Melonwood Homes - Villas, Apartments and Flats in Kochi

An easy way to stay close to the nature is by setting up a landscaped garden at home. Through the selection of right plants and gardening material you can easily design a fabulous landscaped garden. You may incorporate your favourite elements like a flower bed, fountain, climbers, flower pot, etc. Follow these easy tips to design your own landscaped garden at home:   1. Selection of plants Choose plants for your garden depending on the prevailing weather conditions. For places with humidity it is advised to avoid growing Mediterranean plants and for those dry inland zones, avoid rainforest plants. The best way to start setting up a garden is by growing a small flowerbed and gradually expanding it.  2. Wider berth Establish a wider berth for the garden giving adequate space for plants to flower and grow. While constructing a pathway make sure there's enough space for people to walk also.   3. Patio and desks Ensure that you have enough number of desks ...

Having a dedicated space for each member at home is necessary. Be it for children, artists or professionals they need their own space to study or work peacefully. Designing a study room from unused space in bedroom, corners or guest room is a smart way to accommodate everyone’s needs within the available space. Follow these simple tips to convert any unused space at home into a study room: 1.    Colour Use shades that sets an ambience to study, relax and focus like lighter shades of yellow, green and blue. These colours are said to evoke a feeling of peace and calm that helps you achieve daunting tasks of assignments and paperwork effortlessly. 2.    Furniture Choose furniture that are comfortable and ergonomic to accommodate long working hours with maximum comfort. The table size should be able to hold all essential materials. Those with drawers and closed shelves are ideal to store documents and stationery items. 3.    Lighting...

Home décor has seen various developments and the modern version of it is all about incorporating nature-friendly elements to follow green living. Interior designers mostly focus on increasing the greenery at flats and apartments to add freshness and to set a relaxing and calm ambience. Here are the top must-have trends for your apartment: 1.    Indoor plants A popular trend in home décor is using indoor plants to bring greenery to interiors. Indoor plants are a smart option to choose a life that is closer to nature. You can place potted plants, small herbs and climbers on kitchen windowsills or balconies. 2.    Vertical garden One of the most practical option in setting up greenery in flats and apartments in spite of space constraints is installing vertical gardens. By adding a green cover on the wall or a green façade, it employs effective utilisation of space. You can also use discarded bulbs, bottles or small glass vases as subs...

The rising energy bills are a concern for everyone, especially during summer season when the heat is unbearable which calls for using appliances more. In such situations, effective action should be taken to curb this increase in energy consumption in everyday life. Follow the below-listed tips to control the energy consumption at home: 1. Energy-efficient appliances Invest in energy-efficient appliances to reduce the electricity bills even though it would come at an expensive price tag initially. Buy appliances that has energy efficient rating as per the guidelines of the Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE). Replace incandescent bulbs with CFL or LED to save energy. 2. Proper Insulation Heating and cooling systems add up almost 40 percent of the total electricity bill at home. Through proper insulation of the house, it is easy to ensure the effective working of these systems. Also, ensure that there are no cracks in doors, windows and walls for the entry of hot or cold air fro...

The modern real estate has been impacted by the preference on nuclear families rather than joint families. Priorities of prospective home buyers have been redefined based on the property size, neighbourhood, facilities and social infrastructure. Below listed are the key factors to be considered by a nuclear family during home search: 1.    Security Security is considered to be of utmost importance especially in families where parents leave behind their children or elderly back at home for work. Implementing round-the-clock security and surveillance system has become mandatory in residential projects owing to the aforesaid reason. 2.    Space utilization A well-designed residential space that provides optimum utilization of space is considered to be a favourite among nuclear families. Compact and space-efficient living spaces are preferred by nuclear families as it meets their requirements and is also a worthy investment. 3.    Healthy en...

Most of us finance our new home with the help of home loans and therefore, it is vital to know about the interest rates and the differences among them. Here is a guide to help you decide a better repayment plan that does not clash with your monthly budget: 1.        Fixed Rate of Interest Here, the interest rates will be fixed for the entire tenure of the home loan. This helps in planning repayment ahead as the amount to be paid per month will remain constant. An added advantage of fixed interest rate is that the RBI policy changes on interest rates will not affect the rates belonging to this loan type. The disadvantage of choosing this type is that it includes bank charges that are slightly higher that other loan types and also a drop in general interest rates due to various policies does not let us obtain its benefits as the interest rates remain fixed. 2.        Variable Rate of Interest Variable...

Tenants are restricted from renovating homes and modifying them. However, bringing minor changes in the décor and incorporating certain design elements for improvement can be done without violating the lease conditions. The following are some of the home improvement tips that can be implemented by tenants:       Interior decoration Be it in the living room or bedroom, adding various colour elements according to the settings will help in making the room vibrant. Colourful bedding set, cushions and curtains that match the wall colour is ideal. Also, replace the lighting system with new and trendy options to lift the mood and create a positive ambience. Replacing the sanitary and bathroom fixtures to ones that are comfortable and welcoming or as per their preferences are also a good option.         Temporary changes Often landlords refuse to accept any changes in their property like repainting the house or polishing the floors. In ...

