Valentina

Blushing Backstage | Valentina Cirasola | Designer

20 Jul 2019 Leave a comment

by Valentina in Friday Fashion Tags: #2019PantoneColors, #BlushColors, #FashionColors, #MutedColors

Welcome to a new episode of Friday Fashion.

Pantone today emphasizes “Big Sur Sunset” of California. The light on Big Sur is really different compared to the Mediterranean golden light I am used to seeing at sunset. In those parts of California, the coast is rugged, the roads are winding and the view is breathtaking. The sunset reminds me that occasionally in California the gargoyles spit blush wine, a cool, gentle and refreshing wine for summer days. In the Pantone photo, the blush color melts away into the light blue of the ocean. Immediately, when I saw this photo, I thought of the blush color evening bag I gifted my sister. The clutch is very extravagant with an incrustation of glass and rhinestones that can illuminate a city. I would like her to wear it for her soirées at the theatre.

(Click on each photo to view it larger).

Pantone Big Sur Sunset

It seems the display I made for my picture, with the crochet blush fingerless gloves and all the jewelry colors go well with the graphic description Pantone makes about Big Sur Sunset.

Blush Glitzy Bag

Will my sister wear the sky blue floral and gem-studded shoes or the black ones? I will leave it to her choice.
These shoes are an eye-catcher for sure!

My Goody Shoes

Luxury floral gem-studded heels

The fashion forecasts say that this blush and powdery color will continue in the next winter season. Some women just look washed out in this color, how you wear it, can be interesting or dull. Free People combine a blush velvet jacket with a graphic t-shirt. I adore Free People fashion.

Free People

I hope you are having many Summer blush sunsets. Ciao,
Valentina
Fashion Services
https://valentinadesigns.com/services#fashion-services

Valentina Cirasola is a trained Fashion and Interior Designer, born in Italy in a family of artists. Style surrounded her since the beginning of her life. Her many years of experience led her to offer consultations in both specializations and now she can remodel homes as well as personal images. She is passionate about colors and encourages her clients to express their individual style in their homes and with the clothes they wear. To better help people all over the world, she offers consultations online. She is the author of four books. Get your copy of Valentina’s book on colors: ©RED-A Voyage Into Colors on Barnes&Nobles: http://goo.gl/q7dQ3w

Naked Lemons | Valentina Cirasola | Designer and Author

18 Jul 2019 2 Comments

by Valentina in Books Blog Tags: #HowToUseLemons, #LemonBeautyProducts, #Lemons, #TheNakedLemonseBook, #YellowColorEnergy, Limoncello

Hear, hear, ©Naked Lemons, a short ebook was just born yesterday.
This 26-page booklet was born from the Limoncello making class I teach two seasons out of the year when oranges and lemons are in a fragrant full production. It is something I like to do to get away from my design business. Many times, the participants to my Limoncello classes asked me if the material now written in this booklet was included in my previous published cookery books featuring the cuisine of the Italian southern region of Puglia.
Their question always caught me off guard. I never thought the ancient practice of making simple food out of scraps that generally are thrown away, would have become such a great hit but it did and finally, I decided to collect all of those traditions in one short pamphlet. With this information, no food will go to waste, it will create a new awareness that all parts of foods are good to use for consumption.

(Click on each photo to view it larger).

Naked Lemons

Limoncello is a yellow drink, traditional of the Italian Amalfi Coast. It is a cordial fragrant drink, sweet to the right point, spirited but not too much, extracted from lemons. It brings people together and makes them happy, it’s all about that yellow energy exuding from the lemons.

Limoncello

Limoncello has a dual function, it can be served with appetizers as an aperitif or a spritz, and it can be served as a digestive after-dinner drink. That’s the reason Limoncello is a popular drink among party-goers and especially during the holidays. I have a lot of pleasure making Limoncello during the summer and give it as a gift for Christmas in a basket full of other goodie produced from the lemons I grow. I make candied lemon peels, lemon cookies, and roasted lemons to mix in baked chickens, salads, sandwiches, and meat rosts. “Giving the gift of food is like giving the gift of love”.

