December | 2013 | Valentina Expressions

Queen Ann, Queen Of Ordinariness | Valentina Cirasola | Interior Designer

27 Dec 2013 2 Comments

by Valentina in Home Designs Master Tags: #CabrioleLegs, #CabrioleLegsFurniture, #HistoryOfFurniture, #MoroPigatti, #MyPersonalAToZChallenge, #QueenAnnChairs, #RedVoyageIntoColors, #WalnutWood

Welcome to my personal A to Z Challenge on the subject of Home. The goal, in a year time, is to elaborate and dissect topics regarding the Home not as containers of stuff, but as a cocoon for the soul, mind, and heart. I will touch on decorations, style, trends, history of the home and sometimes technical information. On Jan. 14, 2014, my challenge will be over and I am feeling the heat.

Of all the furniture styles ever designed Queen Ann’s style has been the style that has passed the test of approval through the centuries. In my experience, I have always found details of Queen Ann furniture in most houses I have visited in North America. This style, also called “late Baroque” refers to the historic period (1702–1714) during which Queen Ann Stuart reigned Great Britain.

Queen Ann Polymer Plastic By Moro Pigatti – Italy

Painted Dresser-http://www.nationalfurnituresupply.com

Cabriole legs accent table-Appaloosa

Écritoire

MacKenzie Childs

Queen Ann desk

http://www.furniturelandsouth.com/shop-furniture/drexel-heritage-gentry-side-chair-850-725

Queen Ann was considered the quintessence of ordinariness, often described as vulgar in taste and a drinker. She received a limited education similar to that of an aristocratic girl: music and languages but had no knowledge of military matters or civil laws. Perhaps her ordinariness brought her to simplify the ornaments of furniture while putting the emphasis on lines and forms. Skilled British craftsmen brought this classic simplicity to the American colonies and ever since the style had its appeal in traditional and country décor.

Today Queen Ann’s style is considered formal and very elegant. I don’t see anything ordinary about it. Keep in mind a few simple elements if you want to decorate in this style.

Woods: walnut and burr walnut veneer, cherry, maple, and mahogany are the woods that will give Queen Ann style a formal, sophisticated look.

Chairs are padded, smaller, lighter, and more comfortable than the predecessors William and Mary Style. The back of the chairs is shaped like a yoke and the seat takes a horseshoe shape.

Furniture is curvier and structured with designs of C-scroll and S-scrolls shapes. Shells on relief, scallops, or acanthus leaves represent the limited ornamentations.

The signature of Queen Ann’s style is cabriole legs with pad foot that replaced the ball foot. The claw foot resisted for a while, somewhat common to find it in this style.

We use tables with drop leaf or tilt top as space savers, they were made for the Queen and it’s hard to believe she needed space in her palace.

A room decorated in this style has at least one comfortable desk often made in a round shape with écritoire accessories.

Today, even the most conservative style as the Queen Ann style can be reinterpreted in a whimsical way to decorate a colorful room for young people or young at heart. Italian company Moro-Pigatti produces Queen Ann style chairs for indoor and outdoor in eco-friendly recyclable linear polyethylene (plastic) at a “snip” price of $895.00 per piece. Accessories such as champagne bucket and ottomans made of the same material make good pairs with the chairs.

As far as architecture, Queen Ann style homes in the true sense of the word are no longer built, we can only enjoy the lavish examples left through the years, especially the years of the industrial revolution (1880-1890), when bankers, new capitalists, rich merchants, and industrialists built their homes in great excess to be showy. It didn’t matter if many architectural details didn’t belong together, in this hodgepodge style was important to accumulate interesting look. A Queen Ann home might have half-timber details typical of the Tudor period, or gingerbread typical of the Victorian era, but at the same time, it might have columns typical of Italian Palladian villas, turrets and round towers typical of castles. Large porches, verandas, bay windows, dorm windows, and balconies might be found altogether in one Queen Ann style home.

