November | 2016 | Valentina Expressions

A Day In The Past | Valentina Cirasola | Author and Designer

29 Nov 2016 2 Comments

by Valentina in The Good Life Tags: #CharlesDickensFair, #VictorianColors, #VictorianEngland, #VictorianFashion, #VictorianInterior, #VictorianStyle

Sometimes I wonder if I was born in the wrong century. The late part of the 1800s up to the end of the 1930s is a time I favor the most. That was the time of strait-laced language and refined sensibilities, but I find that period full of modern energy as well. Innovations started to change the way people did things and if you watched Downton Abbey, you know those people had seen some good examples of innovations from the advent of telephone and electric light, to bread toaster, refrigerator and curling iron. With a little reluctance, they embraced the arrival of the technology and it was a non-stop of inventions from then on.

(Above: Bread Toaster circa 1890 by Landers, Frary & Clark)

(Above: Victorian sterling curling iron late 1800)

Various historical style movements and exotic décors influenced the architecture at the end of 1800. The revivals of Greek, Gothic, and Renaissance designs were fused with contemporary engineering and adapted to the new technology. We all love the Art Nouveau of Victor Horta, a Belgium architect-designer whose designs were fluid, sensuous and in harmony with nature.

Nature had become the main muse for all artists, they used flora and fauna in any ornaments. They brought all the natural shapes found in nature to embellish buildings and decorative arts.
The same fluidity was found in women’s fashion. From the Victorian time characterized by bustle skirts, sexy corsets, plumes and laces to the straight shorter dresses of 1920, fringes and cigarette holders. Women had a regal, elegant poise and even in the simplicity of some of their dresses, they carried an aura of sophistication.

I am wearing a cul de crin

Fiddle shop

At the corner bar

Sailor’s house

Street women

Group

Queen’s soldiers

Victorian interior

Inventor shop

Hat shop

I like to go to the Dickens Fair every year before Christmas to feel that strait-laced language and refined sensibilities we have lost. It makes me feel happy being in the past for only one day. The comical part of dressing up with a ton of layered clothes is the moment a woman needs to go to the restroom. I am sure women of that period mastered their needs, but modern women still wonder how they did it.

Live performances on stage are true to the period, the actors in the isles of the compound act out pieces of street life as it would have been in old London, there are many shops to visit with rigorously Victorian style merchandise for sale, there is even period food, everyone working in the fair is trained to speak with old English expressions and I am happy. Yes, I know I have already lived in that time. Ciao,
Valentina
http://www.valentinadesigns.com

Designer Valentina Cirasola is a creative master in the art of living who makes little distinction between work and play. She expresses her creativity in the homes she designs or decorates, in her book on the subject of colors, in the accessories and furniture she designs, in her cookery books and in the way her energy influences people around her. Do you need a special attire? She is ready to design an original piece for you whatever the occasion. Get a copy of her books here:
Amazon: http://goo.gl/xUZfk0
Barnes&Nobles: http://goo.gl/q7dQ3w

Romance And Luxury | Valentina Cirasola | Interior Designer

18 Nov 2016 Leave a comment

by Valentina in Home Designs Master Tags: #BohemianStyle, #FarmHouseStyle, #HomeWellness, #NapaStyle, #ReclaimedWoodDoors, #RusticLuxuryStyle, #RusticStyle

I am finding that some of the clients I am getting lately, high rollers and high-profile with demanding professions want to come home to empty spaces, minimally decorated and not necessarily done with expensive items, but surely functional that also assure comfort. Up to here nothing new, or nothing out of the ordinary, people who liked minimalism have always existed. What I noticed is something else. Wellness and peaceful home décor are the few elements they want to find after a hectic day at work and tedious hours spent in traffic. (Click on each photo to view it larger).

(Courtesy photo: Traditional Home)

They want to fantasize and romanticize a room with a little echo in the past, the past they have not lived in person and might have heard about from parents and grandparents and long for. They want a Bohemian style mixed with retro style, a bit of farmhouse mixed with urban style, repurposed wood for new style wall paneling and repurposed barn doors as interior doors. There is a resurgent desire for items corroded by time with a more current look of natural eco-friendly fabrics. These to me are signs of nostalgia for a gone by era. I am only an observer of customs, a curious person and wondering why this new millennium borrows style from past times and doesn’t have its own style to which later people would refer to as the Millennium style ….

