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Wednesday, June 23, 2010

The Home Makeover Series- Dancing on Walls

Continuing with the homemakeover series-
After doing the changes in the furniture and experimenting with bold new paints, we wanted to embellish further.
One of the problems we suffer from is the numerous handprints and sundry other stains that magically appear on the walls within a week of painting. The husband decided to remedy that by giving a Brick Wall finish to the lower walls so that the hand prints or carelessly held crayons do not make much of an impact on the walls. Here's how he did it using a foam brick- the effect is deliberately patchy to give a worn out look
I got this brilliant idea (not)- actually I simply picked up the idea from Madmomma- of recreating the Warli art on the "brick" wall- thereby creating a representation of the Tulika book- Dancing on Walls- the story of the little girl Shivri who in her attempt to help her parents in her housework meets the dancing people from the moon - how these little dancing people come about to adorn the walls of numerous homes is a mystery that you can solve by reading the book. I picked up the drawings from this very book - it was available on hand and extremely convenient to just copy the same on the wall- (pic courtsey- Tulika) This wall is adjacent to the kitchen- the theme I selected was family, harmony and home while drawing the Warli- So dancing couple- modernised by putting a ponytail for the lady dancer and dancing family with two little boys- the creeper and sun representing vitalty and growth and prosperity. The metal frame above was purchased from Dastakari art at the Orissa counter sometime ago for not more than RS 350 if I remember correctly- Workmen & dancing people I suppose. The reason I chose that was because the circular work inide the square is done in such a way that orientation of the "painting" does not matter while mounting on the wall
The central area with display rack on the top and carpet below was similarly given the brick effect. As usual, I copied images from Dancing on Walls and the husband painted them with a fine tipped brush and acrylic paint. These are various dancing positions and acrobatics- emphasis on movement more than stills. (It has created a stir in the complex with people asking us -how exactly did you do that?)

View of Living room and kitchenThis is the latest acquisition- picked up from the Jharkhand stall in Metro plus show - I had been lusting after this form of art over last 3 plus years. Every year I would haggle in the show and leave it because the husband would dart dark glances at me. This time I went alone and could haggle in peace. All 5 pieces acquired for Rs 1800- I know I should have bargained harder- I had already brought it down by more than half- yet I feel an uneasiness that I have been fleeced- but then- I was desperate and that is more important than anything else- These flattish black metal performing women with the gold embellishment goes well with the gold wall

Final Look- Dining and Living Room- view from the garden

21 comments:

Tulika Publishers said...

Wow. Wonderful to hear that Tulika is inspiring creative home makeovers also:)
Also, why have you put hangman and word games on your blog sidebar? That is an excellent way to ensure that I will spend another ten minutes on your blog. Very clever;)

Indu said...

wow! this is superb.

Itchingtowrite said...

Thanks Tulika- so much! most welcome to spend more time on my blog

thanks Indu

Just Like That said...

*clap clap clap*, Itchy!
(Your husband is a sweetheart, btw.) the dining area looks really awesome!

Anuradha Shankar said...

wow! now that's called creativity! great job!

Itchingtowrite said...

thanks JLT, Anu!

R's Mom said...

Wowwowow...amazingly beautiful!!! your home looks wonderful

Anonymous said...

Your home looks lovely. Especially loved the brick paint and warli :)

Phoenixritu said...

This is so creative! Your home looks so warm and lively. Beautiful.

Devasena Hariharan said...

I have no words.. I'm upside down with marveling ur creativity

Choxbox said...

having seen that room pre-Warli art, all I have to say - what a transformation!

and that book is a fav here too :)

sandhya said...

Wow! That's really innovative.

Doli said...

wow! amazing! Im so impressed :) Thank you for sharing this with us... :)

Anonymous said...

To add one's perspective...

there's no doubt that the decor of your room has improved manifold..creative and chic to say the leasat!!

However, i think that couple of lamp shades are missing in action..do consider the effects of light and shade! It looks brilliant and adds a different dimension...

Also, what about a madhubani painting??

On a lighter note..doesnt your dancing family represents the code of Sherlock Home's "Adventure of the Dancing Men"?? Or is Tulika inspired by Sherlock!!

Mamma mia! Me a mamma? said...

Oh my, o my, o my!! Breathtakingly, creatively splendid!!

I bow to thee, oh Itchy!! (there, made it rhyme, just for you)

Itchingtowrite said...

thanks all for dropping by and leaving your thoughts behind

M4- "beams at her"
Anon- wish u cud name yourself- I do hav madhubani paintings- being from Bihar- how could I not- check this post- http://itchingtowriteblogs.blogspot.com/2010/01/i-did-say-yesterday.html

Chox- now u shud make another chennai trip!

Anonymous said...

Keep an eye out for a large-size Madhubani painting...while, the small ones are cute..the bigger ones gives a very rich feel!

Those artisans do keep such large-size paintings with themselves..you have to poke them a little bit so that they fish it out!!

Sravi said...

Your house looks awesome :)

Could you let me know the kind(brand?) of paints that you have used (for the bricks,the walls and the dancing men?)

Thanks!

Itchingtowrite said...

sravi- asian paints.
for the warli- fevicryl acrylic paints

Shankari said...

The brick wall and the paintings are awesome! Very very creative! I'm maha impressed with the brick wall, such a simple idea with fab results! The dining looks like a nice cozy restuarant space :)

Hina Mohnot said...

Awesome!
I loved the designs on the wall.