Valentina

Between Renaissance and Liberty Styles

04 Jul 2025 6 Comments

by Valentina in The Good Life Tags: #BariCulture, #ItalianLiving, #LifeStyle, #RenaissanceArchitecture, #TravelItaly, #TravelMemoirs, #TravelPuglia, Photography

One day, I woke up and found myself in a Renaissance town. From my window, Brunelleschi’s dome greeted me every morning. I couldn’t believe my eyes! Such a treasure was only a five-minute walk away from my hotel. It was a historical building as well. I woke up in history and went to bed in history. Excitement filled me every moment of the day. Being born in an exceptional country, where beauty is the password, is an indescribable feeling. Dreaming of being in a historical place and pretending to be in a different era was a reality. Every corner and every small detail of the buildings spoke of history. I had all the intentions of enjoying and soaking in beauty. This was Florence. It is one of the most prominent Renaissance towns in Italy. Travellers, artists, financiers, and tradespeople have been invading it since the first building was erected.

Everything interested me, and not only architectural details. I took pictures of designs on street pavement, store displays, building corners and niches. I snapped photos of stairs, roofs, ceiling designs and stores’ entry doors. I photographed patisseries, gelato stores and restaurants. I immortalized statues, windows, balconies, artwork and horse-drawn carriages. Florence is a concentration of beauty that got me to tears a few times.

It was a sad moment when I spotted a tourist yawning in front of the Davide by Michelangelo. Those are the fast travellers. Those are the people who visit 10 countries in a week. They take a selfie in front of a masterpiece just to say they have been there. They buy a t-shirt and go home. During their travel, they learn nothing and don’t even remember where they have been. It was also sad to see Florence turned into an amusement park for tourists. This transformation is happening in all the Italian art cities.

My speaking engagements were well received, and I decided to repeat the experience next year. The talks were on “Color Intelligence” and “House Harmony”. The same subjects for more speaking engagements took me down to Puglia, my native region. The landscape in this region is very different from Florence. The countryside is flat. The coastline of the Adriatic Sea is long. It covers 900 km of many cities and small towns. The air is fresh with sea breeze and all four winds of the Mediterranean. People of this region are happier, friendlier, louder and more creative in the living philosophy. Food in Puglia is lighter than Florentine food. There are no heavy sauces and no creams. There are no braised meats and no heavy stuffed pasta. The cuisine includes fish, a wide variety of vegetables, lightly cooked meats and fresh fruit.

The main city, Bari, was built by a Frenchman, Joaquin Murat. He was Napoleon’s brother-in-law. The city was constructed in the style of French architecture of the 1800s. Later, the fascist dictator Mussolini brought many modern upgrades to the infrastructure. He also refurbished the city centre in the Liberty style. This was a floral, ornate, romantic and appealing style of the early 1900s.

The city of Bari today is no longer the city I left when I emigrated to America. People’s mentality now is open to novelties. Throughout the years, the city managers added many public events that changed people’s lives. Tourists flock to the area as there are more things to do and see. There is more harmony and willingness to keep the city alive. Traffic, I must say, is still chaotic and disorganized.

Walking along the promenade on the Adriatic Sea, I pondered what is there on the other side of the pond. Was it all worth it when I decided to move away from all this beauty? I was in Italy for two months and completely forgot about the world; I didn’t even open the computer once. I was happy to live that life. It was too familiar to me. Despite the changes in society, it is still a society that highly values human personal relationships. I remember one day I walked into a very small family-owned haberdashery store to buy a couple of buttons. After fifteen minutes of conversation, the store owner offered me a cup of espresso coffee. We were conversing as if we had been friends for a long time. I didn’t even know the woman, nor had I shopped there before. Her hospitality was genuine and I ended up buying more than two buttons.

