UNPACKING AND SETTLING IN YOUR NEW HOME

Posted on May 14, 2015 by Anukampa

Moving into a new place comes with mixed feelings. Where on one hand you are excited about the new place, on the other hand you get bogged down by all the packing you have to do. But with a few smart moves, you can get done with all the packing you have to do and get quickly settled in your new place. So, here are some moving tips that will be great for you when you are shifting your home.

• Make a good list and plan at least a couple of weeks ahead. Making a checklist at least a week or two in advance is very important. A checklist will help you keep track of the things that you need to do and it will also bring new things to light. Organise your stuff and your boxes well so that it will be easy for you to get reorganised. Don’t just plan the move but also plan out what you will do post the move as it is also very important to give you a good start at your new place. Remember that a good plan means you have more than half your work already done.

• Collect packing materials beforehand and pack things in advance. Most people do not pay attention to packing materials like tape, boxes and wraps etc. and then end up with a mess when the moving day comes. It is advisable to have plenty of these things in stock before you move. It is also a good idea to do most of the packing yourself even if you have hired movers as they will not be as careful with your stuff as you will.

• Number or label your stuff appropriately and make an inventory. This is an important step in moving your home as you will also have no trouble post the move if you have labeled the boxes well and have an inventory for them. If you have hired the services of movers then they will also have an inventory of their own which you will need to check but it is always better to have your own lists and inventories as it will help you get reorganised quickly.

• One of the more common and grave mistakes that people make when they move is that they forget to update their address with the different services that they use. Remember to pre-inform your service subscriptions beforehand. For instance tell the phone, cable and the paper company beforehand that you are moving and discontinue the services if required. Many people incur extra costs because they forget all about their service subscriptions like the papers, cleaning, water supply and even electricity which can lead to trouble later for you.

• On the moving day, make a schedule and try to stick to it. If you have movers, then be specific in your instructions to them. Ask them to arrive on time and you try and be ready before they arrive so that you can direct things easily. Perform a check of your stuff before they leave and supervise the movers so that they do not handle things too rough. Take care of the more delicate stuff yourself and always remember to set the example for your movers too. Choosing the right movers is also important so do your research in that area beforehand too.

The influence of light and color on people.

Posted on May 7, 2015 by Anukampa

Light and color can influence how people perceive the area around them. Different light sources affect how the colors of walls and other objects are seen. Specific hues of colors seen under natural sunlight may vary when seen under the light from an incandescent light-bulb: lighter colors may appear to be more orange or “brownish” and darker colors may appear even darker.Light and the color of an object can affect how one perceives it’s positioning. If light or shadow, or the color of the object, masks an object’s true contour (outline of a figure) it can appear to be shaped differently from reality.Objects under a uniform light-source will promote better impression of three-dimensional shape.The color of an object may affect whether or not it seems to be in motion. In particular, the trajectories of objects under a light source whose intensity varies with space are more difficult to determine than identical objects under a uniform light source. This could possibly be interpreted as interference between motion and color perception, both of which are more difficult under variable lighting.

The general model of color psychology relies on six basic principles:

•Color can carry specific meaning.

•Color meaning is either based in learned meaning or biologically innate •meaning.

•The perception of a color causes evaluation automatically by the person perceiving.

•The evaluation process forces color-motivated behavior.

•Color usually exerts its influence automatically.

•Color meaning and effect has to do with context as well.

Meaning of colors:

RED

Red is the color of fire and blood, so it is associated with energy, war, danger, strength, power, determination as well as passion, desire, and love.

Light red represents joy, sexuality, passion, sensitivity, and love.

Pink signifies romance, love, and friendship. It denotes feminine qualities and passiveness.

Dark red is associated with vigor, willpower, rage, anger, leadership, courage, longing, malice, and wrath.

Brown suggests stability and denotes masculine qualities.

Reddish-brown is associated with harvest and fall.

ORANGE

Orange combines the energy of red and the happiness of yellow. It is associated with joy, sunshine, and the tropics. Orange represents enthusiasm, fascination, happiness, creativity, determination, attraction, success, encouragement, and stimulation.

