Megan Morton - author, stylist and founder of creative hub The School - is more attuned than most to the visual feast that India offers, so we asked her to translate some of what she found on a recent trip into lessons for styling at home.

When Natalie Portman came to shoot Wes Anderson's Darjeeling Limited in India she spent 10 days travelling for the 20 mins she was required on set to shoot.  This goes a long way to explain the way India works on its guests. Mostly it has its own time sequence. For some, an hour in this incredible place is more excitement than a whole lifetime outside of it. And while I am here for work, I am finding it hard to actually get any of it done. It's beyond distracting. And there is no point in a rigid plan of attack or strict to-do lists, it seems to gobble you up and take you - like swimming against a current, resistance is almost useless. So this week we are going to do a Natalie Portman and take some lessons from the ever abundant India.  What is there to learn in terms of the home? So very, very much!

1. Feature Front Door 
Nothing drains your iPhone faster than the photos you will take of the incredible Indian gates and doors. It's like the whole country has handshaked on making every doorway somehow special. Painted, stained, studded and adorned, no doorway goes without attention. And nor should yours.



What could you do to add some impact (either subtle or the slap-in-your-face type) to your own front door? Apartments need not go without. Even the smallest of Indian entries make the effort. Paint is only one of the many options. An elaborate knocker, a house number in brass, a vial for a daily offering of flowers. Or my favourite forever-summer house door is a row of horizontal studs top and bottom for subtle attention. Paint out with an iron effect paint and just add bougainvillea to trail up, over and around the doorway. And for that perennial winter front-of-house, paint it out Domino Black (Dulux), add a nickel knocker, keyless entry and flank with a pair of olives in zinc pots.

2. Volume
It seems that India got the memo about 'more being more'.  Actually they were the ones that issued the memo in the first place. Every market, every stall and every low and high end store goes all out, in the same way Bergdorfs does come December.



The tips I take from this relate to the volume in shelves and our own display areas. Small piles spread over the shelving area is the starting point. Spreading them in a here, there and everywhere fashion creates small bites of interest over a large item like a boring bookshelf. I would keep any larger items just to the left or right not as to centre it. The most riveting and eye catching displays work when the major item/piece is not smack bang bullseye centre.

3. Print
What's so brilliant about Indian textiles is not just their individual exquisiteness, but the way, when they are multiplied, the result is more like a millionified. We usually add a print in to throw off the course of solids and plains. But what's the point having a small little exclamation mark with just one print when you can go for a room full of fun with multiples?  More really does present as more.



What I can appreciate from this is that more more works for those who run a little on the messy side as well as the overly neat. Fixed up prim and proper or bohemian driven, it works both ways.



4. Offerings
Giving thanks is the backbone of life in India. The mantels, the small ledges, the shelves - any left over surface is given over to offerings of fruit, flowers (those marigolds!) and incense. Whether you make an offering station in your own space or simply take time in the day to make a mental gratitude, it is the way most Indians get through their day.  In the midst of such diversity, the commonality of prayer and offerings joins India graciously.



Bring a bit of India back home and assign your own offering station - try on the mantelpiece, the top left of the piano, by the bedside or front of all in the kitchen.



5. Navy
The softer cousin to black, the ever elegant solid. Try to find a colour that is doesn't work back with. Let's go through the list. Navy with mustard. Check. Navy with black and white. Check. Navy with hot pink, white and a slash of tangerine. Navy with stone, oatmeal and magnolia. Navy with slice of silver and puce. Check. Check. Check. India shows us a rainbow of choice with all coordinates leading to navy.



6. Planting. 
Beyond pots or garden beds, amazing things seem to grow even through the cracks and crevices in India. India proves that life always finds a way, and when given extra human intervention, goes a long way in creating a home and a street that feels like it's thriving. Want a living room that sings of health and happiness? Just add a plant. If your fingers are green, attempt a flowering plant but otherwise,  just literally add a plant!  Improves the oxygen levels and so much more.

Door images by Maya Vidulich.

Follow Megan on Instagram @megan_morton or @theschoolinstagram.