The best time to get drenched in the rain is here. Some moody mornings by the windows with a cup of tea is a blissful start for your day. But this can adversely affect you to see your day to be boring and gloomy. The clothes that literally never dries up, muddy footprints on the floors, the dark indoors will set your mood off easily. And it becomes necessary to find ways to light up your mood and not being affected by all that. Here is how you have to get your home monsoon ready. 1. Make your bedroom warm and cozy by choosing the right material, color and style of the bedspread, pillows, cushions and the curtains. 2. Add some candles and fresh fragrances to eliminate the damp smell from your rooms. 3. Use bright colors around the furniture and things kept in the room to make yourself feel livelier inside. 4. Add more greenery in the living space to give a fresh and outdoor feeling. 5. Bring more changes to your windows with curtains and drapes of light material. It...

You are a green lover and love to make an eco-friendly and stylish home, premium flats in Kochi , but you have space limitations. Don’t worry, here we will tell you some simple and interesting tricks to add plants to small space. 1.    Create a shelf near window Create an extension or a floating shelf from the window frame and keep small pots of plants. Here is a hack, to get more depth look escalate the shelve level with your window ledge. 2.    Display plants on the picture ledge These ledges are perfect to keep plants inside your house. It also has a lip that helps the photos from falling off, the same way it can be used for saving you plant pots. 3.    Hang plants Now this is a good trick, hang your planters from unused hooks in home. An extra or unused hook for towel, coats etc are more convenient and readymade. 4.    Use water plants If you are feeling good about indoor plants but not about ...

Bathroom tiles must be long lasting and skid resistance, also at the same time it should look good. So you need to select the tiles for your bathroom very wisely. Here we give you some design tips for selecting best bathroom tiles for your home. 1. Add a focal point Construct a focal point on your bathroom floor with contrasting coloured or patterned tile. The focal point can be made under the shower or at the entry space or wherever you creative mind tells you. 2. Surround on walls Create a backslash on the lower walls of the bathroom to protect the walls from the wear and tear of moisture. 3. Accent wall tile Create an accent wall with checkerboard pattern using tile at places where there is high presence of moist. This could both protect and design the wall. 4. Love the grout Tile grout is a necessary design tool that gives a brand new look to the tiles. 5. Mix up tile patterns Try to arrange the tiles in an unconventional manner and you will be surprised t...

Teens are sophisticated beings who are in the important phase of their life. They are no more interested in flashy cartoons paintings on wall, they call themselves bold and cool individuals. They want their bedroom to express their uniqueness and boldness. So here we bring some interesting tips to design a teenager’s ideal room 1. Boho style Make her room look cool by blending some bohemian designs. Use rattan ottoman furniture, patterned rugs and bright bed covers to decorate the bedroom. 2. Modern Bedrooms with less mess of colours and look simple yet with lots of interesting characters. 3. Room to chill! Make a space to enjoy and chill with their school buddies by creating a seating area with cosy and comfortable sofas. 4. Go neutral If your teenager is not into colours and likes it simple and bold, go for colours like grey, black or white or a combination of these colours. 5. Chic Make the room look fancy and fun with colours, furniture and art works. Me...

Amenities is one among the important aspects that drive up the property value. So, investing in real estate should only be after considering different amenities available in the neighbourhood to ensure good appreciation value. Here are top 5 amenities that should be considered. • Shopping and entertainment – Retail services, shopping malls, commercial stores, cinema halls and other shopping and entertainment options should be available to ensure convenient living. • IT parks and business centres – The presence of IT parks, business centres and economic zones will drive property value by boosting the homes closer to workplace concept. • Healthcare facilities – Hospitals and healthcare facilities nearby are highly valued in anticipation of emergencies. • Educational institutions – Proximity to schools and colleges are encouraging factors for families with children to settle in a particular neighbourhood. • Water bodies – Be it the beach or lake, waterfront properties ...

Wish to make your living room bigger? Here are some tricks to make your living room look spacious and lighter. 1.Go all white  Paint your walls white and choose white coloured flooring for your living room. Use a white coffee table with glass top. You can bring colour with a gallery wall with art works but with white frames. By doing this your living room will appear bigger and lighter. 2.Opt a big rug Using a large rug will avoid the visually breaking up of floor, and make the room look spacious. 3.Hang curtains higher Hang curtains some inch higher than usual to add height to the room. 4.Place double duty furniture Get creative and use the furniture for more than one purpose. Use the dining table to keep TV or speakers. Add storage facility for your sofas. 5.Add a hammock chair Introduce a hammock chair into the living room, they are not only trendy and stylish but takes less space compared to sofas. Melonwood Homes, one of the top names in building prem...

