Valentina

Let’s Fix This Room, Shall We? | Valentina Cirasola | Interior Designer

22 Aug 2017 2 Comments

by Valentina in Home Designs Master Tags: #ColorfulInteriors, #FurnitureCoordination, #LivingRoomColors, #LivingRoomDesign, #LivingRoomFurniture, #SpacePlanning

At times, my home projects with clients fly by at the speed of light without even knowing how they happened. Other times, they come to a halt due to vacation time, kids interrupting schedules, hectic daily life, disagreement between husband and wife or for no reason at all. This is one of those cases. We started this room somewhere around February of this year and here we are, in the middle of August, with an unfinished, unwelcoming room.

I had to wait for walls to be painted, electrical system to be completed and the floor to be restained. The floor now is an attractive distressed, warm greige and a very elegant floor, so different from the previous butcher block floor. After all of that necessary work was done, it was time to choose furniture and sometimes that process can take a long, long time, depending on how clients react to ideas, style and colors, or how fast they take decisions. The secret of making fast decisions when choosing furniture is about answering three questions:
Prices – can you afford it?
Colors – do you like it?
Sizes – does it fit?
However, for people is never so cut and dry as it is for someone like me, trained not to waste time.

(Click on each photo to view it larger).

(Above: the unfinished room as it is now)

So far, we have a red sofa, a laguna color Coletta chair, a rustic credenza with metal profiles and a beige cuddle chair. These pieces look disjointed in the room, the element that will function as trait-d’union between all the colors is missing and the project is not moving forward. I had envisioned a colorful room, a space vibrating with interesting and whimsy elements.The room has been dull for so long and that would have been a good enough reason to fix it fast. Ouch, I must wait to see my vision realized and work at people’s pace. 🙃

Many times, I must deal with people’s fear of colors and their preconceived ideas that colors will tire them and the room. The result is a fight with their emotions.
How can anyone get tired of colors?
My role as your designer is to calm souls, emotions and to convince that colors can only help them get out of the boredom of vanilla living.

(Above: my proposed concept of furniture)

The room needs a punch with a golden-yellow element to pull the golden tones of the walls together with furniture (a yellow chair). I want to add warm wood elements to contrast the subdued distressed floors (side tables, floor lamp) and warm elegant metals to elevate the metal of the credenza (lamp metals, coffee table).

(Above: my proposed pillows)

To complete the picture, I would like to see colorful pillows in yellow, red, orange and bluish to blend everything, just like a tasty cocktail. How can anyone get tired of this moderately colored room?
If it looks good on paper, it will look good in the room. Shall we fix and finish this room? 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 the subject of colors, available on
Amazon: http://goo.gl/qNxXrB
Barnes&Nobles: http://goo.gl/q7dQ3w

Chartreuse Mix Inspiration | Valentina Cirasola | Designer

18 Aug 2017 2 Comments

by Valentina in Friday Fashion Tags: #ChartreuseColor, #ChartreuseComboColors, #ChartreuseFashion, #ColorsToCombineWithChartresuse, #DressingWithChartreuse

Welcome to my Friday Fashion episode.
This year, I have written many times about green and gold colors, alone or with other colors and I haven’t yet exhausted all the possibilities. Think about it? Green represents the lawn, the grass, the leaves, gold represents the sunlight. We feel good under the sunlight that energizes us. If we sit on a green lawn and greenery surrounds us, we feel infused with peaceful relax, just by simply looking at it. Green and gold are perfect together for our emotions and wellbeing. Nature does it, we can too.

(Click on each photo to view it larger).

I take inspiration mostly from my food to make up an outfit. Strange as it sounds, going to a grocery shop for me is more about taking photos of food first, thinking of exciting ways to use those colors in my various life expressions and manipulating photos to feed my creativity, than the banal act of buying food. I put those photos together when I need to come up with original outfits. It’s so much fun!
People stress so much about getting dressed, complaining of not having anything to wear and the wardrobe is full of clothes they might not even be aware of having. I don’t think much when I put together my outfits, nature provides me with all the colors I need to make excellent combinations. If it looks good in nature, it will look good on me and my food photography helps me immensely.

