Back to nature: Bringing outdoors in your homes this summer

The Indian Summer is not an outsider to anyone and June is well the villain if I say so in this. After shifting to Ahmedabad this summer, I am realizing the how nice the Delhi summers used to be. Yes! Delhi summers are ‘nice’ compared to Ahmedabad or Amdavad as locals say it here.

Ahmedabad is scorching hot, sweaty and if one doesn’t try to make the house green and cool then it just feels like a desert. I am going to list some helpful points in making your home feel earthier and connected to nature.

• Bright colours in textiles- Probably one of the easiest ways to make your home more summery and coordinated with nature is to include bright and breezy textiles in the form of cushion covers, bedspreads, table runners etc. Not only do they add a certain zing to your space but it’s a great way to finally change a few things around. You can check some colour pop products on House Of Ekam 

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• A Colourful rug- We often underestimate the power of a rug. No one tends to experiment with rugs and you will generally find the boring berber or greys/browns because of your grandmom saying ‘it goes with everything’. How often have I heard my mom and grandmother saying this is something I have lost count of. Rugs can dramatically change any room’s look plus they are such a non-hassle free way of bringing some outdoors IN. You can opt for a tropical themed rug or any colourful piece and it will surely fit in the missing puzzle.There are some colourful rugs on House of Ekam 

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• Planters- Almost every home décor inspiration photo nowdays on Instagram or Pinterest will show use of plants in different corners of your house. The space looks extremely attractive and seems like its damn easy to incorporate plants and well for most of you it will be! But I had a struggle because I could never keep the pretty succulents or any indoor plants alive L I always tried to buy some fancy plants and they would die in a week demotivating me a lot. However I have decided to start small and if you’re a plant virgin like me then buy the easy ones first. My recommendation would be to start with

1. Mother in Law’s tongue or Snake plant- I’ve had this for over a year and its super low maintenance
2. Money Plant- Most common plant found in Indian homes and again very easy to grow. One has to be extremely careless for it to not survive
3. Aloe Vera- Needs very less water and almost grows without any help. Excellent toner for skin and hair as well
4. Pothos- I call it the cousin of Money Plant and it’s very easy to maintain. Grows very fast and without any sunlight. Be sure to trim it on a regular basis to make it look nice and healthy
5. Ereca Palm- I’ve had 2 of these for over 3 years and they have been perfectly healthy even when I’ve gone travelling or forgot to water these. Can grow with indirect sunlight indoors and can grow almost upto 6ft. Mine was almost 4ft when I got it and now stands tall at 6ft

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• Use of Natural products- This can start with anything be it use of bamboo in table linen or rattan furniture or just by stopping to use plastic by throwing all plastic bottles and bags. Believe it or not, using ceramic/stone containers for storage or using kulhads for tea/coffee is a small step in the right direction. Also all our products at House of Ekam are made using natural dyes and organic cotton

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• Fragrance - CANNOT stress enough on use of natural or artificial fragrance to make your home even smell like a flower field. There are tonnes of fragrances available on Amazon and other home décor websites but listing some quick natural ways to make your home smell amazing. My personal favorites in the diffuser space are Jo Malone’s home diffuser (the lime, basil and mandarin is amazing) and room spray kits and Marks & Spencers home fragrance (elderberry and lavender ones) line

1. My go to for instantly filling the room with a beautiful fragrance is use of Tuberose/Jasmine or commonly known as Mogra in hindi
2. Natural Potpourri using dried flowers
3. DIY Lemon and rosemary mason jar
4. DIY Simmering pots using mint, ginger, lime or orange & cinnamon

I realize that home fragrances demand a separate blog and I will do one next week in detail with step step procedures for some of the DIYs listed above.

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Hope you guys liked reading the article and found it informative as well. In case of any recommendations or any topic you would like to me write on, feel free to comment below and I promise to be more regular now.

Love,

T