Home Designs Master | Valentina Expressions

Arrow To The Front Door | Valentina Cirasola | Interior Designer

08 Jul 2016 Leave a comment

by Valentina in Home Designs Master Tags: #CurbAppeal, #DrivewayRemodel, #GardenDesign, #GardenFengShui, #GardenIllumination, #LandscapeDesign, #OutdoorRooms, #OutdoorSpace

Choosing a design for an interior space, a garden or outdoor space for some people is an overwhelming task. To get ideas a long process of collecting things starts: photos from magazines, roll millions of Pinterest and Instagram images, color chips, textures and hard material. Some people put those pictures in folders, some create visual boards, some other scatter them all over tables, on the floors, stick them on the walls, fill up their computer, get confused and make the task more difficult than anticipated. If all the ideas are there, why is it so difficult to choose colors, style, appearance of a room, or create a nice corner in the garden? The reason is simple. Each design has its distinctive style, if the designer’s work has been done correctly, each room we see in magazines and online reflects the customers’ personality. Trying to compose a puzzle with a color from one picture, a detail from another picture and a style of furniture from one more picture will never work. Designing to follow own personality and lifestyle is the way to go to assure a successful design. (Click on each photo to view it larger).

(Before)

This project was developed online, I knew nothing about the virtual client, but soon everything became clear during our conversations online. She mentioned the existing driveway was too straight and long, too gray, too much concrete, too much grass and no harmony or colors in the vegetation. To her eyes the driveway seemed more like a spear shooting straight to her front door. I also kept hearing themes of mysticism and Feng Shui in her conversation with me. Right there I had her answer. I thought of adding games of lights between plants, running water and create a moon garden with plants that would shimmer silver highlights under the moonlight.
(Before)

Her house is a contemporary Mediterranean style, in fact the area where she lives is called “Tuscan Hills”. It is located in a newly built development area, clinging to the hill where weeds grew freely and now huge houses propped in clusters take over the hill. All the houses resemble large cubes missing the true elements of Tuscan Hills and especially missing the Tuscan personality.

First, I tackled the small courtyard at the entry by adding flag stone on the pavement, travertine quoin stones around the door, round travertine landing steps with step lights, window sills and a colorful mosaic fountain with lights. A gazing globe and two larger planters with tall plants would close the vignette. I got rid of the dolphins jumping in the air without water in sight. In a beach house dolphins would have been perfect in a running fountain.

For the driveway I choose an “S” shape designs to avoid that feeling of a straight arrow going directly into to the entry door. Nice colorful pavers would substitute the grey concrete with inserts of medallions in contrasting color pavers forming designs of the sun, moon and star. If she wanted to keep the driveway in a straight line, the view of the second concept offers a harmonious vignette to look at while driving on the long driveway.

The two design concepts I submitted to the client are self-explanatory. I played with colors and architectural balance. As the eyes follow the “S” shaped driveway, they will also go the up and down the tall and short plants, stop at the roundness of the rocks and feel joyous looking at the variety of colors. At night the moon will illuminate the silvery plants and in the daytime the sun will touch all the other colorful plants making them even more cheerful.
At this time all flowers and plants are in bloom, this is the time to redo a front yard, landscape, or your outdoor rooms. 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. Featured on Vogue Italia magazine, Gentry and many prominent magazines in California, appeared on RAI, National Italian T.V., my story as a designer continues. Find copies of my three books on
Amazon: http://goo.gl/xUZfk0
Barnes&Nobles: http://goo.gl/q7dQ3w

Curve | Valentina Cirasola | Interior Designer

21 Jun 2016 2 Comments

by Valentina in Home Designs Master Tags: #BuiltInDesign, #HomeDecor, #HomeRemodeling, #OldWorldDecor, #PommeleSapeleWood, #RoomAddition, #StoneFloorDesigns

“If it doesn’t exist in the market, I will design and build it”. It has been my mantra and my way to resolve the challenge of filling up spaces with container furniture that are functional and beautiful as well. I will add some pleasant curves to increase the beauty. Built-ins today are very straight and boxy with a lot of opens shelves. If you ask me, I will tell you they are unattractive and whenever possible I will suggest to build your own. If you do have that opportunity, make it a masterpiece.
(Click on each photo to view it larger).

