Valentina

Conversation With A Client | Valentina Cirasola | Interior Designer

17 Apr 2010 2 Comments

by Valentina in Home Designs Master Tags: #DecoratingWithStones, #Granite, #InteriorDesign, #Marble, #RomeRemodeling, #ValentinaInteriorsDesigns

Dear Valentina,
In magazines, marble seems to be the first choice for the master bathroom. I like the traditional look of white or crème marble, but it is more maintenance. I have Corian now with no maintenance. It is great. But I want to be more upscale, age well and the “in look” for resale.
I saw honed beige travertine vanity and floor tile to match. I think honed shows more finger prints. Isn’t travertine softer than marble?
I looked at marble. Seems it’s hard to match the counter top with the floor tiles. Several places had pre-cut counter top slabs but no matching floor tile. Should the vanity match the floor? Can you do granite vanity with marble floors? I have a sample porcelain tile that looks like limestone at home.
I like it, but can I mix it with marble or a quartz countertop. Should I go all natural stone, or all porcelain and quartz?

What is the trend for upscale bathrooms? The bathroom I’m replacing, was remodeled in 1990, but It looks 1980’s. So what look would age well? More important: what’s best for resale. My 2 other bathrooms are light color wood cabinets with white Corian. Do I need to carry the white color to all the bathrooms? Is it important that all the bathrooms be similar? Should the cabinets all be light or can one be dark? For a formal look, would chrome or polished nickel look better?

Has building green really caught on? Then quartz would be in? Do you think quartz will be the replacement for granite? The granite look has been around for a long time, so when does it change? I think all granite kitchens are too heavy-looking. I looked at caesarstone, silestone, and zodiac.
I think quartz maybe more appropriate in the kitchen. But is it the next look?
The big question: what is upscale, ages well and good for resale in a pale color for a master bathroom?
Thanks for you advice.
Wendy

Dear Wendy,
I would like to say one simple thing to show you how people think when in the process of buying a home:
Resale value is something people have in their mind, but it exist only to a certain extend. Why?
People buy homes mainly because of location, school district and square footage, followed by all the amenities such as how many bedrooms, closets, how many baths, how many kitchens, how many cars can fit into a garage, balconies, terraces, butler pantry, home automation, high-tech solutions, interior elevators, European doors, home theatre, wine cellars, home office, back yard, landscaping, lighting, and to an infinity of items.
People don’t buy homes because of colors in the bathrooms, or any other rooms, ever!
Having said that, any choice you make right now to improve your bathroom thinking it will sell better, 99% of the time, will be remodeled again by the new owner. New home owners will always try to add their own style to the home previously owned by somebody else. It’s our way to mark our territory.
So, please take my advice: remodel the bathroom(s) for your own pleasure and in your own style, enjoy it while you are living there and don’t worry about who is coming after you.

About the stones:
Marble is always more attractive, elegant, sophisticated and at times more expensive than granite, or anything else. It does add value to the bathroom and therefore makes it “upscale”. But “Upscale” is a perception, is an image sent to the eye. Anything can be upscale, even corian and avonite, depending on how people use stones and how they mix them together. I can arrange unexpressive stones in a gorgeous design and make it upscale.
Travertino filled or not filled is a lime stone, therefore brittle, but nonetheless durable. In Italy we have used it since the Roman times, buildings are still there and have been under the weather for centuries.
Vanity and floor are two different entities, you can match it, or you can do something totally different, there is no rule, whatever strikes your fancy.

Bathrooms don’t need to be similar and no color need to be carried from bathroom to bathroom, otherwise why would we make a distinction between Master Bath, Powder Room and Guest Baths?

You asked me if dark cabinetry are better for resale value. I like to know who makes up these rules. The only so-called “rule” to follow is:
lighter counter top, dark cabinet and darker counter top, lighter cabinet. This is what people do, but let me assure you, it is not my rule. There is never going to be a replacement for granite, people like it! It is easy to care for and maintaining, it is natural and durable, plenty available in plenty colors and in a variety of prices. Also granite can be found in so many fun finishes: polished, honed, tumbled, leather effect and many more.
I am finding that many of my clients appreciate the leather effect on granite and use it as an accent stone. They might use it only for a kitchen island, or for a small counter in powder rooms, or as a top for a piece of furniture. This finish is a bit more expensive than any other finishes, but if used wisely will add so much more value and beauty to a remodeling project.

Granite can be used as flooring, counter tops, window sills, table tops, door knobs, lighting switchplates, landscaping and many more, applications are endless.

