Worst home interior faux pas

Home is where the heart is. True, as we do put our hearts into making our house a home. But sometimes we may get it all wrong. From wacky wallpapers and impractical furniture arrangements to a blatant display of religious fervor in the living room, people easily ignore the thin line between flamboyant and creative to pure crazy. Here are some worst home interior mistakes ever made, so you never repeat them:

God strikes!

Image Courtesy: Omwoods

We Indians have a rich culture, mythology and a great devotion towards gods - all the 3000 crores in our collective consciousness. To show your religiosity is one thing. To flaunt you’re theistic zeal so strongly that your guests find your home too pious to enter, is another thing entirely.

If you really want to add a touch of divinity to your home, two to three pictures or idols of gods in your living room are enough. They are best spaced apart and not clustered together, so that they do not appear too overpowering.

Image Courtesy: Etsy

You may place a flower pot, a conch shell or a rosary near a religious idol, depending on the suitability. This will identify the religious space without being too overwhelming. Keep them where others may not knock them over or bump into them.

If you have too many religious idols and photographs, arrange them all neatly in the prayer room of your house if you have one. Otherwise, isolate some space in your house (not in the living room) to pray in peace. Most of us have a separate prayer room in our homes, so utilize that space well.

The same rule applies for family photographs and knick knacks. Too much on display is never a good idea.

Theme overboard!

Image Courtesy: Out There Interiors

To have a house that is straight out of your little girl’s school uniform is definitely not going to be welcoming. Using the same colour or worse, the same tacky pattern for the entire room has an enormous number of downsides. To pick a few:

1. You have to strain hard to even see the lampshade.

2. The only remarkable thing will be the print/colour screaming in your face. Was that vintage furniture? Sorry I didn't notice it.

3. Soon, you will start to see how much of an eyesore the print/colour really is.

4. You will pay through your nose to renovate as EVERY SINGLE THING is in the same hideous colour.

Interior designers strictly warn against going “matching-matching’ with your home décor. People often mistake the interior theme to be a monotonously unvarying set up. An interior theme comprises of just a few elements that have something in common. It is not what the entire room is about.

Clutter caution!

Image Courtesy: Yala Sofa

This living room looks just fine per se doesn’t it? Well, try walking around inside this living room without tripping or knocking something over. From the flood of furniture and the numerous cushions on the couch that leave little space to sit to the open violation of the rule on the number of pictures, there is too much going on in this tiny room all at once. Get out before your head takes a spin.

A home is better off not looking like a home furniture and décor store. Before you decorate, move about the room and see where you can place anything without it being an obvious hindrance. I modify the Murphy’s Law to say that “If anything can be knocked over, it will be.” Multiply this factor by a thousand if there are kids or old people in the house.

Steer clear of tacky!

Image Courtesy: Business Insider

I saw this tagged under ‘kids’ rooms’. Unless you want your kid to get a migraine attack, revamp this theme at once. A riot of completely contrasting colours at too bright hues is plain tacky. There is no other verdict to it. Avoid it like the plague!

And now to the one décor embarrassment that tops my list:

Bathroom blues!



Image Courtesy: Apartment Therapy

Now that’s a perfectly built modular kitchen. Wait…what!!!??? Is that a toilet inside a kitchen?????

I have actually heard home owners justify this so called “Vaastu” position of the toilet with the belief that it brings in good luck. The only thing it brings is germs, unpleasant sounds, embarrassment and something that smells like food eaten a day back. You don’t want all that in your gourmet dinner, if there still is someone who hasn’t left already with disgust plastered across their face.

The only solution I can suggest it to wall up the bathroom right away and construct another door.

How to avoid décor faux pas:

When in doubt, stick to plain, uncomplicated stuff. It could be boring, but at least it won’t send you heading to the ophthalmologist and your family to the shrink.

And if you have any doubts, read this article. I am sure you will change your mind for good.

Seen any crazy home interior faux pas?

