JOIN USo what if it’s rainy and grey outside? You could celebrate spring at home all year through, if only you accessorise your home right. Floral prints and dried flowers can do the trick for you, writes Swati Kapur.
It’s possible to have flowers blooming within the four walls of your home all year round. Paper or fabric lookalikes are one option. Look out for some natural looking foliage that can either shyly sit in a corner or go all over a window sill — will definitely invite curious looks and admiration. Bunched roses, green leafy climbers, grape vines, bushy bougainvillaea, rhododendron stalks and bright sunflower stalks can instantly enliven any dull room.
Spreads and drapes
Turn your dull and boring bedroom into a lively inviting space by changing the dull tones with lively flower power. Floral print bedsheets bring alive any space. You can covert any bedsheet into a bright one by changing it into a paisley or a vegetable dyed print. The room brightens up. Use bright floral curtains on pale white walls — the room is energised with vibrant colours. Handmade sheets dyed in vegetable colours from parts of Gujarat and Rajasthan are a must-have for your bedspread collection. You need to be careful, though, as the first wash drains out a lot of excess colour; so dip the sheet in salt water for making it a bleed-free bedsheet.
I often pick up bedsheets from quaint shops in nooks of the countryside for a natural flavour of the region.
DIY projects
Also, don’t waste any opportunity to look around for do-it-yourself craft works. Involve children and make it a fun family activity. Attach fabric flowers to napkin rings by using glue. You can also decorate vases or bins with handmade satin ribbon flowers or fabric flowers available in the market.
Dry up some dark coloured flowers and infuse with any floral scent — makes for a great centre-piece potpourri. Add some life to an otherwise plain pillow by stitching flower motifs or embroidering colourful paisleys on the corner. If you don’t want to embed the pillow with the flower, make a pin-on flower that can be removed and washed separately.
An old uncle keeps alive his passion for art by painting floral designs on tiles and framing them as clocks, setting them as table tops and has even taken them to his bathroom ceilings. “Painting empty jam bottles in different floral patterns is my latest. The end product is a pen or a spoon stand that is apt for gifting,” he adds.
Spring on the walls
Take the garden right up to the ceiling with some subdued or dramatic floral wallpapers. They are easy to install and you can change them in a couple of years when you’re bored of it. Also explore local artists who can draw motifs on the walls.
Raje Chauhan works on people’s walls and brings alive their dreams. “My favourite challenge has been when a client asked for a complete makeover and I painted a tree with birds and flowers in a living room. The wall art was not just admired by guests but I actually got a lot more work because of it,” he says. Baby pastel patterns of flowers and trees can be created for a nursery.
For children, a heavenly orchard or spring time garden can allow their imaginations to run riot.
Floral renditions
My grandmother would dry flowers and send them across in letters. Use the same technique and frame dry flowers on a wall or embed them in two glass sheets and make for a partition or a counter top.
Dried flower stems can be framed as it is and preserved for ever. These make for a great wall hanging too.
Filled with bold florals in romantic reds and lush greens, any place can be made to look colourfully stunning.
A fabric-covered headboard brightens up any space if only it has some rhododendrons or orchids in violet or wild roses in full bloom. Floral fabric remnants and embellishments can be used to make coasters, table napkins, cushion covers and much more.
Use old floral printed sarees and fabrics as picture frame backgrounds or even as pictures if they are bold enough.
Frame it
It’s an old craft but very engaging. Collect leaves and flowers and dry press till they attain a perfect brown to be framed. Write down the day and date you plucked or a story behind the project or perhaps just a little liner on the flower or leaf to make it for an interesting stop over for guests.
Travel time is perfect to pick up exotic blooms and foliage. Or take fresh leaves and flowers; dip them in your favourite colours and print them as it is.
Ankita Mishra of Dehradun is surrounded by nature’s beauty and therefore welcomes nature even in her living room.
“I dry leaves and seeds and make artefacts out of them. Seeds can be stuck on pen stands, cards and frames; leaves are an all-time favourite for greeting cards and paintings,” she says.
Many plants come alive when dried. Look for mountain weeds and herbs that enhance the look of a vase which acquires a browner shade as the years pass by.