Making Limoncello leaves 10 lemons without the skin. In this booklet, I give suggestions on how to turn all the “naked” lemons into different products for cooking, for daily beauty, products, and daily house cleaning. No chemicals, no harmful agents. That chapter is called: “My food is not only for cooking”.
©Naked Lemons ebook is available on Amazon all over the world – https://amzn.to/32x6pZ5
Get that great yellow, juicy energy. Ciao,
Valentina
http://valentinaexpressions.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, in which she included one recipe for each color. Her latest book, a travel narrative contains many stories of food and entertainment.
©The Road To Top Of The World – paperback and kindle –
https://tinyurl.com/y7tuyfh8
Get your copy of Valentina’s books on
Barnes&Nobles: http://goo.gl/q7dQ3w

Cheetah and Yellow | Valentina Cirasola | Interior Designer

15 Jul 2019 7 Comments

by Valentina in Home Designs Master Tags: #AnimalPrintAccentWall, #AnimalPrints, #DecoratingWithAnimalPrints, #DecorativePaintRoller, #OrganicDecorating

A few days ago, I was wearing cheetah print pants with funky yellow shoes. I was waiting for someone to come to the appointment.
As usual, when I get bored waiting, I take a photo of my shoes or what I am wearing, I am not much of a selfie person. I find my selfie feet don’t have that frozen look all faces have in selfies.

Later, I posted the picture on my Pinterest board “So Chic, So Stylish“ and made a comment that, in my fantasy, I see an interior with that combination.
Good enough, I caught someone’s attention. The comment intrigued a person who asked me how I would see yellow and cheetah combined in a room.
We started to talk and pretty soon I had a solution for her.

(Click on each photo to view it larger).

Cheetah and Yellow Shoes

Cheetah Yellow Dream Board

(In this dream board, the lanterns and wood shell photos come from rajeesoodhome on Instagram)

In my dream board, I see a yellow love seat, and various rustic, wood type elements: bamboo floor lamp, a chiseled edge coffee table, wood accessories, a stack of colorful pillows and many different shapes of lanterns gathered in one same corner. The cheetah wall I think it’s impressive as an accent wall.
Animal prints require natural and organic material. After all, cheetahs live in the wild nature.

I researched on how to get the cheetah effect on the wall. It’s an easy DIY paint project. Jennifer at Etsy sells all kinds of decorative paint rollers. In this video, she explains so easily how to do it, mix paint with glaze and roll over the desired pattern. https://www.youtube.com/artisticpaintingstudio

I shall be waiting for the photos of the interior I conceived for this new Pinterest client, I am so glad she found me. Technology is just great when it works. Ciao,
Valentina
http://www.valentinadesigns.com

Valentina Cirasola is an Italian Interior Designer 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 is ©The Road to Top Of The World
Paperback and Kindle – https://tinyurl.com/y7tuyfh8

Why Humans Make Art? | Valentina Cirasola | Interior Designer

10 Jul 2019 8 Comments

by Valentina in Home Designs Master Tags: #ArtandInteriors, #ArtisticDecorating, #ArtisticInteriors, #ColorsandArt, #InteriorDesign, #InteriorsAsArt

Last week I appeared on KMVT 15 TV in the show Why Human Make Art. Producer Adek Anukai sees my interior design profession as art and art as an expression of life. This is is very true. Each one of us makes art every day, whether we procreate, we design a home or a garden, whether we cook exceptional meals or the way we build cities and illuminate stores, whether we create fashion or extravagantly wear clothes, whether we learn ballet, play a musical instrument, or to drive creatively like Italians. I don’t believe people who say they are not creative. Every one of us makes some artistic expression.

(Click on each photo to view it larger).

©Sunglasses Mirror by Valentina Cirasola

Prologue by Producer Adek Anukai:
The psychologist Nathan Lents, believes that “throughout history, much artwork was made for no other explicit purpose than the production of beauty.”
Merriam-Webster dictionary defines art as “something that is created with imagination and skill and that is beautiful or that expresses important ideas or feelings.”
It seems that the common drive in making art is to produce “beauty”.
Even at the dawn of mankind, humans drew pictures, danced, and sung. From the cave paintings to the breathtaking works of Leonardo Da Vinci, was the motivation the same? We paint, compose, sing, dance, write. We design beautiful dresses, jewelry, and decorate houses. We create new ways of expressing ourselves through the creation of “beauty”.

