Dressing up the balcony....

It is a cloudy day, thankfully dry so far, in Mumbai and here I am sitting with my strong cuppa and some rice puffs made into the very Kolkata style jhaalmuri...I have picked up couple of Interior magazines from the store today and felt like lounging with them...Then on second thoughts, why not blog about this project that I undertook a month or so back..Most of you in Facebook already have seen the pictures, but then today I will write about how I went about excecuting this project..

I had just enrolled into the Interior Design program and was waiting for my study materials to arrive, and this wait was obviously killing me as I was just too keen to get started already...Impatient that I am, I decided one day while hanging in my balcony with my canvas and little bottles of paints, that why not start a live project on Interior decor at home itself? This I felt, will give me a ground of comparison after I finish my diploma, as to where I was before and what new things I learnt while doing the course...

The balcony in our apartment is fairly decent sized going by Mumbai standards. Approximately 9 ft by 3 ft. The builders were nice enough to get some intial texturing done on the walls, which gave it a rustic uneven plastered look and it was painted cream all over, walls and ceiling...the flooring was in 1 by 1 dual toned reddish/terracotta tiles. We had additionally installed french sliding doors predominantly for security and also to keep the rains from lashing inwards during monsoon. So we already were in a good place and all I had to do was build on this to further enhance the look. I wanted to go with a rustic Indian countryside look, with lot of emphasis on mud/stone and earthware..

Once the theme was decided, I went about conceptualizing the entire idea on paper....measured the walls/ceilings, took into consideration electric points and what additional wiring would be typically required to give the final look. I decided to get rid of the cream colored walls completely and opted to consult Asian paints fandeck to identify two shades that will look good together as well as with the existing floor tiles..I decided to select a deep choclate brown for most part of the walls with some grooves and panels in bright mango yellow to add contrast.

The next I needed to decide what was to be done with the ceiling. Both my hubby and me are very fond of timber panellings..and that seemed to be the perfect choice for this project to complete the look and feel. We decided that we will get the ceiling done in long planks of railway timber and then have it polished into a dark rust brown shade.

Once the major surface finish decisions were made we got in touch with our contractor to get started on the work.

There wasn't any civil work to be done, so this was at best a 5 days to a weeks work. All I needed was couple of extra electric plug points for floor lightings and accessories. So for this purpose an additional wiring was required to be done on one of the smaller walls. This took less than an hour to be done, as the ceiling already had an existing light connection.

The first job was to get the ceiling done....two workman spent 2 whole days to cut the longish planks to size and then mounted them on a flat ply which in turn was drilled and screwed to the cemented ceiling. Needless to say this was a laborious task for the guys but they did it very efficiently with lot of precision. Hanging around with them I learnt a lot too about different tool and screws andnail sizes etc.

Once the planks were in place the next job was to get them scrubbed and then machine sprayed and polished. I noticed that the men used a transparent thinner and steel wool scrubs to vigorously rub the planks and give them a rough yet polished look... since we wanted to keep the original texture and not a smooth surface finish, using an emery board was not required. A powder finish polish was then mixed with spirit and the entire surface was hand polished with soft cloth. Since we wanted a rust brown shade, three different colored powders were mixed to get the right balance in the shade. This task took the entire day and then it was allowed to dry overnight. The last step was to insert a melamine tube into the injector of the machine and then thoroughly sprayed to give an even semi-matte finish look.The combination of three colors made the color look a lot more natural and rustic.

Once this was done and dried, the next big job was to get the walls painted...The paint concentrate was diluted with water in the ration 1:3( 1 part paint to 3 parts water). Two men simultaenously started the painting, as the areas to be covered were quite spaced out. Considering the rough cemented texture of the walls, three coat of each color was required as opposed to the usual two coats to give an even toned look.

Looking at this revamped space I just couldn't believe how much that area had transformed with just  little add-ons to the surface finish...it almost had a look of a little cozy nook where one can sit and enjoy a hookah with friends at night or enjoy a cool beer on a balmy summer afternoon...I was super happy with myself with the choice of colors, textures and the overall look.

Now, anyone who loves doing up interiors will know that no look is complete without proper furnitures, soft furnishings, lighting and last but not the least, accessories to harmoniously unite the entire look..

I went here, there everywhere to find the right stuff. I was not willing to make even a single compromise on that. So needless to say much time was spent to get every single piece. The very first thing we got was a lovely assymetric lamp for the ceiling. We found the perfect one at  Fabindia...three pendants hanging from a singular point, held together by thick black cable wires. The shades themselves were in three colors made from thick handmade paper...perfect for the look of the balcony.

Next was to get the sitting arrangement done. This place was created in this way for entertaining friends in a more informal setting...so I chose to go for a gadda or floor mattress which was upholstered in a thick fabric in black with rust and light brown vertical stripes. A backrest is a must for a casual set up..so I had three big comfy cushions placed up against the wall. These were upholstered in a rust fabric...a few smaller cushions in rust, black, dark brown and orange were thrown in to give a more plush look. Couple of wall wedges were mounted on the wall much higher up to create space to display some knick knacks, artwork etc. I threw in an orange chattai or mat in front of the mattress to enhance the look further and placed a lovely metallic carved lamp in brushed metal and some ethnic candle holders along the side wall...loved the look!!!!

Now, for the other side of the balcony...we already had some cool patio table and chairs from fab India and a wall unit for trinkets and decorative pieces. These went to adorn the other side...I placed a lovely organza hand embroidered tablecoth in ornage on the table...looked classy...

Now for the accessories, which really completed the look of my rustic Indian sit-out.

 A perfect Indian piece, which we no longer get to see anymore ever since the advent of all the high tech water purifiers etc, is the good old hand pump, which are still used in the rural areas to pump out underground pure water and stored in earthen pots and buckets for drinking and household use. I found this on the shelf of a lifestyle store..almost jumped at it. This works on electricity and there is a little light on the base as well, and the water trickles through the base and is pumped up and finally finds an outlet through the small nozzle on top to get collected in a wooden bucket..PERFECTLY ZEN!!!

Earthen pots, in various sizes, a big handpainted vase with floral sticks which have in-built icicle lights, handpainted wooden boxes, floating flowers in a big open bowl and some canvas paintings made by moi completed the look.

Iam sure there are many things that could have been done differently, but I was very very happy with the outcome of this project....and it was much appreciated by everyone who has visited my house since the completion...I know for a fact that my hubby and brother have started smoking even more ever since they realized the comfort of sitting on the gadda with their legs stretched out and listening to the water trickling out from the hand pump, in the silence of the night...*sigh*..I guess one downside had to crop up from this whole endeavor...But that aside I am just happy that a little makeover made such a HUGE difference to the way my house looks..Its just pure joy and satisfaction for me...

Tell me what you think of this from the pics...