I feel good in any green colors, better if it is a yellow-green, Chartreuse, or blue-green. I use any green tone as a daytime color, as well as for evening dressing up. I hear people saying green will make them feel “potted”. Green and golden tone skins are a perfect match, but green-bluish tone color works well on people with pinkish skin tone. That’s the secret.

For this time, I am having a close encounter with Chartreuse (my purse and necklace), arugula green (my pants) and gray mushrooms (my top). I have a great ability to mix jewelry metals and manage to make them look attractive together. I wear gold and silver together without inhibitions. A small touch of pearls won’t hurt either. The detail, which makes this ensemble more interesting, is the tapestry sabot shoes by Steve Madden.
There you go, as I often say, don’t be afraid of colors. If you do it right and tasteful, color will change your life. Ciao,
Valentina
https://valentinadesigns.com/services#fashion-services

As a designer in business since 1990, I am interested in helping people designing their interior and exterior spaces with an overall feeling of peace, relaxation and harmony that will draw them home eagerly. I am always looking to add that special touch with original findings to the spaces I design. Color is the focus of my business today, changing people’s energy and life force just by introducing them to colors they would have never imagined. Vogue Italia magazine, Gentry and many prominent magazines in California featured my work, I appeared on RAI, National Italian T.V. and nonetheless my story continues. Find copies of my book on colors ©RED – A Voyage Into Colors , and the rest of my books on
Amazon: http://goo.gl/qNxXrB
Barnes&Nobles: http://goo.gl/q7dQ3w

Elemental | Valentina Cirasola | Author and Designer

15 Aug 2017 4 Comments

by Valentina in The Good Life Tags: #Elemental, #https://dailypost.wordpress.com/photo-challenges/elemental, #NatureElemental, #WordPressPhotoChallengeElemental

Northern California skies are hardly an interesting elemental nature, they are always flat blue, rarely have any clouds, it doesn’t rain for years, in fact we suffer severe drought, nature is mostly yellow-brown even though colorful flowers embroider it. Palm trees and odorous eucalyptus compete with the blue skies.
I love California weather, it is always Spring-like, windy and mild, the perfect weather for work days and now, I am spoiled.

(Click on each photo to view it larger).

It isn’t all perfect, however. There isn’t much change of seasons. We wear the same clothes all year around and often I see people in short pants in the middle of December and January, when the temperature goes down a little. They look awkward and confused in their perception that, here, in California is always summer.

On the other hand, summer is a real surprise for tourists. They expect to find a summer warmth, instead July and August cold and grayness greet them. As Mark Twain said: “The coldest winter I ever spent was a summer in San Francisco”. Blue skies, sunny days and palms are deceiving when summer temperature ranges around mid 50 to low 60 F.

The land is rugged, ideal element for hiking and discovering driftwood sculptures.

The fog is the characteristic elemental nature of this area. People seem to think fog is magic and mystical. In the early afternoon, it rolls in like a huge cotton ball, even thought it might be still sunny.

Although, I am used to this mild weather, I must say, not having a change of seasons and having the same weather elements just about all year around it is a bit boring to me, thus I tend to distort or manipulate the nature I see, with my vision of colors and textures.

At time, a regular pine tree, might seem to grow under a vanilla sky.

Other times a path might look like a fall path, when in reality it isn’t.

And other times, camelias take electrifying colors of its own.

