Pantone’s color of the year will be an influential landmark for many products and concepts.
Take inspiration from our selection of classic blue products from the most prestigious brands around the world. this color is a shade that will last you years, a color that the world does not go out of style. be on-trend at the onset of the decade, and set an example for your guests on how to do it in style.
Big blue ultramarine India, Utopia, and utility.
Natural escape
Nature has given us a lot, Colours being one of them. We have rounded up all our favorites in these beautiful colors of nature blue, green, yellow and brown.
Green situation.
India large and small vases.
Published in: The Ideal Home and Garden January 2020
Sumessh Menon is the designer and founder of Mumbai based Sumessh Menon Associates, an interior design firm conceived more than 15 years ago. They specialize in high end and bespoke residential, commercial and hospitality interiors. Their projects are inspired with a modern mixture of found objects, repurposed materials, accessories and furniture made at the highest level of international craft.
They are a one-stop, full service, turnkey interior design practice that caters to clients looking to build and design a luxurious restaurant or a villa or a corporate office. They manage every need, from conceptual planning and design to full execution while ensuring the most dynamic and efficient design process. They are a dedicated team of professionals under one roof who work holistically to realize each client’s unique vision and are committed to offering the best of services in Architecture, Interior designing, project management & consultation.
Tailored, modern and elegant; rough, sleek and bold the interiors by Sumessh Menon are individually conceived and meticulously crafted. Unique architectural and decorative solutions beautifully detailed and executed, each project emphasizes the integration of architecture and interior design. His work is at once familiar but also reveals surprises and new interpretations, embracing both the period and the modern.
Every project they execute holds the essence of global luxury and modern design that communicates warmth and comfort to it’s very best. With a balance in designs between technology – comfort – functionality and aesthetics, their projects showcase sheer luxury.
Having been published in several magazines and online portals, Sumessh Menon has also received accolades as one of India’s Top 10 Hospitality Designers listed in India’s Hot 100 list of Designers and felicitated as one of the “Top 50 Designers” by iGen Awards.
We are proud to be able to service the needs of such a distinguished firm and be a part of their esteemed projects.
Carrying forward the legacy founded by his father with a philosophy that revolves around innovative, responsible and environment design as well as human needs.
Ar. Kaif & his sister Ar. Bahaar have taken over the reins of Faquih & Associates from their father nearly 22 years ago. The firm was founded by Ar. Farooq Faquih in 1968. The company has evolved from a young energetic firm into a mature and contemplative one.
F&A’s work is always based on a deep understanding of the built environment, design experience and human needs. The firm has created a unique niche for itself in the space of office and residential buildings, bungalows, hotels and factories. They are responsible for the creation of original and cutting edge design processes, methodologies and evolved systems that can accommodate all the agencies involved and are dynamic enough to adapt to new technologies and new materials.
Their list of distinguished clients include Unichem laboratories, JK Group of Industries, Shahrukh Khan, Bharat Diamond Bourse, Taj group of Hotels and Jewelex amongst many more. Their designs are energy and ergonomics conscious, efficiently organise spaces and always add and create value that goes beyond the visual aspect. Their clients vouch for their in-depth in planning, design, understanding the people they are building for and most important, how their design is relevant to their needs.
Faquih and Associates is part of the AD100 list that features the most influential architects and interior designers in the subcontinent.
We are proud to be associated with them by servicing their requirements and being a part of their esteemed projects.
The Barcelona Wall Clock of the Spanish design brand Nomon brings us to mind the subtle elegance of design in the ’50s. The perfect combination of natural walnut and black lacquered fibreglass evokes the glamour of contemporary classics. Simple yet strikingly fancy. A beautiful piece for a modern home. The Barcelona Wall Clock from Nomon is a simple and timeless piece that can easily be incorporated into any living space. Place in a living room to create an impressive and minimalistic home décor design.
Nomon’s Barcelona Wall Clock features beautiful clean lines that are handmade to perfection. The large double circle is made from sleek black fibreglass with the small centred box being made from walnut wood. Delicate hands are made of black lacquered walnut wood for the highest quality.
Based in Barcelona, Nomon creates clocks and furniture with three principles in mind: creativity, design and technology. Their handcrafted clocks, valets, desks and more are designed to be as useful as they are luxurious, elevating functional pieces to iconic modern statements. Nomon is the leading company of indoor clocks. They create avant-garde pieces, contemporary and visually stunning, through artisan processes.
Nomon creates innovative clocks and furniture that combine purpose and prestige. Under the guidance of designer José María Reina, the Barcelona-based company produces luxury items from exceptional materials including natural walnut and marble. Each piece is handmade and finished with a jeweller’s precision, ensuring their quality as tomorrow’s design icons.
A Chandelier on the wall – Adding new levels of excitement: Germanium LED Wallpaper from Meystyle.
