January | 2014 | Valentina Expressions

Yellow Freesia | Valentina Cirasola | Interior Designer

03 Jan 2014 Leave a comment

by Valentina in Home Designs Master Tags: #2014PantoneColors, #2014SpringColors, #MyPersonalAToZChallenge, #RedVoyageIntoColors, #YellowFreesia, #YellowFreesiaWeddings

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, I am almost ready to reach my finishing line.

This year 2014 is based on balance. We must balance work and play, soul and emotions, body and mind, food and drink, sleep and time we spend awake. This is a year to spend in colors, balancing hues, tints and tones, pastels and bright colors. It will be a playful game. The spirit of this year is to be refreshed and revived, but not everyone will look good in pastel colors. Not to worry there is a choice for everyone, pastels will give you light, the bright colors will give you energy and the neutrals will bridge them all. The colors of this year can be mixed or they can stand on their own.

Yellow Freesia is part of the energy palette of this 2014 year, it is tropical, flowery, warm, and spicy, it has illumination like the sun. Yellow is the “make you feel good” color because around yellow the brain releases more serotonin, which is the chemical that makes us feel good. Rooms exposed to North benefit from yellow on the walls. It will appear as sunshine has parked in the room day and night. Yellow is not a provoking color, but it stimulates the nervous system, thus around people who suffer hypertension can provoke anger (from my book ©RED- A Voyage Into Colors).

To tone down yellow freesia, whether you will be wearing it this coming spring or redecorating your home, look at the Pantone palette and choose the nearby cool colors:
Yellow Freesia with Grey Paloma, or Yellow Freesia with Green Hemlock. Sand will keep Yellow Freesia balanced.
If your skin has a pinkish tone don’t wear Freesia around the face, wear it from the waist down. The bluish and greenish colors will be better on the upper part of the body, especially if you have blue or green eyes.

If you are getting married this spring, what better color to decorate your wedding reception and start your new life in a luminous color than Yellow Freesia?
(Photo credits are given to Pantone and respective owners)

post-milestone-20-1x

This sticker with a number 20 marks my 20th post of my A To Z Blogging Challenge. I have six more letters to cover with the subjects of Home. Thank you WordPress for being such a good blog host. 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.
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2014 Chapter | Valentina Cirasola | Interior Designer

02 Jan 2014 Leave a comment

by Valentina in Home Designs Master Tags: #BerniniBaldacchino, #GratitudeDay, #NewYearCelebrations, #PopeFrancis, #RedVoyageIntoColors, #StPeterBasilica

My native homeland is ever so distant especially during the holidays. The turn of the year arrives in Italy nine hours before it happens in USA. To feel a little closer to home, I follow their events on the Italian TV and celebrate with the first bottle of champagne at 3:00 pm, midnight Italian time. While waiting for 2014 to arrive across the pond, I watched a replay mass from the Vatican in Rome. St. Peter’s Basilica was stunning as ever and full of faithful.

(Photo: Wikimedia Foundation)

Pope Francis spoke from the altar under the magnificent Bernini’s Baldacchino. His words of love rang out in the world strong and decisive. He said every new year is a new book made of 365 empty pages onto which we can write our life starting on the first of January. I had never thought of it that way.

Last year I started a kind of gratitude jar with notes of every highlight of my days that I would read at the end of the year. I filled it with notes of people and events that mattered, made my days and taught me something. Reading the notes on the 31st of december was like seeing a sweet movie on slow motion.

I will start my 2014 chapter with a thank you note to my top commenters on my blog, as WordPress says in my annual report:

http://tbmarkinson.wordpress.com

http://bluebutterfliesandme.wordpress.com

http://shareandconnect.wordpress.com

http://terry1954.wordpress.com

http://greendoorhospitality.wordpress.com

Also, I would like to thank all my readers and followers from different parts of the world, 133 countries, and wish you all a splendid 2014. Ciao,
Valentina

http://www.valentinadesigns.com

This is my 24th year in design business and I am not showing signs of wanting to quit. I will be evolving in different directions, while still helping people realizing their dream spaces in homes, offices, interiors, exteriors and improving restaurants or cafés. Check out my books on

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HAPPY NEW YEAR And A WORD FROM RUDYARD KIPLING

01 Jan 2014 7 Comments

by Valentina in Home Designs Master Tags: #EndOfYearCelebrations, #EndOfYearSpecialFood, #HolidayFood, #NewYearWishes, #ValentinaInteriorsDesigns

To my friend Josephine, I will add my words. It is true, on Dec. 31 we celebrate the death of one year and the birth of a new one and we celebrate it with food. Food feeds the soul and brings people together. In this new year, please bring good food into your life and not diets, “good food to put you in the mood” as Josephine says.

In this end of the year, don’t forget to wear something RED and to make a wish at midnight, it will be the one to come true.
Thank you all for reading me and for sharing your life’s experiences with me. It’s a load of fun and learning. Happy New Year, wishing you all a splendid 2014.
Valentina

My Home Food, That's Amore

The hour is drawing nigh here in Italy … girls and boys are dressing up and looking forward to a roaring “vigilia” (eve); a lot of them wearing red underwear for good luck and some of them already brandishing what will be very noisy New Year’s crackers (“i botti”) and/or fireworks that are so frowned upon because they can be dangerous and because they frighten dogs. I remember when my father and my uncle used to draw out a hunting gun (sorry, I can’t remember what brand it was) and shoot a few rounds after midnight (yes! from the balcony of an apartment in the middle of a town!) and we all thought this jolly good fun. All that incredible overwhelming display of emotion via boom boom boom extremely loud crack crack crack ta ta ta ta ta noise. There is something orgiastic about New Year’s eve and we shouldn’t…

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