If something doesn’t excite you, free your fantasy and find ways to see it differently. Ciao,
Valentina
http://www.valentinadesigns.com

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 to write travel notes, from which she draws inspiration to design home interiors of her clients .
She is the author of her book on the subject of colors: ©Red-A Voyage Into Colors available on
Amazon: http://goo.gl/xUZfk0
Barnes&Nobles: http://goo.gl/q7dQ3w

Story Of A Designer: Belvedere | Valentina Cirasola | Interior Designer

13 Aug 2017 Leave a comment

by Valentina in Home Designs Master Tags: #Belvedere, #BelvedereArchitecturalFeature, #BelvedereClassicArchitecture, #BelvedereGardenTerrace, #BelvedereRoofTop, #HouseWithBelvedere

Summer time in Italy is for fun, eating and meeting with friends late in the evening to burn the night until the small hours. Music playing in the distance, that type of elegant night clubs music of saxophone and piano fills the air and encourages people to stay sit in comfy chairs, sipping expensive drinks, while soaking the freshness of the sea. The breeze of the Adriatic Sea enters the room to make us feel the salty aroma of the waves. White sheer curtains dance around in the soft and warm sirocco wind. Nothing matters in the night, other than enjoying the cool air, good company, interesting conversation and….romance.

(Click each photo to view it larger).

Leonida, aka Leo is with Enrico leaning on the belvedere, admiring a great deal of beauty. In front of them, the green-azure waters of the Adriatic Sea have turned dark blue in the night, the distinctive smell of salt still comes through pleasantly. The true azure color of the water is visible only in the pool of lights reflected in the water from the villa. From the belvedere, Leo and Enrico try to define the horizon, imagining Greece on the other side, as it might be possible to see it during clear days, but at night the horizon makes a confusing line, sky and water become one.

Belvedere derives from two Italian words, bel, which means “beautiful,” and vedere, which means “view.” Belvedere is the ideal term for an Italian house or villa with a view.
Leo and Enrico started a talk on architecture, slipping into a deep conversation of classicism and pure architecture, they shared a vision of a house they would build for their soul and nobody else.

Some people are dancing the night away, cheek to cheek, on the same marble tile 18″x18″, clinging to each other for hours. Is dancing on one tile still done these days? Apparently yes, romanticism is still alive and Italy is the right place to get romantic. Leo and Enrico are there, on the belvedere, without a care in the world. The image of their relationship is taking shape in those small hours of the night melting away in a new fresh dawn. They are fantasizing about running away to a Greek island and never to return. Architecture and design as the common denominators, romance as a foundation. Their eyes sparkle…….

Every reference to facts, people, and situations is purely random fantasy.

I designed a belvedere for a client in California born on an Italian island. He grew up seeing this kind of architectural structure, which takes advantage of a scenic view of his homeland. His house on the Italian island looks over the Mediterranean on one side and the Tyrrhenian Sea on the other side. Listening to the stories of his youth, I knew he wanted to replicate the belvedere in his California house. I was ecstatic I designed it for him, to entertain his friends and family at night under stars and to sit down for lunch under the umbrella, soaking the warm indirect sun rays of the daytime, sipping a Corinto, typical Sicilian white wine.

The belvedere is usually built on the upper part of a house. However, the actual structure might have a rooftop garden, or it might be made in the form of a turret, a cupola, or an open terrace. That’s exactly what I wanted to develop for my client in California, a rooftop garden terrace with a cozy Italian feeling, fountains, putti, chili peppers plants, tomato plants, and many colorful flowers. I added an exterior spiral staircase from the master bedroom, which conveniently would lead directly to the belvedere.

You might not know that in California every little thing that will be built, must go first to the approval of the city and then the neighbors. Well, the neighbors didn’t approve of being seen in their backyard from the top of another house and probably were afraid of noisy parties lasting all night. Sight!!!
C’est la vie! Ciao,
Valentina
http://www.valentinadesigns.com

As a designer in business since 1990, I am interested in helping people designing their interior and exterior spaces with an overall feeling of peace, relaxation, and harmony that will draw them home eagerly. I am always looking to add that special touch with original findings to the spaces I design. Color is the focus of my business today, changing people’s energy and life force just by introducing them to colors they would have never imagined. Vogue Italia magazine, Gentry, and many prominent magazines in California featured my work, I appeared on RAI, National Italian T.V., and nonetheless, my story continues. Find copies of my book on colors ©RED – A Voyage Into Colors and the rest of my books on
Amazon: http://goo.gl/qNxXrB
Barnes&Nobles: http://goo.gl/q7dQ3w