I walked along the promenade on the Adriatic Sea often, pondering. I thought that after two months, it would be difficult to return to a modern society. In that modern world I live in now, buildings all look the same. There are no embroideries on the façade or balconies with flowers. There are no phantasmagorical designs, statues, or antiquities to admire. People are too busy grinding through their day. No one offers me a cup of coffee just because I entered their shop. I created a good life in America, no doubt.
I will never know how my life as an artist might have turned out. What if I had lived in one artistic city? I could have fed my soul with all artistic expressions. In that special place, where even just looking at a building or a panorama could ignite a spark of emotion. Ciao.
Valentina

Copyright © 2025 Valentina Cirasola, All Rights Reserved

Valentina Cirasola is an interior-fashion consultant, color therapist, author of 6 published books, a storyteller, and a longtime blogger. She was recently certified as a “Color Analyst.” Her books offer non-fictional, practical ideas. These ideas can be applied in the home, fashion, cooking, and travel.
Get a copy of her books here: Amazon and Barnes&Noble

An Art Deco Evening

07 Apr 2025 16 Comments

by Valentina in The Good Life Tags: #ArtDecoDinner, #ArtDecoFashion, #ArtDecoStyle, #DiningInStyle, #Style, Fashion, Food

I often dream of slicing through time to find myself in a different era. I feel influenced when I watch period films or read stories from other times. I believe every era had rough times one way or another. Still, when my fantasy plays, I notice things that today aren’t here anymore. For this reason, every now and then, I organize theme dinners. For two or three hours, I enjoy reliving the atmosphere of another era. Yesterday, Sunday, was the turn of an Art Deco dinner. I asked the guests to dress to match the era, even with only a few details. This helps everyone feel part of a relatively prosperous and frivolous era. Guests are usually happy to follow the suggestion. They often show up fully dressed in a costume of the specific era. Here, costumes can be easily rented or bought at a reasonable price.

You know that minimalism characterizes Art Deco. It is a linear style, geometric, clean without frills. The prominent colors are black, gold and silver, followed by white, powdery colors, purple, red and green.

I found the right fabric to sew the tablecloth. At the Tamara de Lempicka art exhibition, I bought the plates. On one of my many visits to antique shops, I found the printed glasses from 1920. They were even signed and I also found the two cute demi-tasses.

The black velvet pouches, to the left of each plate, contain the napkin and the flatware, something different. At the end of the evening, I will fill the pouches with cookies I made. The guests will take these home as a token of friendship. I cooked three typical dishes of the 1920s. As it is customary in America, each guest will bring a specialty of their choice or something to drink.

(I think the original 1920s demi-tasses are adorable.)

I searched for this period’s food. Deviled eggs seemed to have been a very popular appetizer in the 1920s. The main course was roast veal with mashed potatoes. For dessert, a typical of the era pineapple upside-down cake completed the dinner. The conversation was interesting and flowed to the tune of 1920s music.

It was a load of fun to get into the period dress and greet everyone with plumes and pearls. Ciao,
Valentina
https://valentinadesigns.com

Copyright © 2025 Valentina Cirasola, All Rights Reserved

Valentina Cirasola is an interior-fashion consultant, color therapist, author of 6 published books, a storyteller, and a longtime blogger. Her books are non-fictional practical ideas to apply in the home, fashion, cooking and travel.
Get a copy of her books here: Amazon and Barnes&Noble

The Beauty of Brown: Elegance in Fashion Choices

21 Mar 2025 4 Comments

by Valentina in Friday Fashion Tags: #2025Colors, #BrownColors, #BrownColorVibes, #Fashion, #OrangeFashion, Style

One of the 2025 colours is mocha mousse, a lighter tone of brown, almost like a cappuccino tone without milk, if you can imagine it. Brown is not a well-liked colour or at least youngsters consider it a colour for mature people. For most people, brown is one of the reliable colours, stable, earthy, traditional, dependent, wholesome and practical. Others might find a negative connotation: dull colour, cheap, unrefined and too predictable.

It is a common belief that combining tone-on-tone with any colour is an exquisite way to coordinate various pieces of clothing for an outfit and brown is no different. It can be paired with beige, white, khaki, camel, lighter and darker browns. I certainly agree with that, as tone-on-tone is easy on the eyes. However, I think that for today’s elegance playing with contrasting elements is more interesting and exciting.

This morning I was feeling the orange vibes, I could have worn the fluffy brown jacket with silver or emerald, but I decided to go with orange, as nature does. Tree trunks are usually brown and might have orange flowers, such as the African Tulip Tree, or the Canna Lily. It was a bright sunny day, it’s Springtime here, I felt to reduce the effect of a winter brown by accentuating the orange and emulating the sun’s warmth.

