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TIPS to search 1
billion Web pages fast!
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Priyanka Srivastava
A facelift for your house need not necessarily mean hiring a fancy decorator. With a little help from the Net, you can see your ideas taking concrete shape without burning a hole in your pocket.
Ruchi Raghuraman discovered the wonders of the Web when she had to move into a compact Mumbai flat. She wanted to use the limited space optimally while doing it up tastefully. An interior decorator would have been an ideal but expensive solution. A search online turned up not only practical tips for typically small suburban homes but also a wealth of sites on interior decoration, bargain shopping and stores offering a range of artifacts.
"Not only have I decorated my house well, but have also started providing tips on interior decoration to my friends," says Ruchi.
Many homeowners like Ruchi are finding the Internet a storehouse of ideas to do up their homes. Says N Rajtilak, "To give a new look to our house, we wanted to reuse our old furniture and fit it in the space available. I found some interesting ideas on making use of heavy, worn-out furniture, besides hints for renovating and remodeling rooms at House Beautiful."
Sujatha Krishnan's husband is in the army. As a result she is forced to shift houses often and uses the Net extensively for tips on interior decoration. "I look for online stores and handy tips all the time," says Sujatha.
"Once, I needed material made out of organic cotton and found it on this site. Another site I like is Decorator Secret which has tips on colour schemes, children's rooms and bedroom makeovers."
If you know what you want from your home, there are a number of sites that can turn you into an amateur decorator with a few clicks.
Smita Jain, a Vaastu expert and the CEO of Serene Interiors believes the Internet can provide better ideas for design and decoration. Smita's favourites are the home decor channel of rediff.com and House and Home.
Kolkota based interior decorator, Avantika Singh scouts for interesting objets d'art. CraftsIndia according to her has a good collection of handicrafts from across the country. "They also have info on new trends in pottery, carpets, furniture and paintings," she says.
These days, any kind of interior decoration seems incomplete without a touch of vastu shashtra and feng shui. Smita, who answers online queries on vastu shashtra receives a lot of email from NRIs on its scientific aspect and how it can be used in their homes. She also advises people on colour schemes, use of furniture, wood type, arrangement of artifacts etc.
When Bharathi Naidu wanted to incorporate feng shui into her home she visited Feng Shui Help. It guides surfers on choosing the right elements for their homes, besides providing some pointers on the relevance of this art. "It was easy to to choose the right kind of wind chime after visiting the site," says Bharathi.
Then there are sites like Psycho Decorating, which provides personalised interior decoration based on one's personality. Author, Dr Marget H.Harmon, shares a fascinating account of the relationship between preferences in home decorating and one's personality. The site helps in developing a 'personal decorating analysis' that gives information on thekind of décor most suitable to your personality.
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