I particularly don’t like the granite with a compact look filled with speckles, it has no life and it is boring. I like the granite with lot of movement and open fields. The lines must be book matched when joining the seems to make a continuous design, then you will see nature in a playful mood!
When spending money on any stone, make it attractive and a conversational piece.
You mentioned the caesarstone, silestone, and zodiac. Fine stones too, with attractive colors and mostly contemporary colors. They are man-made and there is nothing wrong with them, but they are not less expensive than granite, as most people think. Silestone is nothing but crushed marble chips fused together with silicon.

“Building Green” is real among those people who understand the concept and can afford it. Unfortunately, prices of the “eco-friendly material” are still way too expensive and discourage people from using them.

For a formal look, some people even use gold polished or satin chrome, or crystal. The hardware finishes must follow the style of your bathroom.
You might fall in love, as I did, with a total glass blue faucet, as in my photograph. This faucet can be placed in a formal, elegant and extravagant bath. It is such a beauty! The hardware is polished chrome and glass. This is formal enough to me, even though it has a modern style. (Photo: James McKelvey)

What if, let’s suppose your formal look is Old Europe? You will never use chrome hardware, but oil rubbed bronze instead, to emulate antiquity.
It all depends what formal means to you. Define formal, you will have the answer.
I want to conclude by saying that, in the perfect design world, there are no rules, thank God. It is all about YOU, the client !!!
What you like, what makes you feel good and what you can afford are all the rules! Nothing is written in “Stone”.

I am always available to resolve any design challenges. Love to hear your comments, or your friends’ comments, if you like to forward this article to someone else.
Designed regards,
Valentina
Interior Designer
in business since 1990 and loving it!
www.Valentinadesigns.com

Valentina Cirasola is an Italian Interior and Fashion Designer, working in the USA and Europe. She marries well fashion and interior in any of her design work. She loves to remodel homes and loves to turn unattractive spaces into castles.
Author of the forthcoming book on the subject of colors, ©RED-A Voyage Into Colors. Stay tuned!
Amazon: http://goo.gl/xUZfk0
Barnes&Nobles: http://goo.gl/q7dQ3w

Valentina Interiors And Designs Has Been Featured Again! | Valentina Cirasola | Interior Designer

06 Apr 2010 Leave a comment

by Valentina in Home Designs Master Tags: #HomeDesign, #HomeRemodeling, #InteriorDesign, #ValentinaInteriorsDesigns, Avaliving

Hello World,
It is so rewarding to come to work on Monday morning from a short Easter weekend holiday and finding my name published all over the Internet. Avaliving, a site for designers offering their services on line, today has published my interview with them.
http://www.avaliving.com/article.php?aid=1617

As a designer, I have been part of Ava’s family since about three years ago. The scope of Avaliving’s site is to give a larger exposure to those designers participating in its programs.
My profession as a designer has really changed in the last eight/nine years. To be able to stay on the market and in a profitable business, I had to adapt to new ways of thinking and accept the new ways clients shop. It is not imaginable anymore to raise a sign outside the studio/office and think clients will come. Designers must have a presence in the local market made of referrals to sustain the business in a continuous flow and a larger presence on line, a new and most important way to sell services. It really doesn’t matter what kind of design business one might have, if a designer is in the service business, she/he is in the marketing business of selling designer services. This is the new twist, we can’t expect to be sitting behind a fashionable desk, in a well decorated office and expect clients to multiply.
I have transformed my business and my mindset with advices, solutions and strategies from expert marketers to achieve my dreams and help my clients in realizing their dreams.

I am an Italian expatriate by choice, not by necessity. I knew since I was a little girl my place was supposed to be in the World and not just in Bari, Italy, my home town where I was born, studied, worked and lived all my life. I made the decision to move when the time was right.

©Valentina Cirasola

I carry with me the educational baggage of an Italian with the beauty and style I have been used to caress and admire. I bring the same into people’s homes, give my clients the power to design with me and at the end I leave them with affordable, comfortable luxury.

I said in my interview with Avaliving that my life is a continuous evolvement of colorful events. That’s because I am a curious person and I get interested and involved in everything.

People who know me say I am a great cook. Food is fuel for my brain. I don’t care what kind of petrol I put in my car, but I care about what kind of food I put in my stomach. In fact, I love food so much, I have written my first designer cookbook and published it: ©Come Mia Nonna-A Return To Simplicity.
Robert T., a friend and business associate of www.wine-fi.com says:
“Valentina – an International Professional Interior Designer is now giving you an opportunity to redesign your palate”.

Check out my first book, it is making people happy, I was told:
http://outskirtspress.com/ComeMiaNonna

OR

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

**********

Life is simply good!