The Chandeliers are completely flat designs digitally printed onto wallpaper material with a trompe l’oeil effect that will add a sense of depth to your walls.
Leave it to Meystyle to transform wallpapers into chandeliers. The Germanium Chandelier from the Lattice systems collection has come to be almost everyone’s best-loved design. The delicacy and airiness of its floral composition on non-woven vinyl-coated with matte finish inspires both peacefulness and excitement to the eye. The painted-effect background adds a great feel of texture and luxury.
The Chandeliers are completely flat designs digitally printed onto wallpaper material with a trompe l’oeil effect that will add a sense of depth to your walls. Each chandelier comes with integrated LED lights that will transform it into a light installation once switched on.
The beauty of Meystyle is that the LEDs are fully integrated into the wallpaper without adding any thickness to the material so that it can be hung like any traditional wall covering with only the added requirement of an electrical socket. The LEDs have an estimated operating life of 50 000 hours at 20mA, 25°C. This is equivalent to 5.7 years of constant use or 11.4 years with the LEDs on for 12 hrs per day.
Meystyle is a London-based design company specialising in LED wallpapers. An exclusive technology pioneered by them in 2004. They craft each roll of wallpaper by hand with the mission to turn any wall into a unique visual experience.
Nothing like the warmth of the fireplace when the mercury plummets and the sun plays truant. There are several options in the market from wood-fired ones to those run on biofuels
Namrata Kohli | New Delhi January 03, 2020, Last Updated at 11:48 IST
You wouldn’t have missed the ubiquitous fireplace featured in many of the fairy tales you read as a child. There was a certain romanticism about watching an old lady sitting on a rocking chair with her knitting gear, soaking in on the warmth of the hearth—a visual captured effectively both in print and in cartoon films.
But fireplaces are no longer just fantasy, and people have been using them to get more than a little relief from the harsh cold in northern India especially this year, with temperatures in Delhi dropping to their lowest in more than a century in December. While the popularity of the room heater is well established, the romantic setting of the hearth, with its crackling fire decimating the cold and providing some much-needed comfort, is beginning to capture the imagination of the Indian consumer.
Fireplaces are favorites with people for the ambiance they create and the vitality they add to the house. “India is at home with the concept of the sacred fire,” says Daniel Belnick, Director Master Fireplaces. “Ancient Indian Vastu talks of spiritual balance flow between man, nature and the cosmos that support wellbeing; and the fire element, in particular, encourages auspicious outcomes, shielding from harm and negative energy.”
Adds Belnick: “A fireplace located in a home space where your family relaxes together, augments a positive directional flow of cosmic energy that deepens family ties, sharpens intelligence and permits creative expression. Nothing enhances the warm feeling of home more so than a beautiful fire—the ‘light of life’—besides which you can relax and entertain friends and family.”
Besides residential interiors, architects are also adding fireplaces to hotels and resorts, in order to create a warm ambiance and add to aesthetics, apart from imparting utility. Recently Poland-based Planika installed the first bio-ethanol fireplace on a yacht as well.
Looking deceptively real, electric fireplace Opti-Myst has a fully three-dimensional effect that creates authentic-looking ‘flames’ and smoke. You can even install it under your television set
What’s available
To put it simply, a fireplace is a structure made of brick, stone or metal designed to contain a fire. There are different types, such as wood, pellet, gas, electric and ethanol-based fireplaces. The current bestsellers in the market are the ventless ethanol and electric ones because they are practical, affordable and eco-friendly. However, nothing can beat the old-world charm, ambiance, and heat generated by a real wood fire. People still love the traditional, wood-burning fireplace, but due to factors such as safety and environmental sustainability, electric and gas fireplaces have become commonplace. Also, the installation of wood and gas fireplaces is cumbersome as it requires a chimney pipe to terminate either outside a wall or through the roof. Electric and ethanol fires are a lot simpler as they require no vent or chimney.
Fireplaces can be divided into two broad categories primarily – indoor and outdoor. They can be further subdivided based on the fuel used, such as bio-ethanol and gas. The price range starts from Rs 35,000 for a simple burner to Rs 10 lakh-plus for a single-unit, 2.5-meter intelligent fireplace with very advanced features.
Besides the “real fire” hearths, you even have artificial ones that are getting very popular. These are the kind with fire appearing on an LED screen. You can change the color and crackling sounds of the fire, and can also control the heat levels of the appliance. Then there are artificial fireplaces with 3D technology.
