Valentina

Marrying Painted Furniture | Valentina Cirasola | Interior Designer

12 Feb 2013 8 Comments

by Valentina in Home Designs Master Tags: #ColoredFurniture, #ColorTheory, #DecoratingTips, #EcoFriendlyDesigns, #FurnitureCoordination, #FurnitureDesigns, #RedVoyageIntoColors, #ValentinaBookOnColors

You have a tired piece of furniture, you like it so much, perhaps it has been in the family for a long time or you just care for the environment and don’t want to dispose of it. The solution is to repaint it.

It is fun to let the imagination run free when repainting furniture. You are imagining the new piece in a particular corner, you found the right color or pattern you like so much and get equipped with all that is needed to do the paint job, but then you might realize that particular color or pattern will not fit with the décor of your room. Before you get innamorate of a certain design, the first think to do is to ask yourself if color and pattern will go with your room décor. When you are absolutely sure, purchase all the material needed. A couple of times it happened to me. I was totally taken by a certain design that I ended up changing the rest of the room to fit the painted piece.

Green Tones with a touch of Wine

Mixed Tones

Golden Tones with a touch of Brown

Tropical

Mixed Colors

Black & White with a touch of RED

If you are restyling a room based on the new color of your painted furniture, remember that nothing transforms a room better than colors do. Colors in nature work just as you see them, bring them in the room, they will work just as good. A room exposed to South can take bold and rich colors on walls, furniture and accessories. For rooms exposed to North, you might want to use bold colors only in accessories.
Take one or two colors from your painted furniture and use them as your color scheme for the room. Then the fun part comes. Select one color that doesn’t even exist in your painted furniture piece and make it the accent color to help the room stand out. Note what I did in my color schemes:

First colors scheme: The green tones came from the green lines of the dresser, by introducing a raspberry color the room become vibrant. Although green is a calming color, it might not be suitable for everyone, especially for those people who have a low value skin tone.

Second colors scheme: the grounding color is black found in the chair legs, coffee table and credenza top. In the next slide, notice how the same piece of furniture looks so different with different colors around.

Third color scheme: I picked up the brownish tones from the same credenza with diamond designs, changing the feeling of the room completely. Have you noticed the rug has the same diamond pattern of the credenza? It just happened by chance.

Fourth color scheme: I chose to play with the brown tone of the colorful chest of drawers. The yellow in the drawers was my inspiration for a yellow tone floral chair. Floral chairs offer many colors to mix and match other chairs in solid colors.

Fifth color scheme: painted golden and silver stripes characterize this dresser drawer, to which anything can be matched. I chose the golden tones, bright, warm colors and added texture with the accessories. The feel is sunny and natural.

Sixth color scheme: In alternative to paint a piece of furniture, you might want to consider covering that piece with faux leather, or wallpaper. Color black grounds a room, but also, as a graphic color, lends itself to many color combinations from classical to modern.

Today’ s wise designer must know how to romance a room and how to dance around client’s budget.

If a client needs guidance in painting a piece of furniture that can say “I am an original” , I will gladly do that, it is part of my services and color is my expertise. Ciao,
Valentina

http://www.Valentinadesigns.com

Valentina Cirasola is an Italian Interior Designer and former Fashion Designer, working in the USA and Europe since 1990. She blends well fashion with interior and colors the world of her clients. She has been described as “the colorist” and loves to create the unusual. She is the author of three books, the latest is a book on colors RED-A Voyage Into Colors. Find them on
Amazon: http://goo.gl/xUZfk0
Barnes&Nobles: http://goo.gl/q7dQ3w

From Here To France | Valentina Cirasola | Interior Designer

06 Feb 2013 8 Comments

by Valentina in Home Designs Master Tags: #CustomDesignedFurniture, #DesignConsultationWithSkype, #DesigningOnline, #DYIDecorating, #FoyerDesign, #InteriorColors, #ReusingFurniture

Christine, a French young woman, was reading my blog and my posts on Facebook without commenting. I didn’t know she was sort of “watching” me, today we would say she was following me.
Her home entry and the studio room needed attention, she had a vague idea of how she wanted to decorate the two spaces with a few materials she attempted to collect. Then one day she connected with me and told me she was following me all the way from France.

