Wardrobe Design from my friend’s home

June 24th, 2008

1 Star2 Stars3 Stars4 Stars5 Stars (3 votes, average: 4.33 out of 5)

This is just an image post. I liked this wardrobe a lot. It was very elegant in it’s design and also simplistic.

Wardrobe

Click Image to continue

As you can see from the image above it has 5 storage units on the top where a family can dump their sparingly used stuff.

On the bottom there are two full sized wardrobes. One could be for “his” and the other for “her”.

There is a small mirror in the center which is accompanied by a drawer to store cosmetics and another storage unit below for holding items.

One thing which could have been provided by the manufacturer is a lamp above to uniformly illuminate the person’s face who is getting dressed. But this is optional.

Also a good thing about this room was the floor. It had this wooden floor feel attached to it. It consisted of sheets of laminate glued to the the floor and was very nice to walk on. Compared to conventional tiles it was not cold at all to walk on this surface.

Probably Related Post(s)

Recron® Fibrefill - From Reliance | Pillows & Cushions

April 25th, 2008

1 Star2 Stars3 Stars4 Stars5 Stars (1 votes, average: 5 out of 5)

What is essential for a sound sleep apart from a mattress is a good quality pillow. Similarly, we need good quality cushions for back support on sofa sets and couches.  

recron_ff

Image Courtesy : ril.com

From the company’s website:

Recron Fibrefill is India’s only hollow Fibre specially designed for filling and insulation purpose. Made with technology from DuPont, USA, Recron Fibrefill adheres to world-class quality standards to provide maximum comfort, durability, and ease-of-use in a wide variety of applications like sleep products, garments and furniture.

 

Source : http://www.ril.com/html/business/py_ff_know.html

 

What is Recron® Fibrefill?

Recron Fibrefill is a premium hollow polyester fibre, used for cushioning applications. Its special manufacturing technology ensures better filling power and greater softness than cotton and other fibres of equivalent weight.

hollow11836

Image Courtesy : ril.com

Recron Fibrefill is perfect for:

  • Pillows
  • Cushions
  • Bolsters
  • Quilts & comforters
  • Mattresses
  • Mattress toppers
  • Mattress pads
  • Sleeping bags
  • Furniture cushions and backs
  • Insulated Garments

Pillows and Cushions

Source : http://www.ril.com/downloads/pdf/fibrefillpillow.pdf

Pillows with Recron® Fibrefill give firm, plush, down-like feel helping you sleep and
relax in unbelievable comfort. Without any pressure and soreness put on your neck
and shoulders. 
Plus, you can wash and dry them easily with ordinary detergents ensuring greater
standards of hygiene unlike cotton and other fibres, which can never be washed. 
Pillows can be filled with two types of Recron® Fibrefill: 
-   6 Denier Hollow Siliconised (soft)
-   15 Denier Hollow Siliconised (firm) 
 
The common sizes are 17×27 inches with a filling quantity of 0.7 kgs and 16×24
inches with a filling quantity of 0.6 kgs.
 
Please Note:
Usually 51mm or 64mm fibres are used, except for machine blown filling, where
32mm fibres are recommended.
 
The filling weight required with Recron® Fibrefill is 70% of cotton filling. 

For complete details please visit:

http://www.ril.com/html/business/fibre_fill.html

Probably Related Post(s)

  • No Related Post

Right Bedroom Size

March 19th, 2008

1 Star2 Stars3 Stars4 Stars5 Stars (2 votes, average: 5 out of 5)

I have seen standard bedroom sizes like 10 x 10 feet or 12 x 12 feet in flats. In independent houses, it could be smaller or larger depending on the person building it.

Questions we would like to ask our readers are:

What can we manage to put in a bedroom?
How much larger should a bedroom actually be and
What would you typically want your bedroom to contain?

1) What can we manage to put in a bedroom?

My bedroom is a 10 x 11 feet bedroom, and all we can manage to put in it is two beds and a computer table. Even with this arrangement, it feels a little small.

Well, isn’t it supposed to also hold say a cupboard and maybe even a writing table?

Well, actually speaking there is space in my room to hold either one cupboard or a table. But then this is where the design comes in. There is already a wardrobe in the wall, a door and a window. So the cupboard cannot be put against these or even anywhere near these places.

