OntheDesignLane

Our Home

Shalni — Mon, 27 Aug 2012 13:32:47 +0000

We live in a one-bedroom rental that is about 900 sq. ft in size, although it is spacious for a one- bedroom there never really isn’t enough room for all the toddler stuff. There isn’t much architecture happening here either, no interesting nooks or features just eight walls that make the living/dining/kitchen and the bedroom, the positives include nice big windows overlooking a trail, bright sunny mornings and an updated kitchen. Visually dividing the space while decorating it has been a challenge for me. Here are glimpses of our modest home:

The living room is my favorite part of the house, the grey color on the walls and the plum and blue accents make my heart happy every time. The rug is from overstock and I love how it defines the space. The sectional is from Macy’s, we will let go of almost all of the furniture when we buy our home, since its been a while and we are ready for a change. We got rid of the coffee table a few months ago to make space for the little one to move around, but I might pick up an ottoman someday.

The bedroom recently got a much deserved makeover, you can read about it here. I am happy with the way it looks now and the best part was that it was all under $100:

Here is the patio that I talked about in this post, we use it mostly in the summer:

Here is my little girl’s nook in the house (it almost never looks like this, she usually ransacks it the minute she wakes up). I made the initial-art for the pinterest challenge and table and chair is from Ikea.

I hope for a bigger house someday but this place will always be special to me as we welcomed our baby here and this has been her home for the first years of her life. Thanks for coming over!

Not so Matchy Matchy!

Shalni — Mon, 13 Aug 2012 13:32:58 +0000

I fell out of love with my dining table and chair set a while after I bought it. It’s a glass top table with brown microfiber chairs and over the years I realized it had way too much brown for my liking. One of the chairs broke two years ago and now we are left with only three chairs that are not in great condition either. I wish I could replace the entire set but I want to wait till we buy our own home so I can get a bigger one. In the meanwhile I am thinking of at least getting new chairs because who knows when homeownership will be on our cards. But there is one thing I know for sure there will be no more matchy matchy dining sets for me. Dining tables and chairs in different materials, styles and colors add so much character to the space. I don’t know since when they have been in trend but they are in every dining room I seem to like these days. So am looking and looking for chairs everywhere but I need ideas on how to well coordinate and contrast the chairs with the existing table. These images provide inspiration in plentiful and it seems the possibilities are endless:

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Thrifty Window Shopping

Shalni — Tue, 31 Jul 2012 07:22:46 +0000

I love shopping at thrift stores and flea markets for my home. It’s like looking for diamonds in the rough, you never know what you might find in such places. I think everyone should try and mix in a few vintage/old finds into their homes. This past weekend I visited a thrift store in San Francisco and found such cool stuff, that I wanted to share at least a few with you. These stacks of National Geographic magazines can add such a punch of color to any room:

I love how stacks of the magazine placed randomly, adds color and unifies this bookshelf (Check out this post at apartment therapy for more ideas on decorating with it):

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Don’t you think this piece if refinished and painted to look like this red dresser, would look awesome:

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How about this rustic wine rack that compares to an almost identical one available at CB2 for a pricier tag:

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And my favorite was this cute bamboo chair that I fell in love with. You could paint it black or any bright color, reupholster the seat cushion in a fun patterned fabric and make it oh so lovely.

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My Favorite Corner & The Rambling List-3

Shalni — Thu, 26 Jul 2012 14:05:30 +0000

I will be sharing more of my home in the coming weeks, but today I wanted to give you a sneak peek at my favorite corner of the house. This spot makes my heart happy every time I look at it and that chase is sooo comfy I could spend all day there with my laptop, the TV remote and a bag of chips.

Do you have a happy spot in your home?

Now onto the ramblings:

If you are not reading Emily Henderson’s blog, please do. Every post of hers is a treasure trove of design tips, I loved her post/video on how to style a mantel.
I will be attending the Dewit Camp in San Francisco this weekend so am super excited. Its been my dream to learn interior design from the pros and two full days of design talk is like being in heaven for me.
The photography class I took two weeks ago, was awesome. I am a classroom learner and though there are some really good online resources on manual photography, I could never really wrap my head around it completely until this class. So if you are “the manual is in french I can’t understand a word” kind take a photography class, it helps.
Also, check out Apartment Therapy’s post on interior photography tips

Hope y’all have a great weekend. I will have lots to share next week, so see you soon!

Green Love

Shalni — Wed, 25 Jul 2012 07:00:20 +0000

The console makeover is coming along slowly and I hope to have the after pictures and details by next week. I was nervous and excited about going with a hunter’s green color for it, but so far am loving it. I’ve always loved emerald-green jewels (remember Angelina Jolie’s earrings at the 2009 Oscars, weren’t they gorgeous), but when I saw this living room with emerald-green accents, I just lovvvved the richness it added to the room.

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I desperately wanted to bring this color into our living room somehow, since repainting the console had been in my to-do list for a long time I decided to go green with it. Of course, I wasn’t confident right away but Emily Henderson’s guest room makeover just sealed the deal for me. Isn’t it beautiful?

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If you look around there are plenty of ways to incorporate a rich green color into your design. For now, lets take inspiration from these:

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