It seems a long way to design someone’s home across the world, one would think, but the world is no longer unreachable. Through Skype line I am able to help people with design challenges in the four corners of the world.
Christine wanted to divide the two spaces with a separé (room divider), as there was no space for a swinging door. My solution was to add a pocket door with a sand-blasted glass panel, to let the light in the entry, still keep the studio private and add some flair or style to the spaces. To help her visualizing the door, I made a drawing of the glass design, added photographs of some of my previous work and emailed them to her. The door was produced locally in her town in the same wood of all the interior doors of her house and the glass was sand-blasted according to my instructions.

She told me her wall color preference was soft colors. I suggested a soft faux finish treatment that she liked very much, but had no idea how to do. I sent her a few samples in the mail and she ended up painting the entire house instead of only the two rooms I was engaged for. In areas where the sunlight hits indirectly, one can see the beautifully done sponge and stippled finish techniques.

The entry needed some furniture and her mother’s desk-chair set needed a new look. By elimination of her choices, we selected the new fabric for the chair and new knobs for the desk. The small ceramic rosettes look very cute on the dark repainted wood. I purchased them at Anthropologie store and shipped them to her. Emailing her photographs of accessories was the easiest way to convey ideas of look, texture and colors of items she could find easily in her town. The studio only needed wall paint-work and she actually made the lamp shades showing in my photos.

Floating furniture is a technique designer use often. Once we set furniture in a room, doesn’t mean they must stay in that position forever. Furniture look different and sometimes even more attractive if we move them around and set them in a different light with different accessories. I let her bring into the entry space two small chairs she had somewhere else in the house and never use them. Through Skype line was easy to see what she owned and repurpose each item. She thought nothing of some pieces she had in various closets, but I made them come alive, found new life and a new place.

The entire process took about three months, including all the work done by others. She was inspired and encouraged to reuse many of her own pieces that did not end up in the landfill. She is enjoying them in a new style and didn’t spend much money in the design process. “A clever designer must know how to romance the room and dance around client’s budget” ~ I say that.

Now, when writing a blog, be careful of what you write, you never know who is “watching”. Ciao,
Valentina
http://www.Valentinadesigns.com

Valentina Cirasola transforms and creates spaces realizing people’s dreams in homes, offices, interiors and exteriors. She infuses your everyday living with a certain luxury without taking away a comfortable living.  She offers design consultations on-line through Skype and in the traditional face-to-face, helping people with their design challenges anywhere in the world. She is the author of three books, all-available on
Amazon: http://goo.gl/xUZfk0
Barnes&Nobles: http://goo.gl/q7dQ3w

Furniture – A Movable Thought | Valentina Cirasola | Interior Designer

01 Feb 2013 7 Comments

by Valentina in Home Designs Master Tags: #DutchArt, #DutchInteriors, #EcoFriendlyDesigns, #FurnitureLayOut, #HistoryOfFurniture, #HomeFashion

Welcome to my personal A to Z Challenge on the subject of Home. The goal, in a year time, is to elaborate and dissect topics regarding the Home not as containers of stuff, but as a cocoon for the soul, mind and heart. I will touch on decorations, style, trends, history of home and sometimes technical information.

The word furniture comes from the 1570 French word “fournir” (furnish in English). Furniture was the prerogative of the higher levels of society and nobles who lived in castles while the less prosperous sat on benches, stools or on the floor, ate at whatever table available at their disposition and often slept on beds of straw. Furniture had a double purpose: to decorate a room as we intend it today and to be mobile. In fact in many European countries where romantic languages are spoken furniture was also called “mobilia” a Latin word which means mobile. The word is still in use today.