How to hang a painting

You may be able to tell apart a Duvet from a Monet, but it doesn’t quite hit the nail on the head when it comes to hanging up your art collection. Ladies of yore were quite the art connoisseurs, especially if they had a good old man to buy it for them and proudly display their acquisition in their living room. Today, thanks to reinforced concrete walls and the concrete wills of men against doing anything concrete, the fine art of hanging a painting costs more than the painting itself.

However, not all is lost. For people who have more paintings than the walls in their house, it is wise to invest a little in the right tools to hang up a painting so that you don’t have to call in the carpenter yet again or bribe your man into doing it for you.

But before you go striking away a nail into that wall, there are a few things to ensure:

·         The first one is simple. Does it look good on the wall or is it an unnecessary addition? Sometimes a simple wall is all you need.

·         Will putting up the painting on that particular wall let it have sufficient emphasis and attention? You put up a painting for the world to see. Make sure it is seen. Do not put up a painting on some non-descript location behind a door or a shelf.

·         Some paintings have to be sufficiently illuminated for their beauty to come out. Will there be enough natural light for this purpose or can you put up artificial lighting? Remember than some paintings are sensitive to sunlight and humidity so you might need to shield them away from these elements. What more, some paintings even need an air conditioned atmosphere in order to last long.

·         How high will you hang the painting? Ideally most paintings are hung at eye level, so that they can be best appreciated. Some large paintings can be hung higher up too. Never hang a painting so low that your neighbourhood kid uses it as a headrest.

·         Check for the spacing, alignment and direction in which you intend to hang the painting. This is more important if you’re planning to hang more paintings, either on the same wall or the corresponding wall.

·         If you really care about Vaastu, Feng Shui etc., now is the time to identify which position is the best to hang a picture in order to derive maximum benefits out of it, say, the picture of a waterfall or a mountain hung facing a particular direction to create a calming atmosphere.

·         I wouldn’t do it, but here it is anyway! Ask the people in your home where they think it should be hanged. I am sure you will end up never hanging it after all, but democracy has its own benefits. Chances are your teenage daughter may want it and you may be able to negotiate with her or your man to do the honors of hanging it up. Phew!

·         Mark the chosen places with a pencil, keeping in mind the number of nails you have to strike in for each painting.

Basically, there are three ways to hang up paintings:

The Nail and the Hammer:

The old fashioned method is time consuming and perilous for your not-so-deft hands, if they are indeed not-so-deft hands. But it is actually easy.

·         Take a nail. The nail should be thick enough to withstand the weight of the painting. Make sure the nail head fits the hook of the painting. At least about 3/4ths of the nail should be inside the wall, so pick the right length of the nail.

·         Place it at a point directly in line with your eye level. I assume you have the good sense to use a ladder in case you don’t stand as tall as where you want your painting to be.

·         An inane mention again, but necessary. Please do keep the pointed end of the nail towards the wall only.

·         Take a hammer. (Did you take it along when you climbed the ladder? I hope you did!)

·         Hold the nail in the middle of its shaft. Strike the nail head with the hammer. The force applied by you must be perpendicular to the wall, that is, it must be along the direction of the nail. Any minor deflection and the nail bends or breaks.

·         Make small repeated strikes, forceful enough to move the nail into the wall but not too strong yet. When you’re holding the nail shaft in the middle, you will be able to feel it moving into the wall. Repeat this until at least the tip of the nail is embedded into the wall.

·         Take your fingers off the nail shaft. Now strike in the same direction, but more strongly to drive the nail further inside the wall.

·         Sometimes the nail may bend. Just lightly strike it back into shape.

·         Drive the nail in deep so that only enough of it is projected to fit the painting’s hook. In essence, the length of the nail projected must be equal to the distance between the hook and the base of the painting.

·         For safety, you may strike the projected part of the nail from the bottom so that it is slightly bent upwards. This tilt will ensure that the painting’s hook fits the nail head snugly and doesn’t come out easily.

·         You may use a screw instead of a nail. The grooves on the screw are lodged stronger inside the wall than smooth nails.

