Set The Mood With Colors | Valentina Cirasola | Interior Designer

“Let me out of the grays and beiges please!” My client was screaming.
She managed a computer software company. For 10-12 hours a day she lived in a boring environment. She was longing to see a colorful home upon her return in her cocoon to balance her day. She requested bold colors and being single, she only had to please herself. As a designer many times defined “a colorist” I was in my perfect spot with this client.

Photo ©Valentina Cirasola

To really understand her needs, I went through a long list of questions to find the right colors for her personality and her life style. We all know colors are easy for designers, but not for all the clients. Sometimes a color they like very much might not be of their liking anymore after the house is painted.
Colors can either break or make a space and I did not want the result to be a failure.

This client liked the warm and vibrant colors of the buildings in Italy. She had never been to Italy, but saw enough photographs and films to make her dream about it. Good enough, I am Italian born, I know what she wants exactly, so I dared. She was astonished about all the color palettes I could come up, but not overwhelmed. In all the palettes I coupled cold colors with warm colors and added some texture samples for the areas of her liking. She chose to texturize kitchen walls and lightly antiquing the green color areas of the family/living room.

Photo ©Valentina Cirasola

She studied the color palettes for a few days, then we passed to the action: painting! The house came alive from the white walls you see here to all the colors. Emphasizing many architectural features was also my goal, in fact they looked so much better with the games of colors playing with each others.

I recall the painter singing while he was working, he really liked to apply those vibrant colors. The client was so happy and enjoyed the colors for a few years until her work moved her to another city and she was compelled to sell the house.

Now you would think it is hard to sell a house with all those colors. I must admit that it is not true. Selling homes painted in beige and neutral colors might take forever. The boring homes dressed in beige, must offer other strong features in order to sell fast, such as price, location, square footage etc. But when the market is soft, economy is not so friendly, location is not the best of the best, is easier to sell homes with colors. Paint the walls in soft yellow and the front door in a golden tone of yellow or dark red and the house will sell immediately.
People feel attracted towards yellow because is the color of the sun and towards red because is the color of many food. These are inviting colors and mean family.

After this house was posted for sale, it sold in three days, just because of the interior colors. The next buyers told me later that everyday “she baths in colors”.

Let me know if I can do the same for you. I offer design consultations on-line. Leave your name and email in the box below, so I can give you details on how to contact me and I love to hear your comments too, thank you.

Avaliving is a site for designer helping consumers. My colorful project was selected to be featured for one week Feb.7-Feb.14, 2011 among many beautiful projects of other designers. It is an honor to be part of Avaliving’s community. Thank you Ava for featuring my project again and to the wonderful team who puts everything together. Ciao,
Valentina
http://www.Valentinadesigns.com

Valentina Cirasola is an Italian Interior Designer and former Fashion Designer, working in the USA and Europe since 1990. She blends well fashion with interiors and colors the world of her clients. She has been described as “the colorist” and loves to create the unusual. ©RED-A Voyage Into Colors is her third book, now in the making and coming soon. Check out her books on
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