Vacation time of the rich and nobles was like a house moving of today, they took along chairs, tables, trunks and household stuff when they left their castle and went to visit their peers in their castles. Visiting people’s castle was a common custom as today we go on vacation and stay in hotels, except that our hotels are fully furnished and clothes is the only thing we carry around.

Furniture and adornments were meant to convey the wealth of its owner. Rich oak was the preferred wood for container such as trunks and credenza; upholstered chairs in velvet or expensive materials divided rooms elegantly in vignettes; turned legs accented and beautified any boxed furniture; elaborate window treatments kept the cold winter out and gilded and decorated walls lined with expensive art really told the story of how wealthy the family was.

Wikimedia.org – Pieter_de_Hooch_-_Interior_with_a_woman_reading

Emmanuel-de-WITTE-1617-92-Interieur-avec-une-femme-jouant

Wikimedia.org-Pieter_de_Hooch_-_Mother_Lacing_Her_Bodice_beside_a_Cradle

the-girl-with-a-wineglass-Jan Vermeer (1632-1675)

Jan Vermeer – Love Letter

The Dutch were the first to use Turkish rug as table coverings and not as floor covering. They believed furniture was to admire, to use and never to crowd a room, in that it would detract the light and the spirit within. However their reason might have been a more practical one. Dutch people scrubbed and cleaned their homes every day and when entering the house, took their shoes off on the unfurnished and very bare first floor, which was considered an extension of the street. With slippers on their feet, they entered the livable home on the second floor. However, the cleanliness of their homes did not reflect the cleanliness of their bodies. One would think that the same people who scrubbed, cleaned and shined their homes, would take an exceptional effort to keep up with personal care and hygiene as well, but that was not the case. Houses did not have a room for bathing and the multiple layers of clothing that kept them warm during the hard winter months, discouraged bathing and exposure to fresh air: “the bark stays better on the trunk”.

Strangely enough, not much as changed since then, except that furniture are less decorated, more functional, respects the rule of ergonomics, often is very technological with more than one function and we don’t take them on our vacations. In decorating, we like to reproduce past styles to feel a connection to history. The Dutch four-post bed is still in use today, as are alcoves and banquette seating under windows. Family portraits and various art pieces still line our decorated walls. Entering someone’s home it’s hard to remain indifferent one way or the other. Furniture will immediately communicate the status symbol or non-status of the owner and the style will speak about the owner’s personality.

As for cleanliness, I wonder often if people have learned anything or if technology has even helped. It’s not uncommon for me, being a designer, to go into a house for the first time and find a royal mess and stale air. The answer is to be found in the question: “what do people do with their time?”. Ciao,
Valentina

http://www.Valentinadesigns.com

Valentina Cirasola has been a lifetime designer in fashion and interiors. Her extensive knowledge of colors and materials 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 color in the style fit for each of her special clients.
She is the author of three books all available on
Amazon: http://goo.gl/xUZfk0
Barnes&Nobles: http://goo.gl/q7dQ3w

Brown Food, Yes or Not? | Valentina Cirasola | Author and Designer

22 Jan 2013 14 Comments

by Valentina in The Good Life Tags: #BrownFood, #ColorfulDinnerTables, #DesigningWithColors, #ItalianFood, #LentilRecipes, #TableCustoms, Lentils, Mushrooms

In decorating, black is for grounding the room, white is for transitioning between one color to another such are usually trims and doors, red is for uplifting energy in a dull environment, green for calming and each of the rest of the colors in the rainbow have a dedicated function, but brown has never been a color that delight in kitchen décor.

