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Summer Wreath

July 21, 2014 By Vidya Sukumaran Leave a Comment

Have you noticed that we are half way into Summer and I still haven't talked about a Summer Wreath? I had planned on doing a Grapevine wreath for so long but haven't had the actual chance to sit down and make one. Wait, I take that back this one took me a whopping 5 mins to make, getting the stuff was what I needed to get around to. Amid a very tiring and fun weekend, we visited the Kings Dominion Amusement Park in Doswell with a bunch of friends, I finally managed to add some Summer color to my front door. Man, I tell you, getting older does take a toll on your body. The whole Sunday was spent recovering from all the activity day before. :) The kids had a whale of time, B too, me sorta. This is one thing I miss most about having Vertigo. I used to be that crazy gal who rode every ride … [Read more...]

DIY Stained Wood Picture Frame

July 18, 2014 By Vidya Sukumaran 4 Comments

This stained wood picture frame is one of those "Why didn't I think of it?" projects. Mm...'coz someone smarter already thought of it, duh! And the smarter folks are the 2 blogging sisters from Shanty 2 Chic. But they were gracious enough to teach many of us how to make one for ourselves in the Staining class at Haven. And oh, that's my Ammumma (mom's mom) in the pic. Isn't she pretty? These days she is not feeling all too well and needs a lot of help going about her day. As I was staging the shoot, I remembered how she used to love the Edward Rose bush in the front yard of her old home. It was a large unruly bush with Pink highly fragrant flowers that flowered on rare occasions in our hot and humid tropical climate. But when it bloomed the fragrance, beauty, and size of the flowers … [Read more...]

I’m a Haven Maven

July 16, 2014 By Vidya Sukumaran 21 Comments

As you all know last week I attended the Haven conference, a blogging conference catered specifically to DIY and home decor nerds bloggers, in Atlanta. This was my first time at Haven for that matter any blogging conference. The experience was mostly invigorating at times ethereal, challenging, and even daunting. True to my word of the year, Overcome, I pushed through the event battling my introvert demons, my DIY fears, and just plain old awkwardness. You know, deep down I've always been an introvert but from the day I met my uber social hubby, B his social skills started slowly but steadily rubbing off. As a result throughout the years I've taken conscious efforts to resolve my awkwardness and trust issues (another Aquarian thing) at every possible opportunity. Haven was no different; I … [Read more...]

Summer Garden 2014

July 14, 2014 By Vidya Sukumaran Leave a Comment

How y'all doing? Came back home yesterday after an awesome 4 day weekend attending the Haven conference in Atlanta. Finally got to meet so many of my fellow bloggers whom I've known only online. I'm still looking through hundreds of pics and business cards. Hoping to get my recap post up by Wednesday (remember we changed the posting schedule to M, W, F?). So while I was away my summer garden had gone bonkers! I tell ya, really things grew like crazy in all of three days, wait maybe a week with all the packing I was not paying much attention during the first half of the week. The most vigorous of all is the Lotus. The container is full I mean FULL of leaves with new leaves popping up by the hour (at least it looks like). I just hope that it will bloom soon; it is already mid July. Please … [Read more...]

Reading Nook & New Home Tour Page

July 8, 2014 By Vidya Sukumaran 5 Comments

Have you heard of the saying, things creeping up on you? That is exactly what is happening to me as we speak. Tweaking the Home Tour page and the general look of the blog has been on my mind for a while but I procrastinated like forever and decided to pull the plug on it this week (along with a blog schedule change). All these changes leading into the Haven conference (who am I kidding it is this Thursday) for which I'm yet to pack or haven't even clearly thought out what to wear! Wait, I'm already freaking out and talking all over the place. How about we check off the easiest things on the list first? Remember a few months back when I switched to the 3 posts a week schedule I said about experimenting with what days to post. After almost 5 months of living with it I'm kind loving the … [Read more...]