Don’t we see the same details in our modern homes? We either want more for our money, or we got accustomed to impurity. I love to help you in finding the right style for you. I am available through Skype. Ciao,
Valentina
http://www.valentinadesigns.com

My Design Success Story http://youtu.be/pOKI6LkOkkA

Valentina Cirasola has been a lifetime designer in fashion and interiors. Her extensive knowledge of colors and materials led her in both directions successfully. She is well-know for designing custom furniture. She cares to make spacious and functional pieces, but she doesn’t forget to introduce the element of surprise, sinuous lines, attractive shapes and colors in the style fit for each of her special clients. She is the author of ©RED – A Voyage Into Colors, Check out her books on
Amazon: http://goo.gl/xUZfk0

Barnes&Nobles: http://goo.gl/q7dQ3w

Vanity | Valentina Cirasola | Interior Designer

23 Dec 2013 2 Comments

by Valentina in Home Designs Master Tags: #GlassVanitySink, #KokolVesselSinkVanity, #MyPersonalAToZChallenge, #PowderRoom, #RedVoyageIntoColors, #VanitySink, Vanity

Welcome to my personal A to Z Challenge on the subject of Home. The goal, in a year time, is to elaborate and dissect topics regarding the Home not as containers of stuff, but as a cocoon for the soul, mind and heart. I will touch on decorations, style, trends, history of home and sometimes technical information. On Jan. 14, 2014, my challenge will be over. I have 9 more letters of the alphabet to cover. Will I make it? I am feeling the heat.

What is vanity? It’s the pride we should have in our qualities, abilities, and achievements we make through life and the pride we should take in our appearance. That’s one kind o vanity, but what is the vanity I am writing about?
Before the invention of indoor plumbing, a bathroom was equipped with a chamber sets called vanity. It was a bowl and a pitcher on a wood stand with towel bars on each side and a mirror attached at the top. It was kept in the bedroom, as the bathroom did not exist yet. Warm water came from the kitchen and poured into the pitcher. That was the ritual of daily ablutions between weekly or monthly baths. According to beliefs of past centuries, “the bark stayed better on the skin”, therefore frequent baths were not a common practice just to prevent diseases from penetrating a clean skin. Imagine that!
Those vanities today are highly collectible at a high price, but their functionality has been relegated just to add charm in a modern bathroom or bedroom.

Wash Stand-Sally Weigand-Fine Art America

Kokols-Wall-mount-Bathroom-Glass-Vessel-Sink-Vanity-Combo

Grape Vanity-Horchow

Italian made (Unknown)

Vessel sinks with modern material and designs are reminiscent of historical bedroom washstand vanities and sit above counter again. However, in designing a modern vessel sink, once must take into consideration the height of the vessel and lower the height of the counter to make it ergonomically suitable. The tap usually is mounted on the walls, but if you choose a tap to sit on the counter, make sure the water goes directly into the drain of the vessel, otherwise, there will be water spillage all over the counter. Vessel sinks are generally used for powder rooms because there are cuter than regular bathroom sinks and are eye candies for guests.

The second photo in the gallery is the Kokols Wall-mount Glass Vessel Sink Vanity Combo. Find it at Sears for $283.00. One of the many vanities I designed in my career was fabricated of marble tesserae (small mosaic pieces) incorporated in the entire wall design.

The vanity sink designs today are endless. You don’t have to have a huge budget to make a pretty vanity, just need a little fantasy to build one with the most unusual material and show off your personality. These vessels are always paired with a mirror. The important function is not only to let them stand pretty in your home but to never make you lose pride in your appearance. Go on, stand by that vanity and take one more look at you before you leave the house. Ciao,
Valentina
http://www.valentinadesigns.com

Valentina Cirasola has been in business as a designer since 1990. She has helped a variegated group of fun people realizing their dreams with homes, offices, interiors and exteriors. She is a designer well-known to bring originality to people’s homes. As an Italian designer and true to her origins, she provides only the best workmanship and design solutions. Check out her books on
Amazon: http://goo.gl/xUZfk0

Barnes&Nobles: http://goo.gl/q7dQ3w

Message In A Kilim | Valentina Cirasola | Interior Designer

19 Dec 2013 Leave a comment

by Valentina in Home Designs Master Tags: #KilimRugs, #MessageInKilimRugs, #MyPersonalAToZChallenge, #OrientalRugs, #RedVoyageIntoColors, #TurkishKilimRugs

Welcome to my personal A to Z Challenge on the subject of Home. The goal, in a year time, is to elaborate and dissect topics regarding the Home not as containers of stuff, but as a cocoon for the soul, mind, and heart. I will touch on decorations, style, trends, history of the home and sometimes technical information.
On Jan. 14, 2014, my challenge will be over. Will I make it covering the subject of HOME with all the letters of the alphabet? The beat is on.

