Home Designs Master | Valentina Expressions

Symmetry | Valentina Cirasola | Interior Designer

20 Feb 2015 Leave a comment

by Valentina in Home Designs Master Tags: #ArchitecturalSymmetry, #BariPuglia, #DecoratingWithSymmetry, #ItalianSymmetry, #Symmetry, #TeatroPetruzzelli, #WPPhotoChallengeSymmetry, https://dailypost.wordpress.com/dp_photo_challenge/symmetry/

WordPress weekly challenge is Symmetry – https://dailypost.wordpress.com/dp_photo_challenge/symmetry/
by: CHERI LUCAS ROWLANDS

When I think of symmetry the first image I see in my mind is the symmetric Italian architecture. Clean, orderly, calming and easy on the eyes, Italian architecture has been copied throughout the centuries and all over the world. Wherever there are government buildings, banks, museums, houses of nobles and wealthy people or places where history happens, there is a symmetrically designed building in the classic and neo-classic style. I grew up in my Italy and before I became an expat, classic architecture was all I knew. I spent three years studying fashion in a 400 years old Neo-Classic style fashion school, my University was built in the classic order and my first job was in a Palladium style building. I was fortunate to live in classic beauty!

BTW, as the promoter of Puglia, I accompany small groups to Italy every May. You can be just as fortunate to see all the beauty of Italy if you join us. Check out my trip page: https://valentinaexpressions.com/trips-2/

Architecture is not the only place where we can admire symmetry. If you like to go to the Opera House, you will notice that all the seats and balconies are centered around the stage with a balanced uniformity and symmetry: the view is just about the same from every angle, the red velvet seats are aligned like soldiers and the décor is the same on every floor.

Palazzo Downtown Bari, Italy

Symmetrical buildings in Bari, Italy

Palazzo Mincuzzi in Bari, Italy

Old Bari view

Inside Teatro Petruzzelli, Bari, Italy – Wikipedia Photo

Symmetry in home interiors, where everything is beautifully proportioned and balanced, assures calmness and harmony. It naturally forces people to be organized and coming home to a space that has symmetry is restful, but only if it is clean. Symmetry and cleanliness go hand in hand, one cannot exist without the other.

Cauliflower and veggies

Sea Urchin

Of course if you put symmetry on your plate, what do you think is the natural thing to do? You feel encouraged to eat the food well presented versus a messy plate. Look around your home, is everything symmetrical and is it what you really want? Ciao,
Valentina
http://www.valentinadesigns.com

Valentina Cirasola is a trained  Interior-Fashion Designer  in business since 1990. She is the owner and principal designer of her company: Valentina Interiors & Designs. Being Italian born and raised, Valentina’s design work has been influenced by Classicism and timeless style. She will create your everyday living with a certain luxury without taking away a comfortable living. Find Valentina’s three books on
Amazon: http://goo.gl/xUZfk0
Barnes&Nobles: http://goo.gl/q7dQ3w

Timeless Venetian Style | Valentina Cirasola | Interior Designer

17 Feb 2015 Leave a comment

by Valentina in Home Designs Master Tags: #LaSerenissima, #ValentinaInteriorsDesigns, #VenetianCostumes, #VenetianDécor, #VenetianFlooring, #VenetianInteriors, #VeniceStyle, #VenitianColors

We are in full Carnival time, a short period of the year to be licentious until Mardi Gras (Fat Tuesday) when all will end. This joyful celebration inspires me to create some Venetian interior. In decorating a home interior we can choose from so many styles: French, Asian, American, English, contemporary, antique, just to name a few, or we can have a theme like beach, country, eclectic, Bohemian, shabby chic and so on. If celebrations inspire us for instance we can decorate in the mood and colors of 4^th of July, Thanksgiving or Christmas. However a lot of the styles I mentioned are seasonal, Venetian style is a timeless style and not only for Mardi Gras. Have you seen Joan River’s home?

(John_OBrien_Artist)

To understand a particular style it is important to know the history of that period to gain some insight of what shaped a particular style and why people accepted it.

The story of a Venetian style happened many centuries ago when Venice was a very wealthy republic, peaceful and productive. Venice’s name was La Serenissima meaning the Very Serene, because Venetians were financially stable, politically powerful and did not fight with neighboring countries. Instead Venetians people traded goods with foreign countries and the Far East, especially after Marco Polo went to China through the Silk Road and brought back to Venice a new way of decorating with silk fabrics for interiors, Oriental vases and potteries, new spices to enhance food and new fabric for both men and women fashion.