We don’t always need to look formal, at times we want to be casual-smart with accessories that look almost like they were matched by chance. That’s when we project an aura of freshness and confidence.

Following trends is for those who want to fit in. True style is knowing how to say no to what doesn’t represent us and it is always very personal. Ciao,
Valentina
https://valentinadesigns.com/services/#fashion-services

Copyright © 2025 Valentina Cirasola, All Rights Reserved

Exploring the Beauty of Liberty Style

06 Mar 2025 2 Comments

by Valentina in Home Designs Master Tags: #ArtDecoStyle, #ArtNouveau, #GoldenAge, #LibertyStyle, #Roaring1920s, Home-Decor, Interior Design

Modern or antique buildings? Historical, patrician or utilitarian buildings? This is my dilemma when faced with so many styles of buildings. I must say, however, that one of the styles I can immediately eliminate is the wildly modern one, squared, with sharp angles, without any particular interesting lines and a lot of glass walls.

It seems to me that in large cities, the beautiful buildings erected in times gone by have remained to be admired and be part of the historical landscape, but in the suburbs, I have the impression that architects tend much more towards the modern style. Buildings of Art Déco, Art Nouveau and Liberty style today decorate many downtown areas of American cities as a testimony of a grand past, still at the same time, modern buildings stand side by side asking for the same attention.

(Click on each photo to see it larger)

Villa Scott by Pietro Fenoglio – Author Emanuela Meme Giudici – Wikimedia – licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported license.

During the last ten years of the 1800s, a beautiful, floral, flowing style that focused on nature’s elements took place. It was Art Nouveau created in Bruxelles by a group of painters, designers and architects who adopted this style for homes, furniture, lamps and even fashion. It soon spread to Paris during the “La Belle Époque” era and across the ocean. In Italy, it was called the Liberty style and in America, it was known as the Tiffany style.

Floral Chair Liberty Style

Art Déco followed soon after and stayed until 1930. It represented the freedom of the industrial age, an era of progress and prosperity. Art Déco used metals, glass and geometric designs in all aspects of life to express a new modernity.

Liberty style fits my character and my upbringing. As a lover of nature and Baroque architecture, I would have loved to live and be surrounded by Liberty-style designs. In Italy, Baroque motifs distinguish this style with curves and free-flowing elements from nature.

If I had to decorate a villa in the Liberty style, wood, marble, glass and wrought iron would not be missed. Mirrors with floral designs on gold frames, table lamps, large chandeliers and wallpaper with exaggerated nature designs would be all the attractions.

Furniture would have abundant curves; sofas and upholstered chairs would be made with rich colored velvets and sturdy leathers.

ShellChair — Shell Chair by Estudio Bola

The floors would alternate with fine herringbone warm-tone woods and decorated ceramics so that the beauty of each material would mark the passage from one room to another.

Herringbone Hardwood Floor

To remake a home in a Liberty style would be a nice achievement. Ciao,
Valentina
https://valentinadesigns.com

Copyright © 2025 Valentina Cirasola, All Rights Reserved

The Enchantment of Marble Stairs

23 Feb 2025 5 Comments

by Valentina in The Good Life Tags: #AntiqueStairs, #FashionSchool, #ItalianStairs, #Stairs, #ValentinaCirasolaAuthor, #ValentinaCirasolaFashionDesigner, family, Life

My fascination with stairs goes back a long way, they are kind of a fetish for me. Stairs can tell a story, hide a surprise that opens up at the end of a spiral staircase, for instance, or have an aura of mystery. Who was there before me, who kissed on those stairs, what feud happened, or where did they lead?

In Italy, during my young life, I lived in a circular building. The centre was the atrium opened to the sky, where kids played if it didn’t rain. Around the atrium were time-worn stairs leading to each apartment.
On each floor were long balconies overlooking the atrium, so that the children’s parents or relatives could watch them playing while indulging in conversation and a cup of coffee.
As a child, I liked to sit on the floor, on the top stairs without underwear and go down all the stairs one by one, just to feel the cold of the marble and hear the flat sound of my bottom touching the marble. Inevitably, at the bottom of the stairs, I always found an adult who scolded me to make me go to my house and put on my underwear.
I never lived in such a singular building after that time. It was a creative convivial living, an original architecture that allowed socialization, almost like the courtyard scene in the old film by Hitchcock “Rear Window” where everyone could see the happenings in each other apartment, listen to conversations, hear someone’s music, see someone practising dance and know everyone’s business.

