Home Tour: Kshama Shenoy

Today's guest on 3D is special. 

After reading my previous blog on "Indian Art Gallery Wall Reveal" Kshama Shenoy from Mysore enquired if she could share images of her home. I shared my mail id and

she instantly sent me the images of her very pretty abode. Then we had a long cellphone conversation and I experienced my fan moment when she excitedly disclosed that she couldn't believe she is talking to me and that she never misses a post from 3D and reads all the posts word by word. She added, "I love your style and the ideas you share are so simple and doable that we all can connect to it." I felt encouraged and blessed, All I can say is a BIG THANK YOU!! Well, Kshama I am not a celebrity, I am doing what I love the most and I try to give my 100% in whatever I do!!

Now I'll take y'all to Mysore, a city in Karnataka known for its opulent Mysore palace. Situated in the foothills of the Chamundi Hills this bustling city is also known as the cultural capital of Karnataka and is rich in traditions. Taking the cue from the city itself Kshama has decorated her home with arts and handicrafts of India. Come on in and soak in the beauty of her home as she takes us through her collected and well-curated home.
Hi, I am Kshama Shenoy from Mysore and I have been living here since past 25 years with my husband Arun Shenoy and two sons Arjun and Arinjay Shenoy. 
This is the entrance to my home. Once you step in this is what you see on the wall. I am a great devotee of Krishna and on my visit to Guruvayur temple in Kerala I picked up these Kathakali masks and then I hung them in a group on the wall to create a pleasing and inviting environment. 

Let's take a step further and we are in a long corridor that leads us to the living room. This corridor was an empty space until Kshama spotted these beautiful wall planters in a store called HomeStop in Bangalore. Store owner explained that these planters can be hung on a wall or can be placed on a surface as well. So Kshama decided to hang these planters on the corridor wall and the color combination and orientation of these planters on the wall are done by her husband. When I posted this picture on my Instagram account many people were curious to know how to hang them on a wall. So I asked Kshama to explain the process,

"These planters have a hole at the back so I just drilled the holes in this wall and hung them on the nail. Plants are actually placed in a cup and then I inserted that cup in the wall planter. I pull out the cups often to water the plants and then place it back. Every single person who visits us is sure to ask about these planters. The Tara statue on the console table was on a sale and is a great find from one of the stores in Bangalore. The console table I picked up from the furniture exhibition. I instantly fell in love with the intricate carving and lighting that it has so I bought it. The corridor was quite monotonous so to break the monotony I placed the console here and knick-knacks on it are the pieces I picked from various places. There is a place close to Mysore called Sri Narsipura that I visit quite often to pick up the brass items from one of the stores that exclusively sales all brass items".

This huge Kathakali mask hung in the same corridor in below picture also has a beautiful memory associated with it. Kshama told me that on her visit to Guruvayur temple when she came out of the temple she suddenly felt like she should own a huge Kathakali mask too and she reached out to the fellow who was selling the masks and this is what happened next,

"The guy was talking to me in Malayalam and couldn't understand a word then too I managed to explain to him that I want a huge Kathakali mask delivered to my place and convinced him to share his bank account details and then once the money was transferred he sent me the mask and thankfully it arrived in a single piece."

Here is one more view of the same corridor from a different angle. One side of this corridor is a home theatre and the other side is the living room. 

Seen below is the image of Kshama's living room and her passion for Indian arts and crafts shows through every corner of her home. I asked about her collection of curious and this is what she said,
My style of decorating depicts various traditions of different countries. Special thanks to my boys also in selecting unique items that have made my house a beautiful home. The veena that is lying under the coffee table is a find from a small exhibition called Deepotsava/Deepsaundarya. On the right side of the table top are Ram and Seeta figurine and on the left is Goddess Saraswati in wood that Raj picked for me from Bali. Raj has an Indian handicraft store called Kalash in Bangalore. He always makes it a point to call me and ask whether I want something whenever he visits places like Bali and Indonesia. There is one more nice fellow called Raghavendra in Bangalore, I send him the pictures I find nice on your blog and ask him if he could get something like that for me and he makes sure that he finds the exact same piece. 