Please forward this article to anyone you think might be interested in reading it and let me know what you think by leaving a comment below. Thank you.
Designed regards,
Valentina
www.Valentinadesigns.com

Valentina Cirasola is an Italian Interior Designer with a passion for kitchens and cooking. She operates in the USA and Europe. She loves to remodel homes and loves to turn unattractive spaces into castles, but especially loves to design kitchens and wine grottos.

Ava Living | My Profile | Valentina Cirasola | Interior Designer

23 Feb 2010 Leave a comment

by Valentina in Home Designs Master Tags: #DecoratingTips, #HomeFashion, #HomeRemodeling, #ValentinaInteriorsDesigns, Avaliving

Ava Living is an online site for designers who are willing to offer services at a distance and willing to think outside the box in a non traditional way. I am often featured on Ava’s first page and often write blogs and articles on various subjects. Check out my work:
Ava Living | My Profile

As an Interior Designer, I deal with one of the most fundamental areas: the home. Home is where you return to relax; a place that props you up in time of crisis. It is the center of everything and a lot of the answers to questions of life are there.
As a designer, I resolve your challenges, my style is your style, you will be involved in my process of designing your spaces and at the end of the project, I will leave you with a comfortable, functional space that will nurture your soul and vital forces. Your spaces will be Pure – Elegant – Original.
I am passionate about my work and everything creative in life. I have founded my business since 1990.
Being Italian born and raised, my design work has been influenced by Classicism and stylish, timeless designs. I will create your everyday living with a certain luxury without taking away a comfortable living.
I am always at you disposition for any questions and I am in service with love.

Please forward this article to anyone you think might be interested in reading it and let me know what you think by leaving a comment below. Thank you.
Valentina
www.Valentinadesigns.com

Valentina Cirasola is an Italian Interior and Fashion Designer, working in the USA and Europe. She combines well fashion and interior in any of her design work. She loves to remodel homes and loves to turn unattractive spaces into castles, but especially she loves to design kitchens and wine grottos. Author of the book: ©Come Mia Nonna–A Return to Simplicity.
Amazon: http://goo.gl/xUZfk0
Barnes&Nobles: http://goo.gl/q7dQ3w

Silk Stockings | Valentina Cirasola | Designer

20 Feb 2010 6 Comments

by Valentina in Friday Fashion Tags: #CydCharisse, #EuropeanFashion, #FrenchFashion, #ItalianLifeStyle, #ParisSilkStocking, #SilkShoes, #SilkStocking

The other day, I was visiting a friend at her home. We were sitting across from each other shooting the breeze, talking about this and that and a bit of all.
She noticed my shoes and complimented me on how good I can put things together, but the surprise was underneath. I lifted my pant legs and showed her my silk stocking in golden olive color.

The look in her face was clearly puzzled as if she was asking: What are you wearing? She was surprised to know that I was wearing silk stockings and was even more surprised to learn that my pair of stockings belonged to my mother fifteen years ago. I have had them for that long and who knows how long my mother had that pair of stockings before I subtracted it from her.
Stockings are not the invention of the last century, au contraire.
(Photo left: Cervin Rive Gauche 100% silk lace top hold-ups, £41.99
Available in noir (black), white, gazelle or ivory)

They came about when in the late 1600 fashion dictated that men and women would be equally effeminate in their attires, thus competing with each others in elegance and style. It was a must to complete every outfit with silk stocking, red or pink, or sky blue and light yellow for the most refined people. Silk stockings became so popular that Colbert, French Secretary Of State, ordered the building near Paris of a royal manufacture with about 200 looms to produce the silk stockings in a variety of colors. He also founded a professional school where silk stockings became a new subject to study, therefore making it a new branch of fashion until our days.

Of course with colorful silk stockings, the need, or let’s say the desire to have colorful shoes was born. The shoes were also made of silk, with medium-high heels, embellished with large buckles, roses and rosettes, ribbons and shimmering beads, but the color of the shoes had to be contrasting to the silk stockings.
Human fantasy has no limits, since then a variety of silk stockings were created. Pearls decorated silk stockings of the 1700 and silk embroiders decorated the silk stocking of the 1800. In the ’30s women dresses became much shorter and for the first time the knees were in full view, therefore much more attention was given to colored stockings. Women soon preferred the nude look of the legs, the simple skin color silk stockings lasted until WWII, when the silk fabric was needed to fabricate parachutes for our men fighting in the war. So it happened that the manufactures discovered the nylon, a product made from petroleum and much more fragile than the silk.

Remember I said I possessed my mother’s silk stockings since fifteen years ago and I don’t know how long she had it before I took them? Well, my nylons have never lasted more fifteen days, until I discovered to keep them in the freezer and not in the drawers of my dresser. The cold of the freezer apparently stretches the life of the nylons only a little longer.
I am thinking silk stockings should come back in fashion, they are eco-friendly, will save your money, feel absolutely luxurious and they add luminosity to women’ legs.

