Rawla Narlai..An experience beyond vacations!

Contemplating on the images sitting in each folder and umpteen number of journeys done and not even one being shared in the blog..i wonder why am i not getting time to share these :)- each journey has a time  to unfold as i think:)-

The last year we looked forward to exciting journeys by road,longer journeys,where you needed to rest a night and then the rest of the journey the next day.Although it was exciting ,it was tiring too at times..
Last winter we decided to go a little beyond Ajmer ..,a little before Udaipur and Ranakpur and we specifically went to stay in the beautiful village called Narlai.There are very little people to come to the village to stay, as its an enroute stop to Udaipur. I wanted to visit the village,the amazing fort and spend some time with the surroundings which had been in my mind for a very long time.

Rawal Narlai  ...sits on a a beautiful and sleepy village on a country road.Hidden Away in the heart of Aravalli hills,at the foot of a mammoth granite rock,surrounded by forested hills and rocky outcrops,Rawala Narlai is a beautifully maintained heritage resort ,which was once a hunting lodge of Jodhpurs Royal family.Still owned by  members of Jodhpur family,the resort is now transformed from a mere hunting lodge into a stunning ,stylish boutique hotel with all its character and structure maintained.

The pink bougainvilleas all over,the plumerias at the entrance,the blue bells over the walls and doors,the overflowing white bougainvilleas,the red turbaned waiters,the jaipur rugs and so much more an experience beyond vacations!

Who doesn't get enamoured by these breathtaking images and light:)-

just stood gazing at the beautiful bougainivlleas as we entered the courtyard..this is what we wanted to see :)-how it trailed 

a view from up..looking down

the setting sun caught

the light shone everywhere

beautiful sights,beautiful prints

the room..the bed

hawa ka jhonka:)-

the white peeled paints and violets..what combination

lot of light pouring in..subtle white

the world of grace and charm..

the light that entered the crevices,fell down

yes..the plumerias

basking in the winter light

gracefully ..like a necklace

Please ask permission before you share images..Write to me at dr.lakshmi@live.in

Kunal Shah Designs

There's an  amazing array of talents in India and Kunal Shah is one among them and one of my favourites. It's his understated elegance and love for the simplicity yet making a traditional touch ,love for flowers that instantly drew me towards following his works.

I also love the fact that my inspirations remain his too:)-He is inspired by the works of Geoffrey Bawa ,John Pawson, Gaudi and Bijoy Jain.

All thanks to my dear friend Shalini Pereira.Its through her i read more about him and became virtual friends.They both are good friends and fellow IED alumnis.Kunal Sha founded Kunal Shah designs in 2004.This boutique design firm believes in a restrained and understated design aesthetic that focuses on subtle nuances and finer details. I love the clean lines and almost minimalist feel to the spaces he creates. They are very contemporary and yet unmistakably Indian.

Kunal travels a lot and often draws inspiration from his travels and his other passion, art.

Seen below are some awesome vignettes of his amazing home on instagram.The amazing pick of carefully selected furniture,art and the cool neutral palettes.His aesthetically simple minimalistic approach. Amazingly homely,but an old world charm.An amazing appreciation and love towards the different forms of art and craft. 

His home has a mixture of sculptures and books and flowers thrown here and there creating its own warmth.in love with all these..

Thank you kunal for allowing me to share all these images.

May you create more beautiful homes:)- and amazing spaces!

  

All images courtesy:Kunal Shah ..Instagram account.

Please ask permission if you want to use the images.

Isla Van Damme !

Isla Van Damme (call her Loulou) 68-year-old Van Damme has done her whole life, building her career as a designer, a stylist, a restaurateur.At present working with Bungalow 8 on a project.

She runs a beautiful  guesthouse in the Palani Hills, a two-bedroom cottage that nods to the style of English bungalows and French plantation houses built here during the Raj (the property abutting Van Damme’s is a working pepper and coffee plantation founded by French Jesuits). There’s the outdoor teak furniture; there’s the handknit cashmere “leopard-skin” carpet, a take on the tiger carpets used by Tibetan monks for meditation, that took Van Damme’s weaver in Delhi a year to complete; there’s the Turkish kilim, similar to the ones she used to sell in Belgium; and there are shelves of books bought at art exhibitions.