Dark orange can mean deceit and distrust.

Red-orange corresponds to desire, sexual passion, pleasure, domination, aggression, and thirst for action.

Gold evokes the feeling of prestige. The meaning of gold is illumination, wisdom, and wealth. Gold often symbolizes high quality.

YELLOW

Yellow is the color of sunshine. It’s associated with joy, happiness, intellect, and energy.

Dull (dingy) yellow represents caution, decay, sickness, and jealousy.

Light yellow is associated with intellect, freshness, and joy.

GREEN

Green is the color of nature. It symbolizes growth, harmony, freshness, and fertility. Green has strong emotional correspondence with safety. Dark green is also commonly associated with money.

Dark green is associated with ambition, greed, and jealousy.

Yellow-green can indicate sickness, cowardice, discord, and jealousy.

Aqua is associated with emotional healing and protection.

Olive green is the traditional color of peace.

BLUE

Blue is the color of the sky and sea. It is often associated with depth and stability. It symbolizes trust, loyalty, wisdom, confidence, intelligence, faith, truth, and heaven.

Light blue is associated with health, healing, tranquility, understanding, and softness.

Dark blue represents knowledge, power, integrity, and seriousness.

WHITE

White is associated with light, goodness, innocence, purity, and virginity. It is considered to be the color of perfection.

BLACK

Black is associated with power, elegance, formality, death, evil, and mystery.

Black gives the feeling of perspective and depth, but a black background diminishes readability. A black suit or dress can make you look thinner. When designing for a gallery of art or photography, you can use a black or gray background to make the other colors stand out. Black contrasts well with bright colors. Combined with red or orange – other very powerful colors – black gives a very aggressive color scheme.

Why pay for property space you cannot use?

Posted on April 29, 2015 by Anukampa

While buying an apartment or an office, it is important to analyse the quality of the architectural planning, so that do not end up paying for space you will never be able to utilise efficiently. This space is called ‘Negative Space’

Negative Space is the area not occupied by any useful construction. This part of the property plan is often neglected, used inappropriately as an afterthought.

The term ‘Negative Space’ comes from the world of art, where it was used as a composition tool between objects in both two- and three-dimensional work. However, in times of rising property prices, shrinking living areas and smartly designed homes, there should be no room for space that is not utilized efficiently.

Having no negative space in an apartment means, having no neglected or unutilized areas on the floor plan. Since the cost of your purchase is calculated on the basis of square foot area, every inch matters.

Smartly designed apartments and other properties will always have the layout in such a way that your property smartly uses every inch of the space you’ve paid for, while providing you an airy, efficient and comfortable living / working area.

Browse through 2 & 3 BHK modern lifestyle apartments in Jaipur that offer you zero negative space with the Anukampa Group.

Essential accessories for your home

Posted on April 22, 2015 by Anukampa

Home accessories can make or break your home. Quirky accessories make great conversation starters. A well-organised room can exude style. But don’t let your accessories just be accessories. Form can be with function nowadays. Gone are the days you had to sacrifice function just to get a stylish accessory for your home. Don’t forget to add your personal touch.

Here are few of the essential accessories for your home:

1. Curtains

Curtains can make or break your home. Choosing one is a matter of colour, length, lining, and fabric. Changing the curtains can even breathe new life in a room. Your pale coloured-walls can be accentuated by bold printed curtains. If you have a sunny room, go for lighter fabrics such as silk and linen while blackout curtains are perfect for bedrooms to block light and control room temperature.

2. Table and Floor Lamps

Lamps can brighten up and even contribute to the overall look of your room. Complement your room by picking a lamp that matches the room’s other furniture and design. Place a blue lamp that matches the same shade as your throw pillows. Choose box shaped table lamps for a modern living room. Place your lamps in places that will not obstruct line of sight between seating in your rooms. Customise your lamp shade to add your personal touch.

3. Clocks

Clocks should not be purchased on a whim. Choose one that can be both an accessory and device for your house. There are now a number of beautifully designed clocks in the market that can match any home’s design. Choose a red or yellow clock to pop up on a plain, white wall. Match your clock to your room’s theme.