(http://www.allposters.com)

I can help decorating with fun posters of pin-up girls in silk stockings to add a playful look to any room, especially music rooms, studios, entries, bathrooms, home gym. Try a little eccentricity here and there when decorating your home to add a punch of fantasy and character, because the banal décor gets old and tiresome after a while.

A good reading is the book: “A Pair of Silk Stockings”. It is an eclectic collection of long-neglected short stories by great women writers best known for their novels. The book includes The Watsons by Jane Austen, The Half Brothers by Elizabeth Gaskell, A Pair of Silk Stockings by Kate Chopin, The Red Room by L.M. Montgomery, Bliss by Katherine Mansfield, The Parvenue by Mary Shelley, The Legacy by Virginia Woolf, and The Wronged Woman by Winifred Holtby. Find it on Amazon, $13.00.

In the 1957 film Silk Stockings Cyd Charisse was so gracefully beautiful and the music so throbbing. Her endless legs were perfect for the silk stockings.

Please forward this article to anyone you think might be interested in reading it and let me know what you think by leaving a comment below. Thank you.
In service and with love. Ciao,
Valentina

Open this link and scroll down the page to find my Fashion Services

https://valentinadesigns.com/services

Valentina Cirasola is an Italian Interior and Fashion Designer, working in the USA and Europe. She marries well fashion and interior in any of her design work. She loves to remodel homes and loves to turn ugly spaces into castles. Fashion designing has been her first career choice that made her happy in her own company for fifteen years.
Author of the book: ©Come Mia Nonna–A Return to Simplicity
Book website: outskirtspress.com/ComeMiaNonna
Author of the forthcoming book on the subject of colors: ©RED-A Voyage Into Colors.

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

Every Trick Is Permitted At Carnival, Just Need The Right Mask | Valentina Cirasola | Interior Designer

11 Feb 2010 Leave a comment

by Valentina in Home Designs Master Tags: #ColorScheme, #EuropeanFashion, #HowToDecorateTips, #InteriorDesign, #ItalianCulture, #ItalianLifeStyle, #VeniceCarnivalMasks, #VeniceStyle

In Europe around this time of the year we celebrate Carnevale, or Mardi Gras. The Christian calendar marks Carnevale as the period between the Epiphany and the first day of Lent, this being the day when all the fatty food must end until Easter Day. In Austria and Bavaria, Carnevale called Fashing starts the day of the Epiphany, in Cologne it starts at 11:11 of Nov.11.

At Mardi Gras, the day before Lent, we Europeans consume a variety of meat dish, food high in calories and proteins, lot of fried food and stuffed food, but on the Lent day and for forty consecutive days, until Easter, the diet must be light and lean.
In Carnevale time every trick is expected and accepted. I remember the sugar, or the white flour being thrown at the passerby in the streets, especially if they were wearing a dark coat. Getting mad was out of the question, next street corner it would have happened again. In the history of time, Carnevale has been a magic time of divertissement, debauchery, costume parties, eating, unrestrained sex, and a time during which life challenges were momentarily forgotten.

The etymology of the word Carnevale could be deriving from the Latin “carrus navalis” or from the Medieval “carnem levare” which it means to eliminate the meat from the diet for 40 days as the Lent requires. On Ash Wednesday, Christian people must spread ashes on the forehead as a sign of repentance.
During Carnevale it is a must to wear masks to disguise one’s identity, but the usage of masks is not a novelty of today, it goes back to Paleolithic time, when the chief of tribes wore masks during spiritual, or magical propitiatory rituals to invoke riches, or to get rid of maleficent spirits. Romans celebrated their Gods with Carnevale festivities. The use of masks concealed their licentious behaviors and their social status, allowing old and young, rich and poor, nobles, servants, slaves and prostitutes to mingle and dance together until dawn.

During the festivities of Carnevale, Romans celebrated Bacchus, the God of wines, with rivers of wines and long hours of dances all in the streets of Rome, hence the name Bacchanalia. The gladiators entertained the public and the king of the festivities, elected by the people for only the duration of the feasts, organized public games to which everybody could participate.

(Click on each photo to view it larger).

In Italy, masks for Carnevale have been used in theatre plays, especially in Goldoni’s comedies, a famous Venetian writer of the 1700 and in the Commedia Dell’Arte in the second half of the 16th century, based on improvisation on stage. Plays of Commedia dell’Arte are still fascinating and alive in the arts and in the memories of theatre lovers.