(https://www.3senstock.top/ProductDetail.aspx?iid=206541067&pr=84.99)

(Courtesy photo: Napa Style) – I placed this coffee table in one of my client’s family room. She is very happy her two kids can use it as a table to eat dinner while watching TV.

The new clients might want a butcher block with benches as a dining table set with a large farmhouse old and rusted chandelier overhead, a sofa perfectly new-made today with an old consumed leather patina combined with lush pillows and a great big TV screen from wall to wall.

(Mongolian Lamb Pillows – West Elm)

(Grandiroad) – I placed this chair and ottoman in another clients’ home, she is very happy of the choice.
Muted colors and simple window treatments without frills and straight forward panels contribute to the calmness of the new luxury-rustic spaces.

Romance and luxury go hand in hand these days. Luxury today is intended as practical and less formal style, it must dress a room to ensure the usual comfort, the usual esthetics, the usual warm and inviting atmosphere.

(West Elm)

Industrial, vintage, mid-century and Deco are the styles of repeating history. Perhaps in 20-30 more years we will go back to Victorian Era. 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 and with 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 has been interviewed on various Blog Talk Radios. Author of three books all-available on
Amazon: http://goo.gl/xUZfk0
Barnes&Nobles: http://goo.gl/q7dQ3w

Neutral Meets Texture | Valentina Cirasola | Interior Designer

07 Nov 2016 4 Comments

by Valentina in Home Designs Master Tags: #HomeDecorTexture, #HomeFacelift, #NeutralColors, #TextureandColors, Decorating

What to do when a client has sturdy furniture, well maintained, traditional in style but showing signs of tiredness, in the sense of age? In some cases, one can tell if the date of furniture is 1970 or 2007. The kind of furniture I suggest when restyling a room, always follow the client’s style and taste, must be timeless, not necessarily too modern, too antique, too old, or too shabby unless that is exactly the client’s preference.
(Click on each photo to view it larger).

Let’s go back to the tired looking furniture. If I am hired to revamp rooms and not remodeling, that’s the moment Valentina dances around client’s possessions.
A recent client who heard me speaking about colors during an event, thought the moment had arrived to upgrade her décor. She wanted to keep only the best pieces of furniture and accessories she owned, along with the gray wall-to-wall carpet. My goal was to make the gray wall-to-wall carpet disappearing in the colors she never used in her life, exactly the vibrant colors she was afraid to use. It is a challenging task to convince someone that vibrant colors are perfect for a new home energy.

The searching in local stores and online was long, meetings with clients and emails poured like a rain, preparation of many presentation boards and price talks was a daily task.
At the arrival of the first order, she was a bit reluctant to open the first packages she received at her home.
Do I open it? What if I don’t like it? Questions of this sort crossed my client’s mind. I had heard of designers who pushed their ideas on clients and had to send back to manufactures or stores all the items they had ordered, because when they arrived, didn’t meet the client’s taste. However, after she opened the first package, she was so surprisingly happy of my choices and when all the other packages followed created a Christmas type of atmosphere, that moment we can’t wait to be surprised. Placing all the items in the right rooms produced a new excitement and pleased her.
Those vibrant colors she resisted for so long are not harmful after all and worked well together with her existing furniture.

From there it was a descending road to complete the project, every choice was easy and there was no discussion. I had gained her trust. Needless to say, when spaces are open and adjacent to each other it’s hard not to spill in other areas of the home and so we did.

To get a client’s trust, it takes a lot of designer skills. We are psychologists, we must ask a load of questions at the start of the project, we must pay attention to things said between the lines and even know zodiac signs to understand the character and the planets which dominates the clients we are dealing from time to time. To some people it might seem a bit of a jumble of beliefs, but it has worked for me since the beginning of my design career.

With her white and beige furniture, two colors I particularly don’t care for, the only thing to do was to sculpt the décor with texture, colors, and a more modern details. The dining room chandelier now has golden-yellow shades and doesn’t match the black upholstered dining chairs anymore. Many Tiffany style lamps now bring an array of colors in the room when the lamps are turned on. A lot of crystal accessories shimmer in the light. The newly upholstered chairs with the bird fabric mix a bit of folk style in the classic décor, the rug doesn’t match the sofa anymore and adds movement to the surrounding. The gray carpet is no longer noticeable. I succeed in my goal, I tried not to match and the client is in heaven. She thinks in colors now and especially in contrasting colors. Ciao,
Valentina
http://www.valentinadesigns.com

It’s my hope that through my writing and my stories I am enriching your aesthetic sensibility towards design, style and inspiring you to live in beauty. I have loved my profession as an interior-fashion designer since 1990. I am here ready to offer consultations on-line if you need. 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

Secrets Of Dressing You First | Valentina Cirasola | Designer

03 Nov 2016 4 Comments

by Valentina in Friday Fashion Tags: #ImageConsulting, #PersonalFashionDesigner, #SecretsOfDressingUp, #ValentinaCirasolaFashionDesigner, #WardrobeAssessment, Fashion

Welcome to a new Friday Fashion episode.
I will be hosting a fashion seminar on Nov. 13, 2016 at 10:30 in Los Gatos, CA. This is the third seminar of this kind this year.