Demand drivers
“The demand is typically from HNIs and second-home owners, individual hill-home owners and a few resorts in Kodaikanal, Ooty, Conoor, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, and Rajasthan,” says Viraj R Chopra, spokesperson, StoveIndia. He adds that queries peak as winter sets in, and shipments are often determined by construction schedules. Constructing a fireplace in a new home is a lot easier. Stove India’s stoves and fireplaces are priced anywhere between Rs 40,000 and Rs 5 lakh. “I would still say that compared to Europe, North America, and Australia, where the climate is colder and the winters are longer, demand in India is low,” says Belnick. However, it is steadily growing and generally, it is driven from the colder regions and cities of the northern and highland areas of the country. Belnick adds that there is a gradual increase in fireplace interest, as affluence in India grows and the perceived value of fireplaces increases. This is because the wood-burning kind heat brilliantly is cost-effective, and are a great feature in the home. Both the middle class and the upper end of society are driving fireplace demand with the middle-income earners preferring cheaper options, mainly in electric.
A transparent ethanol fireplace from Poland-based brand Planika, available with S T Unicom India
Setting up a fireplace
It is possible to install a fireplace in the smallest of areas. Can you have one in a flat too? Experts say that one needs technical help in calculating air circulation, the volume of space, ceiling height, airflow, and such as to get the right fireplace for the right space. According to Chopra of StoveIndia, “Apartment clients can opt for the electric or ethanol varieties, but not a wood-burning fireplace or stove unless one lives on the penthouse and the building rules allow it.” Modern fireplaces are easy to install. Nowadays, there are suspended fireplaces and some free-standing wood stoves that occupy a very small footprint. Manufacturers also offer some larger wood- or gas-fired or biofuel fired contraptions measuring 2.8 meters in length and only nine inches in width.
According to Navin Kanodia, Interior Stylist & Creative Director, S T Unicom Pvt Ltd, “Indoor fireplaces are very easy to install and more like DIY (do-it-yourself). They can be inserted in a cavity, plugged to a powerpoint, filled with the fuel and just played to get a clear line of blue fire, with no smell, ash or smoke. It is a patented technology that offers the cleanest combustion, natural golden flames and long burning time. No chimneys are required for the bioethanol types. They can simply be hung on the wall or positioned as a free-standing unit that can be placed or ported anywhere indoors with an electric point. The installation is so simple that a fireplace can also be installed below the TV to create a distinguished, sharp look that defines the interiors in a way previously not possible.”
The safety aspect
Contemporary fireplaces are high on safety. Kanodia of S T Unicom explains that his company’s indoor fireplace units have microprocessors and advanced safety sensors, such as child safety sensor, fuel sensor, over-heating sensor, external temperature sensor, seismic activity sensor and many more safety sensors that are required for indoor fireplaces. He adds that unfortunately, a lot of Indian consumers are using outdoor fireplaces indoors. This is risky as the outdoor varieties usually come without any of these safety devices. Outdoor fireplaces are operated manually with the help of “lighters” and poses a big risk to life, health, property, and surroundings. If you are installing a gas fireplace, flue systems (chimney) would be required indoors.
Outdoor fireplaces are more like the free-standing varieties that do not require any electric point connection. These are for outdoor only and are strictly not advised for indoors. The outdoor fireplace can be even installed on the ground or even in a swimming pool and is also available in portable models.
Cost
The low-priced ones have high maintenance and running cost, and also carry higher risks and health hazards, says a spokesperson from Stunicom. But quality fireplaces, which may have a higher one-time initial cost, and are made by specialist companies in Europe, are zero-maintenance units with very low running costs–less than half of the low-cost fireplace. They are also much safer.
Fireplace Safety Measures:
In a gas fireplace, be fully aware of the gas shut-off point and make sure the control key is nearby. The shut-off should be easily accessible and within six feet of the appliance.
Keep the controls of the gas fireplace away from children or install a switch lock to keep them from accidentally turning on the appliance.
In pellet fireplaces, the front glass and metal chassis can really heat up. Do not touch them while the system is on. Inspect and clean the vent regularly, since ash build-up can cause the system to clog.
In electric fireplaces, ensure the unit is connected to a properly grounded outlet and is on a circuit that has the load capacity to support the appliance. Also, take care to keep liquids away from the unit at all times.
It’s important to have the proper set-up for wood-based fireplaces, with a hanging wire mesh screen that prevents embers from escaping the fireplace, while a free-standing screen is even more durable and would also help stop a shifting log from rolling out. Use dry and well-aged wood.
Make sure the area around the fireplace is clear of anything that is potentially inflammable — furniture, drapes, newspapers, books, and such like. If these items get too close to the fireplace, or if a piece of wood “pops” and throws sparks, they could catch fire.
In pellet fireplaces, the front glass and metal chassis can really heat up. Do not touch them while the system is on. Inspect and clean the vent regularly, since ash build-up can cause the system to clog.
In electric fireplaces, ensure the unit is connected to a properly grounded outlet and is on a circuit that has the load capacity to support the appliance. Also, take care to keep liquids away from the unit at all times.