Does your home have a combined living room and dining room? If yes, you’ve come to the right place. Here we will give you some trendy design ideas for your home but without compromising the homely feel. 1. Rustic chic look Give a rustic chic look to your combined dining and living room by painting the wall in pale colours like grey or white. Stone work on walls will give more effect to the room and some nice wooden pieces of furniture will also do some magic. 2. A space of white White is a colour that never goes wrong and also adds an amount of classiness to the room. Paint your chairs, table and cabinets in white. 3. Perfect lighting It’s nice to have a good amount of lighting when you have a combined room. Hang some bulbs or 2-3 chandeliers or pretty lamps near the seating area. 4. Offbeat colours Give a unique personality to your dual room by painting some fun colours like pink or lilac or teal to the walls and balance this colour with matching furniture. Use chi...

For building staircase in small homes good planning and designing should be done otherwise unnecessary wastage of space in the home occurs and it might put you in despair.  Here are some 5 amusing staircase designs for small homes in India 1. Cornered stairs Convert the corners of the house to staircase spaces. When you have little space to build the staircase make it steep and break it into different levels to cover the floor. 2. Wooden pedals Wooden pedal stairs are a good choice to add warmth to the space. Pair the wooden pedal stairs with glass handrail. 3. Narrow and high If you are very short on space create a narrow stairs with its stair height little higher than the normal ones. Use a light wooden staircase with white adjacent walls to make it look good and not congested.  4. Solid storage  Plan an open wooden staircase fixed to the adjacent wall. Create a utility facility below the staircase for maximum space utilization....

A ceiling is the fundamental part of the house. A ceiling to home don’t just serve the purpose of an overhead covering to rooms but also as an object of inspiration to do art and design. The ceiling now is considered an essential element of home décor. Here are 5 most amazing ceiling design ideas for a beautiful home 1.Glass ceilings With glass ceilings your house will get enough natural light from outdoors and provide a pleasant feel to indoors. Add a floating staircase to make your home look modern with minimalistic decor. 2.Geometric ceiling Design a geometry inspired ceilings to create an elegant decor. 3.Ceiling mural If you are a luxury buff create ceiling inspired from Mural painting surrounding with light coloured or plain white walls. 4.Tiled ceiling Design your ceiling with seamless tiles to create a bold statement look with contemporary appeal. Also tiled ceiling helps to reflect vivid colours from furniture and floor that result in giving a...

People have many reasons to move to a new place, which can be on a financial or social conditions. It is important to consider these reasons carefully and decide whether to move or not. Although sometimes there’s an urgent need to move, it is very important to recognize the desire to move and the consequences of your decisions. 1 . You need more space and a better surrounding for a change. You may seem to have a feeling that you’ve been in the same place for quite too long and you need to move on. Even for a growing family needs like, when you get married or have children etc. 2 . If you are capable for affording more luxury and living style, a new apartment is a must need. 3 . For commutation purposes, some move to try cutting down on transportation expenses. 4 . A better neighborhood and a friendly-environment for family or a more social neighborhood. 5 . You don’t feel comfortable or homely in the apartment you stay in and you want to live somewhere you wou...

A bedroom makeover is one interesting activity as it changes the way one can relax and be more comfortable than before. But if one makes mistakes or opts for the wrong design or setup in the bedroom, it can be a mere disaster. So just follow these steps to get that perfect makeover for your bedroom to be a peaceful, cozy and to make it the bedroom of your dreams. 1. Modify: take a look at your bedroom with a more objective and critical eye. Look for what you need to get rid of and what you need to keep and is worth. Keep in mind the fact that this place must be soothing retreat at the end of the day. 2. Adapt: your ideas are to be compared with the existing by checking what is that you want to change and how you’ll go about transforming it considering your tastes.  3. Paint: the color of the walls and the things kept can have a great impact on the mood created in you in the house. 4. The perfect bed: now that you have chosen the makeover plan and painting,...

It is found that your mood and feelings can get affected with the way you decorate your interiors. With some small changes to your home’s interior you could maintain a happy and relaxed mood and can avoid unnecessary stress and tension. Different ways in which you can change your mood with your home design are listed below. 1. Select new paint shades Consider knowing the psychology of paint colours when you are painting your home. Choose red or yellow colour for dining room, purple or light blue for living room, green or yellow for bedrooms and brown or yellow for kitchen. 2. Use green home concept Incorporate some houseplants that could purify air of home and keep you refreshed all time. 3. Improve lighting Natural lighting is the best kind of lighting for your homes. Make large windows for your home to let enough natural light enter your house and make you feel calmed and relaxed. Bright light lamps and other artificial light cause feeling of negativ...

Artworks at your home tells a lot about the homeowner’s personality. The furniture, the pattern of the floor works and the different art pieces gives a complete finish to the house. Art works contributes largely to the theme and mood set in the room. Here are few tips to follow to have the perfect piece of artwork for each rooms: 1 .Your taste in art grows and changes by time. The first art work you may get might not stay with you for long, because of change in perceptions and values. So give yourself some time and imagination to get the right piece of work. 2 .Kitchen is one place where not everybody consider worth of an art work. But it is one place that can be referred to as the heart of the house. Smaller pieces of art and wall hangings and kids creative can be exhibited well in a kitchen space. 3 .The relaxing spots like the bedroom must be complemented by abstract pieces of soothing colors and tones. 4 .In an office/work space, a mood with positive images or works tha...