Stick & Tied

Stray wooden sticks, all tied up to make hanging lamps that’s very slick

A stroll through nature amidst the woods is so awe-inspiring. Every sight, every tree, every leaf, every stick has a story of its own to be told.

On one of our family picnics on the outskirts of Mumbai, my wife and I, withdrew ourselves into the woods. On our trail we found these stray sticks in abundance lying all over the ground. These sticks were long, slender, smooth & beautifully curved. Instantly our eyes twinkled (thinking but obviously of up-cycling them) and we gathered as many as we could.

We tried quite a few combinations to make the best looking stick structure. I wanted to play with the gorgeous natural curves of the stick. So eventually a curved pyramid was what decided it to be as it looked absolutely stunning. And a hanging lamp made out of it would totally steal the deal!

We first made a hexagonal base by tying around wool in the center of 3 wooden sticks. After that we tied one-one stick to each of the 6 ends of the base. And finally, we tied the top of the loose standing sticks in the center, taking advantage of the stick curvatures. So what we got was a curved-up pyramid stick cage. We still had quite a few sticks left, so we made two of these.

Once our structures were ready, to make the lamp we hanged a bulb through a transparent bottle and let it dangle within the stick cage. To add more texture to the lamp-fitting we wound around wool on the bottle (stain painting the bottle would also look brilliant)!

So our stick & tied DIY lamp is ready to be hanged and light up our living spaces.

Who knew that the story of these sticks would have such a consequential & gorgeous end.

Make sure your home has enough natural light in the day and enough artificial light for the nights. Lighting up your homes is the best way to remove any gloom, and a well-lighted home is always more welcoming and more stimulating. 

Barbed Reflections

A wreath of barbed wires to adore your reflections in the mirror

“Mirror, mirror on the wall, who is the spikiest of them all?”

Barbed wires! This metallic-jagged ribbon was our latest inspiration. We see them everywhere – confining our premises and protecting any intrusions. If we see them closely, they are form an intricate and braided pattern; with spikes looped around periodically. We seldom realize that so much design goes behind these wires.

In our next project, our idea was to highlight the beauty and the intricacy of these barbed wires. We decided that a simple wreath wrapped around a mirror was all that we required doing.

 The first thing we needed was to find some barbed wires – and we found it lying abandoned and rusted right near to our building. We got nearly 10 feet of the wire. So we wounded the barbed wire into layered circles and cranked it in place with some twining wire (be extremely careful while handling barbed wires. Do wear thick hand-gloves for protection). The rustic, rusted look of the barbed-wire was looking brilliant in itself, so we avoided any further treatments or painting.

Next, we got a simple mirror - shaped circularly and sized so that it could be framed around by the barbed wire wreath.

 In order fix it up on the wall, all we required to do was to firstly hook up the mirror in the desired location. Once the mirror was put up, then we drilled another screw/hook a little above the mirror’s top side. Simply, then hanged the wreath on the screw/hook.

So what we get is a simple round mirror that is wrapped around by this rustic and spiky barbed wire wreath. It is somewhat an exaggerated piece of home décor; but with it hanged high and kept well out of reach – it would safely create outstanding visual curiosities that would definitely grab peoples’ attention.

I somehow, love the barbaric quality of this mirror. It traverses you into the world of dark fairy-tales where magic mirrors, evil queens and spiked potions prevailed.

Experimenting in our homes with various off-beat materials (like wires, pipes, ropes, etc.) would help create visual interests and they become definite ‘conversation starters’!  

Card Away

Visiting cards transformed into a 2 way lamp

One of my fellow colleagues just quit. Upon a person’s quitting a plethora of office material is discarded off: trash for others, but stash for us! There were quite a few of her visiting cards left behind. I took a few of them and decided to use them as a starting material for my next project.

 I got these nice off-white visiting cards back home, and I started toying with it; trying to figure out what to do with them. The idea that struck me is to make a wreath of these cards, and so I started making it by pasting one card on top of another at sequential-acute angles. Unfortunately, I realized that I am gonna fall short of cards to complete the wreath circle.

In a fix, I again start toying with the 4/5^th complete circular card wreath. I tried a few different positioning, till I realized that coning this incomplete circle would be perfect. A beautiful lamp-skirt could be made of the eventual conical structure. So I made the card cone and made it sit on a proportionately sized cane basket (taken from a flower bouquet present found at home) and added a standing bulb into the basket.

After finishing the lamp, I once again started toying with the cone of cards. I just flipped it over and kept it back on top of the bulb-basket-base. And another beautiful lamp is suddenly created, having its skirting, fanning upwards.

The golden light diffusing off the lamp in either of the set-ups looks so elegant. Just a mere change in positioning can add such different yet equally beautiful dimensions.

One thing I learnt from this project – “always keep toying around!”

Before discarding off old stuff, always do think if that item can be utilized in another fashion. With just a little creative thinking and manipulation many wonders can be achieved. 