Remembering one of Dostoevsky’s affirmations: “Beauty Will Save the World.” And it will. In beauty there is harmony, in harmony, there is peace, in peace there is prosperity and in prosperity, there is a good healthy life.

During the show, the producer asked me: “Art does not seem to be critical for our survival and in most cases has not been financially rewarding. Actually, for most people, being an artist is a lifetime uphill battle, but it does not stop anyone. Why not?”

Most of us have the desire to leave something to posterity. Often artists make art to prolong life into the future, even when they are recognized as great artists only after their death.

©Natura Morta by Valentina Cirasola

Art is a kind of rebellion. Nobody stops producing art even when is not profitable. Through art, people express their anger, anxiety, contentment, happiness, social events, or just memories.
I remember when I returned from Africa the first time I went there, the only thing I wanted to paint was the mesmerizing sunset I saw, bold and colorful. I wanted to immortalize a spectacle I had never seen before, a sky at dusk with purple, red, yellow, orange streaks, sometimes all mixed together. To these days I can’t forget those bold colors in the sky and even though the canvases I painted are no longer with me, those sunsets are sculpted in my mind.

Exotic Sunsets

People making art keep pushing even when nature creates impossible barriers. Deafness does not stop composers and blindness does not stop painters from creating their artworks. Artists want to defy destiny and prove that anything is possible because “beauty” is the only thing humans want to be surrounded.

©Guest Bath – Concept Two

©Guest Bath – Concept One

The producer/host of the talk show went on comparing my interior design work to modern art. He wondered how challenging must be to interpret everybody’s taste and creating spaces where people feel their lives have improved. Yes, it is very challenging, but that’s what I chose to do.
The show will air in September 2019. Ciao,
Valentina
http://www.valentinadesigns.com

Valentina Cirasola has been a lifetime designer in interiors and fashion. Her extensive training and knowledge in both fields led her in both directions successfully. She is well-known 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 also focuses on color theory and psychology to transform people’s life.
She is the author of ©RED – A Voyage Into Colors, Second Edition.
Amazon and Barnes&Noble

Check out her latest books, a travel narrative ©The Road to Top Of The World

Straddling A Bidet | Valentina Cirasola | Interior Designer

03 Jul 2019 2 Comments

by Valentina in Home Designs Master Tags: #Bidet, #BidetFunctions, #HistoricalBidetNotes, #HowToUseABidet, #TechnologicBidet

Just a week ago I had an encounter with a client who years ago inherited from a previous homeowner a bidet in her master bedroom and had it removed at once. A hole in the floor covered with a metal cap reminded her of that “thing” she referred to as “a dirty and offensive object”. Then, she proceeded to ask me what would I do with such an object if I had one in my bathroom. She was much surprised and much appalled to find out I do have one in my bathroom. With her hands covering her face 😱, she kept repeating the same phrase for a few minutes: “OMG, what a nasty thing….”. I asked her what she used the bidet when she had it. To rinse the mop in it, was her answer. At that moment my eyes went out of the orbits 😳. She didn’t know the bidet is used to clean private parts after any intimate moments.

The conversation with her reminded me of a few episodes I lived in Italy when I saw what foreign people did to their bidets. One woman grew a plant in it but forgot to put a plug in the bidet. After a few years, the roots of the plant grew in the plumbing of the building she lived and caused huge damages to the building. The law stepped in and forced her to pay all the damages caused to five apartments below her.
One other person washed her infant and the dog in the bidet but never used it herself. Someone else I met, used it as a urinal and couldn’t understand the reason in Europe people had a toilet and a urinal, that’s what he thought was the function of the bidet. It’s baffling how people move overseas without gaining minimal knowledge of what to expect or without the willingness to learn a new culture.

I am not here to criticize anyone, it just puzzles me that I am still faced with horrid comments from people who claim to have traveled all over the world and can’t accept different ways of doing things. That’s all.

Storybook of Dreams and Beauty

(Source: Found on Facebook). Thanks to Storybook of Dreams and Beauty for posting this beautiful picture. I wished a similar decorated example would occupy space in my bathroom.