August Textures | Valentina Cirasola | Author and Designer

07 Aug 2017 Leave a comment

by Valentina in The Good Life Tags: #foodie, #GardenFood, #HomeMadeBread, #HomeMadeFood, #OrganicGarden, #OrganicOrchard, #WordPressPhotoChallengeTextures, #ZenGarden

My Zen garden is such a paradise on earth! In the morning, I salute the sun there, have breakfast, I read a book in my private corner, sometimes I like to stay still, watching the birds chasing each other and all the textures I created. During the week, I hang laundry to dry in the sun, the old fashion way. That’s right, I don’t own a dryer, never wanted one. Call me old fashion, some people call me a Martian in fact, but my way is simpler, saves electricity, saves the environment, the clothes smell like nature and not like chemicals, but then I can enjoy the textures in the wind hung laundry creates.

I am in love with my garden and not only because I designed it to transcend the ordinary look of a traditional garden. I made it mystical and playful for an intimate union of my soul and Mother Earth. (Click on each photo to view it larger).

My Zen garden it’s a working garden as well, it keeps me healthy with a great production of fruit and vegetables. The oranges abound most of the year, when the orange trees stop producing, the apricots come out and then apples. These fruits produce many textures for my table, from tarts, pies, muffins, ice-cream, vinegars and marmalades. The rest I can create with fruit and vegetables is all still in my fantasy.

Of course, it takes two to tango, the garden alone wouldn’t produce anything if I didn’t put any work into it. And what a work it is….!

In the month of August, the garden gives me a lot to do. Zucchini plants blossom with beautiful yellow flowers so big and open that the only thing I want to do is to stuff them with various ingredients every time. I make them ready for the winter, cook and pack them for the freezer.

I stuffed the zucchini flowers in the photo below with brown rice, gorgonzola cheese, arugula, olives, onion, ginger and Parmigiano cheese. Filling is low in calories, texture and taste are delicate. They bring freshness to the table and are perfect for a warm day.

With the potatoes I grow, I made potato bread, super delicious with a rough texture outside and soft inside. It’s ideal to eat it as soon as it comes out of the oven.

This blue plant was once a red cabbage forgotten in the veggie drawer of my refrigerator, when I noticed it was growing in the bag, I planted it in a pot and now I have a beautiful ornamental blue plant with great textures and shades of blue purple.

Ultimately the textures of my august garden, satisfy my subconscious body, my emotions, my physical body and give me the pleasure of the table in every season. Ciao,
Valentina
http://www.valentinadesigns.com

Valentina Cirasola is the designer who cooks. She has a deep interest in food that led her as an autodidact in the studies of food in history, natural remedies, nutrition, well-being and learning food of the world. She wrote two books on Italian regional cuisine and one book on color theory, in which she included one recipe for each color. Robert Taitano, a friend and business associate of http://www.wine-fi.com says: “Valentina – an International Professional Interior Designer is now giving you an opportunity to redesign your palate”. Get your copy of Valentina’s books on
Amazon: http://goo.gl/xUZfk0
Barnes&Nobles: http://goo.gl/q7dQ3w

Safari In The City | Valentina Cirasola | Designer

29 Jul 2017 8 Comments

by Valentina in Friday Fashion Tags: #EarthToneColors, #FrenchPithHelmet, #SafariColors, #SafariFashion, #SafariStyle, #ValentinaCirasolaFashionDesigner

Most of the people I know are trotting the world now, cruising, exploring world cultures, tasting ethnic food in foreign countries, safari in the Serengeti and some are doing a quiet staycation.

A few months ago, a client brought me a blue-green fabric and an off-white cotton lacy fabric wondering what I could do with these two rummage fabrics. I asked a few questions and if she was going to a special event or on a special vacation this year. Good enough she was planning a safari.
Immediately, a jumper shorts with an oversized duster came to mind. The blue-green color with some brown details is a subdued color, ideal for making a safari garment, it would mix and camouflage well with the nature. We don’t want animals to attack my client because she is wearing bright colors. In fact, the colors of a safari outfit gravitate around earth tones, from shades of white, off-white, to cream and beige; from rust to olive-green and military green; some grey and browns are also present.
I designed my client’s safari outfit on paper, took the fabrics to the seamstress, made the outfit and off she went to capture the soul of the animals in their eyes through the lens of her camera. (Click on each photo to view it larger).