Carnevale in Venice, renowned all over the world, is a magical and mysterious event that takes place every year around February, it calls for unruly behavior and the masks are breath-taking. Browsing in costumes through the narrow streets of a foggy Venice is like walking in the 16th century. Everybody is disguised, people laughing, chatting, a glass of wine here, a dance there. Carnevale in Venice is what it was and still is.

Paintings of Venice Carnevale scenes, or paintings of masks can be included into today’s home décor very easily. Think about a room in a total white color scheme with very colorful paintings on the walls as the Geraldine Arata’s art work. She knows how to capture on canvas the mystery of Venice and the complicity of secretive lovers. Her oil paintings are beautifully executed, colorful and unconventional.

(Defiance – Geraldine Arata)

Another example could be a room painted in grey gun-metal faux finish with a modern style décor and Geraldine’s colorful mask paintings just laid casually against the walls, or hung on a wall washed with light. Loose white chiffon draperies swinging in the windows as a sweet melody in Venice would carry two lovers in each other arms.

Find Geraldine Arata at:
www.aratafineartgallery.com

As an Italian born designer and a lover of Commedia dell’Arte, I can help recreating the mystery of Venice, its flamboyance and Bohemian atmosphere into today’s home décor and I can help placing this particular art in a special home. It takes a sunny eye to see the sun light.

Please forward this article to anyone you think might be interested in reading it and let me know what you think by leaving a comment below. Thank you. Ciao,
Valentina

www.Valentinadesigns.com

Valentina Cirasola is an Italian Interior and Fashion Designer, working in the USA and Europe. She combines well fashion and interior in any of her design work. She loves to remodel homes and loves to create the unusual. Author of the forthcoming book on the subject of Colors.
Author of the book: ©Come Mia Nonna–A Return to Simplicity
Amazon: http://goo.gl/xUZfk0
Barnes&Nobles:http://goo.gl/q7dQ3w

Color Pink On Stage For Valentine’s Day | Valentina Cirasola | Interior Designer

06 Feb 2010 Leave a comment

by Valentina in Home Designs Master Tags: #DecoratingWithPink, #EuropeanFashion, #HomeDecorating, #HomeStyle, #HowToDecorateTips, #InteriorDesign, #PinkColor

The color Pink is a color that I am not particularly fond of, but I have learned to appreciate it in some situations. Pink is sweeter than red. It reminds me of the cotton candy and bubble gum I never ate, they just looked too sweet; it reminds me of strawberry ice cream I delighted myself during many Italian summers. Girls between the ages of 10 and 15 years old absolutely adore pink.

We generally associate pink with the femininity and everything delicate. In the mind of some people, pink indicates the weaker sex. Go figure! From time to time, Pink is also seen in men’s fashion, but it is short-lived and it goes in and out of style. I love to see men with some interesting pink garment on!

Both red and pink denote love, but while red stirs up hot passion, pink is romantic. The pink gentle and delicate vibrations have a proven soothing effect on one’s behavior. You could almost say that pink literally fills the heart with love! However, we must be careful, when too much pink is used in an interior space, it can create a floating effect and the illusion of living in a padded and protected environment.

If using Feng Shui theory the best use for pink (Fire color) is in the Earth Element area of one’s space, as it is connected to Love and Marriage. Earth is a productive cycle of the Feng Shui’s five elements.

In designing a room, the Fire energy can be simulated by painting an accent wall in a delicate pink, or by adding some pink in the accessories. The “hot version” of pink is Magenta Pink, which we are seeing more and more often, as it brings a fiery energy, especially when coupled with orange, also a Fire Element color. A beautiful way to bring pink color into one’s personal or business space is to place a bowl of rose quartz crystals, as these rock crystals carry strong natural and healing love vibrations.

Powder room, or creative offices are the perfect spaces to decorate in pink. Use it sparingly in a girl’s bedroom. Combining pink with extravagant colors will show we are not afraid of colors and criticism, but we must know how to do it right.

Besides the marvelous pink and orange combination, pink and green, or pink and black are the best vibrant combinations. In Feng Shui, a sharp-looking pink and green from medium to dark is an active color combination. It brings together the energy of Fire Element (Pink) and Wood (Green). This combination will sooth and strengthen our human energy.

(Photo credits given to the respective owners of the images in this board)

Pink and black together are a very elegant and beautiful “retro” combination, very much used in the style of the ‘20s and ‘30s. In Feng Shui these colors brings out the energies of Fire (Pink) and Deep Water (Black). Black alone represents a Yin feminine energy; it stands for stability and protection, thus it is needed to ground other colors and to dilute the energy of pink. All shades of pink turn from playful, girlish colors into sophisticated colors when combined with black or gray, or shades of blue from medium to dark.