The Electric Drill:

I have a Bosch electric drill at home. Provided you know how to use them, electric drills are indispensable at home for a variety of purposes, including driving nails inside the wall. Some walls are difficult to hammer into, so, drills come in handy to make the job easier. Some drills even let you directly drive the nail inside or lodge the screw.

For basics, the electric drill has a few important parts:

The drill bit is the actual part which interacts with the wall. Drill bits are usually made of high impact steel or cast iron and coated with titanium, zirconium or tungsten to withstand impact and heat. Depending on the usage, they are of several sizes, shapes, widths etc.

The chuck is attached to the drilling machine and is used to grip this drill bit at its shank.

The drill bit has spiraling grooves on its surface. The drill when switched on rotates and causes the drill bit to bore into the target surface in a screw like mechanism, thus creating a hole.

The rate of rotation can be adjusted near the chuck with a torque adjustment knob. Drills come with triggers for switching on the drilling and also have reverse buttons for reversing the direction of rotation of the drill bit. Some drills come with hammering features. In this, the drill bit in addition to rotating, also moves forward and backward as if it were being used as a hammer.

Coming back to paintings, this is how I do it:

·         Select the right drill bit. Remember how you chose the nail for the painting. The drill bit’s diameter is the same as your nail or lesser and it is shorter than your nail. You can also stop drilling midway when you have bored deep enough, but it is much easier to adjust the drill bit length at the chuck.

·         Hold the drill’s arm like a gun. Then, position another hand beneath the main drill behind the chuck. This will give you better leverage, especially since the drill is going to be operating at a high speed and force.

·         Position the drill bit at the right point, perpendicular to the surface. Switch on the trigger. Drill deep enough as required and switch off. In case the wall is too strong, increase the force or add the hammering action. The user manual of your drill will be more instructive for you choose these parameters in different drills.

·         Hammer in a plastic wall plug. Wall plugs are shaped look like small grooved cones. These once inserted into the hole created by the drill, can hold in the screw stronger. These are especially useful for thicker screws. Alternatively, you may also hammer in a chip of wood or cardboard into the drilled hole.

·         Hammer in the nail or the screw into the wall plug. The grip is tighter and stronger. Follow the rest of the instructions for driving in nails inside a wall.

Stick on pegs:

I have had a bad experience with a precious painting of mine getting shattered on the floor thanks to a peg getting detached days after I hung the painting on it. Stick on pegs look strong when you first hang something, then deceive you when you least expect it. From my experience, they do not withstand much weight and are good only for hanging up a lightweight calendar. However, for hanging light things like your kid’s cartoon, especially in a rented house, stick-on pegs are handy. Start using them only at least two hours after you stick them on the wall. Never try to reuse a detached peg.

Now that you have done the necessary, do not forget to hang up the painting, flop down on a couch with a cup of hot chocolate and admire your handiwork. You may not have painted it, but you have mastered the art of hanging up one, and believe me, that makes you great!

How I ran for my health last Saturday

This Saturday, I decided to do something worthwhile instead of listlessly staring at the TV. Shamed into submission by my bulging tummy fat, I got into a pair or tracks and sneakers and headed off to the local park for an hour long session of running. Now, there were a couple of challenges. I wish to share here how I was able to combat them.
Despite having a good speed and muscular strength, enough to fare well in 800 m and 3000 m cross country races, I always run out of breath, courtesy, asthma attacks. Asthma, being a genetic problem, dampens my stamina every time I push my muscles to the brink. If I prolong the punishment, the wheezing sticks on for a week, till I pump out asthma inhalers. To beat breathlessness and build stamina, I discovered this trick.

