A Conversation On Black Color | Valentina Cirasola | Interior Designer

Recently I dealt with a client, a young bride whose husband likes a monochromatic color tone of black, grey, little white and no other colors. He is a high-tech engineer, apparently sees his world in greyish tones from his clothes to home décor. She writes:
“Dear Valentina, it is a common belief among youngsters that if we do not dress in black, we are not trendy, therefore those people like me who don’t overdo with black are considered outsiders. Furthermore, another common belief is that colors are a bit precarious and those who wear colors are unstable and insecure.”
I really don’t know where this one comes from. colors are LIFE and that’s a fact!!!

I told her: “Think about the blue of the sky and the sea, the yellow of the sun, the green of the woods … the color of every single flower…. colors are the nature that surrounds us. I believe that adopting the “all black effect” will make us move away from nature and wean us from all-natural things.”
In her note, my young client seems unhappy about not being able to express herself in her new home with the colors she likes.

The secret to creating harmony in a home depends on a few elements:
1. adapt the colors for interiors and accessories to reflect the characters of the people living in the house;
2. understand how people will use and live that space;
3. know how to compromise by mixing each desire for items or colors both people like. A pink bedroom with ducks, doilies, and ruffles is out of the question when a man who likes streamlines. modern and graphic colors sleeps in the same bedroom. The same way it is not appropriate to eat in black dishes, just because only one likes it.

Canvas Home.com

Following trends to the letter, as trends dictate, is not that good of thing either. For a while it has been fashionable to design black kitchens, to have a table set with black dishes, black cutlery, and black glasses. Youngster under thirty, are going nuts for this trend, my young client’s husband is one of them. Yes, it might be chic to see it in a shop’s window, however, serving food in a black dish….
Just imagine this picture:
you are sitting in a restaurant in Positano waiting for your plate of spaghetti and seafood to arrive. You are already anticipating tasting the sea. The plate arrives with an incredible aroma in a riot of colors that bombards you. There is the black of mussels’ shells against the orange of the mussels’ flesh, then shades of ochre and red in the clams, the red of the shrimps, finally a handful of green parsley all over. Imagining this specialty being served on a white porcelain plate is one thing, imagining the same specialty being served on a black plate is a totally different thing!!!
I already know which of the two my young client would prefer: the white plate and I would too.

(Click on each photo to view it larger).

Impepata Cozze

How can these trendy people drink a glass of red wine in a black glass? It is a crime, I am thinking to myself, and yet her husband does.
Drinking red wine in a crystal glass will confuse me just by looking at all the rays of colors reflected in the light. A crystal glass will also emphasize the jewel tones of the red wine and enhance the pleasure of tasting.

A goblet of red wine

I do not know if this obvious and simple example of the spaghetti with seafood in Positano or drinking red wine out of crystal glass and not in a black glass amazed my young client, but since she is on my same colorful wavelength, I suggested to describe this scene to her husband and watch his reaction. Eating colorful food in the right colored dishes is healthy for the brain/eye activity and it is a thankful celebration of each time we eat.

She tells me: “I know you love your food to be presented on the right plate, with the right shape, with the right colors and the right tablecloth. I don’t blame you for being so fussy, but precise. In the end, your way adds beauty and pleasure to the table”.

It was easy for me to interpret her thoughts and doubts about being in black all day long. Sincerely, I have the impression people surrounded by black clothes and black interiors mourn their lives. With all my heart, I hope to have converted my client’s husband to a bit of color.
This is a part of a short excerpt from a conversation that took place online between myself and my young client in Europe, a lover of colors and architecture, who lives in Switzerland and I have only met through Skype, never in person. Our professional exchange of ideas brought a beautiful friendship, one that doesn’t feel the distance, nor the oceans. Ciao.
Valentina
http://www.valentinadesigns.com

Valentina Cirasola is an Italian Interior Designer working in the USA and Europe since 1990, specializing in interior and exterior, color analysis, 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. RAI–Italian National TV invited her to appear in “Cara Francesca Show” and she has made four appearances on T.V. Comcast Channel 15. Author of four published books, one of which is on the subject of colors ©RED – A Voyage Into Colors.
Barnes&Nobles: http://goo.gl/q7dQ3w
The newly published book ©The Road to Top Of The World
paperback – https://tinyurl.com/y7tuyfh8
Kindle – https://amzn.to/2H7ipGE