The inspiration for this curvy built-in media unit came from the conversation between my clients, a young couple in their 30s, a couple who is into DIY. The room was an addition to the house, an empty box waiting to be beautified.

While I was designing the interior of this family room, I was designing also the landscape outside the window. The wife’s desire was to have an old world European room, with an antique flooring, droopy window treatment with a rich puddle and a faux finish on the wall. They had a very traditional taste, nothing I could not handle. I brought a Renaissance pattern to a tile maker and he reproduced it beautifully on the tiles that now surround the fireplace.

While all the workers looked busy bees, I was searching for the right furniture-accessories and overseeing all the workers. I love when everybody is working in unison and I hear the painter singing at the walls creating his faux finish (painters usually sing while they paint), tile setter creating the floor pattern, the fireplace was in construction mode and the man of the house followed my design to the teeth to produce the built-in with curves. That wood is Pommele Sapele, not extinct, only a precious species. It makes waves and ripples of water pattern, very pretty to look at. Three months later everyone reached the goal and the room came alive.

Curtains were the only thing not done. With the curvy landscape wrapping around the front of the house and framing the family room window so well, there was no need for the curtains anymore. Let the nature in. 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. Featured on Vogue Italia magazine, Gentry and many prominent magazines in California, appeared on RAI, National Italian T.V., my stories continues. Find copies of my three books on
Amazon: http://goo.gl/xUZfk0
Barnes&Nobles: http://goo.gl/q7dQ3w

Bring Nature In: Flirtatious Mix | Valentina Cirasola | Interior Designer

10 Jun 2016 1 Comment

by Valentina in Home Designs Master Tags: #AmnesiaRoses, #CactusBesutyTreatment, #CactusPant, #JadeStone, #KunziteStone, #Lilac, #SeaFoamandDustyRose

Roses have thorns and yet we plant them all over gardens. The type of cactus in the photo might not be the prettiest plant to place in the garden, but I looked beyond the thorns and purchased it anyway despite of the cashier’s disgusted face. Prickly pear is the colorful fruit this plant produces in the summer. It is sweet, full of Vitamin C and refreshing to beat the summer heat. The burst of orange, red and yellow of the oval-shaped pears is just a delight to admire against a blue sky in the background.
(Click on each photo to view it larger).

Cactus plant has many healthy properties and if used as a beauty treatment can be applied on hair and skin. To nourishes the hair cut the large flat leaves in small pieces, put them in a bowl full of water and soak overnight to soften the pulp. Apply the pulp on hair and keep it on for 20-30 minutes or longer if you can stand it. Rinse with warm water and wash hair with your favorite shampoo.
The slimy interior part of a cactus function as emollient on irritated skin, bruises and cuts as well as a facial masque.
In the south of Italy we use the large flat leaves of this type of cacti as rustic plates to eat salads off of it, without the thorns of course.

Looking at this cactus in my garden I see how green, lavender, beige and dusty rose create a flirtatious mix of feminine colors. A sitting room made for a woman comes to mind, a room where she wants to sit with a friend or a sister to talk about life issues, or a place where to read in peace. The colors of this cactus are hard to classify because the green area is not really green, but a mix of sage and sea-foam, the rose color of the redwood fence in the background could be called dusty rose, dirty rose, or even light red-purple, while the red tone of the thorns could be crimson, burgundy or maybe maroon.

Colors appear very different from one person to another because, it depends on how our eyes filter the light. Some people see more yellow tone, some see more red or blue tones and some are color blind with certain colors, thus we tend to name colors as our eyes see them. Knowing the difference is the designer‘s job, we rely on the fan deck of colors ready to use as shown on the chip. However, one other tricky aspect of obtaining the right color is to observe how the light shines on a particular color. The same color will look very different in the morning and in the night, or under an incandescent bulb or L.E.D light.