• Start with a normal paced walk and as you gain momentum, progress to a brisk walk.
• Walk briskly till you feel your body warming up. There is no time limit to this as different people have different thresholds. Warming up is essential as suddenly doing vigorous exercise such as running is likely to give you soreness and sprains. You may also stretch your body for warm ups.
• After the warm up, start your run. Run at a moderate pace and not to your full capacity. Remember that it’s stamina not speed that lasts in a marathon (Slow and steady wins the race)!
• Run till you just start getting breathless. Again this is a variable factor. For me, two rounds in the park, which amounts to some 400 m, did the trick.  Slow down into a brisk walk.
• Walk at a moderate speed or slow speed till you catch your breath. DO NOT SIT DOWN OR STOP. It will only serve to aggravate tiredness and you will lose the will to continue. At this stage I started feeling the constricting sensation of wheezing. I combined a brisk walk with deep breathing exercises.
• A couple of rounds later, you will start breathing normally. Continue for a few more steps. Start running again. This time I was not able to run the same distance as I ran first, and got breathless faster. Repeat the do.
• After several rounds of alternating a run-walk routine, I noticed that the amount of time that it took me to regain my breath after a run reduced progressively with the number of cycles I followed. Cutting down recovery time meant my run sequences became less prolonged but more frequent. The exercise graph was interspersed with peaks, increasingly becoming closely spaced.

The Chemistry:
The advantage of the walk breather is that you get sufficient time to pump enough oxygen into your muscles. Prolonged runs deplete your oxygen levels. In an anaerobic environment, food burns to produce lactic acid in the muscles, leading to muscular fatigue. On the other hand, my workout allowed aerobic exercise, which allowed me to make optimum use of my energy. The breathers ensured that I didn’t end up wheezing.

The Effect:
I felt fresh and energized. Some good breaths of fresh air eased my stiffened lungs. I ate better. The best part is; despite not having exercised like this for months, I experienced no pain in my legs or body, because the exercise was highly balanced in its approach. I am motivated to do it the next weekend as well. Weight loss or not, I like the immediate refreshment it gives.
Do you have a story to tell?

Heart Attack Facts

Beating a staggering hundred thousand times a day, the heart is undoubtedly, an incredible organ. Apart from maintaining it with regular exercise and a balanced diet,  it is  worthwhile to update oneself with some wonderful insights into heart health. Of what scientists all over the world have painstakingly unraveled, here go the latest news:

• Light up your life! "Strong light, or even just daylight, might ease the risk of having a heart attack or suffering damage from one," says Tobias Eckle, MD, PhD, an associate professor of anesthesiology, cardiology, and cell and developmental biology at the University of Colorado School of Medicine. Steal away your friends and family to a sunny picnic this weekend, for a healthy heart.
• Love and be loved! Love your heart out this Valentine’s day! There is such a thing as a broken heart. This syndrome, known as cardiomyopathy, occurs during highly stressful or emotional times, such as a painful breakup, the death of a spouse, the loss of a job or extreme anger, said Loyola University Health System cardiologist Dr. Binh An P. Phan. It mimics the symptoms of heart attacks, though temporary and not damaging in nature. I’d say, there is no better therapy than a loved one’s heartwarming smile, so go ahead, light those candles and love.
• Pill poppers beware! Yet another danger lurks in the self prescribed pill-popper’s kitty. Heart attack survivors who take common painkillers after a heart attack have a higher long-term risk of dying or having a second heart attack, according to a new study published in Circulation, an American Heart Association journal.
• Be happy and know it! "Survivors of heart attacks are three times more likely to develop depression during the first six months after their heart attack, than people with no heart disease. If left untreated this contributes to a worse prognosis, for instance further cardiac events and possibly death.” , says Prof. Claus Vögele, Professor of Clinical and Health Psychology at the University of Luxembourg.

Being happy, loving, outgoing and careful costs little but pays more. With the latest research nodding to our parents’ and grandparents’ oft emphasized life values, we have little or no reason not to stick to them. Love thy life to love thy heart.

References: Science Daily

Heed your health before you head to the New Year party

We survived December 21^st, 2012! We’re bored stiff of tweeting Mayan brouhaha and it’s time to move on. 2013 awaits humanity with open arms tonight! Bid farewell to an eventful 2012 with a bash, but with caution. A single sleepless night at a packed discotheque with a couple of drinks doesn’t hurt much. Nevertheless, it is important to mind your health like a watchdog. I am sure nobody wants to turn up to work on 2^nd January 2013, with beet red eyes and a nasty hangover.