Lentils with oranges and celery

Chocolate torte without flower

Brown spaghetti with mussels

Warm nuts

Portobello mushrooms stuffed with rice and more

Brown in cooking is a totally different matter. Cooking something brown is not that appealing, unless we talk about chocolate in the darkest form of brown, sweet, crunchy, luscious, decadent and even with a hint of salt. Brown breads and brown beers fall in the good brown category that give nutrition and pleasure, but brown steaks don’t. Meat at a fresh state starts with a bright red coloration and by the time is cooked, it should be pinkish inside to retain all the juices and flavors, but never too brown, risking to get a shoe sole.

Brown sauces sold in bottles are full of artificial ingredients and so much sodium. Aside from upsetting someone here who likes that stuff, I would say that brown sauces are good to stain food without personality. Fresh food do not need to be corrupted with brown or any other color sauces. It is clear I don’t agree with people who believe the best food is brown. However there are a few of the brown food I eat all the time: mushrooms, whole-wheat pasta, lentil, truffle and nuts. It is important to combine complementary color schemes when serving dark food – “the eyes want to take part of the feast too” – therefore if it appeals to the eyes it will appeal to the stomach. That’s a fact. Use bright color plates to make the brown food come alive, but don’t forget bright condiments as well.

Enjoy a couple of my simple recipes and colors.

Funghi Trifolati (sautéed)
Use any kind of mushrooms, but mostly crumini, the common dark button mushrooms. Wash them very quickly in cold water, pat dry, cut in half. In a skillet warm up olive oil and garlic, when the garlic is golden, throw in all the cut mushrooms, sauté until they have shrunk a little. Season it with salt, pepper or chili pepper. Add a hand full of fresh chopped Italian parsley. Serve with meat or fish and a robust wine.

Lentil Andalusia Style
For this dish I use dry lentils. Before putting lentils in the boiling water, make sure there are no small rocks inside the bag, as often happens. Boil them in salted water for about 15 minutes and season if necessary with salt and pepper. Meanwhile, chop finely the center core of celery because is tender and more digestible and 1 -2 oranges in small bite sizes. Plate the lentils, add both ingredients on top and a swirl of olive oil.

It cannot be any easier than this! The food in my slide show are all in my books. Ciao,
Valentina

http://www.Valentinadesigns.com

Valentina Cirasola is an Italian Interior Designer with a passion for kitchens and cooking. She especially loves to design all those rooms with a “make me feel good” tag attached, such as kitchens and wine grottos, outdoor kitchens and outdoor rooms, great rooms and entertainment rooms. She is a public speaker and a mentor. She is also the author of two Italian regional cuisine books and a book on colors, all available here in this site on the Books page and on
Amazon: http://goo.gl/xUZfk0
Barnes&Nobles: http://goo.gl/q7dQ3w

T For Tub – Harold Bring The Tub | Valentina Cirasola | Interior Designer

18 Jan 2013 14 Comments

by Valentina in Home Designs Master Tags: #BathRemodeling, #CopperBathTub, #HistoryOfBath, #HomeRemodeling, #MoenioDigitalTechnology, #MoenProducts, #RedVoyageIntoColors

I am participating in My personal A to Z challenge blog.
I chose to write on the subject of HOME. In a year time, I will complete my coverage in this subject in all the letters of the alphabet. This is my first article, T for Tub. I hope you will enjoy some of my entertainment on the matter, some history, some information, and colorful photos. Welcome.

We don’t think much of all technology we use on a daily basis and how technology has improved our lives. Has it always been this way? Of course not, our modern comfort is a direct result of the discomfort of past generations. However, no improvements would have happened if the family kept up with the costume of having servants to light candles or tending fireplaces, warming up water to fill bathtubs, or emptying chamber pots.

As the industrial revolution started at the end of the 18th century England, domestic technology began to develop, but it developed slowly. Hard to believe a cabinetmaker started to fiddle with mechanical inventions and came up with what was known as the Bramah Valve Closet. Bramah invented a toilet bowl that would seal the water inside and prevent the cesspool from re-entering the room. A few country houses were fitted with the new piping technology system, the rest of the populations thought it was just a fad, so much that even by the late 1900s, many English aristocrats preferred the portable tubs brought to the bedroom for their weekly bath in front of the fireplace and the chamber pot remained close by in a corner of the bedroom, or in some households in the corner of the kitchen or dining room.