As a career woman and since I passed the age of 15, I would never wear pink shoes, not at work, not for walking at leisure, not at an elegant affair, not for fun either, but that’s just me! A touch of pink in the wardrobe is welcome, but only a touch. I am here to help you getting in touch with any color in your fashion and in your home. My design services include architectural colors analysis and colors for home fashion. For the benefits of my Clients, my color and design services are also available on-line. Please tell others about it and feel free to forward this article to someone you think will enjoy receiving the same tips. Comments are welcomed. Just leave your name in the box below. Ciao,
Valentina

www.Valentinadesigns.com

Valentina Cirasola is an Italian Interior and Fashion Designer, working in the USA and Europe. She blends fashion and interior well in any of her design work. She loves to remodel homes and loves to turn unattractive spaces into castles. Valentina is knows as a colorist. Her life is a continuous evolvement of colorful events. Author of the forthcoming book on the subject of Colors. Stay tuned! Author of the book: ©Come Mia Nonna–A Return to Simplicity
Amazon: http://goo.gl/xUZfk0
Barnes&Nobles: http://goo.gl/q7dQ3w

Living Life Without Limits | Valentina Cirasola | Author and Designer

30 Jan 2010 Leave a comment

by Valentina in Books Blog Tags: #ComeMiaNonnaReturnToSimplicity, #ItalianFood, #ItalianLifeStyle, #ItalianTableCustom, #ValentinaCirasolaAuthor, #ValentinaInteriorsDesigns

I am a designer with a passion for cooking, most of the people who know me is aware of that. Writing and publishing a regional Italian cookbook has been the best thing I have done in 2009. I named my book with an Italian title and an English subtitle: ©Come Mia Nonna-A Return To Simplicity. The translation of the Italian title means As My Grandmother, the book, in fact, is dedicated to her, my nonna Pasqua, the person who taught me to love simplicity.

This book represents the quintessential of simplicity while being creative with food. So much so that it has attracted some restaurants in the area where I leave who want to feature some recipes from my book. “It would be really different to organize a book presentation if I host events at the local Italian restaurants in my area”, I thought. The idea is inviting, no author has ever done a book presentation in a restaurant, the idea is a novelty, I like it, let’s do it. After all, I learned to live a life without limits, right?!

On February 24, 2010, Cedro Ristorante Italiano in Menlo Park, CA has graciously offered to host my book presentation event. The dinner will feature food from my book, I will be the commentator, the historian, the story-teller.

The region I wrote about is Puglia, where I was born, on the Adriatic sea. It is a mixture of antiquity and modernity, Baroque architecture, ancient table customs, tasty and healthy food to die for, and the region’s warm people.

Barnes & Noble

The guests at Cedro Ristorante Italiano will have a unique opportunity to taste the delightful food of my land and will appreciate its elegant simplicity. Live music will fill the ambiance. Thank you in advance to all of you at Cedro.

The food of Puglia is in tune with all the needs people have today to stay healthy, eat good food to control the weight, cook fast because we are all busy, and save money at the same time, as the ingredients are inexpensive and can be found in any grocery stores, not only in gourmet specialty stores.

I cannot be happier about the interest that ©Come Mia Nonna-A Return To Simplicity has created. My book had a purpose and a message, I could not pass the opportunity to publish it when I did, it was the right time.

The book was published on Thanksgiving day 2009, that was a super good sign and made the best Thanksgiving I ever had! Thank you my grand Universe.
More book presentation events will happen in different Italian restaurants. Stay tuned! Ciao,
Valentina www.Valentinadesigns.com

Valentina’s book event: The Flavors Of Puglia Cedro Ristorante Italiano – www.cedroristorante.com 1010 El Camino Real Menlo Park, CA 94025 (on the corner of Merrill St. and Santa Cruz Ave) February 24, 2010, at 5:30-7:30 pm
Seating is limited

Please forward this blog to anyone you think might be interested in reading it and let me know what you think by leaving a comment below. Robert Taitano, a friend and business associate of www.wine-fi.com says: “Valentina – an International Professional Interior Designer is now giving you an opportunity to redesign your palate”. Author of the book: ©Come Mia Nonna–A Return to Simplicity
Amazon: http://goo.gl/xUZfk0

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

The Table Is A Lady | Valentina Cirasola | Author and Designer

25 Jan 2010 2 Comments

by Valentina in The Good Life Tags: #ComeMiaNonnaReturnToSimplicity, #HowToDecorateTips, #ItalianLifeStyle, #MiseEnPlace, #ValentinaCirasolaAuthor, #ValentinaInteriorsDesigns, Tablescape

In my Italian culture, the table has a masculine connotation when is used for various tasks: paying bills, writing personal notes, rest all the groceries that are waiting to be placed in cupboards and fridge. This is the case when the table is called “il tavolo”.
A curious thing happens when the table is dressed up for food, meaning for breakfast, lunch or dinner, suddenly it becomes a feminine genre and it is called “la tavola”.