What are the essentials for a safari outfit? This is my concept, easy, doable and not terribly expensive. Links of each item will take you to the products.

French Pith Helmet. – It goes with any men and women’s safari outfit and it is equally attractive for both.
A Pair of Sunglasses – always protect your eyes from sun glare and dust.
A Safari Binocular to observe the animals from a distance and in silence.
Convertible Pants – they conveniently change from long to short pants as the necessity of the moment requires and occupy less space in the luggage. One pair of convertible pants makes two pieces.
A Vintage Belt – it’s always needed, even in emergency situations, you never know how it will be used. Somehow a rugged, vintage belt feels better for a safari outfit.
A Safari Coat with a millions of pockets. You never know what you will collect to take home.
Ankle Boots – protect yourself from brushwood, dry branches, stones, pointed plants and possible snakes. I choose Nero Giardini.
I throw in a pair of Animal Print Loafer for the evening casual relax.
A Safari Scarf, just to “look good” for the animals, or to wipe the sweat off the forehead. Those felines might work you up.
Travel with a light Duffle Bag. Going to a safari there isn’t much to show off to or to buy, other than bringing back a lot of memories and digital photos.

Mind you, the safari outfit in my concept board is also well adaptable for a weekend in the country, in the woods and for a hot day in the city. Why not?
In a hot weather, people tend to slack off dressing, it really doesn’t matter if they wear the usual shorts, t-shirt and flip-flops, as long as they stay cool. I agree, it’s so difficult to wear clothes that look good in a hot weather. Choosing cool, light weight fabrics, cool colors to keep us from overheating is the utmost importance.

However, in the last concept board below, I am showing a safari outfit more suitable for the city, playful and cool looking for work or business.

Ciao,
Valentina
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 personal 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 three books. Get your copy of Valentina’s book on colors: ©RED-A Voyage Into Colors on
Amazon: http://goo.gl/qNxXrB
Barnes&Nobles: http://goo.gl/q7dQ3w

I was in the old far West | Valentina Cirasola | Author and Designer

26 Jul 2017 4 Comments

by Valentina in The Good Life Tags: #HistoricalWoodsideCalifornia, #WoodsideCalifornia1800s, #WoodsideCaliforniaGeneralStore, #WoodsideGeneralStoreMuseum, #WoodsideSequoiaTrees

On the way to my friend in Woodside, California, I got lost in the hills, went around and around to find my way out, instead I stumbled in this little gem hidden among the sequoia redwood trees. Being the curious person I am, I took the time to browse around and found a pleasant surprise. This is the general store of rich Woodside area, where many American wealthy entrepreneurs of the late 1800 and the roaring ’20s lived.
Woodside was originally home to native Ohlone tribe. In 1769 Spanish explorers led by Gaspar de Portolá spotted the site while searching for an area where to camp the troupes.

Going to the General Store in Woodside, now a museum since 1947, one has the impression of stepping back in the old far West of the gold rush. Redwood trees surround the rugged area, the same wood which in the 1800 supplied the booming construction industry in San Francisco.

Dr. R. O. Tripp and M. A. Parkhurst built the General Store in 1854 and soon became the center of the town where notable families of the era attended their daily businesses. It operated as a general store, United States post office, dentist office, a stagecoach stop, a bank with the only armored safe in the area, a lending library and a community gathering spot. Today, visitors can see artifacts on display that reflect the varied activities of the people living in Woodside in the 1800.

Notable people of modern era living in Woodside have been George Whittell, Jr. who had an odd collection of exotic pets kept on his 500 acres, Steve Jobs, Willie McCovey player in the San Francisco Giant, Michelle Pfeiffer actress and Shirley Temple Black, the cute and clever girl actress who charmed the world over. The General Store is very secluded among the sequoia redwood trees, there is no public transport, visitors must have a car and drive through winding roads where at times it is possible to see some famous homes with horse stables, well hidden away from public reach.