Above: Copper Tub – Oil Bronze Finish – Approximately: $4,000.

In some special period décor of today’s homes, stand-alone tubs are still used as showpieces, some have claw feet, some sit on the floor, but they all function with modern plumbing and we don’t call them portable anymore. We have become servantless and more confidently depending on technology.

The Moen’s ioDigital tub – http://www.moen.com/iodigital (watch the video, it will surprise you) allows the user to fill up the tub with remote control as far as 30 feet away.
The Moen’s ioDigital technology controls water to a desired temperature and volume, the device alerts when hot water runs low and tub overflows, it is also equipped with an anti-scalding feature and safety lock. The suggested retail price for the tub is around $1,200 less expensive than the stand-alone period copper tub (about $4,000) and around $2,500 for the “vertical spa” which includes rain shower head and body jets.

We sure have come a long way and in a very short time! Ciao,
Valentina

http://www.Valentinadesigns.com

Valentina Cirasola is a trained Italian Interior Designer in business since 1990. Being Italian born and raised, Valentina’s design work has been influenced by Classicism and stylish, timeless designs. She will create your everyday living with a certain luxury without taking away your comfort. She loves to restore old homes, historic dwellings and she focuses on remodeling. She is the author of three books all available on
Amazon: http://goo.gl/xUZfk0
Barnes&Nobles: http://goo.gl/q7dQ3w

Stuck In The Groove | Valentina Cirasola | Interior Designer

12 Jan 2013 17 Comments

by Valentina in Home Designs Master Tags: #ItalianCulture, #ItalianCustoms, #NewYearCelebrations, #NewYearWishes, #RedVoyageIntoColors, #ShineOnAward, Appreciation

Hoops, I didn’t even notice to have been gone since Christmas and my page seems stuck in the groove! Pardon.
Well, last year my Thursdays disappeared often out of my weeks, catapulting me straight into the Saturdays and weekends didn’t even appear on the horizon of my calendar. To me it meant one thing: time for regrouping, regenerating and detoxing from the Internet. Literally, I abandoned my studio and this time I was the one who disappeared. Now, I am wondering, why the year is new, I am one year older, but my office has the same organized mess, the same décor looking at me and the same dust onto which I can write the story of my life, especially after my short absence.

No, I am not stuck in the groove, the year has started well and I am very much alive and kicking.
This week, I made a third anniversary flying with WordPress. It has been a great experience reading all of you bloggers and making new friends.

I have received also the “Shine On” Award from A MisBeahaved Woman http://misbehavedwoman.wordpress.com/2013/01/10/shine-on – THANK YOU, I am honored and I accept. Please read her interesting blog on social issues, she is really good.

With the Awards come the rules. Here are the ones for the Shine On Award.

1.) Show appreciation of the blogger who nominated you and link back to them in your post.

2.) Add the award logo to your blog.

3.) Share 7 things about yourself.

4.) Pass the award on to 5-10 other bloggers you admire.

and here the winners:

http://suellewellyn2011.wordpress.com – Photography and stories.

http://ohtheplaceswesee.com – they are husband and wife who decided to live somewhere else a month at a time.

http://algarveblog.net – a British expatriate to Portugal.

http://wheresmybackpack.com – She says: “anyone who tries to tell you it’s a small world hasn’t tried to see it all”.

http://taylorjorjorian.wordpress.com – Photographic Surreal Impressionism

http://grandmothermusings.com – Jamie is a sweet teacher.

Please go visit them, enjoy their reading and make new friends. The world is full of people we have not met yet. Happy 2013 to all, hoping this year will treat us very nicely.

To find 7 things to say about me it’s a hard task to do, but I will do my best.

