Get ready for festivities

With fall come festivities galore, and in a country with back-to-back festivals like Navratri, Dussehra, Diwali and other holy occasions, the overall energy around this time goes a notch higher. The joyous festive season calls for a vibrant décor and spacious set up to accommodate friends and family, who visit us. While everyone loves to indulge in the festivals, it is also important to re-touch the interiors to set the mood and get picture-perfect memories.

During the festive season, plan your functions outdoors like your garden area or veranda to accommodate more people. If there is no exterior space then, one should choose the most spacious area of their house and set up the puja space there. Festivities come with a lot of guests, bringing along with them accommodation issues. Move around major and heavy furniture pieces in your house to increase the space and keep light furniture that are portable, recommends interior expert Anuradha Aggarwal, creative director at an interior design studio.

Post the staple Diwali cleaning, plan a lively theme and create an environment by adding brightly coloured pillows and curtains, says Anuradha, as she adds, “Add bright accessories to your space, to give it a rich and vivid look. Add fresh flowers, preferably of the traditional yellow and orange colours, to create a refreshing space. Contrast the brilliance of these various hues and scents in your homes with rustic candle stands, glass boxes and trays for serving sweets and snacks to give an earthier feel to your space. Place diyas in every room in the house, the entrance, windows as well as every balcony. Diyas give an earthy aesthetic to your homes and also signify lighting up every inch of your household to create a passage for Goddess Lakshmi.”

The best way to redecorate your home by changing the colour theme of the house, it will change the whole look and feel of the place and make it look like new.

Gunjan Gupta, design expert, shares some simple refurbishing ideas for festivals and says, “Change your furnishings, change your cushions, it will completely give your living area a new look. Add a throw to make it look more stylish. For festivals, it is always good to add more of candle lighting. Use LED light for no hassles or use fragranced wax candles, depending on your choice. Add outdoor hurricanes, it will make for a good and inviting entrance for your guests. Glass and stone are good materials to use in the prayer room and we’ve been using these materials since ages. Add brass trays for flowers and fruits and other offerings to God. Add silver or gold finish urlis with flowers and candles to decorate. Add a nice dari or carpet in place of small mats to bring a grand look. Add a small pouffe to your Puja room for convenient seating.”

Since the next few months will be full of glorious celebrations, don’t forget to be mindful about the eco-friendly ways. Incorporate fragrant jasmine and marigold flowers in the décor or make beautiful Rangoli from different flowers like carnations, marigolds, and orchids in open areas. Décor expert Sanjiv Bali doles out some hassle-free tips to add charm to your house by making small changes. He says, “Since festivals are incomplete without proper lights, bring home clay diyas and use it for decoration. One could also light beautifully carved intricate silver diya lamps at the entrance of their home or set up a nice brass float vessel with flower petals and candles for an ethnic touch. For deity statues, marble is a good option as is shining brass for the larger statues and silver for the smaller ones. Keep them in the center of the prayer room and arrange a spacious seating area around it. An embroidered, velvet chaddar for your prayers rooms roof, resplendent with the sun motif in gold zardozi can add to the appeal. Give it a royal feel by adding a few elegant bolsters and cushions. Beautiful silver incense stands can also be used to add pleasant fragrance in the air.”