The area is beautiful, it smells like a clean earth, silent, no city noises, every so often the gate or the top of a wealthy home appears, one feels in another stratosphere, the one of riches and powerful.
I have been living in California a long while now and I am still considering myself the tourist in my life. Summertime is made also for discovery and taking time to do things I normally wouldn’t do. Ciao,
Valentina
http://www.valentinadesigns.com

Valentina Cirasola is a storyteller by nature. Stories are very important to her design career to convey ideas because making someone’s home or personal images is not only about building around shapes, lines, forms, and colors. It is about the story one can create around their spaces and how they want to appear to others. She is the author of three books, all available on
Amazon: http://goo.gl/qNxXrB
Barnes&Nobles: http://goo.gl/q7dQ3w

Unusual | Valentina Cirasola | Author and Designer

23 Jul 2017 Leave a comment

by Valentina in The Good Life Tags: #CaliforniaLife, #CaliforniaNature, #SantanaRow, #UnusualStreetAttraction, #WordPressPhotoChallengeUnusual

I planned to go to a vintage wine bar with a group of friends and asked them to meet me at the corner of….across from…. ,we will walk there together.
We got closer to the wine bar and someone surprisingly though I was taking the group to a church. The unusual façade, is in fact an architectural salvage from a gothic chapel. Inside, it is a very modern wine tasting room and hopefully we will pray to the best wines and best fun.
(Click on each photo to view it larger).

Not too far from there, if one needs to breathe some fresh air after the wines, can take a seat in the unusual street living room fitted with a real functioning fireplace. In the winter days, when it doesn’t rain, sitting there soaking the feeble sun rays is cozy and warm.

(Below: Street fireplace in the street living room)

The lizard is an unusual fountain shooting a thin stream of water down instead of up.

Sitting at the round benches, surrounded by a nice vegetation, one can watch the exotic lizards playing with water in another unusual fountain.

The unusual large shells spout water in clay basins. What do they do on a white mosaic, kitchen counter like square box? They should have been on a beach vignette spouting water on a mermaid.

I would love to know why the Left Bank, a French restaurant chose a fat chef riding a pig for their sign. Such an unusual choice, but very fun. Somehow, when I see this sign, I think of their food as homey, traditionally French and country good.

The usual flat blue, clear sky of Northern California has nothing unusual. Hardly, we have clouds or colors in the sky, it’s a bit boring to photograph, but at least we have a spectacular weather.

This is Santana Row, South of San Francisco, designed as a European fashionable street with shopping-dining at the street, expensive lofts and apartments up above. It has been designed with nature in mind, that’s the reason of so much lush vegetation and symbols of nature.

During the day, leisure women do their best to spend free time there. Night crawler people and single women looking for exiting adventures crawl the streets and drinking joints in the evenings. The first few years of its existence, the place was quite deserted and stores could not make it. In fact, I decorated a beautiful shoe store, carrying European stylish shoes and closed in six months’ time due to lack of customer traffic. Now, Santana Row it’s an unusual busy place, very different from any American shopping centers, people seem to enjoy every bit of this European street feel, away from Europe. Life is good. Ciao,
Valentina
http://www.valentinadesigns.com

As a designer in business since 1990, I am interested in helping people designing their interior and exterior spaces with an overall feeling of peace, relaxation and harmony that will draw them home eagerly. I am always looking to add that special touch with original findings to the spaces I design. Color is the focus of my business today, changing people’s energy and life force just by introducing them to colors they would have never imagined. Vogue Italia magazine, Gentry and many prominent magazines in California featured my work, I appeared on RAI, National Italian T.V. and nonetheless my story continues. Find copies of my book on colors ©RED – A Voyage Into Colors and the rest of my books on
Amazon: http://goo.gl/qNxXrB
Barnes&Nobles: http://goo.gl/q7dQ3w

My First Experience As A TV Producer | Valentina Cirasola | Interior Designer

18 Jul 2017 5 Comments

by Valentina in Home Designs Master Tags: #KMVT15TVShow, #KMVT15ValentinaShows, #ValentinaCirasolaTVHost, #ValentinaDesignUniverse, #ValentinaDesignUniverseShows

Valentina_Design_Universe_TV_Show

Wow, I finally made it. Check mark to another one of my dreams realized !!!
(Click on each photo to view it larger).
My first TV show production under the label of Valentina Design Universe was recorded live Friday July 14, 2017 at KMVT 15, Mountain View, CA.

