Rox Outside the Box: HOME SWEET OM

OR: How to Transform a Himalayan Cottage into a Sweet Retreat

When I first stepped into this place not quite a month ago, I thought to myself “Well at least there are lots of windows in this entrance room! Then I realized that the room I had entered IS the main room of the cottage. Since I am living alone, that too was fine with me, less room to heat! But the condition of the cottage was quite poor as it had not been lived in for sometime. It had no water (pipes were broken), no wood for the rusty old “Bukhari” (woodstove), no glass in the kitchen window and no telephone to call for HELP!

But within a few days Woodstock School, the owners of this “staff house” got several of the above items fixed so that my survival needs were met (including an internet hook-up pronto). Of course from day one, the main thing on my mind was the aesthetics. Although I am only here for a limited time (on a one semester replacement position) I knew that it would drive me crazy NOT to make it into a comfortable and cozy den. Since I am here to teach, I also knew I would spend the next six months redecorating the place in my head, distracting me from my main purpose. So there was nothing left to do but get to it.

Since my earliest penniless years I have prided myself on being able to decorate on a severely limited budget. In America I frequented second hand shops, auctions, yard sales and friends and relatives’ barns, attics and basements (with their permission of course) to procure both attractive and useful components. I opened a vegetarian restaurant called The New Delhi when I was only 23 years old and everything in it except the paisley wallpaper was recycled. Everyone commented on the day that it opened that it looked like it had been there forever. Later, the country house in which my son grew up was similarly furnished, combining like myself, elements of both east and west… mostly from inexpensive Indian artifacts (some of which, like our Madhubani and Pichwai paintings as well as South Indian Kalamkaris have in the meantime gone up in value) combined with locally affordable antiques.

More recently I was able to indulge my propensity for decorating on a budget (although a slightly higher budget than years ago) when I opened along with my partner David, Cayuga Sunrise Holistic Haven, a Yoga Bed and Breakfast in the Finger Lakes region of upstate NY. This time the theme is American/French Country with a splash of Indian New Age. You can check it out at http://www.cayugasunrise.com Although technically speaking I could now afford to buy more expensive furniture and accessories, I actually PREFER to stick to recycling. Not only is it ecologically more responsible, it is immensely more fun and whatever you come up with is bound to be original.

So after taking care of a 6 bedroom, 6 bathroom 80 acre estate, my small place here feels like heaven... especially now that I have transformed it, for less than $200. Into a peaceful little abode. I decided to post the before and after pictures and describe what I did and spent…

Here is the BEFORE PHOTO:

Note the bare light bulbs and "cage" around the stove!

First I got rid of the cage which I guess was designed to keep kids away from the stove. I stashed it in the backyard. Then I move the single bed from what is now my "yoga room" into the living room. That was a blast... see my earlier blog. It also means I don't have to sleep in a freezing room every night. The bed now doubles as an Indian style "couch" since I got the bolsters and pillows made... not an easy job, involving hiking several miles to a tailor, a mattress maker, and carting all of them back up the hill.

The beautiful hand loom fabrics, the off white soft rug, hand loom bedcover and pillows all come from the Kurukshetra Mandal Leprosy Rehab center in Dehra Dun, the city at the bottom of our hills. They were inexpensive and proceeds went to an excellent cause. I also got the fabric for the door curtains, the table runner and grey throw rug at the same place. I chose colors that would match the curtains that were already here. The total for ALL these came to $60. :

Add some rather EXPENSIVE ($16. for both) paper lamp shades from FAB INDIA:

Some beautiful Kashmiri white embroidery on white wool curtains (can't see the details in these photos but worth every penny at $55. for two, including tailor costs..hemmed them myself):