Pookalam and Flower Decor Ideas for Onam at Home

Start with the entrance, not the pookalam

Before the pookalam is laid, dress the doorway. A garland of mango leaves across the top of the frame, a small bunch of banana leaves at either side of the threshold, and a diya on each side of the door. Guests read the house from the entrance in, so a considered doorway sets the whole day. If the apartment has a shared corridor, keep the flowers to the inside of the door and hang a small kasavu runner or a thoranam from the peephole panel instead of decorating the corridor wall.

The pookalam, kept small and honest

A three ring pookalam is enough for a modern home. Choose three or four colours only, not the full florist rainbow. Marigold yellow, rose pink, a deep purple aster and white jasmine buds is a palette that photographs beautifully and does not fight the kasavu. Lay the outer ring in loose petals, the middle ring in whole marigolds, and the centre in a single lotus or a small brass diya. Skip glitter, skip coloured rice, skip anything that will not compost the next morning.

The uruli by the seating

A shallow bronze uruli filled with water, floating flowers and two small diyas is the single most useful Onam prop for a small apartment. Place it on the coffee table or on a low stool near the sofa, not on the floor where children will kick it. Rose petals, marigold heads and a few jasmine sprigs on the water will hold their colour for the whole day. Refresh the water once around lunchtime and the piece looks new for the evening guests.

The sadhya room

Wherever the sadhya is being served, the room needs one large gesture and no clutter. A long banana leaf runner down the centre of the table, a line of three small brass vases with single stems of yellow marigold, and a diya at each end. Skip individual place flowers, since the leaf and the food will do the visual work. If the sadhya is being served on the floor in the older way, dress the wall behind the eaters with a thoranam of mango leaves and skip the table styling entirely.

A photograph corner for the family

Set aside one wall or one corner of the living room as the photograph corner before the day begins. A plain wall, a small pookalam on the floor, an uruli to one side and soft natural light from a window will hold every group photograph the family wants to take. Skip the printed Happy Onam banner. The kasavu, the pookalam and the family are the composition.

Flowers that hold in the monsoon

August in Bengaluru and Kerala is humid, and delicate flowers wilt by lunch. Marigold, chrysanthemum, aster, tuberose, kanakambaram and jasmine hold beautifully through the day. Roses need to be kept out of direct sun and refreshed at the stem in the morning. Avoid gerbera, lilies and imported blooms for the pookalam itself. For families who want the look without the wilting, the fresh, preserved and silk wedding flowers guide at journal fresh preserved silk wedding flowers covers the honest tradeoffs.

Small apartment, one gesture rule

In a one or two bedroom apartment, pick one gesture and do it well. A doorway garland, a pookalam or an uruli. Three flower gestures in a small living room start to feel like a shop. The onam sadya guide at journal onam sadya guide covers the food side of the day, and the onam sadhya host gift guide at journal onam sadhya host gift guide is what to carry if you are the guest rather than the host.