Thanks for the picture. My friend from Palakkad emailed to confirm that a charupadi is "the sitting area in the entrance (Poomukham) of the house that looks like a bench". The teak is fabulous. My friend also writes that "new buildings are trying to copy the architecture of the heritage buildings in concrete. It is not the same feel". I love teak....in older hotels in Burma the floors were teak and I used to walk in my bare feet...wonderful!!!!

A photo of the pillar and space would be helpful. Usually people will wrap the pillar in a style that complements their decorating. Occasionally people will create some kind of shelving, or use it to anchor a bookcase or some other structure like the planter in the photo below. Sine it is structural some people will just keep it the way it is. If you search photos you can see some of the treatments. Good luck! [houzz=] [houzz=] [houzz=] [houzz=] [houzz=]

What a beautiful house, Shahbaaz! I live in a similar house - a 150-year-old colonial bungalow in Kumaon. You have already received lots of excellent advice from better-qualified people, so all I would say is, keep its age and heritage character the central theme. The white tiles do clash, I am afraid ... flooring with terracotta tiles would echo the roof and look lovely. The columns and the arches over the doors and windows are amazing. But I'd say, leave it all chuna-painted - there's a beauty and softness to it. Don't let the painters add too much neel (indigo) in the limewash -- in the hills where I live, they put far too much if I don't watch out and the result is a harsh white. Natural lime has a softer, creamy look.

Yes sure ... we did something which I believe is a club of various ideas and expertise.. Though incomplete now , I will post what we have done till now. First we have around 8 feet appox glass 12 mm between the pillars. secondly we have three boxes 27" in height with focus halogens at the bottom. Now we will decorate these boxes with glass pebbles for awesome reflective / color effect. -I do need idea on what fillers can be used which will make me buy less glass pebbles ..else i would need at least 30kg plus of these pebbles. Thirdly we will now have glass film behind these 3 tall glasses to make it quite attractive and something which will look better with or without light. The idea is to add some golden plants in the middle i.e golden leaves and branches etc. -I would like more input on what films would look great behind these pillars. Or any other idea. I will definitely post once we are done with it.