I have been on TV as a guest many times before, but never as the host and a producer.
Being this the first show, I decided to appear on stage by myself to introduced the series and here I am, a few days later, with my own criticisms.

Stage_In-The_Making

A show of only 30 minutes without commercials seems a very short time, but once up there on stage, it becomes an infinity. I had prepared the topic and rehearsed it many times, as if I were reciting a script of a film.
However, I forgot to leave my notes beyond the stage and it looked as if I needed a backup security, just in case I would forget the sequence of lines to speak. So, I made the first error.

My_Wonderful-TV_Crew

Generally, in my everyday life, I wear mascara and lipstick, that’s it. My skin is very healthy and want to keep it that way. To go on stage, I needed to wear ton of makeup, so I did and felt very uncomfortable.
I thought, well…. 30 minutes will pass very fast. Jeez, I was so wrong! The hot spotlights pointed at me, melted the face make up in the first five minutes, making my face very shiny and reflective. Fortunately, the eye makeup stayed solid, however the face glossiness took all the attention and the eyes went unnoticed. The red lipstick, being blond with tanned skin color, usually looks good on me. Under the spotlights, the red lipstick became bright orange and picked up even the reflection of my bright yellow top. Not really the effect I wanted !

Afterwards, I was wondering how actors take all that make up caked on their faces for the duration of the performance, often a long performance…. I felt the pores of my skin were choking. Make up was not enough and the red lipstick was not the right hue. I made the second error.

My worst fear was a sudden sneeze, a cough, or a hiccup would appear for no reason at all. Nervousness can cause all kinds of unwanted reactions in a crucial situation and… good enough, a hiccup came. Nonchalantly, I said “excuse me” and kept on talking. I don’t know if the audience thought I made a mistake in my speech or heard the hiccup, either way the show went on. Speaking in public taught me to overcome minute issues.

Stage_Drawing_By_Valentina_Show_Gold_A_Treasure_Color

The topic was about GOLD – A Treasure Color. I chose it because I wanted to exude an aura of positivity, just like the golden light of the sun recharges our batteries. I explained why the golden light of the sun is important for both our emotions and physical being, then went on briefly explaining how to decorate with gold and how to incorporate it in our clothes.

The crew assisting me in the production of the show was marvelous. It was the first time producing and hosting my show and wanted to be perfect, but perfection is achieved with experience. I had thought of producing my TV show for a year. The time was right, I started it without fear and in total confidence. Perfection will come, I will learn as I go along producing the next shows. For now, the dream is coming true and that’s important. My motto has been always: “Just Do It.”

Staff_In_Production_Room

Working in TV and being behind the scenes is fascinating. The crew has a language and gestures of its own to communicate silently with the people on stage. The stage goes up and is taken down in matter of a few seconds, the speed of preparation is fast, timing is tight, people operating electronics, light, sound, microphones and cameras are synchronized to one command: “Quiet On Set” and “Talent Go!”.
Energy is high and at the end, when the curtain falls, it seems a train running a 1000 miles a minute, have come abruptly to a halt. What an exhilarating feeling!