(Graphic Source: Fashion cliparts.co)

In my 26 years of designing career I have built home style and comfortable spaces.
I have built stylish wardrobe, personalized line of clothing for each person and built closets to host those beautiful clothes I design for them.
I have built flavorful food through my books.
The list goes on and on. With my fashion studies and an Italian degree in fashion, I made a business for several years before I became an interior designer. Today, I am bringing forward this knowledge and help women finding their best look and style in which they can feel comfortable, beautiful and powerful regardless of age. If you are:

Newly divorced and want to be seen again;
You lost or gained weight;
You are tired of the same look
You often say: “I have nothing to wear” ;
You want powerful work clothes;
You want to gain self-esteem;
You want to look good anytime, anywhere

This Workshop Is For YOU.

Find the event on Eventbrite. Click on the link to register:

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/become-friend-with-your-closet-and-your-body-tickets-28674216353

Lunch is included. If any of you is closer to Los Gatos, CA, I hope to see you there.

Ciao,
Valentina
https://valentinadesigns.com/services#fashion-services

I am Valentina, a trained Fashion and Interior Designer, born in Italy in a family of artists. Style has surrounded me since the very beginning of my life. My many years of experience in design business led me to offer consultations in both fashion and interiors, so much so that I can remodel homes as well as personal images. I am passionate about colors and I encourage my clients to express their individual style in their homes and with the clothes they wear. I am the author of three books, one of which is a book on color theory:
©RED-A Voyage Into Colors available on
Amazon and Barnes & Nobles.
Amazon: http://goo.gl/qNxXrB

Veranda | Valentina Cirasola | Interior Designer

01 Nov 2016 Leave a comment

by Valentina in Home Designs Master Tags: #ArchitecturalVeranda, #BalconyWithGlassDoors, #BuildingsWithVerandas, #EuropeanVerandas, #ItalianVeranda, #Veranda, Balcony

Ah… balconies with glass! Shut those glass doors and still see the world going by, keep noises away and still feel the hustle and bustle of the city. Inside, the veranda is a personal decorated island. Plants, bistro table and nice lights create a muffled world where one can paint, write, read, eat or rest. It’s a city life stacked on top of each other, but with character and style.
The sun will still come in, kiss the floor and infuse the room with warm energy. Watch the rain trickling down the glass or the wind ruffling up the trees and feel part of nature.
Winter is out there and you are protected inside the veranda. The summer will encourage to open the glass doors of the veranda and let the curtains flow in the breeze. It is just a nice place to be.

In Italy my native country a veranda is an extension of a room with the view of the world below. It is a well-lived place, some people hang their laundry, some cook out there to keep the house free of cooking smells, some people sew and knit, some practice dance steps and others entertain in gossips. It is our way to be in company with the city, soak it in, knowing all that goes around without being a part of it.
In countries different than Italy, verandas only decorate buildings, they are not viewed as a social space and really no one sits to enjoy a nice piece of architecture.

A veranda is not a front porch or a roofed backyard patio.
A veranda is not an open balcony or a terrace.

(Villa Necchi – Milano, Italy)

A veranda is a protruding space from a building, enclosed on all sides by a railing and glass, sometimes frosted glass, sometimes plain transparent and sometimes decorated glass.
Some verandas are small and some are big enough to have seating arrangements for a few people.

They are most popular in Southern Europe, New Orléans and some areas in South America, all places where life evolves from the start of the day well into the small hours of the night and where people welcome open doors.
Ciao,
Valentina
http://www.valentinadesigns.com

As an Italian designer and true to my origins, I am well-known to bring originality to people’s homes, but that’s not where I stop and any situation is a perfect opportunity to design something out of the ordinary. Check out my three books on
Amazon: http://goo.gl/xUZfk0
Barnes&Nobles: http://goo.gl/q7dQ3w