One of my clients painted a large living room in dark green and although it looked sharp in the morning with her beige seating arrangement and white window trims, at night that dark green on the walls looked dark grey and made the room very uninviting. The trees outside the windows were not illuminated and created the dark cave effect inside. We changed the walls to a golden caramel color which gave the room a sweet, bon-bon like character, we illuminated the trees closer to the windows to extend the room visually and thus eliminated visually the boundaries of walls. The exterior and the interior became one whole entity.

We need to study the environment and understand why when we paint that color we liked so much, it doesn’t look as good on the wall as it does on the color chip. Everything outside will reverberate inside, bounce off walls and furniture, then cast a color reflection inside, that’s why my cactus looks a bit lavender at the top of the buds. The distressed redwood fence in a sunny early afternoon day is casting its pinkish tone.

Jade

Kunzite

Since this is a feminine color palette, the décor of the room should include some lilac Amnesia Roses, rosy sheer window treatment and a couple natural stones:
1. One stone in green tone such as a jade to give you mental clarity and protecting heart, visions and stomach.
2. One stone in pink-lilac color as a Kunzite (named after mineralogist George Frederick Kunz who discovered it in 1902) to bring a calming, peaceful effect in the room. Kunzite stimulates connection between heart and brain.
Both stones will clean and activate the Heart Chakra.

I hope you get to experiment with some of my color palette suggestions, when in doubt you can always contact me. 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. Featured on Vogue Italia magazine, Gentry and many prominent magazines in California, appeared on RAI, National Italian T.V., my stories continues. Find copies of my three books on
Amazon: http://goo.gl/qNxXrB
Barnes&Nobles: http://goo.gl/q7dQ3w

Bring Nature In: Bloom in Apricot Color | Valentina Cirasola | Interior Designer

05 Jun 2016 Leave a comment

by Valentina in Home Designs Master Tags: #ApricotColor, #ApricotColorPalette, #BrownandApricot, #InteriorColors, #NatureColors, #NatureInspiredColors, #RedVoyageIntoColors

Welcome to a new episode of Bring Nature In. Twice a week for the next thirty days a will write about new décor solutions inspired by nature.

You would think growing an apricot tree is a very hard task, not at all, it’s the easiest thing in the world. Apricot trees resist moderate period of drought. The well-established trees only need to be watered in extreme conditions.

A few years ago for the entire season of the apricots, I ate organic apricots bought at a regular market, threw the pits in the same spot in my garden, water it regularly with the rest of plants and forgot it. Next spring the first apricot tree was born, then I tried it again and two more trees were born. Today, I don’t need to buy apricots at the store, they are abundant in my backyard, I eat them off the trees and make marmalade out of them. Pruning is necessary at the end of the apricot season to get an abundant production in the next year, especially must eliminate the damaged branches and those growing close together. (Click on each photo to view it larger).

(Apricots grown in my garden from pits)

Apricots have antioxidant properties, thus considered a fountain of youth. If you have a tree, eat them fresh as they mature, and dry the rest to eat through the winter. The beta-carotene in the apricots prevents the degeneration of retina cells and the iron in them is suitable for treatment of anemia. The potassium in fresh and dried apricots prevents fluid retention in the body, helping people control their weight and hypertension. In between meals, fresh apricots suppress hunger and provide carbohydrates in the form of a good source of sugar.

Apricot blooms smell sweet, the small flowers are very delicate, transparent, almost paper like, the color is generally white-pinkish, with an occasional burst of dark pink and yellow pistil shoots. This is a perfect color palette for a bedroom.

Let’s start with a dark wood or brown leather headboard to ground and disintegrate all the electromagnetism in the bedroom: TV, alarm clock, computer, iPhone and more and more, we like to bring all that stuff into bedroom. For warmth add a lush, rich color hardwood floor that will also absorb all the electricity around you.
Paint apricot orange the wall behind the bed headboard. That rich apricot color will soften the leather or wood headboard and will positively energized you when you get up in the morning. Paint the rest of the room in Off White. To add a touch of elegance, try pure silk sheets on the bed and will never return to anything else, promised. Mix a few lush apricot throw pillows mixed with red or dark pink pillows.