4. Mirrors

Mirrors can be your master illusionist. They can make a small space appear roomy. They can also make a room appear brighter. Tile small, square mirrors to give your place an illusion of a fake window. Place a large mirror beside your dining table like fancy restaurants to give you the feel of elegant space.

5. Add area rugs

Rooms that have many layers feel more sophisticated than those that are one-dimensional. Area rugs are a great way to help define different areas within a space as well as add a pop of colour, pattern and texture.

6. Paint

After all, paint can immediately transform a space. Don’t be afraid to go bold with a deep, rich hue, which will make the space feel cozy and will immediately elevate the entire room.

What you should know if you’re dealing with property brokers.

Posted on April 16, 2015 by Anukampa

With the current land prices, man force and raw material management involved, building an independent house is a distant dream for many. Hence people prefer to go to a property broker to find a house of their choice that also fits in their budget.

Here again there are many scrupulous brokers taking the buyers for a ride with indirect charges, fake registration titles and many untold sufferings till they are able to take possession of the flats. Thus, it is always recommended to either deal with the builder itself or be well informed of the buying process before approaching a broker.

Here are few points that every buyer must remember when buying a property through a broker:

Verification of the documents- It is always preferable, before getting in to a deal. Verification is necessary of the land records, legal clearances (whether the plot on which the building stands is non-agricultural (N/A) and has a clear title.), whether the building is in the name of the builder, whether a co-operative housing society has been formed and if yes whether the conveyance of the plot and building in favour of the society has been completed by the builder, the current rate (Rs./sq. foot) of the area, whether the rate offered to the buyer matches with the area rate and the basis – built up or super built up. Check what is included in “super built up” and what amenities will be included.

Construction Quality Check- Have a check on the quality of the construction and ensure that the layout / development has been approved by the Development Authority; most importantly ensure that all documents are legal.

Method Of Payment- It is better that you don not pay the broker a bulk amount in advance. Stagger the payment, and make final payment while occupying the house. This way you can reduce the risk to a great extend. Banks do due diligence before giving away a loan, but, in case there is a problem, they don’t take the risk.

Rules and Regulations- The point of worry for any investor is that in the absence of regulations, brokers are breaking rules with impunity and taking customers for granted. This is the biggest reason for loss of confidence among customers, they be investors or end users.

Tips for cleaning in Spring

Posted on April 8, 2015 by Anukampa

In our busy lives and tight schedules, one hardly finds the time for proper cleaning. But there is something you need to know – that a clean and well-managed house brings positive feelings into the family, because as they say, Cleanliness is next to Godliness.

So, here we are, with a few tips to help you organise your house better:

Declutter

Start from the most messy room or area of the house, so that cleaning a less scattered room makes it less of a burden. Find things that are really of use to you and get rid of things you haven’t used for months. This way, you will find more space for organise your things. It is a bit time consuming, but once done, you’ll save time and energy while searching for things you need.

Make space for the rest

After arranging the house if you don’t find space for everything, try creating some. You can choose decorative baskets, trunks, boxes or crates to keep your things. This way you can clean and simultaneously decorate your house.

Add cleaning to your daily TO-DO List

Give a touch-up to your home everyday rather than having a whole cleaning day. Make this a habit for lifetime; it hardly takes 15 minutes if you do it as a routine.

Make it easy

Make all the cleaning equipment easy to reach, like the things you use for cleaning the kitchen, should be kept in the kitchen itself. It will be more convenient and less time taking, and also evolve your cleaning habit.

Let them do it themselves

Organising can be achieved single handed, you should teach children as well as other members the importance of cleaning. So that the responsibilities can be divided and working together will also bring everyone closer.

Clean and organise your living spaces before it becomes a task. Give your house a whole new look and feel!

Furnish your home in-style

Posted on April 1, 2015 by Anukampa

Contemporary: The one line definition of contemporary style is to decorate with little but stylish accessories. A strong emphasis on line & form, two essentials of nice contemporary design, gives this style its energy. In this style the rooms are designed with abundant open space and natural light in mind, which makes them feel airy and rich.

