interior decor – Flapto's Blog

As strange as it sounds, the bathroom is probably the only area in a home where one can truly find some peace. However, we often neglect to do up this space and are content with just keeping it neat & tidy. Irrespective of the size, you can transform your bathroom, make it beautiful and give it a luxurious feel by following a few décor tips.

1. Color Palette

Choose a color that you find pleasing. Most bathrooms don’t open to sunlight and hence are already dark spaces, lit with artificial light. To give a feeling of more open space and light, you can use light shades. Whites, light shades of pink or blue or sea green are soothing to your eye and easy to maintain. Darker colors like black or burgundy are more difficult to main as they show up water stains easily. Whatever is your choice, remember to one color palette across all elements such as the tiles, tub, basin, toilet and accessories as too many contrasting colors will make this small space look cluttered and untidy.

2. Tiles

Most of us use white or cream-colored tiles in the bathrooms. These are also the standard ones that come with an apartment. However, if you want to add some color and get in a unique look, you can replace these with patterns ones. You can also choose rust or moss-colored tiles that don’t easily show up the stains. Always remember to choose anti-skid tiles, specifically made for bathrooms as you don’t want to have accidental falls on a wet surface.

3. Shower Panel

Separate the bath tub/area from the rest of the bathroom with a glass panel. This not only helps keep the wet area separate but also looks elegant. You can choose from a variety of panels like clear glass, frosted glass or even one with patterned inlay to add some design element to the look of the bathroom.

4. Bathtub

If you are the kind to frequently enjoy a luxurious soak in the tub with scented bath salts, a shower panel won’t work for you. Instead, you can install a shower curtain using a tension rod. Get a good quality bathtub, preferably in white as this is easier to maintain and does not leave visible water stains. You can choose a freestanding one with legs or even build one into the bathroom if you’re constructing or renovating your bathroom. In the latter case, you can add shelves and use it as an additional storage space to keep bath salts, shower gels, shampoos & conditioners so that they are easily accessible.

5. Cabinet

Modern day apartments have small bathrooms. So they don’t have space for a stand-alone cabinet to store your things. Convert the space below the basin to a storage cabinet by enclosing it. While wood is a popular choice, make sure your cabinet are will be free of water as otherwise, it can lead to wood-rot. You also get PVC cabinets that can be painted to your favorite color or ones with even wood finish. You can further section your cabinet into two areas by adding shelves. One can be used to store the bathroom cleaning supplies and the other can house your spare towels, shampoos and soaps. Add quirky porcelain holders on the basin countertop where you can keep your toothpaste, brush, facewash and other toiletries.

6. Mirror

You can make your bathroom mirror a statement piece. For an artsy look, choose one that has a vintage look and paint the frame to go with your color scheme. For a modern look choose one without a frame. Depending upon the space, you can play with the shape and size of the mirror. While the most common ones are the square or rectangular ones, you can also opt for an oval or round one that will give your bathroom a unique look. A mirror with an inbuilt backlight adds a soft glow to the bathroom and also gives you ample light when you want to use the mirror to do your hair & makeup.

7. Plants

Adding a potted plant to your bathroom not only acts a décor element, the correct ones also help purify the air and act as air fresheners. Choose plants that can thrive in a humid environment like ferns, aloe vera, peace lily. If you would like some flowers as well, you can go in for a variety of orchids that are available.

8. Fragrance

It is important to keep your bathroom smelling nice and fresh. While there are hoards of artificial air fresheners available in the market, you can also go natural. Place a glass bowl with some potpourri and add a few drops of essential oil like lavender or rose to it every few days. Or place a ceramic oil burner, add a few drops of essential oils and a candle and you are good to go. Oils like lemongrass, eucalyptus and citronella bring in freshness and also keep bugs away.

All of these ideas are easy to do. They not only help to create a nice ambiance for your daily use but will also make your guests fall in love with your bathrooms as well.

Which of these ideas did you like most and find easy to adapt? Let us know in the comments section below.