It’s important to have the proper set-up for wood-based fireplaces, with a hanging wire mesh screen that prevents embers from escaping the fireplace, while a free-standing screen is even more durable and would also help stop a shifting log from rolling out. Use dry and well-aged wood.
Make sure the area around the fireplace is clear of anything that is potentially inflammable — furniture, drapes, newspapers, books, and such like. If these items get too close to the fireplace, or if a piece of wood “pops” and throws sparks, they could catch fire.
For a household with very young children, it is wise to use a reinforced three-panel fireplace screen. The spreader bar on such screens makes it difficult for a child to knock the screen over.
Always use fireplace tools when adjusting the fire, never move the logs with your hand. Fireplace gloves should be worn when adjusting hot doors or screens to prevent burns.
The chimney should be checked annually by a professional. Even if it is not due for a cleaning, it is important to check for animal nests or other blockages that could prevent the smoke from escaping.
Never leave a fire unattended. Make sure it is completely out before going to bed or leaving the house. If you do leave the room while the fire is burning or the fireplace is still hot, take your small child with you.
Install both smoke and carbon monoxide detectors. Test them monthly and change the batteries at least once a year. Keep a fire extinguisher at hand.
Published in: Business Standard on 3rd January 2020
Safety comes first and same goes for fireplaces as well. The fireplace brand associated with us thoroughly goes by this mantra. Hence today in our blog, we will analyse how indoor ethanol fireplaces are absolutely safe and easy to maintain.
To offer you high-quality fireplaces, GlammFire, our Distributed brand in India, develops a rigorous set of methods and tests which assess the characteristics and capabilities of functioning, safety and ecology, aiming the continuous improvement of its Quality and Environment Management System.
Ethanol fireboxes from Planika
On the other hand Planika, another brand, exslusively distributed by us in Indian subcontinent, conducts a number of tests on various types of ethanol fireplaces to find out how technological solutions and types of materials used in these products affect the safety of use. The results were clear – only advanced automatic indoor fireplaces can ensure true safety.
Unfortunately, due to the lack of appropriate knowledge, designers happen to choose cheap and poor quality products, which can cause major problems and dangers, damaging the reputation of the bio fireplaces industry.
Some may recommend that ethanol may not be a completely protected source of energy. Clearly, it isn’t the fuel yet fire that causes the hazard. Much the same as wood spread around the room ought not to be the reason for concerns – until somebody sets it ablaze.
Ethanol fireboxes from Planika
Bioethanol of plant root is a completely inexhaustible and green source of energy. While consuming, it doesn’t create any smoke, smell or debris and the outflow of carbon dioxide is immaterial. Likewise, no other cancer-causing substances are delivered during the consuming procedure, instead of another kind of chimneys.
What can be dangerous however is the direct contact between the flame and the fuel? Just as in manual products that may cause the boiling fuel to splash around the burner or unexpectedly burst into flames. Such fires are also extremely vulnerable to slight air blows, creating fireballs and setting the surrounding things alight.
Perola fireplace from Glammfire
Planika eliminated all the above. In the combustion process, only the ethanol vapours have direct contact with the fire, guaranteeing always stable and safe flames.
The fireplace control system is the unique feature of Planika which is the first and the biggest difference between Planika’s and other products. Burning Ethanol Vapours or BEV technology and integrated safety sensors used in the advanced automatic models offered by Planika, provide balanced fuel temperature. The whole process of producing vapours and the operation of the fireplace stays under control. The microprocessor with the whole electronic system allows to control and regulate the flame height with a convenient control panel, remote or mobile devices.
Under high temperature, cheap manual fireplaces made of poor quality materials tend to deform, causing irreversible damage to the device. What’s even worse, when exposed to heat, some materials may emit soot and smoke, which are extremely harmful to your health. By choosing certified advanced fireplaces, you are sure that you and your family’s safety is protected.
Planika’s ethanol chimneys using the licensed BEV Technology™ are the most developed and the most secure items accessible available. They are the supplier of the main arrangement that guarantees the cleanest conceivable consuming procedure with no smoke, smell or debris. BEV Technology™ has a significant effect, giving a boundless course of action potential outcomes and the most secure fire on the planet.
Closed fireplaces from Planika
Planika is the first company that implemented the Automatic Refill System as a standard accessory for the fireplaces. The specially designed pump communicates with the device, delivering the necessary amount of fuel. This way, the risk of overfilling of the tank and fuel spillage has been effectively eliminated.
Hope this article will help you clear your doubts about indoor fireplace. May this winter bring all the cosiness you desire through our fireplaces. Follow our blog to know more…
These petit accessories from lifestyle store Spacio’s glassware collection come in gradient dark tones, and are inspired by notions of utopia and utility. Website: www.spacioaccessories.com