This is my observation: In every part of the world, when a woman is invited to go out to a restaurant, she gets well dressed up and prepared for a few hours of fun. Is it for the respect of food, or for the person who invites her, I don’t know…? Perhaps it is only the anticipation of the simple pleasure of tasting food, smelling the aromas and flavors paired with good wines, while resolving life’s problem at the same time. I think that the answers to most questions in life are generally found around a dining table.

Ever since Roman times, food have been the special occasion to be invited to, breaking bread with people meant then, as much as it does today, to be trusted enough to be part of the host’s special circle. Even though the Romans ate half laying down on the “triclinium” a type of chase long, their low table in front of them was highly dressed in the fashion of the era and the guests had to appear in elegant attires. Think about the great holidays of the year and how much efforts women take to dress up the table. The purpose of that is to show off the food and enhance the flavor with the decorations on the dining table and all around it.

(Click on each photo to view it larger).

We eat with eyes first; a golden roasted Thanksgiving turkey would not look good if the dining table was not well dressed, right? For the holidays, I arrange tablescapes for my Clients and I teach others the secrets of a well balanced decorated table, just so the pleasure of being seated with nice people, eating and conversing can be prolonged well into the day. A decorated table also has the property of limiting calories, because it dictates a slow pace of eating, induces conversation, people diverge their attention on life matters and food becomes the way to a general pleasure and not the center of attraction.

On the contrary, when people eat away from the table, on their lap by the T.V., on the floor, on the sofa, they tend to eat more and until their favorite show is over, they have ingested an enormous amount of food, damaging themselves day after day. Driving, eating and drinking is the worse, as the attention is somewhere else and not on the road. At night, before I retire into my sleeping quarter, I prepare “la tavola” for the next day breakfast: tablecloth, which changes according to my mood, a scented candle to be turned on in the morning, place settings composed of plates, cutlery, cloth napkins, a coffee cup turned upside down on its saucer and the book I am reading at that time. I want to ease into the morning with a calm and quiet beginning, treating myself to comfort and beauty, accompanied by the sound of classical music and the fresh food I will prepare on the spot. My lunches are always sitting down for about an hour. I never work through lunch, or eat at my computer. Dinners are the delight of my every day, a relaxation time cooking familiar food and enjoying again a dressed up table for the evening.

I don’t eat at the Queen’s table everyday, but I want to be the Queen at my table each and every day. It’s the good life!

Please forward this article to anyone you think might be interested in reading it and let me know what you think by leaving a comment below. Thank you.
Valentina
www.Valentinadesigns.com

Valentina Cirasola is an Italian Interior and Fashion Designer, working in the USA and Europe. She combines well fashion and interior in any of her design work. She loves to remodel homes and loves to create the unusual.
Author of the book: ©Come Mia Nonna–A Return to Simplicity on
Amazon http://goo.gl/xUZfk0 and Barnes&Nobles: http://goo.gl/q7dQ3w
Author of the forthcoming book on the subject of colors: ©RED-A Voyage Into Colors.

Precious Stones For Any Home |Valentina Cirasola | Interior Designer

15 Jan 2010 2 Comments

by Valentina in Home Designs Master Tags: #ColoredStones, #HomeRemodeling, #HomeTrend, #HowToDecorateTips, #InteriorDesign, #PreciousStones, #ValentinaInteriorsDesigns

As customary every month I send to my clients and people in my sphere of influence a tip of the month, suggestions, useful information, updates on new trends, new building codes or rules and basically anything that concerns homes, building a home, remodeling/addition ideas and practices for a good living.

(Photo found on http://www.marbletrend.com/projects-details.php?project_id=265&show_all=1)

This month, I want to bring to your attention a new solution for countertops made of semi-precious stones, such as Agate, Lapis Lazuli, Tigers-Eye, Jasper, Fossil Woods, Malachite, Pyrite, Obsidian, Sugilite, Quartz just to name a few.
Imagine covering a small vanity counter fabricated in one of these semi-precious stones, it would be a sculptural dream! As alternative, imagine using them as an accent in some parts of the kitchen, perhaps on the backsplash. The result is an art form of its own kind and of course it adds value to any property. The application of these semi-precious stones is limitless, from bars, vanities and counter tops to wall art, frames, shelves and fireplaces; from desks and table tops to light-traffic flooring and staircases; perfect for yacht cabins.

