5 Ways To Get The Perfect Indian Style Living Room

Indian houses are sure a robust mix of colour, print and other bright elements and the West is a polar opposite. Every magazine you open, every DIY you watch is all about an all white home with beautiful white linens and minimalist decor. Well, that’s changing in 2020, if trending searches say anything!

Picture Credit: https://www.instagram.com/p/B5sYl7RnR4h/

While it may not be easy to style a table full of colour, if done tastefully, there’s plenty of ‘room’ to utilise the colour and craft behemoth that India is! As tradition would have it, everything about our culture is rooted in colour. Be it vermillion red that forms a part of a woman’s trousseau , turmeric – that’s India’s best kept secret to banish a cold or even Indigo – the dye that’s behind Opium.

But as we become global citizens who travel more, eat a variety of cuisine, see multiple ways of dealing with life and interact with people of different cultures, our ideas of what ‘home’ should feel and look like is changing.

India is one of the countries that’s had sustainability as a part of its history. With eco-friendly decor becoming a norm and not just another campaign, we feel responsible to try our best at living a conscious life (the internet will plead you guilty otherwise!).

Here are 5 tips to decorate an Indian style living and dining room that is sophisticated, creative and  makes you feel ‘at peace’.

1. Pick three complimentary colours

Don’t try to mix 300 different colours at once. Infact, decide a colour palette and three colours that complement each other. This will be your central theme that you can treat as a mood board. Example: Pink, greys and blacks- they all go with each other individually and as a trio.

2. Pick only a few materials

To give you an idea of mixing colours from point 1, you can mix colours in the form of materials as well. An example would be- the brown colour you’ve picked doesn’t have to be in the sofa or a throw – it can simple be all the wooden handcrafted products you decide to incorporate in that area. From a wooden stool, a wooden houseware item or just a piece of wooden home décor. So you pick your material as wood ( which fyi is one of the most eco friendly materials out there) and use a particular shade of brown (aka the wooden polish) to keep things similar!

3. Pick an Indian theme

India is huge and with all the different rulers and colonies India has had, there’s a mix of architecture and cultural ethos. Some of you might like the structure and geometrical details from the Mughal dynasty and some might appreciate the art-history of the Anglo Indian community. And several others who flock to India to study ancient history of yoga and Ayurveda. Either way- pick a theme and use elements of that to decorate. Ex: You could use tableware and tabletop décor like this if you happen to pick a Mughal theme. This is how to decorate an Indian style living room without getting overwhelmed!

4. Pick a corner:

Pick one part of your room to be the attention driver;  decorate the other with smaller elements. If you’re decorating your dining room, keep your dining table as the focal point. Add a touch of handicrafts with candleholders, napkin rings, coasters  and a tray cum ­organiser  to stack those essentials. Design the tablescape to include statement pieces that double up as utility items – giving your table the spotlight!

5. Give it the Indian spin

Once you’ve achieved this, all you need is to create the right mood. It could be through anything that’s typically Indian – Indian spices, Indian flowers, Indian incense, Indian rejuvenating candles, essential oils and some fairy lights… something that gives your room that little spin. A reminder to you of the beautiful country India is!