I have always liked to eat and manage to keep a good figure to suit my bone structure. I have eaten a Mediterranean diet since I was born and don’t even get closer to junk food. People who know me call me “A Good Fork”. My father used to say that was better to clothe me than feed me.
Growing up in my Italian family, food choices did not exist and neither did democracy in the family nucleus. The heads of the family made up their own laws and we kids had to obey. Today, I go into people’s homes and find that kids can choose what they want to eat, as if they are at a private restaurant, tell the parent what to do and even get paid to do chores!
I am not a mechanical person like most of my women friends are. If something breaks it will stay broken unless someone fixes it.
I love Opera. When I am sitting in those red velvet chairs, I transport myself to a different world and era and get totally oblivious to anything around me, but often asked myself how I would react if a fire happened while I am totally hypnotized by the opera notes.
I am an acute observer. I see things people miss easily. I can sit at a café’ for hours just to observe and hear people’s conversations.
I don’t get bored easily, stupid people get bored, but time wasters get on my nerves easily.
I don’t shop at corporations, I shop at small stores and I am very faithful to them if they know how to treat me right.

I am participating in the A to Z challenge on any subject, mine will be on HOME from A to Z.
I will give myself one year to write funny and not so funny stories, tips and stuff related to the home projects and behind the scene happenings.

Let’s have a fantastic year and let’s not get stuck in the groove of time! Ciao,
Valentina
http://www.Valentinadesigns.com

Valentina Cirasola is an interior designer, in business since 1990 and a former fashion designer.
She helps people realizing their dream spaces in homes, offices, interiors, exteriors, restaurants and more. She is also the author of three books all available on

Amazon: http://goo.gl/xUZfk0
Barnes&Nobles: http://goo.gl/q7dQ3w

Back In The Saddle | Valentina Cirasola | Author and Designer

10 Jan 2013 Leave a comment

by Valentina in The Good Life Tags: #2013NYOperaSeason, #BarberdeSevilleOpera, #LesTroyensOpera, #NewYorkTravel, #NYMetropolitanOperaHouse

I am still on time to wish a Happy 2013 to everyone, hoping this year, still in the baby phase, will treat every one of us very nicely.

I had a desire to see one of the most acclaimed Opera Houses in the world: the Metropolitan of New York. For a long time, I wanted to sit on those red velvet plush chairs, soaking the ambience, the décor, enjoying the mesmerizing sound of an opera and imagining which famous people has been there before me. On the second day of this New Year, I left for New York while my business is still under the holiday’s calm water and I did just that, soaked the ambience in the fan-shaped auditorium, decorated in gold and white. Photographs as usual are not allowed in theatres, but the views will be forever imprinted in my mind.

“Designed by architect Wallace K. Harrison, the Metropolitan Opera House is part of the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts complex. The building opened in September 1966 and features seating for app 3,800 people. The exterior is clad in white travertine stone and the front is graced with a distinctive series of five arches.(…)” from Wikipedia.

I chose to see the Barber Of Seville by Gioachino Rossini, a Tony Award winner production of only two hours. It was a fun rowdy and razor-sharp classic comedy that can entertain an entire family. I have seen this opera in many productions mostly sung in Italian, but this was sung in English. The cast was charming and irresistible and costumes were colorfully playful. I loved every minute of it.

Les Troyens was sung in French. This was a vast epic story, evoking the Trojan War story with duration of about five hours. The last aria “Je vais mourir (I am going to die) received a standing ovation.

The back stage tour of the Met was on my plans for my last day in N.Y. Learning about behind the scene’s episodes and some of the actors’ idiosyncrasy was sweet and enlightening.