With a leather headboard and silk sheets, this representation looks very much a contemporary décor, thus I envision a white leather or white upholstered bench at the feet of the bed and a modern, sculpted white dresser. The left corner of a room is the wealth corner, Feng Shui theory says so. This is where you should finish the décor with hanging baubles holding cacti or air plant, or a plant that doesn’t require much care and water.

How you want to bloom every day is up to you, just remember that a touch of a bold color will change your day’s energy. 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. Featured on Vogue Italia magazine, Gentry and many prominent magazines in California, appeared on RAI-National Italian T.V., my stories continues. Find copies of my three books on
Amazon: http://goo.gl/qNxXrB
Barnes&Nobles: http://goo.gl/q7dQ3w

Bring Nature In: Purple Wisdom | Valentina Cirasola | Interior Designer

02 Jun 2016 Leave a comment

by Valentina in Home Designs Master Tags: #GrassclothWallpaper, #PurpleAmethyst, #PurpleColor, #PurpleColorPalette, #PurpleWisdom, #Quartz, #RedVoyageIntoColors

Legend says the name for the Iris flower came from a Greek Goddess who rode the rainbow. Love the legend and I love how this flower as delicate as it might look, it’s a hardy plant, perennial, easy to plant, easy to care for and very reliable. It attracts butterflies and hummingbirds, something you want to see roaming in your garden. Place the Iris in partly shaded area or morning sun area, never in a scorching full sun and they will grow luxuriant.
Among the 300 Iris species available Birded Iris is the easiest to grow, it blooms in late spring after tulips, daffodils, peonies and poppies. Bearded Iris likes to be divided every few years and from the rhizome (root bulb) after blooming is over, otherwise its blade-like leaves will not bloom into flowers much. Iris flowers come in a wide variety and hybrids. Water Iris likes to live near a pond or a water source, but doesn’t like to be planted directly in the water.

Water the Iris not so often especially if the ground is covered with mulch, bark chips or stone pebbles all moisture retaining materials. Feeding and fertilizing a perennial is just as easy. Nitrogen, Phosphorus and Potassium are the basic element of their food and in that order are represented on the bag with numbers, for ex. 5-10-10 or 5-10-5 or 10-10-10, thus choose a fertilizer with the middle number no lower than the other two. Basically you want the Phosphorus to be the highest number. Now that you have planted a beautiful patch of Iris, bring those colors in.

I have my patch of Iris across from kitchen door leading to the kitchen spice garden (all the spices I need for cooking). Inside, in my eating area, I have an attractive purple wall that at night creates beautiful atmospheres according to the type of lights I turn on. That’s right a dark color wall requires games of lights. (Click on each photo to view it larger).

My color board is self-explanatory, however to add a more natural environment in your home décor with this color palette and to soften the purple boldness, consider using a grasscloth wallpaper on three walls (see it in my board background) and one wall in purple, with the rest of the colors in this scheme used on furniture and accessories.

In your purple wisdom décor, add some purple amethyst stone to carry the energy of fire, passion, creativity and spirituality into your space wherever you will have this purple palette. Purple amethyst is a semi-precious stone highly esteemed for its legendary powers to stimulate and soothe mind-emotions. Purple amethyst is part of the Quartz family considered as precious as diamonds in ancient civilizations.

Another name for amethyst is “Gem of Fire” for all its passions and power to increase intelligence, even augmenting shrewdness in business matters. For this reason, purple is advisable in creative spaces and offices.

Like all the purple expressions, purple amethyst is associated with royals and religious people signifying dignity or higher status. This is a stone that protects against evil and connects to the Divine. Today we use it in meditation as a stone of spirituality to bring the mind to a quiet state and to purify a person’s aura of any negative energy. 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. Featured on Vogue Italia magazine, Gentry and many prominent magazines in California,
appeared on RAI, National Italian T.V., my stories continues. Find copies of my three books on
Amazon: http://goo.gl/xUZfk0
Barnes&Nobles: http://goo.gl/q7dQ3w