My show under the label of Valentina Design Universe will run once a month every third Friday. I will invite guests with interesting topics in most shows and it will be fun. Stay tuned. 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 the accessories and furniture she designs, in her books of colors, in her cookery books and in the way her energy influences people around her. She is now bringing her love for colors on TV in her own colorful shows she is producing under the label of Valentina Design Universe at KMVT 15, in Mountain View, CA.
Amazon: http://goo.gl/qNxXrB
Barnes&Nobles: http://goo.gl/q7dQ3w

Women Who Make Things Happen | Valentina Cirasola | Interior Designer

12 Jul 2017 2 Comments

by Valentina in Home Designs Master Tags: #AnYesvanRhijn, #BlogTalkRadioAnYesvanRhijn, #BlogTalkRadioValentinaCirasola, #EntrepreneurBranding, #EntrepreneurMindSet, #Inspirational

Three years ago today, I had the opportunity to be interviewed by AnYes van Rhijn on her Blog Talk Radio show, all the way to France.
She is a business coach for mindset, self-confidence, self-care, personal branding and personal effectiveness for professional women.
Here is the link to the interview.

http://www.blogtalkradio.com/womenwhomakethingshappen/2014/02/03/valentina-cirasola–the-interior-designer-who-loves-to-color-her-clients-world

At the time of my interview she was starting her series of radio shows and I was happy to have been chosen as a guest. She was a good host and directed the show to meet the needs of her audience. The core of the conversation was to help her followers understanding basic business principles and issues entrepreneurs usually struggle with, such as how to be productive in business, how to overcome self-doubts, how to be disciplined, even when, at times, there is little desire to work, how to set goals and achieve them.

It takes courage to become an entrepreneur, accepting to earn money inconsistently at the beginning and to work lonely long hours. It also takes courage to accept changes. An entrepreneur must be ready for the transformation, which naturally happens with unfolding events of a new business. Fear is normal, but it does not have to blur the targets, never lose the vision of the goals one wants to reach.

(Photo Microphone: Free image https://www.iconfinder.com/icons/37056/microphone_record_icon)

My secret to endure hard times in a new business in a foreign country was not to put myself in the box, even if it meant to be a fashion designer one day and an interior designer the next day. I put all my qualifications to work with diligence, making sure they were all related. One of my business coaches once said:
“money is money, doesn’t matter where they come from. Honor it” therefore I had skills, I put them to work for me.

(Photo AnYes van Rhijn – Linkedin https://www.linkedin.com/in/anyesvanrhijn/?ppe=1)

The conversation with AnYes then evolved on the difficulties a foreigner meets when doing business in the adopted country. I am sure everyone moving to a foreign country experiences difficulties with the new life, new customs, new way of thinking or even making jokes. Often, what was funny to me, was taken the wrong way by the locals. I had to adjust my thinking and speaking out loud was something I had to forget, otherwise I would have created the desert around me, that was not my goal.

Writing books, in a foreign language was also one of the questions AnYes directed to her followers, many of them are foreigners and want to write a book, but debate if writing it in the native language or English. I chose to write my books in English, only because I want to sell to the world and no only to a small country like Italy. Why put limitations?

Being an entrepreneur doesn’t have to be difficult or painful, as long as one conducts business with humor, caring for clients with love, understanding personal limitations, doing the best one can, resting between tasks or projects and never overwork. Make clients part of the business life, share moments behind the scenes, be open and transparent. Humans run businesses, treat the business as a friend with humanity and people will come.

I hope to have been an inspiration to all the brave and courageous new entrepreneurs out there. Thanks to AnYes van Rhijn I can remember that day, she was so great interviewing me and that’s an art on its own.
The story of my business continues. Ciao,
Valentina
http://www.valentinadesigns.com

As a designer in business since 1990, I am interested in helping people designing their interior and exterior spaces with an overall feeling of peace, relaxation and harmony that will draw them home eagerly. I am always looking to add that special touch with original findings to the spaces I design. Color is the focus of my business today, changing people’s energy and life force just by introducing them to colors they would have never imagined. Vogue Italia magazine, Gentry and many prominent magazines in California featured my work, I appeared on RAI, National Italian T.V. and nonetheless my story continues. Find copies of my book on colors ©RED – A Voyage Into Colors and the rest of my books
Amazon: http://goo.gl/qNxXrB
Barnes&Nobles: http://goo.gl/q7dQ3w