Below is one more corner of Kshama's living room that reflects how she likes to weave a story in all the corners and how she loves to mix and match the different elements. Upon asking about the figurines flanking the vintage looking brass lamp she said,

"One is called the wisdom god and the other is called the victory god. These are from Kushalnagar, a town few KMs away from Mysore where one of my friends live. And having these two figurines is like Victory god is always there to make us victorious and wisdom god is there to give us all the wisdom. The vintage looking brass lamp is from FabIndia. Hand painted terracotta pieces are from Kolhapur. On the way to Kolhapur with my family, I spotted a small shop and just shouted stop and jumped off the car. There was a beautiful huge Purandara/Vitthala statue was sitting in the front of the shop and my boys were like "Maa please don't pick that up because if you do we'll be out of the car and only Purandara will be there in the car." 

I think that's how we transform a house into a home with so many stories associated with each piece. 

Kshama read something about blue pottery on my blog and then she contacted someone in Jaipur and got herself these beautiful ceramic plates. Puppet is from Bali 

Her sons are as equally talented. Below are the sketches done by her elder son Arjun who is self taught artist. These sketches are framed now and found a place on one of the walls in her home. I must say he is a blessed artist. 

Below is the shelf filled with Tara figurines. The small brass head is from FabIndia and all the Taras are picked up from a place close to Kushalnagar called Bylakuppe where Tibetan society is there. Kshama has made lots of friends there and those ladies keep calling her to let her know what new has arrived and that's how this huge collection built up. 

Some more brass knick-knacks that are adorning the corners in her home. 

Now let's take a peek inside her bedroom to be surprised by the idea of hanging beautiful brass throne/simhasana of deity hanging from the ceiling and beautifully complementing the picture of Krishna. Now, who would have thought of this excellent idea? But then Kshama has a different story to share here,

"When I spotted this brass throne everything in my mind was clear as to how I'll decorate it and I asked the shopkeeper if he has a long brass chain so that I can hang it from the ceiling and fortunately he had the chain. When I came back home I got all the scolding from my husband upon seeing the nails in my hand he told me not again, you are spoiling my home with all these holes and nails. But once it was done my husband was very happy. Brass musical figurines placed on the bedside table are again from a small brass shop in Sri Narsipura." 

Now we are in the kitchen and this place has also got the same attention as the other rooms in her home when it comes to displaying the collection of curios. Did you notice those plump chubby chefs placed on the countertop? Let's know what's the story associated with them. 

"So when I visited my sister-in-law in Goa I got to know about a store where they customise the things for you. I saw this ceramic chef in his store and got a few of them customised for myself. I love collecting miniature kitchen sets and you can see them inside the glass cabinet. Wall decor pieces in the kitchen are from various places like U.S. Dubai, London and Sri Lanka. So it's a kind of memory wall in my kitchen. I love my home and my home is my best friend. It takes a lot of my energy to keep everything clean and just love doing up my home."

Now we are stepping out in Kshama's very beautiful garden. The first thing you see here is this beautiful yellow niche in the wall and Kshama's collection of masks that are making quite a statement here.  

Please hold your breath as you are going to see the garden that you must have imagined while reading stories like Cinderella and Snow White in your childhood. A tiny pond filled with water lilies and surrounded by cute tiny animal and dotted with white pebbles is nothing short of a fairy garden. The little girl is supposed to be a garden fairy. All these lovely garden accessories are from a garden store in Bangalore called Hybiscus. 

Even her garden has all the things from different parts of India. The boat in below pictures is picked up from Kerala, all the other tiny creatures are from Bangalore. 

These beautiful wall planters in her garden have a story too. She saw a post on my blog and did some research and she managed to find out the contact details of a garden store in Delhi called Sondha. She then sent the pictures to Vinita Nath, who owns the store and that's how she got her sea horse and owl planters all the way from Delhi to Mysore. 

Don't you find the chubby elephants, pig and cow just too adorable in below image. Don't miss the cute snails. 

In the last Kshama adds that everyday before going to bed it is her ritual to go through all the home decor blogs and then only she could sleep peacefully. Here is what she said,
I am an avid reader of home decor blogs which helps me in enhancing my decor skills. 

Kshama we totally enjoyed this virtual tour of your collected and curated home. Wish you all the very best in all your future endeavours. Dear readers, I hope you too enjoyed this home tour. You can leave us a line in the comment box. In case you are craving for more such home tours click right here.

I'll see you with my new YouTube video very soon!!
Happy Decorating!!