Paint My World Turquoise and Red

July 7, 2014 By Vidya Sukumaran 8 Comments

Today we have the talented and color loving Vidhya (yup, what a coincidence another Desi home decor blogger with the same name!) from the Paint My World blog sharing her Guest Bedroom with us. The room went through 5 different iterations, some of it on paper some in real life before it ended up in this pretty shade of Turquoise with a single Chevron stripe accent and Red accessories. Red is not the usual accent color that comes to mind when you think of Turquoise but Vidhya's clever use of pattern and especially the beautiful Quilt (Mudhut from Target) makes it click. It seems she had second thoughts on the Turquoise paint color (BEHR ULTRA Gem Turquoise) and was bent on painting it back to white and starting over! I'm so glad that she went with the flow and used a stencil … [Read more...]

Patriotic Planter

July 3, 2014 By Vidya Sukumaran 1 Comment

Did you know tomorrow is our 4 yr house anniversary, one of the many reasons Fourth of July is special to us? Can't believe it has been so long since we moved here! This year though as newly minted US citizens the holiday holds an extra special spot in our hearts. After the very late start last year I'd planned on getting my July 4th decorating going well in advance but somehow life got in the way. Result? Apart from a few flags on the porch, nothing nada! Fast forward to last week with me searching through my craft pile in the basement scrambling to add something patriotic around the house. That's when the left over Frog Tape Shape tape from my painted tray caught my eye. A few supplies, some painting help from my Amma (mom), and; Isn't she pretty? A couple of planters like these … [Read more...]

DIY Tile Mirror

July 1, 2014 By Vidya Sukumaran 37 Comments

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of Elmer’s ProBond Advanced. All opinions are 100% mine. All you ladies out there, what would you say is a must have in your closet apart from the clothes and accessories? A full length mirror of course! You see, ever since we moved into this home 4 yrs ago I've been living without one while our over the door full length mirror from the first house has been sitting in our basement unused, still in its movers' wrapping! Even though I was well aware that I badly needed one we just didn't hang it 'coz we thought it was too plain, you know your average frame less mirror. Kinda hard to make sense 'coz dressing up in traditional Indian attire means draping 6 yards of fabric on you! How do you do that without a full length mirror? Instead I … [Read more...]

How to Sew a Seat Cushion with Piping

June 30, 2014 By Vidya Sukumaran 4 Comments

How was your weekend? We had a nice and relaxing 2 days, met up with some old friends and took my folks to see the Luray caverns. Though this was my 5th or 6th time visiting just like the nearby Skyline Drive I'll never ever get tired of going there. If you haven't been to these caves then you must; it is the largest of such caverns in the Eastern US. You really can't express in words how beautiful it is. The Dream Lake inside the caverns; Coming back to today's post we have one more chair tutorial left, on how I sewed the seat cushions. As I mentioned earlier, this is not what I would call a beginner sewing project. Neither is it the most difficult one in the world. But you do need some patience and planning to get this baby going. Materials Fabric - I got the fabric back in … [Read more...]

Painted Wave Tray

June 26, 2014 By Vidya Sukumaran 15 Comments

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of FrogTape. All opinions are 100% mine. Though I'm no beach person come summer I like to surround myself with things that remind me of the beach and outdoors. Combine that with my recent fascination with Gold I tell ya we have a winner in this painted DIY tray. I've always been a fan of the yellow metal when it came to decor preferring more of the aged brass/ bronze look than pure Gold per se. But recently I've been feeling a great pull towards shiny Gold and won't stop at a chance to use it anywhere. So what does a girl do with an old wood tray, spray paint, and FrogTape's Shape Tape? Make Gold waves of course! ;) To give a worn out tray like this, which by the way was a vintage store find, a new lease of life … [Read more...]

Simple & Easy Patriotic Decor

June 24, 2014 By Vidya Sukumaran 4 Comments

When it comes to Red, White, and Blue I generally tend to stay low key adding a few touches here and there around the home. My reasoning being, Red is a mainstay at ours in the accessories department so dolling out more Red seems like overkill. So my RW&B decorating usually starts and ends at the table with a super duper easy flag centerpiece. ;) This year though I'm a little better and have added a big Burlap Bow made with Natural and Red burlap ribbon (left over from the Christmas Wreath) dressed up with a Silk Poinsettia (it is so big that it looks like just any other ordinary red flower) and an American flag to our front door instead of a wreath. I swear I had pics of it on my phone but it looks not. Will have to wait till tomorrow morning to take a shot and update the post. … [Read more...]