MAKE IT SEXY & SNAZZY by Nisha JamVwal

Sick of plain walls? 
Here's Help  To Break Out Of Your Linen White Rut

To enhance the drama of your home,  painting one wall or more in a room a dramatic color is the easiest and fastest way.  Learn the colors that appeal to you and your family. Grab that child within you and think of color-filled posters and pillows as those crayons you loved as a kid. Like the bright sun in a clear blue sky, a flash of yellow on a wall is all you need to wake up a room. You could contrast dabs of high intensity saturated colors with liberal amounts of white or pastel mauve. Or even go for a main color that means something special for the both of you. 

Another trick is to create /gut out a niche into a wall  backed with plywood backing and either clad with mirror or then just place an interesting figurine into the niche created.

An uplighter halogen light further enhances the depth of the niche and gives it more interest.  The corridor is now imbued with color by way of figurines that have been placed in the niche. These alluringly reflect themselves on the mirror, which forms the backdrop, amidst an intriguing chiaroscuro. The light comes from above each niche where it is recessed.

A third option is to create a photo collage, or a painting collage or even a collection of masques onto a wall, grouped into a collection these enhance the appeal of the objects d’art. It looks so much like a private art gallery wall. It allows you to display your favored collection, and then your guests can view a selection of passion/ hobby than an unsightly overdose in different walls cluttering up the entire home. This also maintains the serenity of the home .

I remember visiting actor Monisha Koirala’s home and being riveted by a special wall flanking the wooden stairwell that leads above painted attractively to emulate Monet’s “water Lilies”. The original marouflaged canvas of Monet is at Musee de l’Orangerie; Paris and I remember it makes the viewer immobile, immersed as he is in a substance, which is part liquid, part mist where light comes from an unidentifiable source. So also the wall treatment here though not the same obviously, is well rendered and used so effectively in an interior giving a dreamlike quality to the house. The eye moves over a surface where the nuances attain total harmony, there is no subject but quiet water like illusion. The entire treatment is absolutely breathtaking. One could replace the water lilies with a trompe l'oeil feel painting. A faded-floating lamp wall in a subtle self-design is a bold beautiful step. So a mural or trompe l’oeil is a great way to break the monotony of a wall.

Real depth of color, evocative texture and finish, ability to age beautifully – only one surface answers to this description- Stone! Bansi Pahadpur, Jaipore pink sandstone, river washed rough yellow Jaiselmer stone or my favorite golden yellow natural unpolished travertine. Clad one single wall in the living space or entertainment area, light it with a track - see the drama of nature unfold! Walls clad in stone sourced from stone quarries all over india, especially in rough textures and in interesting shades called "antique gold’, or silver stonea with lines on it, camel rough stones, form kaleidescope of texture colour and design and make an interior effortlessly chic.

But its not about it looking chic alone. Stone cladding on a wall, prevents seepage and you never have to paint it. A light soapy sponging of that wall once a month is enough to keep it looking new and magical.

An idea to create a feature wall is also to do something interesting with your wall in terms of a kind of installation of your own. We all know mirrors make a small room appear bigger, but mounting a chic assortment of them on this wall creates a stylish alternative to a large piece of art. Scour antique markets in Goa and Calcutta or when traveling Europe, make a collection of   five ten mirrors whose frame material and general condition are alike. Vary the sizes and shapes, but maintain consistency by painting each frame the same color to make a fashionable twinkling feature wall.

 By Nisha JamVwal
                                         Pictures NISHA JAMVWAL DESIGN
                                          COPYRIGHT NISHA JAMVWAL DESIGN