.
Refurbishing or re-decorating of homes for the festive season ahead uplifts your spirits and sets the mood for the year of festivities. Fill your home with colours and add accessories this season, say experts.
Sangeeta Kapoor, founder and Interior Designer Melange and Jade Davies CEO and interior designer MKM Luxe Suisse have doled out tips to make your abode festival ready.
*Fill your home with colours: Bring out all the colourful bedding, decorative cushions, pottery, rugs, old photographs, memories, souvenir and old gifts and give them their place under the sun. Get them nicely framed and place them around as they have untold stories to tell.
*Accessorise: Now is the time to go all out and indulge in that Victorian lamp or the hammered vase you have been eyeing all along. Set a little corner up with your prized accessories and give them their due, they will certainly pep up a dull room. Go for one or two big dramatic pieces rather than too many smaller ones scattered around.
*Keep moisture away: The dampness of the monsoons has set into the wood, the walls and the upholstery. Pull your sofas, beds, wardrobes six inches from the wall to let them breathe. Let the sunlight in, keep those windows open and allow for the dampness to dry and recede. Investing in a humidifier is a good idea to keep the temperature and moisture under control.
*Fragrant fresh: Place fragrances and candle diffusers at various places in all rooms. Nothing like walking into a home to a fresh clean fragrance. Allow the scented candles to burn for a bit for the fragrance to reach. Have the power of flowers to weave magic into the festive décor, a big urn of mogra and rose petals will swoon the senses.
*Gold is never old: With festive season and Diwali round the corner, go bold with gold. Bring on the shimmer and glimmer of your brass elements, polish them nicely to beam and gleam against a bolder colour palette, This season you should experiment with bolder colours like deep reds, burnt oranges ambers and sunny mustards. Pair these up with cushions in woven textiles and traditional motifs.
*Table settings: Add an interesting bunch of flowers, sprigs on to the napkin holders and take a few moments to set the right cutlery. A well-set table only adds zest to the delicious food that is going to be placed there and around which memories and moments will be shared. Add floating candles into glass bowls filled with water for a unique table centrepiece.
*Rearrange the living room furniture: Make it cozy and comfortable for guests and family to huddle together and laugh away. Put the sofas together with lounge chairs around them and create a relaxed atmosphere.