19th Century French Bidet

The first bidet appeared in France in 1600 when taking a full bath was a rare activity. Only nobles and riches bathed once or twice a month, with the introduction of the bidet at least feet and private parts were cleaned every day, especially after love encounters, body function daily needs, and horse riding. The shape of the basin evoked the straddling on the horse, faucets face the user, not the other way around. Since the last century, the shape hasn’t changed much. The material did change from the rudimentary wood box with a lid to the high decorate porcelain of the 19th century to a minimalist style of today. The use of the bidet is still the same. Let’s say one works in the garden and gets only the feet dirty, that’s when the bidet comes handy. Think of it as a water conservation device, no need to take a full shower if only the feet are dirty. However, it is not a device that substitutes a full shower or bath.

(Boilly, La Toilette Intime ou la Rose Effeuille. Image @Wikimedia Commons)

Today, we can select bidets from the most modern and pleasant technology to assure us a healthy, clean life.
https://www.brondell.com/healthy-living-blog/what-are-bidets-and-bidet-toilet-seats/

In fact, in Japan, I have experienced a toilet with heated seat and enhanced bidet capabilities. Here is a funny video of a Japanese woman explaining the washlet.
https://youtu.be/L8ndLz4SGmU

For a less expensive solution, here it is a removable device. https://bit.ly/2FOuD7o

Valentina
www.valentinadesigns.com

Valentina Cirasola is an Italian Interior and Fashion Designer. She blends fashion and interior well in any of her design work. She loves to remodel homes and loves to create the unusual, as much as she likes to restyle people’s images. She is a storyteller and finds inspirations everywhere to write her stories. She needs your story to design your dream home or your dream look. She is also a public speaker, a mentor, and author of 4 books. Check out her books on
Barnes&Nobles: http://goo.gl/q7dQ3w

Awakening Cosmic Energy | Valentina Cirasola | Designer and Author

25 Jun 2019 2 Comments

by Valentina in The Good Life Tags: #HypericumHerb, #ItalianSummerCelebrations, #PugliaTraditions, #SpaghettiStJohnStyle, #StJohnCelebration

Yesterday, June 24th, I forgot it was St. John’s’ Day. In Italy, this saint celebration “greets” the arrival of summer, awakening the cosmic energies. Some traditional customs are still alive and well in Puglia as in most regions in Italy.

Saint John the Baptist, the first apostle of Christ, is the only saint whose birth is celebrated instead of his death.

On June 23rd, the longest night of the year, people gather to celebrate a midsummer eve, with a bonfire, music, parades in period costumes, special street markets, craft, fireworks, drinking and eating. In the Marche region in central Italy, the feast culminates in the “Infiorata” a carpet of flowers all over the towns, and in Florence, St. John feast continues to be observed since the medieval time with a 3-day celebration of various street expressions.
According to an ancient belief, on Saint John’s night evil spirits and witches fly around, thus herbs must be hung on entry doors.
In Puglia, on this evening, women collect herbs besides making a Nocino liqueur and prepare a special pasta dish.

(Click on each photo to view it larger).

Hypericum_perforatum_Carl Axel Magnus Lindman_Wikipedia

In the darkness of this evening, new herbs are gathered to compose the bunch of St. John’s herbs, which drives away the evil eye, brings good luck and, if put under the pillow before going to sleep, calms the person down, bringing sweet premonitory dreams. Many different herbs compose the St. John’s bunch for good humor, prosperity, the removal of the evil and negativity and medicinal benefits: hypericum, also called “cast out devils herb”, artemisia for fertility, rue, mint, rosemary, parsley, garlic, lavender, fennel, lemon verbena, mallows, laburnum, foxgloves, and elderflowers. Crusaders treated their wounds with St. John’s herbs, considered beneficial, so history says.

Propitiatory water is made with these herbs, one can wash and refresh the face, or make a bouquet to gift the special friends who have a deeper relationship with us.

Green Almond – Game Widow – Wikipedia

The preparation of the Nocino liqueur considered the witches’ liqueur is one of the many traditional customs on the night of St.John’s celebration. My father made it every year, it was very strong, didn’t much like it, but I drank it anyway just to be a good sport. Green walnuts are the main ingredients, they are picked green because it is easy to pierce them with a pin from side to side to allow the alcohol to penetrate the almonds during maceration time, until the night of San Lawrence, on August 10th.
On this date, walnuts are filtered, sweetened, flavored with spices, such as cinnamon and cloves.