(Photo found on: http://drytech.ru/goods_catalog/izdeliya-iz-natural-nogo-kamnya)

I am a Designer well-known to bring originality to people’s homes. Should anything like this strike your fancy, I would like to be the one to give you these special solutions ready and available to me. As an Italian designer and true to my origins, I provide only the best workmanship and design solutions.

Please forward this article to anyone you think might be interested in reading it and let me know what you think by leaving a comment below. Thank you.
Designed regards,
Valentina
In business since 1990 and not counting.
www.Valentinadesigns.com

Valentina Cirasola is an Italian Interior Designer, working in the USA and Europe.
She “is a woman who knows her stones”, says Gentry Magazine.
Author of the book: ©Come Mia Nonna–A Return to Simplicity
Amazon http://goo.gl/xUZfk0
Barnes & Nobles http://goo.gl/q7dQ3w
Author of the forthcoming book on the subject of Colors

Dress With Art | Valentina Cirasola | Interior Designer

13 Jan 2010 Leave a comment

by Valentina in Home Designs Master Tags: #DressWithArt, #EuropeanFashion, #FashionTrends, #HomeStyle, #HomeTrend, #HowToDecorateTips, #InteriorDesign

“Dress With Art” is the password of this year unfriendly economy.
Luxury is not a thing of the past yet, but people are spending less. We are all rediscovering quality and we are buying items that are going to last longer, thus we will be throwing away less.
Looking at magazines of the ’40 my mother left in her attic, I am discovering one pattern common to all. The world was at war then, women could not afford many dresses and outfits. To make themselves look rich, abundant, elegant and to give the impression the war did not affect them, a lot of lipstick and make-up was used, in fact, cosmetics houses were booming. Women closets were not filled with an overabundance of dresses and outfits. Dresses were the same all year round, just worn differently. To keep a fresh look on the one and only dress women-owned, they would sew it in many ways, they turned it inside out a few times during the year, or they added details, like belts and collars one time and sparkles the next time.

Studying the trends of the end of 2009 and the trends of 2010, it seems we are returning to the ’40 again. Many people I know are returning to sewing and to customize their own clothes (it is so refreshing to see creativity walking in the streets again, versus the same look everywhere) and many people are encouraged to economize on many fronts. Old values are coming back, it boils down to what matters the most.
While people are thinking of creative ways to spend their money, fashion designers are having fun bringing back old comfort. Gloves and hats are reappearing on the scene, just like Donna Karen’s padded shoulders and red lipstick presented last year in Paris and New York (thank you for femininity again). Laura Biagiotti invented a collection named LaurArt in the year 2007, to tribute her collections of futurist’s art paintings. Greek fashion creator Mary Katrantzou focused on vintage fatisse bottles of perfumes of big houses (Jean-Paul Gaultier, Givenchy, Guerlain …). She adopted the distinctive shapes of these famous bottles to outline women’s bodies.

(DesignBoom – Mary Katrantzou dresses – women in perfume bottles)

“Dress With Art” as a concept has entered the home too. People are buying affordable luxury items making sure it will provide the same comfort and ambiance with one added thing: durability. Many people are considering authentic vintage and old pieces of furniture to be re-faced with an artistic flair. I see much Classicism mixed with some contemporary pieces, competing with strong classic elements in the architecture.
Kitchens are more and more the heart of the house, in fact, people are cooking more at home than eating out and grocery stores are booming.
Bathrooms continue to represent the cocooning and the spa at home for relaxation with every possible gadget and novelty: chromotherapy, aromatherapy, music, entertainment, fireplace and fridge for champagne.
With digital art on wallpaper, walls don’t have to be painted anymore, they can be covered with unique digital art, which is waterproof, mold proof, no glue, or water needed. Do you fancy the look of a Roman bath? Find a scenery that suits you, the experts will transfer it digitally on paper. Do you paint art as a hobby, or as a profession? You can have your own art transferred digitally on paper for your own enjoyment. Until you get tired of that scene, the walls don’t have to be painted ever again.
The 2010 trends continue to carry colors on the walls that are emulating the metal finishes, with an aged, hammered or burnished texture, perfect with a neutral palette. Beautiful artistic walls can be created. The new concept of a functional home is not to overstuff it with lot of nonsense dust collectors, but to have only what matters the most.
Valentina

Fashion Services

https://valentinadesigns.com/services#fashion-services

Valentina Interiors & Designs is an Interior and Fashion design firm.
Valentina, the principal designer, and owner is a trained designer and has been in business since 1990. She works on consultation and produces design concepts for remodeling, upgrading, new homes, décor restyling and home fashion. Valentina has been featured in Italy on: “Vogue” magazine and many prominent publications in California. She also has made two appearances on T.V. Comcast Channel 15.