DIY(do it yourself) is in our blood. We try our hand at anything and everything but there is one thing that freaks us out. Painting a wall.

When I started IndyaKaleidoscope, I did not want a done up, perfect store. I wanted it to evolve over a period of time and it did. The red wall came up in one room, new shelves came up, the yellow wall showed up, the arrangement changed and so on. Along this journey, our people always had some lovely things to say but there was astonishing question. “You painted the wall yourself??”. Yes we did! and you can do it too. So here is a post for beginners who are petrified of taking on a project this big. Guess what! Its no big deal.  (This is the wall I painted at home)

Here is a before picture (It always manages to look ugly) This  wall was painted less than 3 months ago and did not need any pre treatment. I will also post a “start from scratch” painting tutorial soon. So here goes:

What you need??

Cotton cloth to wipe the wall

Sponge and soap water if you have stains on the wall

Paint, your desired color (I used asian paints) Asian paints also has a paint budget calculator that you can use.

Sponge Roller and brush.

Ladder.

A wide mouth tub or bucket that you can dip your roller into.

Newspaper for the floor. Old bed sheets to cover your furniture.

Step 1: Identify the wall that you want to paint. Line newspaper at the foot of the wall.

Step 2: move all your furniture away from the wall and cover them with old bedsheet even if they are at a safe distance.

Step 3: Wipe the entire wall with the cotton cloth to remove dust off it. If there are stains on the wall, use a mild detergent water and wipe it clean and let it dry.

Step 4: Since this wall was painted less than 3 months ago, it needs no other preparation and we can go straight to our paining. I used Asian Paint Premium emulsion 7910 . The paint is water based and comes with thinning directions. Usually 1 liter of paint is diluted with 600 to 650ml of water. Use a wide mouth bucket in which you can dip your roller. Mix the paint and the water well and now you are ready to paint.

Step 5: Dip your roller into the paint and let it absorb the paint. Roll it on the wall of the bucket so the excess paint drips off. Start from a corner, Leave one inch on the side of the wall and start rolling the paint on the wall. For one length its just Up & Down only Once, lift the roller do the other length. You will only be wasting time if you go over one lenght more number of times. Dont go sideways if you want an even texture. Leaving 1 inch along the edges paint the entire wall with the roller.

Step 6: Now use the brush (2 inches wide or so), dip the brush in the same paint, press it along the sides of the bucket to shake off excess paint and paint the corners carefully. If the color touches the adjacent wall, have a damp cloth ready and wipe it immediately.

Step 7: Take a break Let your wall dry. Start the second coat when you see a dry wall or all the glossy wet paint look has disappeared. Normally it should take about 30 – 45 mins to dry. Repeat step 5 & step 6. After the 2nd coat has dried, decide if you want to go for a third coat. If you have achieved the color you wanted, you can stop at the 2nd coat. I did a third coat here for the yellow wall.

Step 8: Let your wall dry a couple of hours and then arrange your furniture.

Step 9: Soak into the beauty of your newly painted wall

I do step 9 almost everyday. The happy yellow lifts your spirits almost instantly!

PS: Using accents of the same color as the wall behind it gives it a very dramatic feel

The next post on painting a wall is going to be how to start from scratch. I hope this post was helpful and informative, if you have more questions please leave us a comment. Dont forget to use the pinit button at the bottom and pin the pictures to your online boards.

Happy Sunday!

A couple of months ago, we got an inquiry from a customer who asked if we made favor bags for an occasion. We told the customer we had never done it before but would love to try.  We worked on a pattern that the customer gave us and put in a few value adds without stretching the budget.  Here is the final Result.

The gift-bags were made out of cotton with brocade sides. The hand block printed on the bags were matched with the color of the Brocade and a little Tsunamika was added to complete the look.

The bags were made by a member of RAPID, a women empowerment livelihood project. What made it even special for us that the woman who executed the order had never worked before and this was the first income of her life!  Tsunamika is also a livelihood project in Pondicherry and employs hundreds of fisher women who had lost everything they had in Tsunami.

We are happy we could combine two livelihood projects in our custom order and we hope to do more. It makes the gifting experience that much more meaningful when our gifts make a difference not only to the lives of the people who receive them, but also to those who make them

2012 was a brilliant year for IndyaKaleidoscope in every way. We made new associations, got tons of appreciation, signed up new artisans, worked like donkeys and enjoyed every bit of it. But when December end brought with it the horrific incident that shocked the country, our happiness died down. Success meant nothing. For days, I struggled to control the anger that I felt. Spent sleepless nights trying to find a workable solution. New year eve was just another day. What is happy about the new year when a girl cannot walk on the road without being teased, stared at or raped? I couldn’t get myself to sit down peacefully, write a blog post or even share happy thoughts on the IK page coz no happy thoughts came to my mind. All I felt was a sense of helplessness and depression.

Talking to my girl friends, I realized each one of us was going through the same. The anger, the depression, the helplessness was everywhere. But, I saw something that was desperately needed. I saw hope! This collective anger could lead to nowhere, but, it could also break barriers and be the beginning of the biggest revolution the world has ever seen. And I am going to be a part of it. The year may have started off on a bad note, but its up to me to make it a good one. Happy New Year !

Preethi