The result of Venetians being peaceful and wealthy people was that they embrace lavish parties, hence the introduction of dressing up with elaborate costumes and masks at Carnival time.

The homes of wealthy Venetian Republic were highly luxurious decorated with valuable material and furniture. One of the items that still goes strong is a particular red marble called Rosso Verona used for flooring. It grows in the area and it has been largely used through the years in monuments, churches and museums. Venice sits on water, the colors of a Venetian interior reflect all the colors of the water, blues, light greens, aqua and as the sun rises or falls the warm sunrays reflect on the water, which at time becomes light pink, light purple or light blue and even light grey.

(photo: http://medievalwalltapestry.com)

Fashion had a lot of influence on the interiors as well. The silk fabrics that Marco Polo brought back were also used for the upholstery. Men and women used the same colors. It was common to see a man with a light pink jerkin, yellow silk stockings and cream ruffled shirt, as much as it was common to see a woman in a purple dress with Chartreuse shoes.

(photo: http://www.artlib.ru/index.php?id=11&idp=15&fp=2&uid=10833&iid=137048&idg=0&user_serie=0)

Venice is mostly a grey foggy and cold town, to counterbalance the grey colors of the outside a traditional Venetian interior is cheerful but delicate, it reflects the colors of the water, delicate pastels, mix of floral and a lot of cream colors.
A traditional Venetian interior is not complete without bombe’ and hand-painted type of furniture, heavy upholstery in burgundy colors to echo the wines Venetians drink and gold accessories and home trimmings to echo the gold of the jewelry they once traded on. Fabrics are usually brocade, damask, silk and velvet. Flooring is often a very dark hardwood, or a very common Rosso Verona marble, or checkered designs and heavily composition of mosaics. The windows are always embellished with panes of stained glass.

(Above photo found on: http://www.marblerome.com)

In modern Venetians interiors, the décor changes dramatically. We might still see a beautiful decorate marble floor, but with modern, industrial lighting, light-colored walls, colorful seating and contrasting color pillows, rug and accessories. Another modern decor might be an all white interior with silver-grey faux finished walls with pastel accessories and colorful paintings on the walls, artistic masks and oversized Venetian blown glass here and there. Let’s not forget Venice is the capital of extraordinary blown glass creations. The modern Venetian curtains might be made of sheer material in pastel colors or totally white.

(Cristiani-Marmo)

Even though time in Venice has remained still, the interiors have evolved. A Venetian interior today can have the features of Venice like the light colors and pastels, the fabulous floor of marble work and stunning blown glass without the heavy velvet, damask and brocade fabrics.

Transforming a space in a period style or in a particular theme takes knowledge. The first step in any design project is gathering inspiration. How can you know which elements to choose for your space if you do not know history?
Happy Mardi Gras. Ciao,
Valentina
http://www.valentinadesigns.com

Valentina Cirasola is a trained  Interior Designer  in business since 1990. She is the owner and principal designer of her company: Valentina Interiors & Designs. Being Italian born and raised, Valentina’s design work has been influenced by Classicism and timeless style. She will create your everyday living with a certain luxury without taking away a comfortable living. Find Valentina’s three books on
Amazon: http://goo.gl/xUZfk0
Barnes&Nobles: http://goo.gl/q7dQ3w

Scale | Valentina Cirasola | Interior Designer

11 Feb 2015 1 Comment

by Valentina in Home Designs Master Tags: #ArchitecturalScale, #LargeAccessories, #RedVoyageIntoColors, #RoomDesignWithScale, #WPPhotoChallengeScale, https://dailypost.wordpress.com/dp_photo_challenge/scale/

A scale is a proportion used in determining the dimensional relationship of an item with its environment. A scale on architectural plans serves to calibrate lines indicating a proportion. Composers write melodies and build chords to harmonize melodies using the scales notes. Designers use the concept of the scale to create spaces that communicate with each other in harmony, with emphasis and rhythm, then we can say the space is balanced.