In most homes, however modern or compact, a puja room or mandir oraprayer space is a must. Whatever the religion, all of us want an exclusive space in our homes to create a prayer space to talk to God. Be it an independent/large home or a small apartment space, we always find a prominent niche to create the puja room. Here are some expert interior tips to make this space a calming and transcendent one.

CHOOSING THE LOCATION AS PER VASTU SHASTRA

The first and foremost point is to choose where you want to set up your prayer space. The ideal would be to set it up either facing east or north-east. Vastu Shastra also recommends this. If this is not possible, you could place it in the west too but do avoid the south as this is not considered auspicious.

Ensure that this space is free standing and not placed under anything like a staircase, table, or shelf. Also, avoid keeping anything on top of the pooja unit.

If possible, choose a space that is not noisy as peace encourages introspection and reflection when you pray.

Keep it free of clutter – a neat space brings with it a sense of calmness and harmony, which are essential when you talk to your God.

CREATING A QUAINT SPACE IN A LARGE HOME

If you are building a house, you could design a dedicated room from scratch and customize it to be as elaborate or minimalistic as you wish. If you are moving into a villa or a large home that is already built, you can easily design an exclusive space. In this case, you could use a niche and put up lightweight wooden jaali doors to enclose it as a puja room. If you have a passageway with a wall at one end, you could use that space to set up your prayer space.

If you decide to build a puja room, the most preferred material as per Vastu Shastra is wood. Create one with metal details as that is considered auspicious. If you do not want to build a permanent puja unit or a bulky one, you could always enclose the chosen space using paneled wooden partitions.

CREATE AN EXCLUSIVE SPACE IN A COMPACT HOME

Our modern homes are built compact. And these usually don’t come with a dedicated puja room as the overall space available is very limited. However, this does not mean you cannot design one to suit the décor of the rest of the space. Choose from the many options available to create a puja room –

A wall-mounted unit – if you don’t have enough floor space. This could easily be mounted as a floating shelf above a telephone unit or a chest of drawers, making optimum use of limited space. Here, you could even think out of the box and get a triangle unit to be fit into a corner space, instead of looking for a traditional rectangular one.

Standing Puja Units – If you have the floor space, you could custom build a standing puja unit or choose one from the many ready-made options available. Choose one which has some shelves built in at the base so that you can store and easily access the puja essentials.

A chest of drawers – You could use place your deity on top of the chest of the drawers. However, ensure that the storage has related items – Vastu does not recommend the storage of non-puja related items and suggests that this place should be exclusive.

Partition a corner – Wooden jaali partitions can be used to separate the prayer space from the living room. Not only do these partitions offer some privacy, they can also double up as a décor element. Plus they are lightweight to be moved around during cleaning and don’t cost much. In the case of a fixed partition, you could consider one of glass with etched motifs as well.

SET THE AMBIENCE WITH THE CORRECT DÉCOR & ACCESSORIES

Use wood for the puja units or doors of a separate room as this looks rich. In case of movable partitions, using lightweight wood like MDF ensures that it can be easily dismantled, moved, and cleaned. You could use decorative jaali elements in the wood to enhance its look.

If going for a standing unit, you can also consider a marble one. The white of the marble signifies purity and serenity and is a preferred choice of many. You could also put in marble shelves if you have a permanent puja room.

In modern compact homes, the puja space is usually a part of the living room and as such should go with the rest of the décor. Hence, modern families prefer the use of glass and metal for their puja units.

To create a serene ambiance and highlight the space, you could use murals or a glass backlit panel with etching. Of course, lighting plays an important role – use soft warm lighting that will help in meditation. Use brass lamps, bells, incense burner, or candlesticks to up the décor as these help reflect light. If you have a separate puja room you could consider painting it yellow or orange as both these colors attract positive energy. If you like a soothing effect or want to meditate, you could also paint it a pristine white.

What designs did you like best? Leave us your comments and tips. For customized puja room solutions, reach out to our team – we will be glad to help you!

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