This Festival of Lights is indeed one of the best times of the year to get some spring cleaning done and redecorate your home with additional bursts of colour.
Deepavali is just a couple of days away, and since tradition dictates that you give your home a fresh new look, we’ve curated five indispensable décor elements for your home.
Blossoms
You could use flower petals to decorate the walkway leading to the front door of your home, it’s one of the most beautiful ways to welcome your guests. Pour some water into a pot of any kind, and top it off with fresh flowers. Or you could simply drape jasmine flower garlands from your curtain rods and let the scent fill your home.
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If you’re not up for picking your flowers in the wild, you will almost certainly find the blossoms you’re looking for at a temple near you, or anywhere in Brickfields.
Lights
This being the Festival of Lights, one simply can’t decorate the home for the occasion without plenty of lighting. Besides lighting up your house with traditional earthen Diyas (oil lamps), you could replace your generic lamp shades with an elegant, handmade mosaic-encrusted shade – or go futuristic instead with LED tealights and curtain string lights to lend your house an enigmatic ambience for the night.
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While not strictly in accordance with tradition, the colours and geometric designs of Turkish mosaic lamps – such as those from Antikato Turkish House – embody the symbolism of light and blend reasonably well with the circular motifs of Deepavali.
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Torans
The toran is a traditional carving that decorates the main archways of temples and is another essential element of Deepavali decoration – the modern-day toran is a temporary decoration typically made of paper rather than being carved into the structure of a home, but it is still hung with the purpose of welcoming Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth and prosperity, into one’s home. A toran over the doorway of your living room is an expected sight at an event as auspicious as a Deepavali celebration.
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Torans are sold ready-made online or in close proximity to temples, or you could consider making your own – as described here.
Rangoli
In the days leading up to Deepavali, colourful patterns in flour and rice known as rangolis start to appear on floors around the country. You could create your own rangoli using rice or flour dyed with food colouring, diyas, flower petals, a dash of glitter, and a little bit of creativity.
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Being temporary decorations, a rangoli can't quite be bought ready-made – but DIY kits that include the necessary stencils and dyed rice grains can be purchased from various online retailers, or you could learn how to craft your own, freehand, with a helpful tutorial.
Saris
All that silk that goes into the saris that don’t get worn anymore would be better applied in full view. Instead of stacking up saris in the wardrobe, why not transform your old saris into cushion covers, pillow cases, curtains, table runners, throw rugs, or even wall art?
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Look here if you’re short on ideas, or here if you’re short on saris.
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