Another episode involving stairs that I like to remember pleasantly is my fashion school in Italy. It was a 400-year-old building, first used as the Italian state police headquarters, then became a nunnery for Catholic nuns and ultimately became a Fashion School where I spent four years learning the trade of fashion.

The stairs were bowed just like those in the picture, actually, my depiction is exactly how I remember those stairs. The teachers instructed us to walk on each side of the stairs, not in the centre, being brittle, they could have collapsed easily. Sometimes, we had our arms full of large design rolls, fabric samples, mannequins, cameras and whatnot, it was challenging going up and down four flights of stairs, stepping only on a few inches of space, but we had a certain respect for history and willingness to preserve it.

Over the years there is always someone who comes along with grandiose ideas, a boatload of money, and zero qualms about history who wants to tear down the old thing and build shoeboxes for people who just need to go to sleep. It happened again, the 400-year-old building was demolished and a new office building was built in place.

Fortunately, my memories are grand and linger in my mind. Ciao,
Valentina
https://valentinadesigns.com

Copyright © 2025 Valentina Cirasola, All Rights Reserved

Creative Bar Cart Ideas for Young Homeowners

11 Feb 2025 9 Comments

by Valentina in Home Designs Master Tags: #HomeBarCart, #VintageandModernFurniture, #VintageBarCart, #VintageFurniture, cocktails, drinks

Have you seen a bar cart in the homes of younger generations lately? I am talking about the kind of metal cart on wheels with glass shelves that a few years ago was sitting in the living room holding bottles of hard liquor and fancy drinking glasses. In affluent homes, the leather world globe on an expensive wood stand was a refined touch for hiding bottles and glasses in a study or reading room.

Today, drinking habits have changed. People gravitate towards mixed cocktails, fine wines, European sparkling wines and artisanal crafted beers made in small local brewing establishments. This change of taste also changed furniture décor arrangements for drinking and storing glasses and bar accessories. Younger generations prefer a clean, linear style instead of frills that take up space.

(Click on the photos to view them larger)

On this note, I will tell you what I designed for one of my young couple clients’ remodelling projects.
I found a well-seasoned wood travel trunk from a different era, that had been turned not only into a large coffee table but, when necessary, became a table for casual eating on the floor sitting on cushions.
The previous owner added a few convenient pull-out leaves to the trunk for extra working/serving space and divided the interior into various compartments to hide alcohol bottles, glasses and bar accessories. It had been changed into an extremely useful object with a thousand uses and even a somewhat sophisticated object. When closed it became an attractive trunk, a piece of history gone by, that paired well with the cream colour modern bookcase unit I designed and a warm interior.
I was fortunate to have found it and the client was happy.

Whether you live in a modern or traditional home décor, you can find many solutions in the least expected places that can be adapted to your taste and style. In antiques and charity shops, or ethnic and bazaar shops, you will see a world of beauty that often is not even considered in modern furniture stores.

I am a collector of cordial glasses from different eras. I keep a ceramic elevation in plain view with some of my glasses which I rotate often for my personal pleasure.

Your home is an expression of your personality and an extension of your soul, stroke it often and make it feel good. Beauty makes life enjoyable. Ciao,
Valentina
https://valentinadesigns.com

Copyright © 2025 Valentina Cirasola, All Rights Reserved

Layering Jewelry: Mastering the Art for Bold Statements

23 Jan 2025 9 Comments

by Valentina in Friday Fashion Tags: #Fashion, #FashionInTime, #FashionStatement, #JewelryTrends, #LayeringJewelry, jewellery, Style

Fashion is an up and down of ideas, the old creations become new and the new are archived in a flash until the next revival. Life is a merry-go-round, some go up and some go down. The power of the cosmos inexorably overwhelms us whether we like it or not. Today someone is in command of politics and tomorrow he/she is a perfect stranger. Are we truly influenced by events we create, or are our tastes, thoughts, and actions determined by external forces? What we thought was an established and strengthened way of life, suddenly changed our lives, as it happened with the advent of Mary Quant’s mini skirt, just to name a huge phenomenon that has affected entire generations. Suddenly, long skirts were soon forgotten and showing legs was no longer objectionable.
Fashion is a flag that flies where the wind blows.

