Launch of TULIPS store in Bangalore

This past Friday, I was invited to the store opening party of Tulips - a premiere soft furnishing store.
Tulips is a high end soft furnishings retail store with 2 branches in India. Their flagship store is in Pune and this new store in Bangalore is the 2nd in the country.

It offers
a range of plush linen - bath and bed, in classic soothing colours
a fun range for kids which includes duvet covers and cute cushions 
fabrics
wallpapers
frescoes, artifacts and home accessories
exquisite drapery
window dressings
curtains
cushions
rugs, throws
sophisticated upholstery
All this can be customized with monograms, initials and your personal design requirements

Tulips sources the finest decor wares from across the globe. They have a lovely collection of scented candles from Belgium, one of which we got in the lovely goody bag given to the guests.

They also have an assortment of glamorous artifacts, some as tall as a person, in solid colours, monochromatic tones and metal tints, from Italy, Germany and Netherlands. There is bed and bath linen from Turkey, fine cashmere blankets and Merino wool throws from Germany, throws from South Africa. If you are looking for accessories like curtain ties and hold backs, they have a pretty collection for that too. 

One thing that I would like to mention is their sample curtain corner where they have displayed all sorts of curtain pleats. Very helpful for people to see and choose which style they would like for the curtains and window treatments. 

They provide a Design Service too which is a 5 step service. They start with a survey to understand your requirements where they visit your place and get the right picture of your architecture. Then their designers put together fabrics and palettes for your space, keeping in mind your requirements and budget. Then they create a folder for you with swatches of your design. The design is presented with the help of visuals which are a representation of the finished product. The next step is creating the products from the designs. And the last step is installation in your space at your convenience. 

The launch party was in the store and was hosted together by Tulips and Good homes Magazine India. It was a well planned affair - delicious hors d'oeuvres, drinks and lovely goody bags too. Enjoyed meeting so many talented and lovely people and seeing the luxurious collection first hand! Do visit this place if you are redoing your house or planning to change/add to your soft furnishing collection. 

Store details 

The Tulips store in Bangalore is at 

No 7, Shilton Heights,

Papanna Street, Off St Marks Road,

Bangalore - 560001

Tel - +91 80 22211113/4

Email: store.blr@tulipsindia.com 

How to go about planning your wardrobe?

Before you think this is a post on 10 wardrobe must haves for the summer-fall fashion scene, let me warn you, it IS NOT.
It deals with a comparatively boring topic - wardrobes, closet interiors, design, shelves.
So there, now that the expectations are set, lets begin :)

I have moved across cities for a pretty large part of my life. Every new house we would move into would require me and my sister to choose cupboards or rather sides of a cupboard. The power struggles over "the better side" are a thing of the past.
Now it is between the husband and me. Who gets which cupboard and how many shelves. In the end he always needs and gets more space than me. Stop snickering you men! You know it, you guys use a lot of space. I know some women who might be nodding at this ;)

When it came to thinking of wardrobes for the new/own place, I drew a blank initially. I mean like, what's there to think about. It is simple right? A few shelves and some hanging space. Anything would do.
Well,  I was wrong. There are, like anything else in the world, hazaar (a thousand) options. From the plywood used for the structure, to the laminate stuck on top, the style and colour of shutters (doors for the uninitiated), the shelves, accessories. You name it!

So then I went on my research hunt guided by the questions -
1. What are my needs for storage?
2. Who is going to use the wardrobes?
3. Maintenance capability? *Laziness is a huge factor here.
4. Space available in the house

Storage needs - First you need basic wardrobes to keep every day clothes. Then there is the stuff like bedsheets, bed spreads, comforters/rajais, pillows, cushions, all your other linen for the house. You also would have luggage that you would like to stow away when not needed - suitcases, duffel bags, carry on bags and the likes. Think of all the other accessories, make up, bags, purses, shoes, hats, caps, sports/hobby related clothes, accessories.

For the bedroom, I would like something basic like these, with one change. I would prefer the top shelf to be moved to the bottom. In my opinion the top shelf is often at a height much more than the average person and thus becomes a hard to reach place. Good for stuff you want to hide from the kids but not to keep things you might need on a daily basis. A hanging rod is better there.
Ladies - If possible try to make space for a longer hanging shelf too, for all those summer dresses, skirts, long kurtas that are longer than the standard hanging shelf height of about 42 inches or 3.5 feet.