Of course, there is a special dish for this celebration, Spaghetti St. John’s style. During my recent visit to Puglia, I tasted spaghetti made with old grain and brought a bunch with me to California, My spaghetti St.John are seasoned with anchovies, capers, chili peppers, cherry tomatoes, and basil. It’s a simple, fast and very tasty sauce. It takes only 10 minutes of preparation and cooking.

Spaghetti San Giovanni in my California garden

Celebrating my Puglia holidays in America is a thing I do with myself or with very close people who have the same desire to celebrate something different than Americans do. Ciao,
Valentina
https://valentinaexpressions.com/trips-to-puglia-2/

As a writer and cultural promoter of Puglia, her native land, Valentina’s intention is to let readers feel and experience a new ”wheel of emotions”. She wants to encourage them to visit areas of Puglia not beaten by massive tourism. Through stories of local customs, art, architecture, fashion, food-wines, shopping, she wants them to create their special adventures and live it up in Puglia! Check out her books on Barnes&Nobles: http://goo.gl/q7dQ3w
The latest published book ©The Road To Top Of The World is a travel narrative on short stories of Puglia.
https://tinyurl.com/y7tuyfh8

The Special Status Of Number 3 | Valentina Cirasola | Interior Designer

23 Jun 2019 2 Comments

by Valentina in Home Designs Master Tags: #RuleOf3, #ThePowerOf3, #ThreeAsPerfectNumber

For centuries, in many cultures and for some inexplicable reason, number 3 has been considered the perfect number.
Tesla the most influential scientist was obsessed with the number 3 and created everything in multiple of 3.
Followers of magic and esoteric, think the number 3 has a magical power, in fact, the word Magic itself has 3 consonants.
3 represents the alignment of brain, heart, and body or the triangle in geometry with three sides.
Shamrock, the three leaves clover weed is the Irish lucky symbol, used in the 5th Century Ireland to explain the Holy Trinity, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, to people converting to Christianity.
The Resurrection of Christ happened on the third day of his crucifixion.

In decorating is where we see the full expression of the number 3. We can decide to make a vignette by grouping 3 items, tall, medium, and small. This arrangement is pleasing to the eyes, shows harmony, rhythm, and style, or we can decide to create a gallery by grouping odd numbers together, 3-5-7-9 and so on.

(Click on each photo to view it larger).

Tiles-Lamp-Vignette

I created a gallery wall with antique mirrors, a ceramic ball, and an antique candle holder. It’s funny how the subject in my picture is about two people dancing and a street lampost behind them. It’s also curious to see the reflections in the small mirrors doubling the effect of the gallery.

Small-Antique-Mirrors-Gallery

I love to put colored glass objects near a widow. The reverberation of sun rays on the glass is amazing, colors change in different hours of the days.

Glass_Balls

In photography, the law of a 3 works well for a composition. This is my calla lilies studies grouping.

3 Calla Lilies Vignette

In various cuisines of the world, the trittico, a base for many sauces, is made of carrot, celery, and onion.
Food plated in odd numbers 1-3-5 always look better than 2 or 4 food items, sauces or dollops.

I experienced this tasty apricot dessert at the Culinary Academy, designed with 3 elements: a cake, a friable cookie, and apricot sauce.

Apricot Dessert

Human beings attach meaning to colors in 3 particular ways: nature, culture, and personal feelings.
In Nature – Red represents fire. Green is associated with plants, forest, and vegetation. Blue is associated with the ocean, seas, and lakes. Yellow is the sun which energizes us, a little daily exposure to the sun gives us a healthy life, bones and good vitamins; without a yellow sun, we would not exist.
In various cultures, colors pick up many meanings: white is a mourning color in India, black is either a mourning color in western civilization or the elegant color for parties and galas. Red in China is a fortune color, often used in weddings. Earthy colors define a South-Western civilization, bright and bold colors are for tropical areas.
On personal feelings – Often, we speak in colors and we don’t even notice it. Colors are abstract, they are electromagnetic waves, but one color expression can in an instant show our character. By using certain expressions related to colors, we vibrate the same way colors do, emanating sensations of temperature, feelings of love and anger, fear and joy, attention and caution, mood, state of mind and much more. Here are some fun expressions: “green with envy” – “bolt from the blue” – “red carpet treatment” – “yellow fever” – “green belt” – “yellow press” – “as brown as a berry” – “golden opportunity” – “silver screen” – “grey matter” (…) Except from my book:
© Red-A Voyage Into Colors – http://goo.gl/q7dQ3w