 Van Damme’s personal style is more Banjara than Belgian, she is fastidious about the most minute details. 

Now that her guesthouse in the hills is complete, she’s begun work on the design for a second, larger house farther along the ridge. By the time that’s finished, Van Damme plans to be growing as much as 60 percent of the produce she needs for herself and her guests in her own garden. She recently started making her own butter; she may even learn to make cheese. She’s talked about starting up a drum festival with her neighbors to promote local tribal music and wants to work with a friend to improve sanitation and awareness about littering in the nearby villages.

Text courtesy :Architectural Digest,Image courtesy:Pinterest,AD

            

Summer inspirations..

An Ode to the summer nights that turned into morning with the friends that turned into family.

An amazing set of lived in feel form the summer look book of Toast.Their images are like a fresh breath of air.

  All images copyright :Toast

My Summer pleasures..

A little bit of summer is what I look forward to and it is what the whole year is about.These are just the starting of the happy summer moments here .The blues that blew the mind,the paisleys that got me enchanted always,white mulmuls that sway to the gentle breeze,the orange bells that shine in the summer,the handmade pankhas a boon to the looming powercuts and on goes the summers..Enjoy these snippets while i come back with more:)-

And so with the sunshine and the great bursts of leaves growing on trees ,just as things grow fast in movies i had that familiar conviction that life was beginning over again with summer.

                                                                                        (Great Gatsby Quote)

           Summer is falling in love with instagram too..see the link and connect with me :)-

Please do not copy the images..all are copyrighted to Lakshmi Arvind!

Be Vintage!

Be Vintage creates home decor items with a vintage look complete with distressed finish and fun, bright colours.Young entrepreneurs Grishma, Abhineet and Monica with varied backgrounds have teamed up to develop a line of unique vintage style Victorian and French-inspired furniture .

Their items first range from frames, keyholders,wall hangings to furniture and showcase featured cabinets, chairs, nightstands, wooden trunks, etc., Their USP are the wood printed decor products. It's a new technique wherein an image is printed on wood.They source images online, treat them a certain way, add filters, etc., and then print them on wood. While most of their furniture is made of pine wood, Beech, Acacia and African Teak, they are open to customisation. They have also developed their own paints to get the distressed look for their furniture.They primarily sell through Facebook and one-off exhibitions but have now started stocking their products at a couple of boutiques in the city.  hoping to change the way into something beautiful and unusual.

Some of them which i love from their collections are here :)-

All images courtesy..Be Vintage

The House of Things

The House of Things says..Beautiful,Rare and Inspired..very true!

The House of Things is a curated marketplace,a beautiful concept store for all world renowned brands under a shop.Surprised seeing all fine furniture and resplendent paintings to exceptional curios, precious jewels, sculptures, antiquities, rugs, and accessories - each of their objects has remarkable workmanship and soul.Thinking of the joy each object that brings beauty and joy to the respective homes.

Their curatorial team of experts meticulously puts together a personal selection of poetic objects, sourced from travels across the globe and serendipitous findings.The unique offerings also include a selection created from artistic collaborations. For those who appreciate character in design, we showcase a range of products made by established designers and artisans, specially crafted for those seeking out pieces that are marked 'special'. They endeavour to give us the opportunity to discover the exquisite and timeless, sharing the joy of collecting unique items that excel in originality and transcend trend.

The house of things is the creativity of Astha Khetan. Astha started her work life at a London based digital media agency, and then returned to India to manage Unilever's special projects. Her spirited love for handicrafts and penchant for travel inspired her to launch The House Of Things. The key team also includes Sabina Chopra and Manish prakash who have worked with numerous product designers. 

Thanks Surbhi Gandhi for reaching out to me and letting me know about the new venture.

                                            All images respective to their artists