Bring Nature In: Rosy Palette |Valentina Cirasola | Interior Designer

27 May 2016 2 Comments

by Valentina in Home Designs Master Tags: #FlowerPower, #GrowingPeonyTips, #Peonies, #RedVoyageIntoColors, #RoseandGreenMix, #RosyColorScheme, #RosyFeminineInteriors, #RosyPaletteColor

Peony is the type of flower that will steal the scene with its luxurious blooms and velvety foliage. It is a type of herbaceous with a hard woody pencil like stem. It doesn’t grow more than 3-1/2 to 4 feet tall, it likes cooler climates and afternoon sun with plenty of water. It blooms in shades of lavender, pink, copper, yellow and cream. (Click on each photo to view it larger).

Taking inspiration from my peony photograph, I thought its colors are perfect for a feminine interior. I see this rosy palette in a home office, a sitting room, or a girl bedroom.
Rosy colors activate brain frontal lobe activities, generally associated with reasoning, planning, decision-making and problem-solving, but rosy colors also affect the way you see yourself in a positive way. Rosy colors are calming, thus are perfect in rooms where thinking is required.

Bring your nature in and try some rosy colors in the décor. How does black enters this soft palette? Well, aside from being the natural background of my photo, that’s what my camera saw, black functions as grounding color and it can be introduced in a small amount, perhaps in the form of lampshades only.

(Romazzino Crystal Collection)

I amuse myself with nature photography I take here and there, some are from my garden and some are not. Once a week, I will come up with a new color scheme based on my photographs of flowers and propose it for interiors. It will be a new series called Bring Nature In. If you need help in finding the right colors, I am here ready to help with my online services. Ciao,
Valentina
http://www.valentinadesigns.com

Valentina Cirasola is an Italian Interior Designer working in the USA and Europe since 1990, specializing in interior and exterior color analysis, kitchen, bath, wine cellar, and outdoor kitchen designs. Often people describe her as “the colorist” as she loves to color her clients’ world and loves to create the unusual. “Vogue” magazine and many prominent publications in California featured Valentina’s work.
She also has made four appearances on T.V. Comcast Channel 15 and on RAI – Italian National TV.

Author of three published books, the latest ©RED – A Voyage Into Colors is on the subject of colors.
Amazon: http://goo.gl/xUZfk0
Barnes&Nobles: http://goo.gl/q7dQ3w

Quartz In The Sky | Valentina Cirasola | Interior Designer

25 May 2016 Leave a comment

by Valentina in Home Designs Master Tags: #2016ColorTrends, #InteriorColors, #Pantone2016Colors, #QuartsandSerenityCombination, #RedVoyageIntoColors, #RoseQuartzColor, #SerenityColor

It would be nice if designers have new clients to propose new color trends every time Pantone comes out with new colors, but that’s not always the case and not always clients like the new trends.

(Pantone 2016 – Rose Quartz – Serenity)

Rose Quartz and Serenity are the new colors for 2016. They look so retro and so much 1950s. The new colors are soothing, calming and bring peace in this time of so much turmoil. It’s a genderless palette that emphasizes the duality of today’s society.

However beautiful, soft and weightless they might be together, these two colors are not for everybody’s taste or skin. Some men will never live in a pink interior. It happened in one of my projects. The wife liked a lot of pink and peach on the wall, in the upholstery, in pictures and accessories, but her husband didn’t. They argued and discussed incessantly, I had to play a lot of my magic to quiet them down and bring the project to an end. I was able to add various shades of grey and earth tones to make most pink items disappear. In the kitchen he got his dark slate floor and beige cabinets with a lighter color contrast panels and she got her peach walls.

This year I have experimented with pastel color combinations in my clothes not in my interior and I am starting to like them. Knowing myself, it isn’t just enough to follow Pantone’s suggestions, my soft color combination will always have a splash of vibrant color. Let’s see how the rest of the world is treating Rose Quartz and Serenity colors.

I think quartz and serenity (light blue) color scheme looks good with white or natural distressed wood and exposed beams, any copper textured items with quartz color feels very natural.