Then there is the electrical plug point to worry about. You cannot prop your cupboard against that either. As if that was not enough, there is also lighting you need to be concerned about. If you put your cupboard just beneath your lighting, the room will be dimmer as the cupboard obstructs most of the light.

If I rearrange things to make room for the cupboard, then it becomes impossible to clean the room.

The other bedroom is almost 9 x 12 feet. But this is even worse. Apart from a wardrobe, a window and the electrical socket, there is also a door for the bathroom and one for the balcony on the wall. This makes it almost impossible to put anything at all in this room.

2) How much larger should a bedroom actually be?

Well, I am not an architect and I am not paying for your land. So you should be able to judge these things better. However, I think a decent bedroom should be at least 12 x 12 feet and if possible, even 15 x 15 feet and properly designed.

If you had two bedrooms like this, it would be 450 square feet. Add another 50 Square feet so that one of the bedrooms can also hold the attached toilet. A 7 x 7 bathroom in my opinion is large enough. So in 500 square feet, you have two really big bedrooms and a toilet. Now, if you had say another 500 square feet, you could easily have a hall, a dining room and a kitchen in that. Adding another toilet however would be slightly difficult. Do away with those balconies and passage ways inside the house.

3) What would you want your bedroom to typically contain?

Once again, this is my own opinion, assuming we have a 15 x 15 feet bedroom.

Here’s a sketch.

15 x 15 Bedroom

(Click to enlarge)

I am assuming I am going to order a custom made 7 x 7 feet bed. That’s bigger than the largest of beds available. We earlier covered “Bed Sizes” in our earlier article.

A 3 feet wide door should be enough to get people in and out I reckon. This can be seen in the left corner of the figure. Another identical but slightly smaller door is placed for the attached toilet. This can be seen to the right corner in the figure.

Apart from these, you would require a wardrobe and I am going to include a book shelf / computer table to that list. If you have a lot many books, use it as a book shelf. If you also want your computer in, use it as a multipurpose table.

I am including a small bedside couch. Just like that. This won’t have a backrest. I have included a home theatre system and television. You can put all your digital media in here too.

A writing table can be found. If required, this can be replaced with a dressing table. Not many people use a writing table anyway.

I have also included a chest of drawers. You could include small side tables near the cot.

Invitation to readers,

You think, you can utilize a 15*15 room much better? We would like to hear from you. You could send in comments and figures/floor-plans too.

Probably Related Post(s)

  • No Related Post

Two Bedroom Flats X2

March 15th, 2008

1 Star2 Stars3 Stars4 Stars5 Stars (4 votes, average: 4 out of 5)

Introduction

Independent Homes are increasingly becoming a thing of dreams in metros. Flats are the norm and even they cost anywhere between 20 lakhs to 1 crore or more for a 1000 sq.ft 2 bedroom flat in densely populated cities like Chennai.

Two Bedroom Flats:

A two bedroom flat essentially has a minuscule kitchen, a decently spacious hall/drawing room, two bedrooms (of which one is supposed to be a master bedroom and the other is much smaller), a common toilet/bath and an attached bathroom. So if you wanted to build a dream house where you dreamed of having a separate library or perhaps a movie theatre or even a home gym for that matter, very little can be done about it. Or, is that really the case?

Three Bed Room Flats:

Buying a three bedroom flat is the instant solution we think of. The third bedroom can be converted into any of the above specified rooms. Or you can use it as a store room. (Sometimes the third bathroom is converted into a store room.) However, even this is not the best of solutions. What if I wanted a library and a movie theatre? Well, yes it is a luxury in homes, but if you can afford it, then there is nothing wrong with it.

Two Bedroom Houses x2:

In my opinion, if you always had a dream house I mind and want a house where you can plan and put things the way you want, you should go for 2 two bedroom flats put together. Don’t mistake Two Bedroom Flats x2 idea with a four bedroom house. (If ever builders build it in the first place.) Because, in this case, not only will you have 4 bedrooms,  but also two halls, two kitchens , four toilets and maybe up to 4 balconies.

So if you are, say a family of four, then you can utilize the space as outlined below:

  • Two bedrooms retained as such. Choose the two largest bedrooms with attached bathrooms for bedrooms.