Anatolia, a peninsula that makes up most of Turkey is supposedly the area where kilim rugs originated among nomad tribes. Although historians for lack of firm evidence have had a difficult task establishing kilim’s dates and places of origins. The making of kilim rugs started as utilitarian coverings and much less as decorative coverings, made with elementary weaving looms, when weaving surpassed the practice of primitive people to cover their bodies with animal skins. With the weaving loom, early population of the Middle East felt the need to add colors to suit their soul and express feelings or thoughts. This prehistoric textile seems to have entered Egypt in the middle of the second millennia B.C. via Turkey and the Middle Eastern countries.

The knowledge of textiles Sumerians had (people of Mesopotamia, modern Iraq) was directly related to the knowledge of farming the right kind of sheep, goats, and lambs whose pelt was suitable for spinning, coloring and waving. With various colors and designs, each kilim has its own language or message, which varies from weaver to weaver. A married weaver might add into the kilim symbols of her discontent with husband or mother in law, but a message from a girl’s weaver might be love, hope, desire for a strong man and good fortune.

: https://www.enjoyistanbul.com/category/apparel–accessories

: https://www.rugstoreonline.co.uk

The design of each kilim is not casual, ancient tribals weaved their beliefs into the threads in the form of symbols, such as stars, dragons, eyes, combs, running water, or fertility. Today modern people respond well to this primitive art, because they are colorful and very versatile for any décor, but also because most human races have affinity in the same beliefs of life and death, fortune and misfortune, cycles of the moon and sun, water and drought, family and friends, spiritual and unnatural.

Decorating with kilim rug is not just enough to match colors to the interior décor, one must take into consideration the meaning of certain symbols. Ancient tribes thought birds as raven, eagle, and owls bring bad luck or attack human beings, while doves, nightingales and pigeons symbolize good luck and bring love. Knowing symbols will help bring in the house an all-round harmony. Kilim rugs are versatile enough to use in modern and traditional interiors. Their designs are well used for covering chairs, making draperies, bedding, and pillows, or are as beautiful as wall hangings.
Fashionable kilim shoes and bags are timeless. I had the most exquisite kilim sabot pair of shoes for more than ten years that I ran to the ground, worn them with jeans, leather pants, shirt, and oversize sweaters. I wondered often where the fabric of my shoes came from. Kilim bags and shoes are made from the best parts of old hand-woven, which were used as floor coverings, tent pieces, wall hangings, curtains, or blankets.

I am here ready to help if you like to find a kilim rug. Ciao,
Valentina
http://www.valentinadesigns.com

Valentina Cirasola is an Italian Interior Designer working in the USA and Europe since 1990, specializing in kitchen, bath, wine cellar, and outdoor kitchen designs. Often people describe her as “the colorist” as she loves to color her clients’ world and loves to create the unusual. “Vogue” magazine and many prominent publications in California featured Valentina’s work. She also has made four appearances on T.V. Comcast Channel 15. Author of three published books, the latest ©RED – A Voyage Into Colors is on the subject of colors.
Amazon: http://goo.gl/xUZfk0
Barnes&Nobles: http://goo.gl/q7dQ3w

Inspired By A Photograph | Valentina Cirasola | Interior Designer

16 Dec 2013 2 Comments

by Valentina in Home Designs Master Tags: #BaroqueChristmasDecorations, #BaroqueChristmasTable, #ChristmasDecorations, #DesigningWithRed, #RedChristmasTable, #RedVoyageIntoColors

It’s not uncommon in my world of art and design to see an art image and think of something else that has nothing to do with the painting subject. I have a great admiration for people’s art and visions of art. Looking deeply into the artist’s color selections, or interpreting the artist’s thoughts often put me in a state of transcendental thinking, wandering in the maze of my imagination that creates more images and more ideas.

This is what happened when a few months ago I saw this photograph on Google+ by photographer Chris Lord http://chris-lord.artistwebsites.com/featured/caster-oil-plant-chris-lord.html

Chris Lord gave me the permission to use his photograph for my Baroque Christmas dinner table composition.
I created a board to express my thoughts. Now it is easy to copy it, the work has been done for you if you want to decorate your Christmas table with these colors. My Baroque Christmas table is rich and classic with a twist.