Green Cascades

Planters randomly stacked upon each other to greenify your home

I was casually surfing online and came across this garden-scape which had a wrought iron stand for planters, that could be stacked vertically; it looked so cool and reminded me of space-constrained cities, which move vertically upwards to accommodate the ever-growing population. Quite a far-fetched comparison! But this idea would be perfect for our ever-growing population of plants at our front door. 

Before: Normal boring plastic planters

But I wanted to let-off the heaviness of the wrought iron, so I modulated the idea and purchased these plastic planters in ascending sizes. Spray painted the planters, to let go off the brown color monotony. Stacked them up one atop the other, in this vertical cascading form. Each planter was attached to another by with metallic wire joints. Put some plants in each one of them - we can put natural or artificial ones, depending upon your liking and your plant-maintenance skills!

After: Golden planters stacked vertically in a stumbling fashion

The final product looks very chic. It sits prettily on the window pane besides our home door. This is a really cool idea for space constrained areas; where more greenery can be added by going the vertical way up. Such a modern concept I say!

Let your home be an extension of nature by making sure enough green plants adorn it. Especially at the doorway, having plants make your home more welcoming. 

It’s ‘Quirk It’ Time

Hello all. Wow! This is so crazy.

Here I am, writing a blog. And to be honest it feels a little absurd to write in anticipation as of now to an unknown audience. But, it does too have a feeling of static yet overwhelming excitement.

So I write this blog ‘Quirk It Design’ as an extension of my love for everything home-décor oriented (that ought to be quirky, eclectic and basically blow the mind away!).

I feel home is where the heart lies, and definitely the heart falls for the beauty it is gushed with. Every home must proclaim ecstasy. And I believe, it is the beauty of our house that fills our lives with beauty – be it the people who live in it or the paint that flanks it. I am also a firm believer that the home we live in should definitely be an extension of our personality, as our home is a reflection of our life.

Since a child I have had this peculiar – DIYish nature. Where other kids would be layered in sun and mud; I preferred to dirty my hands in glue and paints. And this habit of mine has lived on though the years. Though my current profession is that of a cosmetic researcher (a job that I do love), but my creative itches are the ones that makes me smile, makes me vulnerable and keeps me up all night, without any complaints.

I try to see the world from a different angle: what others would consider as trash, I would look at the same object mesmerizingly. With a little creativity and out-of-the-box thinking, any mundane object can be transformed into a glamorous & eye-catching entity.

This blog I write, with the support (or rather persistence) from my wife. Who has been always so supportive of me! And I know that she knows what I want. And she’ll make damn sure that I attain it.

Through this blog, I just want to express my love for the creative sides of life. And write about my explorations as a creative junkie, who has an infinite love for making, re-purposing and gifting home décor articles. And my eventual goal is to grow in my creative endeavors and become an interior stylist – so as to create living spaces that are inviting & eloquently styled. Through my design sensibilities, I want to imagine, create and eventually translate people’s needs into lively cohesive spaces that they can call ‘home’.

This is the beginning of an enthralling journey, and I thank one and all for being a part it.

Till then keep it sexy, keep it quirky!

Doorway to Paris

It was a door. It is now an Eiffel-framed, clothes-hanging furniture

“In love I fell…at the Eiffel”

If Paris is the city of romance, then Eiffel is definitely the symbol of this romance. So in our next project we decided to bring in a little bit of romance.

The starting point of this make-over was a wooden, old door we found. Whose frame was intact and the wood in good condition. It had 3 horizontal partitions. The first thought was that it could be converted into something like a standing 3-storeyed picture-frame.

So the first cumbersome task was to strip of the remnant old paint (which took a good 2 days, and a good toll on our hands). Post that added 2 layers of primer base-coat. Then came the paint – a nice mint is what we settled for. So after 2 coats of the paint, the skeleton of the framed door was ready.

For framing purpose, we screwed cork boards onto the back-side. The idea was to have changeable pictures (as per our moods) which could be easily pinned. So right now we were definitely in the mood of romance - post our Paris trip and due to the lovely monsoon, if I may add ;)

 We got this lovely high resolution Eiffel tower picture in sepia colors. Bloated it up, cut it into 3 pieces, and got them printed on textured card-papers. The last step was to pin each part of the Eiffel on the 3 different sections of the door-frame.

To add another functional dimension to this door, we screwed in hooks and attached rubber supporters on the hind-side. Thus apart from it being a visual master piece in front, it renders itself to be a clothes-hanging frame from behind.  

And our labor of love was thus, completed.

I love the contrast of the burnt sepia and the fresh mint color. But, what I like most is the attention the Eiffel picture commands, drawing us in, as if we were standing right there underneath it: falling in love all over again!

Soft-boards are not restricted only for schools or office. At home too they can be used. Frame the soft-board up and pin the picture you like. Easily change pictures as and when you want or as per your moods.