approx. 150 sq.ft.). Disposed off the old & worn plants and pots. Kept the good ones. We cleared out the space so as to get exact idea of all our design requirements and proceedings. We segregated our project into smaller units and one by one we started working upon them:

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Fish Tank: My aunt & uncle had this big fish-tank which housed 2 piranhas, and by natural choice we wanted those 2 deathly beauties to be highlighted. On the wall where the fish tank lay, we decided to add some decorative element - by covering the wall with a long, colorful plastic mat. The colorful mat with its bold blue-orange-brown colors, became our color inspiration for the entire project. From behind the colorful mat we randomly popped out bulbs of a light streamer. This simple trick gave a brilliant lit-up starry effect and instantaneously drew our eyes to the delightful color-light-fish interplay.

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Wall Gallery: Right next to the fish tank, there was still a half-empty wall. This half-wall we decided to convert into an artifact gallery of sorts. Our idea for this project was to keep it budget-friendly, yet evoke awesomeness. So we bought these wooden fruit crates. We stacked 5 of them into a kind of wall unit. Thus, each crate created a hollow that would hold our ‘gardenified’ artifacts:
 
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11. On the top-most one we created a vignette using brass pots and decorative wood panels.
22. Next one we put dried flowers & leaves in a beautiful golden dish, and inclined it against a stone for better viewing.
33. Then in the third, we hung this round-rose bouquet. Simple and elegant.
44. On the right lower crate we kept this over-sized hand painted blue ceramic pot. Resting against it was a pair of garden tongs, whose handle was painted bright orange.
55. For the 5th on we were falling short of ideas. So we simply filled up 3 empty mineral water bottles with mud. Painted its base blue. And skirted them with orange dotted ribbons. At times the most basic elements create the best visual effects.
With all these elements we created our garden wall unit. It had this beautiful rustic-colorful feel to it. Every element in it screamed for attention.
 
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Sitting Arrangements: Right opposite the wall gallery and fish tank we needed to have our sitting area. They already had an old wrought iron seater. We just covered it with a jute panel and a couple of bold bolsters – and we were sorted. Behind the seater was a grilled opening to the foyer. So we simply covered that too with another seamed jute mat. Also made sure to let a few creepers fall in front of the panel, in order to negate its emptiness. In front of the seater we made a coffee table from the wood fruit crate itself. Simple!
 

Plants & Pots: Next was time to arrange the green bit. We put the large pots on the periphery of the terrace. Then layered the plants one in front of another as per size & scale. We also painted a few pots with bright orange and deep blue oil paints. Made sure that the posterior region was clustered with plants. Putting all plants together rather than scattered, always gives a more wholesome and more natural rendering.

Lighting: Here comes the trick to elevate any space. Light it up! And that’s what we did. The entire periphery of the area was laced with tubed LED lights. I always prefer the lighting in yellow-golden hues – they give such richness.

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And that’s about it. It took us 3 long & tiring evenings to make sure we complete this project. None the less it was exhilarating, fun and contending – ‘cause we knew that the end result looked delightfully extravagant yet comfortable. A definite eye-turner, I say (so did the neighbors)!

Upon my aunt & uncles return home, immediately I get a call from them saying how much they loved the space and with all the complimenting around, we felt extremely proud and happy.

But the best compliment we got is that everyday my aunt & uncle without fail sit outside in their garden and enjoy a hot cup of tea to kick start a beautiful day from a beautiful space. 

Tuesday 7 October 2014

Color Quirks: Black Magic

Black as a color is sparingly used in home décor. Mostly due to the color being disliked across cultures for its evil connotations. But black is a color of elegance and with right use of the color it can infuse magic into home spaces. The contrast provided by black brings out the depth and boldness of other colors brilliantly – with black around, the orange looks more fresher, the yellow looks more brighter, the white looks more purer. It has the power to elevate itself as well as its surroundings.


 Black decor items to drool over:

Use black décor accessories like wall clocks, candle-sticks, photo-frames, etc. It will give your home a chic look, as well as automatically make it look more commanding and complete.


Saturday 4 October 2014

Up-Cage

Lit up and lamped up bird cage with silver leaf veil creeping around.


Freedom is such a universal & beautiful aspect of life. We all have it and that’s why we all take it for granted. No one likes enclosures. Put any one of us in a room with nothing but four plain walls – in minutes, not even hours we would be struggling to get ourselves freed. 

A bird cage in itself is a symbol of captivity and being non-free. But we prefer to open its gate and rather up-cycle it and use it as a beautiful pendant light fixture. As a décor element a bird cage can be used magically in any space. Its arching shape and its wired structure are beautiful on its own.


So in our own quirky way, we started our up-cycle (rather up-cage) process. We decided to envelope the cage with creeping leaf veils. We got decorative leaves and painted them all silver – so that the leaves looked as if they were an extension of the cage itself. We twined the silver leaves along with little white flowers, all around the cage.


Next, we then enveloped a streamer of golden small bulbs all around the cage and over the leaf veils. Fixing the light streamer at regular intervals with silver threads. Lastly, we attached a silver chain on to the top of the cage, which would help suspend the lit-up bird cage from the ceiling.

Light-off or light-one: the hanging bird cage with the silver-leaf veil looks very mesmerizing. Apart from being hanged, the bird cage can also be put atop a table. It will still mesmerize the same way.


 Freedom never looked or felt this beautiful!


Light streamers are the simplest way to liven up any room. Twirl it around or hang it about any space- it will create a beautiful look. Also, they are available in all colors. They can be used extensively  for festive decorations too.

Wednesday 1 October 2014

Color Silhouettes

A photo-frame with magazine paper silhouettes popping out.


This is a simple DIY trick, in which with just paper, scissors and an old-frame we can make bold photo-frames that pop color and can be transformed almost every day.

The idea is to first tear out glossy magazine papers in various colors. Each paper is rolled out in a pencil thick roll and glued at the end. The magazine rolls are then cut to fit the length of an old photo frame and then stuck with as many paper rolls required to cover the breadth of the frame cover. This forms the colorful back drop of your photo-frame.

Quirk It Design_Color Silhouettes_stencil photo frame with color magazine paper background_DIY_Quirky_Home_Decor_sailQuirk It Design_Color Silhouettes_stencil photo frame with color magazine paper background_DIY_Quirky_Home_Decor_snowflake

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Now to add more drama with a little peek-a-booish effect, we cut out white paper in different block shapes. The shapes can be as simple as regular squares, triangle & circles or as intricate as you want it. We made designs of – a car, a peacock, a snow-flake, a like thumb & a sail. The design can be anything whatsoever. The idea is through the paper cut-outs, the background coloring paper magazine-rolls will pop out much more emphatically.

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Quirk It Design_Color Silhouettes_stencil photo frame with color magazine paper background_DIY_Quirky_Home_Decor_car

And, our color-popping, transforming silhouette photo-frames are ready. Who says transformation is a rather laborious thing to achieve?!

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Use a paper cutting blade tool to cut-out internal paper designs. Work in single strokes to get better cutting results, without any indents.