Choose a simple, plain red tablecloth as a base, overlay in diagonal a brown chocolate shimmering fabric. Depending on your Christmas menu, stack two or three glass plates with some golden details, use crackled golden glasses to match the golden plates.
Burgundy Damask napkins with rich burgundy tassels as napkin rings will go very well with golden plates and glasses.

To make interesting combination, a modern flatware with flair of primitive rusticity made of a safe golden alloy with twigs metal handles will make a good entry. I want the food to get the attention it deserves, thus I prefer the centerpiece very simple, only glass candle holders to add sparkles over a dark shimmering fabric. Cover the glass of the candle holders with natural twigs and insert beeswax candles (they are safer for your health than paraffin candles). Around the room, disperse some Baroque decorations, but keep it simple, orbs of greenery and pinecones, with a few grouping of glass balls will be sufficient to create an elegant ambience.

Share your Christmas table, I would love to see how you will decorate it. I hope you have a splendid Christmas, Ciao.
Valentina
http://www.valentinadesigns.com

Valentina Cirasola is an Italian Interior Designer working in the USA and Europe since 1990, specializing in kitchen, bath, wine cellar, and outdoor kitchen designs. Often people describe her as “the colorist” as she loves to color her clients’ world and loves to create the unusual. “Vogue” magazine and many prominent publications in California featured Valentina’s work. She also has made four appearances on T.V. Comcast Channel 15. Author of three published books, the latest ©RED – A Voyage Into Colors is on the subject of colors.
Amazon: http://goo.gl/xUZfk0
Barnes&Nobles: http://goo.gl/q7dQ3w

Things I Miss | Valentina Cirasola | Author and Designer

15 Dec 2013 Leave a comment

by Valentina in The Good Life Tags: #ItalianCafe', #ItalianEatingCustomes, #ItalianFood, #ItalianLifeStyle, #ItalianRestaurants, #RedVoyageIntoColors

This video has circulated in a group of Italian women I belong. The video is all about the best most common Italian food. Many women in the group commented that the video made them cry. I know, we the expatriates, miss our mother land, we get very emotional and like them I miss it too, but Italy is not all about food.
Thanks to the proliferation of food lovers, importers have made possible for us expatriates to find all kinds of Italian food even here in the USA making the distance from home more digestible. Prices for imported real Italian food are outrageous, but they know we bend to their wishes and our tables are always a bounty of food from home that manage to astound our friends and silence our pain.

What I miss about Italy is not the food. What I miss is a life of subtle emotions.
A. I don’t see the swallow birds and their sweet chirping announcing the coming of Spring. Instead, I see black, scary and ominous crows. Their sound reminds me of Sir Alfred Hitchcock’s film “The Birds”.
B. I don’t hear the church bells ringing at midday marking Italian lunch time break. How sweet to go home and eat with the family.
C. I miss my neighbor knocking on my door to ask for a cup of sugar, a lemon or a hand full of parsley, which often is an excuse to get a cup of coffee together.
D. I miss my girlfriends calling at 11:00 at night just to shoot the breeze and tell me about the happenings of their day. In the US nobody calls anymore but everybody text. Texting takes more time to write word by word than to say the same thing verbally. Voice travels faster than typing and the voice doesn’t betray emotions. Through voice we can detect if a person is sick, sad, happy or lying. Texting is cold, calculate and abbreviated.
E. I miss the salty water smell of my Adriatic Sea and the transparent waters of Gargano and Salento. Just taking a simple walk around the Lungomare (along the sea) in the downtown area of Bari my hometown is invigorating, healthy and relaxing.
F. The grocer in my hometown, when he received a new product, a new wine or something he knew I would appreciate, always put it aside for me, or called me to tell me about it and if I didn’t show up in the store for 3-4 days, he would send someone at my home to check that everything was fine and didn’t need any help. In the American grocery shops I am one of the millions shoppers without a face or name.
G. I miss taking long walk with friends, talking, laughing and watching shops’ windows without buying anything.
H. I miss going to restaurants and café for fun, leisure, pleasure, not for conducting business as people do in the States. It gives me indigestion to sit in front of food at all hours of the day and talk business with people I might not see again. I eat breakfast in the early morning, lunch under the sun rays and dinner under the moon rays. I don’t miss any meal because of work and I don’t eat and drink at all hours of the day either. Having a glass of wine at 3:00 in the afternoon, just to share some business ideas, doesn’t cut it for me and end up either changing the appointment to a more convenient time for me or turn it down all together. In Italy we have apéritif after 6:00 pm, when the day is over and we can enjoy friends, colleagues, or business associates as people.
I. I miss my neighbors sticking their nose in my business. There was time I thought they were such a nuisance, but if I got sick, they always came around with soups and cooked food. Now in the States, I live in a very private neighborhood, it’s so private that if I leave for month, no one knows I was gone and if I am sick nobody brings me anything, because nobody knows I am even sick.