(Ceramics-Amaï-Saigon)

If Rose Quartz and Serenity color combination is not for you, there are eight additional colors to choose from. Make it colorful and exciting.
Ciao,
Valentina
http://www.valentinadesigns.com

Valentina Cirasola is an Italian Interior Designer working in the USA and Europe since 1990, specializing in kitchen, bath, wine cellar, and outdoor kitchen designs. Often people describe her as “the colorist” as she loves to color her clients’ world and loves to create the unusual. “Vogue” magazine and many prominent publications in California featured Valentina’s work.
She also has made four appearances on T.V. Comcast Channel 15 and on RAI – Italian National TV.
Author of three published books, the latest ©RED – A Voyage Into Colors is on the subject of colors.
Amazon: http://goo.gl/xUZfk0
Barnes&Nobles: http://goo.gl/q7dQ3w

Tie It Or Let It Flow | Valentina Cirasola | Interior Designer

04 May 2016 3 Comments

by Valentina in Home Designs Master Tags: #CurtainTieBackDesign, #CurtainTieBacks, #SheerCurtains, #SilkCurtains, #ValentinaInteriorsDesigns, #WindowCoverings, #WindowTreatments

What is home decorating? Most people would think of furniture, accessories and colors. In my world, decorating is much more than that. Decorating is creating a vision, a personal style. It is about layering textures, dimension and asymmetric lines. Decorating is also about knowing how to relate to the environment outside the door. Train your eyes to see your surroundings, look at the color in the nature, accent what is out there and bring that beauty in a mixed bag inside the home. The view outside the windows most likely will affect a few choices for your interior décor. That was my intention when I chose this curtain with chiffon roses for this sliding door. I wanted the beautiful outdoor setting to come inside this bedroom. (Click on this photo to view it larger).

Window treatments are not called window coverings any more, because they are not made exclusively to cover, but to reveal the environment. Window treatments can block the sun and can block the light when you need more sleep; they can give you privacy and can also provide more insulation to save energy, but mostly are designed to create magical atmospheres. They are supposed to add fantasy, beauty and whimsy to your interior.

My inspiration for window treatments comes from anywhere. I like to create transparencies and games of textures with fabrics and experimenting with unusual solutions. I am not afraid to decorate a window with lot of sheer fabrics of different colors touching a heavily distressed wall, or to have silks in industrial looking rooms. A traditional room can very well host a modern style window treatment for a dynamic atmosphere.

Did you know that the fashion industry is the first to dictates new trends in home décor, as well as in cars designs and everything else that involves our life? Home transparencies came about when a few years ago, fashion designers invented the lingerie effect in clothing, using soft layers over soft textures to create dimensions. Window treatments, which carry the same concept of layering fabrics, layering colors and textures also makes a personalized home. Do you want to leave your window treatments loose to allow your curtains to flow freely in the soft breeze when you leave the windows open or do you want to tie them back as usual? If you choose to tie them back choices are numerous.

itsy-bits-and-pieces.blogspot – LargeFlower

t-echoblogspot

Indulgy.com – Corset tieback

Urban Outfitter

http://picmia.com/ Beads

Horchow Napoleonic Bees

Urban Outfitter

(photos via Pinterest – Credits given to the respective owners)

Style is the ability to combine ensembles of ideas in a such a way that people perceive it as creative and original. In decorating a home you must experiment with your emotions and create your own vision. People might call you extravagant and eccentric, so what?! It would be better than being banal, normal and have a common place to return to. 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. Featured on Vogue Italia magazine, Gentry and many prominent magazines in California, appeared on RAI, National Italian T.V., my stories continues. Find copies of my three books on
Amazon: http://goo.gl/xUZfk0
Barnes&Nobles: http://goo.gl/q7dQ3w

Abstract Atmospheres | Valentina Cirasola | Interior Designer

25 Apr 2016 2 Comments

by Valentina in Home Designs Master Tags: #AbstractDesign, #AbstractImages, #AbstractTheme, #https://dailypost.wordpress.com/photo-challenges/abstract, #RedVoyageIntoColors, #ValentinaCirasolaAuthor, #WorpressAbstract

There is nothing abstract in my home designs, my clients’ interiors are real. A lot study goes into the choices of material, colors and shapes to adopt in each design.