Picture courtesy Furniture123.co.uk

Picture courtesy Furniture123.co.uk

Person using the wardrobe - I feel the shelf style should be different for a wardrobe meant for a grown up vs a child. If you want the kid to be independent, that is. If you are the kinds who choose and lay out clothes, right from t shirt to the inner wear and socks and even help your 6 year old wear them then you can design the shelves as per your needs rather than the kids. For kids the shelves should be easy to reach, easy to see and safe rounded edges. There should also be a lot of toy, book, sports equipment and other accessories storage, but we will deal with that in a separate post.

Maintenance - From what I have learnt so far, laminates are easier to wipe off and clean compared to veneers. Wipe off with a damp, not wet, cloth and you are all done. Then there is Duco (the car paint sprayed over finish), glossy acrylics or lacquered glass (glass painted on one side) and other fancy materials for the wardrobe interior and exterior finish. Choose based on need from the material - looks, durability, functionality and also based on how would you maintain things in the house. If you are blessed with the time and patience to give tender love and care to things in the house then do go ahead and choose material that needs attention and upkeep. So a veneer finish would look rich, smooth and classy, say in the living room. But the kids room can do with a functional yet aesthetic looking laminate.

Space availability - Based on space in the house you could add lofts on top of the wardrobes (if you need extra space). Use sliding doors instead of traditional pull open doors if there is a space crunch. Sliding doors look modern too. We have under-the-stair space too at our place which we will be using as storage to keep those travel suitcases or sports equipment or other knick knacks which always manage to make way into the house and you wonder where did that come from or why did I ever buy that? :)

Picture courtesy Houzz.com and Billinkoff Architecture

And anyways, I am more of a there-is-a-place-for-everything and ALSO a clean-up-the-place-in-15-minutes-before-someone-is-coming-over person so I need enough storage to dump stuff in away from view :)

Hope this information sharing helps! Do write in for any specific questions, queries you would like to discuss or ideas you would like to bounce off.
Thanks for stopping by and have a lovely week ahead.

Addicted!!

So this whole house building, setting up, decorating process is a tough one I tell you. It takes a lot out of you, mentally more than physically. Choose this, choose that, find this, track that. 
What helps with it? A relaxing day at the spa! Seriously! It does.

Pic courtesy http://bergenlinen.com/

The kid's school hasn't started and I couldn't leave him anywhere to go out to a spa. Then I heard about The Bangalore Mobile Spa. 

They come to your place and offer the same services as you would get in a regular salon spa. 
I will admit I was a little reluctant initially about the doing-this-at-home thing. I wondered if it would be as relaxing as the real go-to-a-spa experience. Also it was a bit of anxiety associated with trying out a new thing, place or meeting someone new. 
But I went ahead and called them up. For me the customer experience starts from the reception desk itself and I was impressed with the way the person on the phone handled the call. She was courteous, clear and confident. She checked on my location and told me she would get back after checking with her manager if they can service this location. And call back she did! They gladly agreed and booked an appointment for the next day :) 

I was sent an invoice via email with the services and charges listed. The next day they kept me informed via sms about any time related updates, which was good to know. 
The team came on time and started setting up the equipment. They took a few minutes and voila the whole spa atmosphere had been set up! Music, candles and rose petals. Who would've thought all this was possible at home while watching the kid play.
The next hour and a half was absolutely blissful. I got a pedicure done - their summer special, the heel peel and for someone with cracked, dry heels it is a sure shot treatment. Loved the clean, smooth look after the pedicure. Also got a hair spa done, my first ever, after hearing from friends how hair spas had helped improve the quality of their hair. The head, neck and back massage that was done as part of the hair rejuvenation was awesome.
The team was efficient, quiet and experts in what they were doing. Once everything was done they cleaned the place and wrapped everything up. I paid by cash against the invoice amount and added a tip.
Loved the whole experience and I am totally going to do this again and again. The mobile spa offers some great services including facials, pre natal and post partum packages, hair treatments and some yummylicious body polish options.
Rubina, the owner, was very sweet and generous to send a coffee body scrub which was heavenly and left my body feeling soft! Super soft. It was an exfoliating scrub with dark roasted organic ground coffee beans and chocolate enveloped in cocoa butter. Usually scrubs tend to leave skin dry but this one was different. 

I am totally addicted to the service and the products and am going to be booking another appointment soon :) Do check them out on their website or their Facebook page and schedule that appointment in the comfortable surroundings of your home!

This post is a part of the Blog-a-Prompt week at Marathon Blogging. Today's prompt is Addiction!