Perhaps some of my northern friends in my Italian group will disagree with me. Perhaps the North of Italy is very much like the US, but I come from the South of Italy, where each one of us has a weight in somebody else’s life, friendship is real, family ties are strong, promises are promises and contracts are still done with a handshake. “I see you later”, really means later in the same day, or “I call you later”, really means that person will call again in a few hours. You have no idea how many times I waited for someone to call or to come, when I first arrived in the States and didn’t know any better.

One of the comments of my group of women said we must be in peace with ourself and accept the new place as it is. There is no one living in a foreign country more in peace as I am. I made a great living in a foreign land without anyone’s support and without a family. I am very thankful to have experienced a new life and new customs, but the things I miss, I will always miss and if I think harder the list could be longer. Pardon my lament, it’s so uncharacteristic of me to write a post like this one, it must be the corny Christmas time. Wishing you all great holiday seasons. Ciao,
Valentina
http://www.valentinadesigns.com

Valentina Cirasola, is the principal designer and owner of Valentina Interiors & Designs. She is a trained designer and has been in business since 1990. She works all over the world via Skype line and in the traditional in home consultations producing concepts for remodeling, restoration of historical dwelling, upgrading, décor restyling and home fashion. Vogue magazine and many prominent publications in California featured Valentina’s work. She has made four appearances on T.V. Comcast Channel 15 and interviewed on various Blog Talk Radios. Author of three books all-available on
Amazon: http://goo.gl/xUZfk0
Barnes&Nobles: http://goo.gl/q7dQ3w

Eco-Friendly Nights | Valentina Cirasola | Interior Designer

14 Dec 2013 2 Comments

by Valentina in Home Designs Master Tags: #BambooBedding, #BambooFabrics, #BambooSheets, #BambooTowels, #EcoFriendlyHomes, #MyPersonalAToZChallenge, #RedVoyageIntoColors, Bamboo

Welcome to my personal A to Z Challenge on the subject of Home. The goal, in a year time, is to elaborate and dissect topics regarding the Home not as containers of stuff, but as a cocoon for the soul, mind, and heart. I will touch on decorations, style, trends, history of the home and sometimes technical information.
On Jan. 14, 2014, my challenge will be over. Will I make it covering the subject of HOME with all the letters of the alphabet? The beat is on.

The environment is our concern and our responsibility to keep it as natural as possible. Many industries using dyes, spill their waste products in our seas and navigable waters killing flora and fauna. A few years ago, I stayed at a dear friend’s home and slept on something so incredibly soft that it gave me the impression of being on clouds. The next morning, totally relaxed and refreshed, I asked my friend what I slept on. She only uses sheets and bath towels made of bamboo and I fell in love with the product.

Bamboo http://hd4desktop.online/10271-bamboo-tree-nature-HD-Wallpaper

http://www.ebay.com/itm/4-Piece-Set-Hotel-Comfort-1800-Series-Organic-Bamboo-Bed-Sheets-/380990377249

The bamboo plant is a woody perennial and part of the grass family. It regenerates quickly and doesn’t need pesticides, fertilizer nor a lot of water to grow, to the contrary of cotton which takes almost 1/3 of a pound of fertilizer to grow 1 pound of raw cotton. Plants that regenerate quickly don’t require much agricultural management, reseeding and energy expenditure. Bamboo fabric is biodegradable, meaning it dissolves easily when disused fabric goes in nature with the garbage. To create fabrics only the pulp of bamboo is used, thus the fiber dyes very easy with minimal use of water. The fabrics that don’t dye easily are treated with chemicals and a lot of water, which results in environmental damages.