Here are some health tips for hard core party animals to feel great after the music is down and also the whole year round!

• Hydrate! Haunt the watering holes but make sure you drink plenty of water. Alcohol dehydrates the body, especially when coupled with perspiration packed dancing. Dehydration shows up on your face and skin as wrinkles, bags, dryness and roughness. Drink a minimum of 3 litres of water to combat hangovers and to replenish the water lost due to sweating.
• Limit the glasses! You don’t want the bouncer to kick you out. Or worse still, some stranger to take you god knows where for god knows what! For any celebration, it is important to be able to remember and cherish the memory. Prevent hangovers. As woeful as you feel, cut down on alcohol.
• Drink when you drink! It is hard to keep counting your beer pitchers when the heat is on. Make sure you also drink a couple of glasses of lemon juice, tea or coffee, fruit juices like orange, cranberry, guava etc. to even out heavy boozing. Instead of the regular spirits get yourself fruit juice containing cocktails like Lime Cordial, Bloody Mary or a Mojito.
• Eat within limits! Diet rules may be tweaked but not broken altogether. Treat yourself to some but do not over eat. I know how tempting it is to let yourself loose on pastries, cakes, fries, cola and chips as if there were no tomorrow. Believe me, there is one, and you don’t want to spend it in the toilet.
• Stretch before the salsa! Nobody likes sitting on a corner stool while the world parties away. Before you twist your toes in tango, ready your body for the big night with some warm up and stretching exercises. Yoga is a life saver. What more, you could even resolve to stick to exercise this year!
• Be a medic tonight! It is not unlikely to end up with a spell of nausea, headache, or any dance-induced injuries. Some may even be allergic to dust and crowds. Carry a mini med kit with you including painkillers, antiseptics, small rolls of gauze and bandage, and your regular medicines, if any.
• Stay cheerful! Everyone has had enough troubles already this year so stop being grumpy. Smile broadly and genuinely, even for your maidservant. It is a time to cast aside all evil and to use this chance to be a better person.

May god bless you and your family with a fit body, mind and soul. Wish you a healthy, happy and prosperous New Year 2013!

Quotable quotes for doomsday

As 21-12-2012 is just 8 hours away, I felt I should shoot off my mouth before tsunami fills it with sea water. I have a few of my own quotables for all, doomsday conspirators or otherwise:

• A belief isn't worth keeping when you shit your pants for it!
• A pessimist will be happy, if he’s proved right this once. An optimist is always happy.
• If you don't fear death, why do you care? If you fear death, you've probably never lived anyway! Since, you're already dead, why do you care?
• Somewhere else, it’s already tomorrow!
• Nature probably decided we’re the new dinosaurs, going by the fact that our sizes (waists, ego, population and greed) have outgrown our brains!
• You’re so lost with 21-12-2012; 20-12-2012 slipped your notice (sic).
• The ways of nature are like a democracy. If you don’t thrive by nature, of(f) nature or for nature, what makes you think you’re any better than the politician you just voted out?

Got something? Shoot ‘em off!

The Housewife

An unearthly five a.m. buzzes

Exhausted, but eager, she rises

Toys and the TV remote adorn the floor

She picks and preens till the sun begins to soar

A quick brush here, a small shower there

She chops teary onions with potatoes to pare

A half hour later when the kitchen’s chores are done

With kisses and caresses, she wakes her little son

She bathes, scrubs and dresses her baby with adulation

Feeds him, packs his lunch and sees him to the bus station

Her once gentle and silky hands, launder the pile of dirty clothes

In all this rush, her kindness intact, she feeds some grains to the crows

At 8:30, with the rising heat, she watches her lordly husband rise

No greetings or hugs, he gulps his coffee and eats his curry and rice

He bickers and complains about her laxity and nitpicks her culinary skills

She knows he loved the meal nevertheless, when he burps as his belly fills

While he rushes to the office, she hovers near him, for his small or big commands