What desire, or dream do you have and is there any room to realize it this year? If your answer is yes, do it, there is no point in saving that dream for a better time. Today is the time!
I am back in the saddle, happy to resume my work and hectic life. My year has started well, I hope yours has too and will continue to stay good. Sending all of you love and peace. Ciao,
Valentina
http://www.Valentinadesigns.com

Valentina Cirasola is an interior designer, in business since 1990 and a former fashion designer. She helps people realizing their dream spaces in homes, offices, interiors, exteriors, restaurants and more.
She is the author of three books all available on this site on the Books page and on
Amazon: http://goo.gl/xUZfk0
Barnes&Nobles: http://goo.gl/q7dQ3w

Light and Happiness To All | Valentina Cirasola | Interior Designer

23 Dec 2012 22 Comments

by Valentina in Home Designs Master Tags: #ChristmasColors, #ChristmasThemes, #HolidayWishes, #RedVoyageIntoColors

We have overcome Dec.21st and we are here, alive and kicking, in a new era of the Universe.
This date marked the end of selfishness and the beginning of brotherhood; the end of individualism and the beginning of collectivism; the end of hatred and the beginning of love; the end of lies and the beginning of truth.
Gee, why did we have to wait so many centuries for this!

With these new perspectives in mind, I hope the humanity will come together to work towards a better future for the entire world. Let’s enjoy the festivities and the celebrations from now to the end of the year.

Thank you for your continued support as clients, friends and friends on my blogosphere.
I want to thank all of you creative bloggers for the new mark, I reached 500 Likes this month, received 5 stars on the Blog Of the Year 2012 Award and new subscribers.
Thanks again for brightening my day.

Merry Christmas to all of you and families and if you don’t celebrate any religious events, celebrate yourself, your achievements and all your loved ones. Ciao,
Valentina
http://www.Valentinadesigns.com

Amazon: http://goo.gl/xUZfk0

Barnes&Nobles: http://goo.gl/q7dQ3w

Decorating With Pink Flambe’ | Valentina Cirasola | Interior Designer

18 Dec 2012 8 Comments

by Valentina in Home Designs Master Tags: #2013ColorTrend, #BohemianStyle, #ColorTheory, #DecorantingWithPinkFlambe', #DesigningWithColors, #PinkFlmbe'

Pink Flambe' Color Board by ©Valentina Cirasola

Pink Flambe’ and Orange- from https://wanelo.co

Pantone Colors 2013

You might be wondering how top industries come up every year with different colors that will more or less dictate our choices of items we want to include in our life. The answer is simple.
The industry spy do exist, they are people with a fun job. They are among us, they sit in restaurants, café’ and any public places to observe and record how we dress, what colors we wear, how we combine our clothes, what new expressions we use, they follow food and wine trends and anything that goes on in the street. Then they report their findings to the decision makers and from there they elaborate our taste. Fun is it not? I wished I had that job. What’s up with the colors in 2013?

Funky and strong colors have dominated this new millennium so far, 2013 will continue in that path with a new hot color: Pink Flambé.
Flambé is a French word that means flamed. It is a cooking procedure in which alcohol is added to a hot pan to create a burst of flames. The color flambé is just as flamed and hot.
Flambe’ a bit hard color to work with, but when combined with other decisive colors, it can be striking and tasty just like a flambé dessert.

We can mix it in our clothes and our homes indifferently. The new Pink Flambé likes Chartreuse green, golden-yellow, white, grey, orange, or black. Fabrics will be natural and man-made even for apparel, animal prints, stripes and floral, much dyed denim, crocheted and embroidered fabrics, as well as a broad selection of trims and accessories. Take out all your knitting and crochet equipment and let your fantasy go wild.

The themes for next year are quite characteristic. They embrace minimalist shapes, collection of botanical fabric prints, reminiscent of Victorian naturalist collections, tribal influences from all over the world mixing together mismatching floral prints, geometrics, block prints and a lot of Bohemian retro style.
The new philosophy is not about saving as much money as possible on home décor and get it done on a shoe string budget, as it has been for the last four-year of economy in recession, but it is about the day-to-day reflection of their life and personality, as it should be not matter what. I am happy people are coming around to please their needs.