Black and white layering.

Orange and green layering.

For a few decades, I have studied women’s jewellery trends. I could immediately tell which era a woman belonged to, by looking at what was hanging from her neck.
One strand of thin jewellery has been a prerogative of millennials, generation Y and Z women. Large and chunky jewellery identified Boomers and mature women.
The Boomer women layered necklaces, and bracelets in quantity and wore rings almost on each finger. They were part of the ’68 movement of the last century, rejecting every constriction, belief and conformism of the previous generation. Boomers connected with nature and boho style was the rage. They favoured large, chunky, statement jewellery, freely mixed stones, metals and other materials.

The new political climate is about bold actions, bold thinking and strong statements. Fashion in 2025, influenced by “the new bold” dictates heavy jewellery layers again, helping you not to be afraid of being seen.

Pearls and chains layering.

Light blue, silver and gold layering.

Layering is an art if done right. For an interesting look, pair the same colours; it’s better to use styles and shapes that complement each other; choose metals that go together with everything and add light to your face. Layering must appear as one creation of a large piece, not put together haphazardly just because you might have a lot of jewellery.

I love to be a maximalist. My personality is too strong to carry delicate, thin pieces of jewellery. I have been a maximalist since my younger days. My wind always blows where I want it to blow, meaning I am not easily moldable.

Ultimately, you do what is right for you and your body shape. Show your personality with your fashion choices, be confident, memorable, and unique. Keep being you. Ciao.
Valentina
https://valentinadesigns.com/services/#fashion-services

Copyright © 2025 Valentina Cirasola, All Rights Reserved

Aligning with the Universe: Full Moon Insights for January 2025

13 Jan 2025 16 Comments

by Valentina in The Good Life Tags: #2025JanuaryFullMoon., #ColorVibrations, #FullMoonColors, #PlanetColors, #PlanetEnergy, winter

NASA predicts that the first Full Moon will reach peak illumination on January 13, 2025 and will last three days.

For several years, I have been interested in the movement of the stars and planets around us. In fact, from the moment we come into the light, the planets influence our lives, actions, thoughts, and daily decisions. Our successes or failures are only partly determined by us; the rest is the work of the planets.
If we learn to align with the Universe, we can change the course of our lives. Life flows easily, and obstacles become only detours, allowing us to find our way again without getting lost.

My way of being in tune with the Universe is by honouring the colours of the planets as they move daily. They give me all the energy I need and the guidance in the search for my well-being. If I am well, others around me are well too.

The Moon’s natural colours are white/grey/beige/brown, depending on how we see it, but this January the Moon becomes red/orange due to the composition of the Earth’s atmosphere and a particular viewing angle. For the next three days, wearing one of the Moon’s natural colours will help us feel good about ourselves, but the colours that will make a real difference in making us feel even better and going with the flow of the universe are red and orange.

Red and orange are two hot colours for the winter season. Most people tend to wear dark clothes in the winter to be naturally in tune with the gloom, rain, grey skies and shorter days. However, a red pair of shoes with a pair of red gloves and a red hat over a brown or grey coat will brighten any winter day.

To push this idea even further, you can also eat red and orange food for the next three days and decorate your home with some red or orange accessories. Fresh red roses in all rooms will do if you are not into decorating habits. I move my decorative items around and keep the colours I need for my therapy closer to me. To change colours around according to the planets seems like a lot of fuss. I have invested in beauty for a life, it’s my philosophy.

A few years ago, I became a colour therapist and even though I have been in the design business for more than three decades, I feel there is still so much to learn in this field that can help me and others. Ciao,
Valentina
https://valentinadesigns.com

Copyright © 2025 Valentina Cirasola, All Rights Reserved

End Of The Year Old Stuff

02 Jan 2025 7 Comments

by Valentina in The Good Life Tags: #EndOfYearCelebrations, #HolidayStories, #ItalianCustoms, #ItalianEndOfTheYearCustoms, europe, naples, Travel