Sometimes, I have visions as soon as I walk into a new client’s home of how I can improve or transform that home, my antennas capture the vibrations of people living there and guide me in the right directions.

I let the clients tell me what they want, what their desires or needs are. Their home to me is a clean canvas, a raw field to sow seeds all over that will sprout into beautiful flowers months later.
Designing is an abstract concept in the designer’s mind that people cannot see or visualize until it is drawn on paper and becomes a real entity. The hardest part of designing is dealing with people and different personalities and those are very real. A designer is a psychologist first, able to understand all the abstract ideas people have in mind, but that is another story.

After all is done, I take pictures in the most traditional way to show new prospects what I can do for them, but when I am alone, in the privacy of my studio, I have fun searching for those abstract elements of my design, something which will make people think and ask: What is it? So tell me, how do you interpret my images? (Click on each photo to view it larger).

If you make a circle with both of your hands and look through it as if it was a camera lens, you will see things not usually noticeable with a bare eye.

This is in response to WordPress Weekly Photo Challenge “Abstract” – https://dailypost.wordpress.com/photo-challenges/abstract

Ciao,
Valentina
http://www.valentinadesigns.com

In my 25th years of design business I am having more fun than ever, experience eliminates stress and dictates the pace of work. I am evolving in different directions while still helping people realizing their dream spaces in homes, offices, interiors and exteriors. Colors are the main focus of my business today, changing people’s energy and life force just by introducing them to colors they never imagined.

Check out my books on
Amazon: http://goo.gl/xUZfk0
Barnes&Nobles: http://goo.gl/q7dQ3w

Kill That Black Room | Valentina Cirasola |Interior Designer

04 Apr 2016 Leave a comment

by Valentina in Home Designs Master Tags: #AquaColorTones, #BedroomDecorating, #BedroomFurniture, #FeminineBedroom, #SoftBedroomColors, #ValentinaInteriorsDesigns

I never stumble in a woman’s bedroom made of total black. It has been a surprise to see the entire bedroom set in a shiny black lacquer with shiny metal details and black heavy window covers as a woman’s bedroom. Perhaps at one point there was a man living there, I don’t know, someone who likes the dark side of the color spectrum. A masculine room such as I described is easy to find in a single man’s home but not in a single woman’s home. She is attached to the black bedroom set and doesn’t want to change it. An expert designer will dance around the obstacles to find the solution and I did. (Click on each photo to view it larger).

Let’s start bringing in the room the foliage and greenery of the outside through natural grass window covers. This type of window treatment allows you to see out but nobody can see in, even with the lights on. In her case, birds are the only eyes.

Closet in the room didn’t exist and since part of the house is in the remodeling mode, I envisioned sliding closet doors with frosted aqua colored glass. The glass in itself brings a lot of luminosity and reflects the natural light coming from the windows directly across the wall closet. The frosted glass color inspired me to change all her bedding and accessories from grey and putty colors to the same calming aqua colors in various tones, not only for her spirit, but also to calm all that heaviness of the black furniture in the room.

An alcove in the room will be dressed up with a Chinoiserie view wallpaper to echo the nature outside, with a distressed banquette built to fit the alcove space, embellished with silk throw pillows. My second proposed solution was a very large flowers wallpaper. Either way, this will be a place where she can sit to read a book, sip a tea or meditate. I want this area to be very feminine and cozy just for her, using colors suiting for meditation and spiritual moments she has as a daily routine. The atmosphere of the room will change and the energy will be 100% positive. As you see everything is possible.

(Wall Mural https://www.wayfair.com/decor-pillows/sb2/pink-wall-murals-wallpaper-c1861000-a85974~302490-a85979~435026.html)

Look around and extrapolate the details of nature you can bring to the décor, or details of your life.
Make a list of activities you do in the bedroom and find the element of décor to dedicate to those activities.
If you must use existing items, find the colors which will bring those items to life or obscure them. 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 colors ©RED-A Voyage Into Colors, available on
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