Have fun next year. The “anything goes” philosophy has been a long time trend already, just a different twist every year. We can still have a flicker of luxury with various finishes if we want. Ciao,
Valentina
http://www.Valentinadesigns.com

Valentina Cirasola is an Italian Interior Designer and former Fashion Designer, working in the USA and Europe since 1990. She blends well fashion with interior and colors the world of her clients. She has been described as “the colorist” and loves to create the unusual. Check out her latest book on the subject of colors: ©Red-A Voyage Into Colors, available on

Amazon: http://goo.gl/xUZfk0

Barnes&Nobles: http://goo.gl/q7dQ3w

In Company Of Port | Valentina Cirasola | Author and Designer

18 Dec 2012 Leave a comment

by Valentina in The Good Life Tags: How To Pair Port, How To Serve Port, Port Glass, Port Wine, Red-A Voyage Into Colors, Table-Customs

Don’t you love this month of parties, celebrations, tasting unusual food and fun drinks? I love it and the people who know me, also know I don’t need an excuse to eat and drink. Life is for living, not deprivations. After dinner drinks seems to be one of my favorite part of a dinner. Especially in this cold time of the year ending a dinner with a port warms up the hands and revives the soul.

https://www.bedbathandbeyond.com/store/product/wine-enthusiast-port-sippers-set-of-4/1018541343

Port aged in oak barrels is a kind of sweet wine, with lot of body and high alcohol content.
Port originated in Oporto, Portugal is a fortified wine made from grapes grown in the Douro valley. Portuguese law allows only this wine to be called Port, just like the French keep strict laws on Champagne and Cognac producers, or Italians are very protective of their Grappa, Parmigiano and many products that took years to perfect.

The new age of Port now includes a dry white specialty and the medium body Port, both can be served before dinner as an apéritif and chilled. The Vintage Port in my opinion is the best. It takes anywhere from ten to twenty years to be ready for drinking. It is intensely fruity, rich of alcohol and contains a lot of deposits, therefore it needs to be decanted before drinking. It goes well with cheeses and nuts at the end of dinner, as all European style dinners end with cheeses, I find it perfect with blue cheeses. Chocolate desserts with berries, or dark chocolates with coarse salt on top are just luscious.

After a bottle of Port has been opened and how is kept will determine the good status, spoilage or the shelf life of the elixir. The most temperamental is the Vintage Port, it only lasts a couple of days after the opening of the bottle. So, drink up with friends and empty the bottle at once!

Know the rule of serving Port and you will look expert like a connoisseur. The host will first pour Port in the glass of his/her guest sitting on the right, then will pass the bottle to the guest on the left, who will pour its own and pass the bottle to the next guest down and around the table up until it reaches again the guest on the right of the host. The pleasure of holding a Port sipper glass is immense and I love it (top photo), but simple tumblers or regular wine glasses will work well.

(Glass found on: https://www.webstaurantstore.com)

The English writer of novels and travel books once said: “Port is not for the very young, the vain and the active. It is the comfort of age and the companion of the scholar and the philosopher.

A clipping from The Times of London, circa 1798: “To which University, said a woman to the late sagacious Dr. Warren, shall I send my son? Madam, replied he, I believe, near the same quantity of Port in each of them.”

Port is for fine palates, getting a hangover from it will lower that person a few steps. Ciao,
Valentina
http://www.Valentinadesigns.com

Valentina Cirasola has been a lifetime designer in fashion and interiors. Her extensive knowledge of colors and materials led her in both directions successfully. Vogue Italy featured her as the guru of staging a home in the theatrical way. Among designing and remodeling homes, designing custom-made furniture and writing books, Valentina is now teaching etiquette, table manners, table setting and life style.

Check out her latest books Red-A Voyage Into Colors on the subject of colors, available on
Amazon: http://goo.gl/xUZfk0
Barnes&Nobles: http://goo.gl/q7dQ3w