Ceramic Eggs

There you have it, number 3 seems to be the perfect number in any situation. 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
is available in paperback and kindle. https://tinyurl.com/y7tuyfh8

A Month in Europe | Valentina Cirasola | Designer and Author

14 Jun 2019 2 Comments

by Valentina in The Good Life Tags: #EuropeanFolkArt, #EuropeTravel, #Prague, #TravelItaly, #VacationTime, Puglia

Ah, it was so good to have been off the Internet for a month, I detoxed of some of the electromagnetism and it feels so good.
I was in Europe the entire month of May and what a month has been! On the return flight back to the USA, everything that could have gone wrong went wrong. I assure you it was painful, however, when I was finally up in the air acting as if I was enjoying the flight, I recollected the precious moments I lived in May, it was like images scrolled in a film and I relived the beautiful moments.
Life is much better as a comedy, I saw the funny side in every situation.

My hotel was a 16th-century building. I enjoyed my room in the mansard, the exposed wood beams in the room, the small windows on the roof, the stone stairs and the whole antiquity feel of it. The nights were so peaceful and warm up there, it was enveloping after being in the cold weather all day. The chirping of birds and the sound of a church bells wake me up in the morning at 6:00 am punctual.

(Click on each photo to view it larger).

Prague – 16th Century Hotel

The weather was inclement, it was cold and rainy the entire month, I even experienced the “bomb rain” as people call it there. In Prague, one day, I was walking to the Alfonse Mucha’s Museum, the day was cold and sunny, it was a good day for a brisque walk. Right before I arrived at the Museum, rain poured down abruptly without warning, the sky turned dark grey and water came down like a furious hurricane, it got me totally soaked head to toes!
That was fun. 😱

Every day, I walked on cobblestone streets and enjoyed the changing of design from block to block. I also enjoyed the kind manners of some men when the sidewalk was narrow, stopping and yielding for me to pass first. In a world of rude people, that’s so precious!

Designed cobblestones

All stores had an antique feel to it, caryatids held the building gracefully. Antique, blackout wood doors, closed the stores at night, the same doors I had seen in my childhood in Italy. I am so in love with rich classic architecture and Prague is full of it!

Jewelry Store

Caryatid

I climbed many steps, visited many artists and folk art places.

Castle Stairs

Figurines

Marionettes Shop

Leather Money/Telephone Cases

I ate in the most characteristic places and not necessarily restaurants. Murals in this bistro resemble the style of Dutch Renaissance painter Pieter Bruegel the Elder.

Restaurant-Murals

Murals in a Restaurant

Mural in a restaurant

I admired beautiful panoramas, visited castles and cathedrals, took a boat ride, saw the change of the guards in the castle, and studied the character of some militaries on a post (humans are the same everywhere, there is always the leader in every crowd).

Tourists Boat on Charles Bridge

Militaries

Prague, the city of 1000 spires is a beautiful walkable city, its red roofs nestled in a lot of greenery convey traditions, people are very kind and the bad weather didn’t stop me from having a nice vacation. Food is based on meat, potatoes, starch, and divine beers.

Prague – Red Roofs

The art I saw here will be a new inspiration for my design. My European genes are calling. See you soon, Europe. Ciao,
Valentina
Trotting the world one country at a time
https://valentinaexpressions.com/trips-to-puglia-2/

Valentina Cirasola is an Italian interior designer in business since 1990. She is passionate about colors and all expressive arts. She is a “colorist”. To her, selecting art means to bring out the best energy of her clients and nourish their soul. She trots the world and loves writing travel notes, from which she draws inspiration to design her interiors. She is the author of four books, one of which is on the subject of colors: ©Red-A Voyage Into Colors available on
Barnes&Nobles: http://goo.gl/q7dQ3w
She also wrote a travel narrative: ©The Road To Top Of The World
available in paper and Kindle version: https://tinyurl.com/y7tuyfh8

