The Friday Mix ~ The Key Bunch

Hello my lovelies.... Today I am blog swapping with my oldest blogger buddy... ~ Sharon!! I love to see blogs that have original ideas, pictures of real peoples homes, a little bit of clutter and lots of love and character... The Key Bunch has all this and a lot more - from home tours, to DIYs, to creative ideas, to simply 'indian' or ethnic make overs... Hop on to the Key Bunch.. I can guarantee you'll love it.. If you'd like to blog swap with me, email me on torresp27@hotmail.com

Hi everyone! This is my very first blog swap and I am delighted that it's happening with Patty's blog, as I find her posts hugely inspirational, fun and packed with creativity!

I am Sharon, and I co-blog at The Keybunch with Rekha. Our blog began as a creative outlet - we were working together on a technically-heavy project, and needed something creative to add that balance to our lives. Those early days were fun - working out the details, choosing a name and putting our first few posts together! I am a freelance writer, a mom to my 4 and a half year old little girl Johanna, and mom-to-be of a new little one whose ETA is sometime end of April 2011:) I live in Pune, but a bit of my heart is always in Mangalore - my hometown, and the source of one of my biggest passions - old Mangalorean architecture. They are such an obsession, that on trips there you will always find me heading out to photograph one of those old beauties. Here's a pic of one of those fab Mangalore houses!

Pic courtesy Sanath Shetty. See more pics of these lovely homes here

As you can see, my home too is quite inspired by old world Mangalore, and I hope to do more soon.

Interior design is a great outlet. I love changing things around my humble home - we moved in around 10 months back, and our home is still work-in-progress, but I enjoy the slowness of it all!

We economize a lot because we want our home to grow with us, and not be a display of expensive things. The painted lantern above is an example. Also, when we moved in we didn't know what to do with our Godrej steel cabinet (I can see so many of you nodding your heads in agreement; yes most Indian homes have one of these monstrosities!).

I thought I would give it a simple makeover, and this is what it looks like now - still so obviously a Godrej, but with splashes of orange! I am a huge fan of Warli, and these are some of the things around my house that profess my love for it!

At The Keybunch we love to feature creative people who have defied the odds to get where they are, interesting decor stores, art techniques, real people's homes, and our theme for the new year will be freshness, just like this bit of beach freshly washed by the evening tides.

Notice the little birds? They are enjoying the freshness too

The Keybunch has also enjoyed hosting some really successful blog parties over the last few months. We are on a sabbatical, but don't be surprised if you do hear a carnival announcement from us soon...and when that comes to you, you will join in the party, won't you? Finally, I have to tell you that despite my interest in decor, I really think a home should be comfortable, and filled with simple things. It's the simple things that bring us joy - a calendar gifted at New Year from a loved one, a pile of books, and some bursts of color, a simple arrangement of roses leftover from an anniversary bouquet....they mean the world to me!

It's been wonderful blogging all these years and getting to know all you lovely people... and I know this appearance on Colours Dekor will put me in touch with many more of you. I look forward to connecting, and I look forward to another great year of shared decor ideas! Don't forget to hop over to The Keybunch now to see what Pats has to say on our blog!