The Home Makeover Series- Cutting Down to Size

Things had been dull on the blog for a while. Meaning I had no pictures to post. I was afraid the blog wouldn't survive until the camera started talking to my laptop.

Finally I managed to get the pictures loaded and here is the home makeover series.

We did the first round way back in dec 2008 where in we experimented with bold colors like red- the experimenting made easy because the free ka mazdoor husband was doing all the painting.

Last Diwali we changed sofa and dining chair upholstery as a consolation prize for the year - we were fed up of our grossly misused furniture and had no money to buy new ones.

When we had bought this place, we had done a lot of wood work especially the show case/ rack variety which would hold all our mementoes and show pieces collected over the years. We had a huge crockery rack to house the numerous crockery I had.

Over time we started feeling claustrophobic- there was lack of space, the living room looked heavy and we felt we had no further scope to enhance seating.

And the last straw- we got a Sony Bravia from Club Mahindra. We desperately needed a free wall to mount the TV.

The husband and I cribbed, fought and raged for days to come to an amicable solution which would call for minimum investment and yet give me enough storage and display.

Take a look at what we did.

This was the original showcase in the living room

The crockery rack and the dining table- I must say I had no complains with the dining table except the chairs were a little too low for the kids to sit comfortably/ rather the dining table was high- otherwise I was extremely comfortable with it.
The storage and showcase with a granite top for display in the centre of the houseThe sofa that served us well and took a lot of ill treatment

The Makeover Process

We began with cutting / removing stuff and creating more space.

The central storage and granite top was removed and the top portion of the showcase was cut down in terms of width and mounted back on the wall. It could still accomodate most of my stuff except the loads of plants I had kept on the graniteWe divided the showcase into 2 parts- one part became the showcase and bar counter - and got moved to the corner thereby leaving the wall free for the TV. We brought back our old TV stand to the centre.

The crockery rack was totally removed much to my annoyance and the other half of the showcase became the crockery rack and was moved to the dining area. I had to put some of my "never" used crockery into storage and make the crockery rack contents lean and mean. Note the new chrome green paint that replaced the older light green wall and the gold on the originally yellow wall. These new colours have a gold sheen and they age gracefully on the wall. A new 4 seater dining table was duly purchased - the square one with high chairs - the husband had been lusting after it for quite sometime. It is a little too small for my liking but the husband likes it. The table mats are from Lifestyle- in plastic- exactly what is needed for my household-(pssst- Rs 29 each)

We purchased a new sofa set- 6 seater one and accomodated the invertor inside a newly made cupboard. The wall is adorned by a silk table runner (Chinese)- the husband's idea- Though it looks nice, I have my reservations. My biggest worry was to accomodate my glass flowers and the heavy glass vase- It found a place on this cupboard along with my Kalamkari lamp

The chrome green wall again- this wall looks better because the white tubelight illuminates it from the adjacent wall and the yellow light on the wall itself enhances the gold-green. The left wall is in gold- this is my favourite and expresses well in both tubelight that falls from the opposite wall and yellow picture light.

Both 2 seater sofa handrests have 2 drawers each- a convenient idea- they house our remotes, napkins, extra table mats. We treated the sofa with stainguard- a professional guy comes and sprays the sofa with chemical that repels dirt - you can spot clean any stain that comes and you need to vacuum monthly to prevent dust accumulation. This comes with 2 years warranty and these guys come over and remove any stains that occur during this period. So far we have managed to remove ketchup and mango stains easily. Costed us Rs 3200 for sofas and cushions The floors were bare and we needed to add warmth to it - apart from the need to make the living room extendable. We debated for days on the carpets. Both of us wanted something modern and geometric - no floral carpets. We liked a few in Lifestyle but either they were too small or too expensive. We then went to Wellhome on an impulse and found two carpets- together they cost Rs 3000. Not a big investment. It is not the best quality but ok for a home with children.

The second carpet is place opposite the door in the place of the unit with the granite top- This serves as another extension for seating if needed and also a spot for kids to play. I love this spot because it is central and gives me a view of the TV and the garden on the right - overlooking the dining area. I would love to put a diwan there but right now we are enjoying this spacious look.

Only later, we discovered Fab India durries- bright, rich, ethnic and at around the same price range- Marked for future purchase

The final effect- Living Room- more spacious and "extendable" than the earlier setting.
The wooden centre table is a prized "inheritance"- We do not have a centre table but this is multipurpose- serves as centre table, sitting option when one wants to sit directly under the fan or dining table for kids when guests come- they can sit on the carpet duly covered with bedsheet and eat in style.