A Conversation On Black Color | Valentina Cirasola | Interior Designer

08 May 2019 Leave a comment

by Valentina in Home Designs Master Tags: #BlackDinneware, #BlackTableSetting, #ColorBlack, #EffectOfColorBlack

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

Garden For The Soul | Valentina Cirasola | Interior Designer

07 May 2019 2 Comments

by Valentina in Home Designs Master Tags: #GardenArt, #GardenDecor, #GardenDesign, #GardenForTheKitchen, #GardenIllumination

In most American homes, usually one must enter the home through the garden. Some people like it beautiful, manicured and structured, some like it a bit natural, low maintenance and some like it made into vignettes (me). I adore going through gardens and find many elements of surprise and various sceneries. A well-designed garden is based on elements of designs or elements of architecture, then textures, forms, colors and clearly marked pathway.

Plants variety enhance the garden and make beautiful sceneries. Follow the rule of sizes for the best look, tall plants go in the back (wall, fence or island), they are the sentinels of the garden, short plants go in the front and then ground cover to finish.
It’s important to study the rotation of the sun around the house. The area with the most sun during the day takes plants that can stand full sun.
Use container planters and potted plants to move around and change the scene. Today, conserving water is of the utmost importance. Consider an easy maintenance xeriscape made of plants that are not temperamental and don’t need much of anything, only water, and seldom nutrients. I sing at my plants.

(Click on each photo to view it larger).

Corner Vegetation

Colors. Can we ever do anything without thinking of colors? Absolutely not. Have you ever noticed when driving on highways, traveling miles after miles, that the colors of trees change from light to dark, and from monochromatic to complementary colors? The change of colors assures a harmonious drive to avoids boredom and to keep the drivers attentive. Color schemes in the garden are just as important for a great composition of light and dark, soft and bold, cool and warm, they just add pleasure in our eyes.

Succulent making pink flowers when in bloom

Style of the garden – classic with symmetry or free form?
In a classic garden, it’s important to create symmetry. If you look at buildings in Italy, you will see a row of windows with a triangle pediment, and a row with arched windows. Then look down and will see two columns of the same size framing the entry of the building. In classic architecture, details are symmetrical to infuse peace in the eyes of the viewers. It is the same when creating a classic garden. The position and the cut of plants must be symmetrical. Curves are the details of a classically designed garden, which is usually an area with flower beds all around the curves to make us feel embraced. Most often in the center of a curvy area, there is a water source, a fountain, a pond with colorful fish, or a small pool.

Allied Art Round Area Garden

A free form garden is made of whatever you want, just don’t mix the styles. For example, in a Japanese style garden, there will be a small bridge, stone lanterns, maybe a Buddha, stones of different shapes, and some sandy area. In a fantasy garden, there might be fairies and gnomes, whimsical metal sculptures, funky statues and everything that strikes your fancy.

Garden Fairies

Plant an orchard. If space allows it, in between flowers, you might want to cultivate some of the food you eat. We know how effective color blocking is in fashion and in interiors, use the same method to create a color blocking for products in the same family, for instance, red and green romaine lettuce, purple and green cauliflowers, green and purple cabbage, yellow and multicolor corn. You get the idea.

My orchard with funky characters

Lighting – I can’t stress enough how important lighting is for the garden, mainly for security purpose and to beautify. The entry landing should be always well illuminated, that’s where we greet people, the light should feel welcoming. The light around bushes under windows will keep unwanted people away and pathways must be clearly defined. Led lights are the best solutions today – https://bit.ly/2LDa4zU.

Led Solar Light

Following these simple criteria will help to conceive a beautiful garden. Ciao,
Valentina
http://www.valentinadesigns.com

Valentina is an Italian Interior Designer since 1990 designing for the USA and Europe’s markets. She loves to remodel homes and gardens. With her many years of experience, she is able to cover a wide range of design solutions. Often her clients ask to design the landscape concept complete with lighting to complement the interiors she restyles. She creates “exterior rooms” as she calls them and limits the garden design only to vignettes, no structural work. She offers design consultations online anywhere in the world through Skype and Zoom. Valentina is the author of four books available on
Barnes&Nobles: http://goo.gl/q7dQ3w