  • One of the smaller bedrooms changed into a Library with space enough for book racks to hold all your books and maybe a table or two. One, say for writing and maybe one for your computer too. You can also have a chest of drawers to keep your important documents.

  • The other small bedroom can be changed into a Guest bedroom if you expect guests once in a while. (You can always use it as and when you please.)

  • One of the halls can be converted into that theatre I was talking about. So, naturally you put all your sound equipment, TV…etc here. If it’s bigger than you want it to be, maybe you can accommodate the home gym in too.

  • Use the other hall as a Drawing room where you can entertain guests. This will also have the attached dining room.

  • One of the kitchens is used as a kitchen itself. (Close to the dining hall)

  • The other kitchen can be either converted into a Store Room or a Pooja room for the religious.

Some Figures I thought up:

01- Doors face to face

01

This is not very desirable as you will have to cross the corridor every time you want to move form one room to another. If the Homes are L shaped as shown in Fig, then it’s probably alright.

02- Adjacent houses

02

This is a nice idea as long as they share a common wall which can be broken (or not built in the first place) to make way for the common door.

03- Down and Above

03

Well, this might seem like fiction, but I have seen houses like this. (I mean within apartments. Otherwise, it’s pretty commonplace) What you do is you buy houses on one floor and one above or below it. Then have a staircase running from one house to another.

*-You will have to excuse the amateurish figures. I am not an architect. I hope the figures are good enough to get the ideas across.

Some Photographs of staircases are shown below

Spiral Staircase-01 (source: here )

Staircase - 01 (source: here)

Staircase - 02 (source: here )

A Sprial Staircase saves a lot of space, but is more difficult to take. A normal staircase on the other hand takes a lot more floor space (on both floors), but at least it’s safer. With a bit of planning, you could store things under the staircase.

A Few More Tips:

  • With a bit more planning, you can make the kitchen bigger or customize things the way you want.
  • I you can purchase 2 Two Bedroom Houses for less than 40 lakhs and can afford the same, in a decent residential area, it’s a steal.
  • Also, in case you are going to rent the house, too many structural changes won’t do. (At least if you are expecting to put two tenants in.)
  • If you are planning to have 2 flats, then it’s probably a good idea to talk to the builders well in advance. You don’t want to be modifying stuff after it has been built.
  • There is no harm in having two doors and door numbers. (If it’s legally allowed) But whether it is necessary, only you can decide.

I did see a house of this sort in Coimbatore some 6 years back and I was amazed at how wonderful it was. It cost some 20 lakhs back then.

If any of our readers do have 2 x two bedroom  houses as mentioned above, please do let us know of your experience.

Probably Related Post(s)

Bed Sizes - Single, Double, Queen and King | Take your pick

February 16th, 2008

1 Star2 Stars3 Stars4 Stars5 Stars (3 votes, average: 5 out of 5)

We all hear the term “king size bed” and “queen size bed” often. The most common terms used in India are only “single bed” and “double bed”. So to make you choose appropriately, we decided to cover a small article on - Bed Sizes…

Note: All dimensions given below are for the mattresses. The bed maybe slightly larger.

Singe Bed

As the name suggests, suitable only for one person. Perfect for bachelors and also for guest rooms. For people who have full time servants at home, this is an option if you have a dedicated room for them.

The dimensions for a typical single bed are 91 cm X 191 cm. This is as per UK standards and we shall stick to this for the moment.

Double Bed or Full Bed

Though the name may hint that it is twice the size of the single bed, dimension-wise it is not. It measures 137 cm X 191 cm. So it is just one and a half times larger than a single bed. If you and/or your family members have a large body frame this is not the right choice for you. One immediate application we can think of for such size of a bed is that it would suit a mother who has had a just born baby.

Queen Size bed

This one measures around 152 cm X 198 cm and is larger than the double/full bed.

King Size bed

The king of all beds! It measures 183 cm X 198 cm. It is almost a perfect square in construction. Perhaps this would be the most comfortable and spacious one available.

Bed Sizes

Click on image to enlarge.

But, as we have discussed in the past, you need to strike a balance between wish and practicality. Planning the perfect bed, mattress , bed spreads, pillow and pillow covers are a part of setting your dream bedroom up!

Facts and figures for this article were looked up at Wikipedia. For complete details please read it here.

Probably Related Post(s)