The curtains blowing in with a gentle breeze brings nature into the space in a subtle way. Their caressing touch as they brush gently against your skin is poetic as well.

A home is where we are who we are, unfiltered and unfettered. To create a comfortable home - from scratch or redesigning an old space - can feel daunting, with the insane amount of choices and passing trends, or space and budget constraints.

Joshua Fields Millburn, one of the Minimalists, says his attitude took a turn when he realised how he had brought so many things into his life without questioning. The key to living with less, according to him, is to justify everything you have or want to buy.

Within ten minutes of waking up, you have already dealt with a riot of sensations, feelings, and thoughts. All of this disappears into thin air as the day progresses with its humdrum routine. Nonetheless, it is a short and sweet episode of mindful indulgence before you kickoff a busy day.

I shall call her Madam Sarah. Why give into the patriarchal norm of being defined by the male figurehead in her life and call her Madam C J Walker, after someone who clearly had no respect her. That's an 'insult' that can be done away with now, if not back then.

Human beings and the natural world are on a collision course.. No more than one or few decades remain before the chance to avert the threats we now confront will be lost and the prospects for humanity immeasurably diminished.

A handmade work of art can breathe life into a space and set the mood/tone of your home. It might scare most of us to pick or place a piece of art. But it all about the emotional connect and rather intuitive. If you just listen to your heart, there will be nothing more easier. If you need help with tips and pointers, we are here to help -

The Ivory Throne is the true life story of Maharani Sethu Lakshmi Bayi, the last ruling queen of Travancore. It wasn't because she was a Queen that I liked her story. The evolution of her character and its integrity, and the graceful dignity with which she conducted herself through the trials and joys of life.

With the common goal of collaborative living, cohousing societies enhances interaction with neighbours, and relieves pressure on individual households with their model of shared responsibilities and resources.Most importantly, co-housing nurtures the basic human need for the sense of belonging.

One can imagine the comfort of going back to the roots and practices we grew up around. If one feels tranquil just looking at the photographs, living there must certainly lull you into a state of quiet serenity!

Keeping in line with their site choices for the previous stores, the one in New Delhi too is a historic building. It feels like you will step back in time once you walk into this space. It has been treated with great respect and quite a few historic decor pieces scattered all around.

We take the everyday things for granted. We cannot survive without them. Yet, we do not spare much thought for them - their beauty nor dignity. A writing desk, a pen stand, a pair of scissors… all mute witnesses to our day-to-day lives. But we forget how indispensable they are.

We don’t question the idea that how spaces are designed affects our minds, bodies and spirits. We might have gotten used to this idea, but its application hasn’t yet found prevalence in the collective psyche.

Yet another refuge from the bustle of busy city life. Anyone living in Bombay would die to have such a space to retreat to over the weekend.

There is an immense joy you feel when things you have given up hope on, miraculously fix themselves and look clean. In that moment, I felt that.

An almost eerie jungle looming over a house that seemed to be precariously placed over a crashing waterfall, an illusion successfully created by the cantilevered balconies boldly jutting out over it - there was a palpable drama to this scene seen from the exterior.

We are all hoarders, without a doubt. To what extent could vary, but we most certainly are. Maybe we are hardwired to hoard. We might regret it eventually, but still we believe, we absolutely cannot help it.

We need to cook more, eat the most delicious meals, go to the beach with the family, go for walks and stay with our thoughts, meditate and breathe without worrying about the next thing we need to get done. Life needn’t be a marathon of to-do lists.

Lawrence Wilfred ‘Laurie‘ Baker was a British-born architect who practiced in India. He pioneered traditional building methods and championed vernacular architecture. There is so much one can learn from his life and work.

The is this old TV series called ‘Gilmore Girls’ about three Gilmore women - a mother, a daughter and her grandmother; and their complicated relationships. It is one of my favorites, but hard to say why. Not that it is relevant here either. How it is relevant to the topic at hand is that this is where I heard of Marie Kondo and her book.