Eclectic: It is simply the result of balancing the opposites, mixing and matching old and new, East and West, luxury and humble, showy and quiet. The style, if properly managed will give you a feel of curator.

Coastal: This style will give you the feel of seaside living. It is a breezy and bright style, mostly found in white color. You can pull off the look even if you’re hundreds of miles from a shoreline.

Art and Craft: This style has strict rules and parameters, which should be followed perfectly if you really need to have this furnishing style. It has a refreshing honesty and purity of spirit. Arts and Crafts interiors are full of heart and harmony, a holistic reflection of the ideals that gave rise to the Style at the most important place.

Hollywood Residency: It is a larger than life style, full of lavish and luxury ideas and accessories. It gives a modern as well as royal feeling. This design at its highest could appeal a chandelier even for your laundry room.

Easy ways to keep your home cool in summers.

Posted on March 25, 2015 by Anukampa

While you are lucky enough to own the top most home with a terrace or a balcony, don’t forget its tendency to trap heat. With summers catching up, it is important to know all the good things you can do to keep your place cool, and prevent heat from entering your home. This can also help you make significant cost savings on air-conditioners’ electricity bills.

Gardening without owning a garden

One of the most satisfying thing is cultivating own food. One of the most annoying thing is being a garden lover trapped into a teeny-tiny home. The simplest way to stay cool is to stay green. You can plan a garden in open space of your home. There are plenty of easy to handle plants, which one can have. This will add beauty to your home and will dramatically make it cool.

Aluminized Blinds or Insulated Curtains

For the windows you can have properly insulated curtains. These curtains will keep the sun’s heat away from your windows but will let the breeze blow if you wish to keep the windows open.

Let a few windows be open after sunset

This will make the cooler air blow throughout the evening. Also, leave all the internal doors open. You can open the closets and the kitchen cabinets as well, as they keep the daytime heat and your home will cool off the most in night. Don’t forget to close the windows and the blinds early in the morning as soon as the sun appears.

Manage your appliances

Incandescent light bulbs also create heat, so switch to compact fluorescents or LEDs. Turn off your appliances like computers and lamps when they are not in use. You should also turn off TV because it produces a lot of heat. And the same should be done with some plug-in power adapters.

Go with smooth and light coloured linen

You can use linen bed sheets and linen cover for the other furniture. Place white cotton fabrics over sofas since the upholstery fabrics are thick and cause sweat. Light-coloured fabric will reflect the heat instead of absorbing it and this relaxing ambience will give you a feeling of coolness.

Cross-ventilation

If you find it windy outside, you can create a breeze inside your flat by simply opening windows. We know the wind naturally flows from the high pressure area to the low pressure one, opening the windows on both sides of your flat will allow the air to move across the flat thus will create a breeze.

Apply these ideas and mark the significant changes in the environment of your home. Stay cool and enjoy the summer season too because it is one of a kind.

How to toddler proof your house?

Posted on March 17, 2015 by Anukampa

Home, the safest place in the world. But with babies growing up to become notorious toddlers, even the safest place needs to be toddler-proofed!

Supervision is the best way to prevent injuries, in the home and out, but even the most watchful parents can’t keep kids completely out of harm’s way every second of the day.

So if you have a growing baby at home, here area few safety measures that you can take to childproof your home.

The Kitchen

Install safety latches on all cabinets and drawers to keep children from household products. Anything you know to be poisonous, place out of reach of children and lock it up.
Store household products and medicine away from food and beverages.
Use the stove’s back burners and turn pot handles toward the back of the stove to keep hot pots and pans out of the reach of children.
Keep kitchenware and appliances out of reach and away from the edge of counters and tables.
Put visual reminders from poison prevention centers on potential poisonous or hazardous items.