She finds his sock, polishes his shoes, irons his shirt even without his demands

Scolding and cursing, he leaves for office, driving away in his car

She heaves a sigh of relief at last, and waves to him till he’s far

It is but for a brief moment, that she recalls her own, once flourishing career

She had quit without complaint, on her husband’s order, as her family she held very dear

With the chores all done, she eats the leftovers and allows herself a small nap

It seems like just a few minutes have passed, when she hears her front door rap

Newspaper man, vegetable vendor and the neighbour start pouring in

Worn and tired, she handles it all; she slogs till her head takes a spin

It’s late afternoon when she picks up her child and carries him all the way home

Then she heads to the market, buys the groceries and her husband’s shaving foam

Back home at last, without a moment’s rest, she goes off to help her little one

His homework aplenty, they finish together, his bags are all packed and done

It’s 8:30 p.m. and she’s back at the kitchen, cooking the family’s supper

Her husband walks in, flops on the sofa, with his work pressure he goes hyper

She takes it in all, like an obedient wife, while her family eats their dinner plentiful

She eats at last, what is left, clears the dining table, scrubs the dishes in the sink full

She reads to her baby till his soft snores resound like a melody in her tired ears

She bathes and changes, and her husband beckons, at night she to him endears

Weak but yielding, she submits herself to his throes of passion

He moves back and dozes off, after he spends all his carnal possession

Her body is worn, her mind all sleepy but only tears come to her eyes

She’s unaware when she slept off, it’s 5 a.m. now, yet again she has to rise

One may think how and why, one chooses to inspire, one’s poetry with a mere housewife

Seldom we know, never we acknowledge, her numerous battles throughout her strife

How one gentle person can put up with so much, and stay strong, living at the tip of a knife

Because she’s a woman, a mother, a wife, a daughter and more, this is how stirring is her life

Let off some steam!

During a visit to the beauty parlour; one among my innumerable beauty sessions before my wedding, nostalgia burped in my face, bringing up bitter memories of my grandma chasing me down to a bucket of boiling hot water, ducking me into the steam and covering me up with a blanket to suffocate, all for a minor sneeze of mine that she could hear from even a mile away! All I had asked the beautician was for a facial and her immediate reaction was towards the whiteheads, blackheads and pimples dotting my face like a starry night on a clear sky. While I let her steam my face, I could picture granny smirking at me with sadistic satisfaction.
Though the “clean-up facial” was long, torturous and agonizing, the effect was completely worth it. Steaming helped open up clogged pores on the skin, thus facilitating the removal of whiteheads and blackheads. The result was a perfectly smooth, soft skin sans pimples. It was literally a magical moment, seeing all the wretchedness from my adolescence days get washed away in a jiffy (a jiffy compared to the long pimply years I endured). I decided to let go and finally acknowledge publicly the benefits of steaming.
Steaming causes the blood vessels in the face to expand, or more scientifically, dilate due to heat, a principle termed as vasodilation. This enhances blood circulation to the face, which is beneficial for the skin as well as any respiratory problems. Remember that the inner lining of the nose, mouth and the windpipe are skin too (mucosa), and wherever the steam goes, heat follows. This is primarily why it is an efficient healer of common cold, sinusitis, asthma, bronchitis and a host of other respiratory problems. Steaming to cure these ailments is particularly effective if you add a drop or two of eucalyptus oil to the water while you inhale.
The heat in steam kills most bacteria and pathogenic microorganisms. The same principle of steaming is used in microbiology laboratories to sterilize equipment and materials- autoclaving, which is very similar to pressure cooking food. The temperature in an autoclave is high, that is about 180 degrees with a pressure of about 15 atmospheres, so that all the microbes are killed and the equipment is rendered completely sterile for laboratory use. However, the temperature of normal steam inhalation being much lower is enough to deactivate most common microorganisms; therefore, it is effective in preventing and curbing common ailments.
While compromising on your ego clash with poor old grandma, you may mildly rejoice that you don’t have to go steaming the old fashioned way anymore. Facial sauna and steamers with fittings for localized steaming required in facials are now available in the market at affordable rates. Get one, let it steam; add more colour to your cheeks and fresh air to your breath.