There is a beautiful historical town in Italy called Naples, situated on the Tyrrhenian Sea. It is a port town considered a frontier town, as many ships from the four corners of the world dock there, bringing various cultures, customs and merchandise. The music of Naples reflects folklore, history and a mixture of modern with ethnic sounds.
Many people who have visited Naples say it’s a love or an absolute hate at first sight. There are no grey shades in between. The city sits at the foot of an active volcano, Mount Vesuvius, people feel the temporariness of their lives, they can be buried under volcanic ashes anytime just like it happened to Pompei in 79 AD. Due to this feeling of temporariness, people are imaginative, their humor is as sharp as scissors, direct, crude, funny and very theatrical. The city is chaotic, and noisy, therefore rules exist only when convenient, most of the time, people invent their own.

Photo: Andrea Huls Pareja – Unsplash

Naples had its own original end-of-the-year-custom. At the sound of midnight, after the toast to the new year, hugs, kisses and fireworks, old stuff that was no longer needed flew from balconies into the streets. Think of old sink, old toilet, old cabinetry, dishes, clothes, anything, without rules. The next day, city street cleaners had a huge problem picking up and disposing all of that. I wouldn’t be surprised if this custom still existed today.

The stuff I want to throw away is not about material things, it is the stuff our society produces:
1. all the so-called “influencers” who might think have an impact on my life, just because have a mouth;
2. people who believe fake news is real and real news is fake;
3. people who dislike those who don’t vote the same as they do;
4. cancel culture, one day they will cancel you;
5. functional idiots: are the people who can write, read, do mathematics, maybe have one or two degrees and multiple titles, but remain idiots;
6. the global puppets are those who must look, speak, think, eat in the same way, just to feel accepted, no matter where in the world they live and penalize individuality;
7. people who preach about the environment, but travel across the world in private jets, just to have an aperitif in Paris or sophisticated locations;
8. people who want to feed the entire world with insects, while they continue to eat steaks, caviar, oysters and drink expensive champagne;
9. all the rich oligarchs disguised as benefactors;
10. people who want to abolish family and religions to rule over you with dichotomy.
The list is too long, I will stop here.

To all these people, I wish the best 2025 in the world of real humans. Ciao,
Valentina

Valentina Cirasola is an interior-fashion consultant, author of 6 published books, a storyteller, and a longtime blogger. Her books are non-fictional practical ideas to apply in the home, fashion, cooking and travel.
Get a copy of her books here: Amazon and Barnes&Noble

Once Upon A Time

29 Dec 2024 5 Comments

by Valentina in The Good Life Tags: #ChristmasDecorations, #ChristmasInItaly, #ChristmasTrees, #ItalianChristmasCustoms

There was a time when Christmas trees had nothing artificial hanging from the branches, but only real fruit such as apples, oranges, tangerines, homemade cookies and wrapped chocolates.

On January 6, it happened in all homes, people invited friends, family and neighbours to play the game of stripping the Christmas tree. The game was mainly for kids, a few adults participated as well, and it was fun. Those who played had to be blindfolded to avoid picking up the best prize: the chocolates. After the tree was completely naked of fruit ornaments, the count began to see who picked up the most chocolates. Kids received simple utilitarian gifts on January 6, not on Christmas. The simple gifts could have been a new sweater, a new pair of shoes, maybe an electric train with one track, a doll, wooden toys that could not be easily disassembled or a book. Kids played with other kids, hardly with toys, we were so creative in inventing our own games, told each other stories of our bravery, and talked to oblivion until our heads exploded. No kid ever stayed alone in his/her room and parents were always present.
Then the lights of the tree were turned off and one more large dinner took place with all the people invited for that evening, officially closing the Christmas holidays, unless the next day, on the seventh, was a Sunday. The new week was business as usual. Everyone returned to work and the kids went back to school. Street decorations did not exist, as Christmas in Italy was a religious event, thus there was nothing to turn off.

Christmas customs have changed even in Italy and consumerism has taken over. The Christmas custom I described was the Christmas I experienced as a girl living in Italy and today this ritual came out of the blue from the drawer of my memories.
I am glad I was born in a different latitude where I learned strong life values that helped me everywhere I lived in the world. I hope all of you had a nice Christmas and I wish you and your family a splendid 2025. Ciao,
Valentina

Copyright © 2024 Valentina Cirasola, All Rights Reserved