The Bathroom

Install safety latches on cabinets and drawers to keep children from potentially poisonous household products.
Store medicines and other products in their original containers.
Install toilet locks to keep toilet lids closed. Children are more top-heavy than adults and can lean and fall into a toilet easily. They also can drown in just one inch of water.
Unplug hair dryers and electric rollers after use to prevent electrocution from contact with water in the bathroom. Also keep them away from curious children to prevent burns.
Cover unused electrical outlets with outlet protectors or safety caps. Make sure outlets in the bathroom and kitchen — or near any water source — are updated with ground fault circuit interrupters (GFCIs), which turn off electricity if appliances fall into water. For outlets in use, especially those low to the ground, there are devices, which make it difficult to pull out plugs.

Around the House

Use safety gates at the top and bottom of stairs and in the doorways of rooms with hazards. Gates with expanding pressure bars should not be used for the top of staircases. Use gates hardware-mounted to the doorframe instead.
Use doorknob covers to keep children away from rooms and other areas with hazards, such as swimming pools. Be careful, though, that these devices are easy for adults to use in case of emergency.
Put corner and edge bumpers on furniture and other items like a fireplace hearth to protect against injury.
Place furniture away from high windows so children won’t climb onto windowsills. Screens aren’t strong enough to keep children from falling through windows.
Make sure window blinds do not have looped cords – they can be strangulation hazards for children. Also, always lock blinds into position whether they are all the way up or down.
Remove free-falling lids from toy chests, which should have lids that stay open or very light, removable ones.
Prevent furniture from tipping by securing bookcases, shelving, and heavy furniture to walls with brackets and anchors. When storing items, put heavier items on bottom shelves and in bottom drawers.

How should you light up your house?

Posted on March 12, 2015 by Anukampa

Lighting greatly affects the mood of a person. To master the art of altering mood with lighting you have to remember a few basic principles. The hardness or softness of light effects the mood of any space dramatically. The more diffused the light is, the softer and smoother it will look. To remember this more easily, look at a shadow cast by the sun. On a bright sunny day, the shadow is dark and the edges are very sharp because the sun is a strong, intense light. We call this hard lighting. On an overcast day, the shadows have very little definition and are soft at the edges. This is because a huge diffusion layer of clouds covers the sun. We call this soft lighting.

Through the use of lighting patterns of varying levels of illumination, and of colour in the light source and in the illuminated object, it is possible to produce certain moods such as: solemnity, restfulness, gaiety, activity, warmth, and coolness. The lamps themselves can be used to dramatize elements of interior design—line, form, colour, pattern, and texture.

Higher levels of lighting generally produce cheerful effects and stimulate people to alertness and activity, whereas lower levels tend to create an atmosphere of relaxation, intimacy, and restfulness.

Depending on the mood you wish to create at various areas of your house, you can choose the combination of light quality and sources. For example, for the living room, bright and cheerful lighting is preferred, while in the bedroom, soft, relaxing lights are a good choice.

Similarly, for the study, it is advised to have sharp, white lighting arrangements, as the place requires concentration and attention.

Here’s a quick guide that you can follow while choosing lighting for your home or work areas:

Ambient lighting provides an area with overall illumination. Also known as general lighting, it radiates a comfortable level of brightness without glare and allows you to see and walk about safely. In some spaces such as laundry rooms, the ambient lighting also serves as the primary source of task lighting.

It can be accomplished with chandeliers, ceiling or wall-mounted fixtures, recessed or track lights and with lanterns mounted on the outside of the home. Having a central source of ambient light in all rooms is fundamental to a good lighting plan.

Task lighting helps you perform specific tasks, such as reading, grooming, preparing and cooking food, doing homework, working on hobbies, playing games and balancing your checkbook. It can be provided by recessed and track lighting, pendant lighting and under cabinet lighting, as well as by portable floor and desk lamps.

Task lighting should be free of distracting glare and shadows and should be bright enough to prevent eye strain.

Accent lighting adds drama to a room by creating visual interest. As part of an interior design scheme, it is used to draw the eye to houseplants, paintings, sculptures and other prized possessions. It can also be used to highlight the texture of a brick or stone wall, window treatments or outdoor landscaping.

To be effective, accent lighting requires as least three times as much light on the focal point as the general lighting surrounding it.Accent lighting is usually provided by recessed and track lighting or wall-mounted picture lights.