Did you know that bamboo resists to bacteria, mold, dust mites and mildew? Bed sheets made of bamboo are ideal for people with allergies, hay fever or have highly sensitive skin. In my opinion, the softness and luxurious feel of bamboo sheets, towels and fabrics are superior to any cotton or any thread count, especially because its thermal insulating property keeps the skin cool in the summer and warm in the winter.

Bamboo fabric travels easy, doesn’t require much care and it’s machine washable. Bamboo products are available for babies as well, start them early with the appreciation of nature and good things that comes from it.

The only house we have is the world we live in, save the environment while giving yourself relaxing nights. Ciao,

Valentina
http://www.valentinadesigns.com

Valentina Cirasola transforms and creates spaces realizing people’s dreams in homes, offices, interiors and exteriors. She infuses your everyday living with a certain luxury without taking away a comfortable living.  She offers design consultations on-line through Skype and the traditional in-house consultations, helping people with their design challenge anywhere in the world. She is the author of three books, all available on
Amazon: http://goo.gl/xUZfk0
Barnes&Nobles: http://goo.gl/q7dQ3w

Say It With A Kiss | Valentina Cirasola | Author and Designer

12 Dec 2013 Leave a comment

by Valentina in The Good Life Tags: #BaciPerugina, #ChristmasGifts, #CulinaryItems, #FoodGifts, #ItalianChocolate, #PeruginaBlueBox, #RedVoyageIntoColors

You have many clients, you want to treat them with a nice gesture for spending money at your business during the year. You can’t give anything personal, you can’t give expensive gifts to all of them, but it’s Christmas after all, something sweet and stylish is ideal and it’s the thought that counts any way.

Baci Perugina Bue Box

The blue box with lovers kissing under the stars carries the phrase:
“Say I love you the Italian way” with twenty-one bonbons of dark chocolate and hazelnuts to ensure a luscious pleasure. This is a chocolate with many meanings and many emotions. Silver foil wraps each bonbons with a different message of love written in four languages and printed on light transparent vellum paper. Those messages are highly collectible.

Hard to believe this Italian sweet little thing called Bacio (Kiss) was first named Cazzotto (Hand Punch). Knowing that a woman invented the harsh name it puzzles me even more. Luisa Spagnoli the owner of a chocolate factory in Perugia, Italy in the early 1920s and later fashion designer, while trying to contain the production cost, invented the little morsel by simply collecting the crumbs of all the nuts from the workers’ table, molded them together, stuck one whole hazelnut on top and covered it with liquid chocolate ganache. To her eyes what came out seemed like a fist with a knuckle, thus she called it the Punch.

Buying Baci (plural for bacio) at an Italian café is almost a mischievous thing, as Baci since the ‘40s have become a symbol of love, desire and romantic dreams. The cafe’ attendant will always have that curious look on and wondering who the Baci will be for.

The blue box with lovers kissing under the stars is recognizable among the sea of chocolate on the store’s shelves. The idea for box cover’s design came from a painting called “The Kiss” by Francesco Hayez and Federico Seneca marketed it as a the box of dreams that never end. It was only later around the late ‘40s that the name changed to Bacio (Kiss) to became the symbol of love and Valentine’s day. The advertisement of the era said that “wherever there is love, there is a Bacio Perugina”.

Don’t worry, if you give the sweet blue box to clients, you will not run into that particular situation of misunderstood intentions. You will only show a high appreciation to have had them during the year as your clients and supporters. Just so you know, the small bonbons will capture their heart. Ciao,
Valentina
http://www.valentinadesigns.com

Valentina Cirasola has been in business as an interior designer since 1990 improving people’s life by changing their spaces. Most often she designs kitchens and wine grottos; outdoor kitchens and outdoor rooms; great rooms and entertainment rooms. Her deep interest in food led her as an autodidact in the studies of food in history, natural remedies, nutrition and well-being. Finally she wrote two books on Italian regional cuisine and one book on color theory. Get your copy of Valentina’s books on
Amazon: http://goo.gl/xUZfk0
Barnes&Nobles: http://goo.gl/q7dQ3w

Buffet À La Française | Valentina Cirasola | Interior Designer

06 Dec 2013 Leave a comment

by Valentina in Home Designs Master Tags: #BuffetÀLaFrançaise, #ChristmasDinner, #DecoratingWithAntiques, #MyPersonalAToZChallenge, #RedVoyageIntoColors, #ServiceÀLaRusse

Welcome to my personal A to Z Challenge on the subject of Home. The goal, in a year time, is to elaborate and dissect topics regarding the Home not as containers of stuff, but as a cocoon for the soul, mind, and heart. I will touch on decorations, style, trends, history of the home and sometimes technical information.
Now I have two months left to complete my challenge. The beat is on.

