HI RinaI do agree I love jewelbox rooms, but I consider them more cosy ... and with a grey marble floor it goes all Versace Italianate! I am trying to balance the colours by bringing in a pattern on the covers rather than plain. I feel this will bring colour without overpowering the room. In the pictures I showed above, the rooms are basically neutral but the colour is brought in via pattern - I think this might be the way to go...Ideally a green or blue on a subdued grey would be the best, but I dont know what the market is like for Sumit...Cushions can do a lot to tie in the other white/grey elements.Shelley - navy is a good suggestion, but as Sumits area is quite tall and thin, trying to keep the general area light Any more suggestions most welcome. These are just ideas after all and Sumit will choose what works for the room in the end ;-)

Do they have to be paint buckets? I would think they would not be good for gardening? Maybe others will know more about that. But in the U.S. you can get 5 gallon buckets from some local businesses like bakeries, food store chains, places like those that regularly use items they get in the buckets. For instance a bakery usually gets stuff in 5 gallon buckets and often has to throw them into a dumpster as they can only save so many. Some businesses now sell them for a small fee, maybe 1 dollar U.S. each and some just give them away. I think the cost of shipping them to India would be more than the cost of buying them. You could try setting up a fund on Kiva.org and possibly get enough donations to purchase food grade buckets instead of using ones from paint. Good luck with this project and please update us as to your progress.

Hi Maam/Sir, I would recommend you to share a better perspective pic of your room where the ceiling is also visible because if a room does not have enough of natural lighting then some artificial effect like a false ceiling treatment would really give a great boost to the look and feel of your space. I would also suggest you to follow a concept like i can see there are a lot of varied colorscheme happening in your room so changing a curtain will not be much help. You should find the right patterns maybe like adding some pastels or i can see that some red or maroon color is involved in your room so try to match the lighter version of these elements. Also adding some wall treatments will give a good vibe in this room. - Layden Wangmo [senior design consultant] MAD DESIGN

Hi Ruchika, I you are only considering to buy thins flat, I would suggest don't. Here are the reasons why - 1] The entry foyer leads you to a very large unnecessary dining space while on the contrary the family and living areas are too cramped. 2] Entry to two bedrooms through the kitchen is a bad idea. 3] A lot of space has been eaten up by the utility making the maid's room way too small and without any kind of storage. The utility also has very poor ventilation in terms of a small window and the maid's room has one looking into the duct. 4] Way too many service ducts. They could have been minimized by conscious design decisions. Mirroring and pairing bathrooms to share a duct is one way to do it. 5] Creating another bedroom would only mean compromising either on the family room and you will be left with a small living area. 6] Although the plan shows a carpet area of around 1900 sq.ft., the effective usable area is way less thanks to so many small corridors and passages. 7] Bedroom 1 has no wardrobe space at all whereas there is a huge storage in the foyer. The wardrobe space in bedroom 2 cannot be used if a TV unit is provided there. 8] Incorporating civil changes would only increase your expense and not achieve much. It is better you look for a different design altogether. Regards, RnD Atelier Nagpur