Avni Varma's Home, my decor assignment - I

Last year after quitting my advertising career, I did many things for the 1st time. And interior decor consultancy was one of them. 7 years back, when I did up my home, I had wished fervently that I could do this for a living. And as soon as I quit, I was amazed and grateful when friends and perfect strangers contacted me to decorate their homes. Through the year I worked on multiple projects, some are complete and some not. This is one of the 1st assignments that got complete, atleast the 1st phase. We are working on the rest and I will share it as and when its ready. Working with Avni Varma was interesting because I didn't know her, where she came from aesthetically or personally. It was an interesting and fulfilling journey of experiment, co-operation, the joy of seeing something beautiful coming together and finally a journey of trust.

Avni and her husband Vicky were clear that they wanted a luxe feel, she wanted it to be a place that would be a relaxing place for her friends to hang out in.

I suggested a mirror to reflect the Buddha painting she had already commissioned Kunal Naik to do. We went saw the painting in progress & in a way we worked the design to set off the painting.

She told me she would love a spa feel with the use of sleeper wood & metal. I immediately knew Rare Thought were the people to contact. I had been seeing their work at many exhibitions across the city. And sure enough they made the perfect mirror for Avni. Reflected in the mirror is the stunning Buddha painting by Kunal Naik.

The wall holding the large painting is painted in Metallic gold which shimmers subtly

The buddha heads are painted into 'Kadai's' and there is a candle holder in the centre in the middle of the mantra 'Om Mane Padme Hum' written in Tibetan.

The door handle is in decorative brass to go with the mirror and the rest of the furniture in the room.

Avni wanted a mini Dining set that could be easily moved about in the room as is required.
Rare Thought incorporated the metal & wood feel to it to continue the theme.

The gold and the painting reflect in the mirror and form a great backdrop to the Buddha statue.

The Varma's love entertaining in this room & its been a great experience for me to step back and give them something that really reflects their style, so that the home is a true reflection of the owners tastes. It helped largely that Avni was very clear about what she wanted and had a strong aesthetic sense herself.
There is one more home that is waiting for the right wall pieces before I can photograph it . Coming soon, stay tuned, and do let me know what you think of this space.

Inspiration.

Had. To. Share. Done by Joey Camacho, these posters are show stoppers. Simple, with beautiful typography. Crafted with love.

Listen Harder.

Learn Faster.

Love Better

Live stronger.
Joey Camacho is a visual designer and dj residing in Calgary, Canada.

The Ship Building Ports of Mandvi - II

Continuing from the last post, more 'pirate ship adventures' from Mandvi, Bhuj. After we climbed across the river onto the boat across a think plank, I really thought - wow! what a day! but clearly there was more adventure in store for us. Sharing with you pictures of the next port we walked into. Here there were real 'ships', far larger, being made & after walking around, we suddenly figured we could actually get 'into' these huge wooden guys. Taking you through ships we climbed into and the unforgettable sights we saw.

Even for a city dweller like me, used to constantly seeing all kinds of construction work at huge scales, I had never seen anything like this. So much wood. It felt like I had walked into another century.

The many square wooden pegs make for unlikely yet effective design embellishments. Form & function :)

The ship rose above us intimidatingly

Climbing into this ship was not as simple as it looked. But the workers were co-operative. Clearly they didn't have visitors too often & they were really sweet to us, and helped us clamour into the huge ships in the making.

This is the sight that met me as soon as I got in. The side walls of the ship.

I cannot describe what it felt like to stand inside here. To see the men dwarfed by the huge ship they were creating all around them, peacefully and quietly working.

Do check out the huge nails that hold the plank on which the man sits.

Stepping out was as tricky as climbing in was.

Whats a port without its life gaurds & anchors. But true to its location, everything here was weathered rusted & looked like it had survived a century and seen sights which it would probably never see again.

The Ship Building Ports of Mandvi - I

This post is nostalgia. I'm missing travel. Badly. And this place was so special to me that I had saved it - thought I will post it when I have time, lovingly. But time is quicksilver and not something to be had in abundance, so here is the post. I am hoping that the longing with which I post it will augur another trip if not as adventurous, then as filled with surprise & fun. Bhuj apart from its beautiful fabric work is also famous for its port, Mandvi, which is a 400 year old ship building centre. Long ago, in the heyday of maritime trade, before the arrival of steamboats, Mandvi was a rich and prosperous town, earning four times more revenue from export than import. It was a profit-making center of the Kutch state, surpassing the capital city of Bhuj in terms of wealth. Even today, master carpenters build fishing boats by traditional techniques, for the eclectic connoisseur whose whim runs into owning such.

Here's the chai walla fixing us our tea :)

As I walked around the crumbling buildings, this caught my eye.

And here's where the excitement begins.

Docked at the port was this 3/4th built ship

And we decided to go aboard it!! this is the plank I walked to climb onto the ship

Behind the barrels is the space where there is a ladder that goes into the ships belly

So we stepped down this makeshift ladder and this is how it looked

These workmen were really amused to see city slickers balancing on a rickety ladder and trying to click pictures

Had to share this with you, just long the bank, was this miniature ship modelling shop.

Written in Gujarati, the local language. In the stacked plastic containers are nails and tiny ship accessories.

Coming up next is the interior of a much larger ship. Truly 'pirate ship adventures' as one of my friends called it. Climbing & clamouring onto half built ships is not something that happens daily to city rats like us. This Bhuj trip certainly fulfilled my need for adventure and aesthetics in one go. Memorable.