Just in time for the holidays to converse on the choice of a buffet-style dinner party or sitting down formal dinner. Both need a pleasing design, menu planning, and serving strategy. As a designer, I can tell you that formal dining rooms are disappearing from homes. The dining space is now used to make a great room, which includes living and family room in an open space attached to the kitchen. The buffet serving style is more congenial to today’s living. Servants are not necessary, we only need good food and to spend quality time with our guests.

Service à la Française

McKenzieChild

After dinner treat – Service à la Russe in the living

Buffet style food or self-serve style is an invention of less than 100 years. Food was always consumed sitting down at a table with many servants around attending guests and always ready to fill the wine glass, take away empty plates, or light candles that had blown off. Service à la Française (French style) of the middle 1800s in the Victorian era is the closest way to buffet style of today, food came out of the kitchen all together in an impressive, but often impractical display and placed on large pieces of furniture that now we call Buffet.

Often food arrived covered with silver domes, but due to the distant location of the kitchen in respect to the dining area, they arrived cold. Guests could admire the beautiful display of food on the table and helped themselves to dishes close by, but had to rely on servants to bring other food or wines and to change plates and cutlery. The table for service à la Française was beautifully made up, generally with a minimum of a three-course meals in addition to desserts. Soup and various terrines were on one side of the table, meat and fish on the opposite side, many other specialties in the middle of the table and all sizes and shapes cutleries around the edges of the table. Almost just like we arrange a buffet today.

The host’s duty to carve meats at the buffet table with all that production of food was very challenging. Today, at a buffet-style party we would have a cutting station for meats and fish separate from other food.

In the early 19th century Russian Ambassador Alexander Kurakin brought to France the Service à la Russe (service in the Russian style), which is the style of dining that involves courses being brought to the table sequentially up to dessert. Before serving desserts the table was cleared out even of breadcrumbs. After desserts, guests left the dining table and moved to the living room or sitting room to sip coffee, tea, liqueurs and smoking cigars.

Restaurants have adopted the service à la Russe style as well as people in their home for sitting down dinner parties in those few rare occasions when families get together on important holidays and get to enjoy the formal dining room. Various cultures in history have used some form of a buffet as furniture to serve food from. Usually, the bottom part stores tableware and linens and the top part is for displaying appetizers, bottles of wines, desserts, extra flatware, and glassware.

Italians like simple lines buffets as in all their home décor. Food is always the main protagonist of our dinner parties and as long as there is food on display, the rest of the décor will disappear in its stylish silence. Ciao,
Valentina

http://www.valentinadesigns.com

It’s my hope that through my writing I am enriching your aesthetic sensibility towards design, style and inspire you to live in beauty. I have loved my profession as an interior designer since 1990. I am here ready to offer consultations on-line if you need it. Check out my latest book on colors ©RED-A Voyage Into Colors, available on
Amazon: http://goo.gl/xUZfk0
Barnes&Nobles: http://goo.gl/q7dQ3w

Italian Christmas Market | Valentina Cirasola | Author and Designer

04 Dec 2013 Leave a comment

by Valentina in The Good Life Tags: #ItalianChristmasMarket, #ItalianFashion, #ItalianFood, #ItalianMarketSanFrancisco, #SFMuseoItaloAmericano, #ValentinaExpressions, #ValentinaExpressionsEtsy

Italian Christmas Market

©RED - A Voyage Into Colors- Author Valentina Cirasola

The first of its kind, inspired by markets all over Italy and Europe, this Italian Christmas Market makes its first début on Dec. 7 and 8, 2013.
A group of Italian women called D.I.V.E., expatriate from Italy living abroad organized the market.

The expositors all expatriate Italian women as well, gifted with unusual talents will present their custom-made creations for the first time. The market is a showcase of “Made In Italy By The Bay”, all items strictly made by artisans to promote Italian creativity. We can enumerate a variety of:

• artisanal Italian gourmet foods
• handmade jewelry
• Italian fashion accessories, luxury bags
• Italian language books
• several unique craft items all made by Italian Artisans
• travel (villa rentals, customized travel and weddings)

• I am one of the D.I.V.E. and will be there showcasing my three books, custom-made crocheted fashion items and personalized trips to the southern region of Puglia, Italy.

The Italian Christmas Market will take place at the Italo-Americano Museum, Fort Mason in San Francisco, CA. Dec. 7-8, 2013. Time: 10:00 am – 6:00 pm.

If you are closer to San Francisco, please join us for two days of fun. There will be a storyteller to entertain the kids, while parents shop. If nothing else, being among an Italian community of highly spirited women will put you in a cheerful state of mind. Ciao,
Valentina

http://www.valentinadesigns.com

Valentina Cirasola is a trained Fashion and Interior Designer, working in USA and Europe. Born in Italy and in a family of artists, style surrounded her since the beginning of her life. Her decades of experience led her to offer consultations in both fashion and interior. “Vogue” magazine and many prominent publications in California featured Valentina’s work. She also has made four appearances on T.V. Comcast Channel 15. She is the author of three books, all available on
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The Eye Of Your Home | Valentina Cirasola | Interior Designer

02 Dec 2013 2 Comments

by Valentina in Home Designs Master Tags: #ArchitecturalDetails, #BrunelleschiDome, #BullEyeWindow, #MyPersonalAToZChallenge, #OculiWindow, #OeilDeBoeufWindow, #RedVoyageIntoColors, Palladio, Pantheon

Welcome to my personal A to Z Challenge on the subject of Home. The goal, in a year time, is to elaborate and dissect topics regarding the Home not as containers of stuff, but as a cocoon for the soul, mind, and heart. I will touch on decorations, style, trends, history of the home and sometimes technical information.
Now I have two months left to complete my challenge. The beat is on.

What is an oculus (plural oculi)? It’s an eye-like opening or ornament found in many Neoclassical, Baroque and Byzantine buildings of Italy and Europe. It is often a round window and less often a circular opening at the apex of a dome. The Pantheon in Rome is the finest example, its oculus measures 27 ft in diameter. The purpose of the oculus was to collect rainwater, which was channeled into drains for later usage. The water functioned as an early example of air conditioning as it kept the building cool during summer months. The other necessary function was to allow the sunlight in for natural light in the building.

The world admires Filippo Brunelleschi’s Dome and Santa Maria Del Fiore Cathedral in Florence, Palladian villas in the Veneto area of Italy and Syrian Byzantine buildings all carrying oculi, but I really wonder if the mass tourism cares to know about these architectural inventions that stood the taste of time and are still loved today.

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Photo: Florence – Eleonora Altomare – Unsplash

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Opéra municipal de Clermont-Ferrand, œil de bœuf – Photo: Stockholm -Wikimedia Commons

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Photo: Fernando Tapia -unsplash

During the Byzantine Empire the oculi were common details to see on buildings from 5th to 10th century in Constantinople, however during the Italian Renaissance the open oculi on cupolas were substituted with round windows and skylights and in the Baroque era, round windows with an eyebrow on top or ornate stone carvings around an oculus took a more elongate form than circular. The French called them œil de boeuf (bull’s eye).

In my early design career, one of the projects I designed with oculi gave me a lot more satisfaction. It was a remodeling of a kitchen for a gentleman who had devoted his life to sea navigation. For him, I choose naval style cabinetry with ship porthole on each door, decorative brass details, and hardware (see photos of my model). After the kitchen was completed we went on to remodeling the rest of the house, all in the naval style.

In modern décor, round windows and openings are not very common due to the high manufacturing cost, but when there is one, it is usually a very good-looking style. I love the Brooklyn Clock loft round window I found on Pinterest.

Looking at a view through a round shape is very natural. It’s like your own eye projecting subtle illumination in the interior spaces. My suggestion is to spend money on solid architectural details that will add value to the home and leave out the meaningless details. Solutions are limitless, ask me if you need ideas. Ciao,
Valentina
http://www.valentinadesigns.com