The world of design is beautiful and volatile, it changes with the mood of people and fashion of the moment. It is very common today to see large and out of scale accessories in a small room. Here are some examples of how to use tall tree branches as room divider, or take a large wood/stone architectural capitels and turn it into a small coffee table and room decoration. A large chandelier today might be placed over a small sofa in a small space and suddenly the room does not seem small anymore. A large wall clock hanging over a small console table, will fill a small wall and tall candle holders will give the height your table needs to feel grand.

(Above photos were taken in Home Decor Shop in Los Gatos, CA with permission granted)

Feel free to try new things. Your scale is however you perceive your world.

This is in response to WP photo challenge: Scale https://dailypost.wordpress.com/dp_photo_challenge/scale/

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

Copyright © 2015 Valentina Cirasola, All Rights Reserved

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 create the unusual. She needs your story to design your dream. Check out her books on
Amazon: http://goo.gl/xUZfk0
Barnes&Nobles: http://goo.gl/q7dQ3w

Step On Colors, Vibrate Your Day | Valentina Cirasola | Interior Designer

27 Jan 2015 Leave a comment

by Valentina in Home Designs Master Tags: #CementTiles, #CeramicTiles, #FloorDesigns, #FlooringSolutions, #GeometricFloorDesign, #HardwoodDesigns, #ItalianTiles, #StonePlanks

Oh, how many times I see homes made with a cookie cutter!!! I know, if a person has something, his/her friends feel they must have it too; if some magazine says hardwood floor is in style, everybody will have hardwood floor. It is called socio-acceptance. Some people think if they have the same things everybody else have, or look the same as everybody else, they are cool!

Sometimes ago, a friend asked me if a kitchen granite counter was still in fashion and if it was a yes, how long I foresaw it to stay in fashion. What a question? My answer was to make the kitchen counter in a stone or material she liked and not in a stone every kitchen from California to New York has.

The same I can say for floor covering. Wall to wall carpet is not hygienic. You have no idea what we find when we remove carpets during a remodeling. No wonder people are often sick, breathing all that stuff collected underneath the carpet affects your health. Real hardwood floor requires maintenance to keep it beautiful for long time. Engineered wood (man-made products) is cheap and fake, but affordable. Linoleum has improved but it is linoleum. Not very often alternative solutions come up and the world is full of new ideas.
Here I have solutions for stones and hardwood with attractive and stunning layouts, colorful tiles with geometric designs, stenciled floor and cement tiles, which are immensely overlooked.

White Wash-Wood planks design-Found on: https://www.servicecentral.com.au/article/22-unique-flooring-ideas-for-any-room

Cement tiles-Found on:http://www.theantiquefloorcompany.com/Products_for_sale/Carreaux_de_ciments_floors_less_than_5m2_53sq_ft_for_sale/3D_Hexagonal_Carreaux_de_ciment_floor_c_1910.html

Cement tile – Found on: http://www.coloursmorocco.com/cement-floor-tiles-breno.html

Italian floor – Mario Cuomo

Valentina Interiors & Designs

Mick-Haupt-unsplash

Vietri Italian tiles featured here by Romeo Cuomo https://www.facebook.com/romeo.cuomo
You might just need a small space to brighten up or to make an impression where you can keep expenses down and what an impression it will be!
If you can spend a little more for an upscale flooring that will add character to your home why not using imagination? Do it, your soul will like it and your day will vibrate. Ciao,
Valentina
http://www.valentinadesigns.com

Copyright © 2015 Valentina Cirasola, All Rights Reserved

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 the traditional in-house consultations, helping people with their design challenge any where in the world. She is the author of three books, all-available on
Amazon: http://goo.gl/xUZfk0
Barnes&Nobles: http://goo.gl/q7dQ3w

Embrace A New Beginning In A Cold Season | Valentina Cirasola | Interior Designer

15 Jan 2015 Leave a comment

by Valentina in Home Designs Master Tags: #2015NewBeginning, #FabricTextures, #LEDLight, #ValentinaInteriorsDesigns, #WhiteColorScheme, #WhiteWinterColors, Illumination

New year is a time for a new beginning and new home editing. Yes, the house needs to be edited every season, the same as everybody calls de-cluttering.

Spirit and Soul – If you believe in Feng Shui now is the time to consult an expert of this science or a book to make sure all the elements in a room are in harmony. Spring and summer are too far away and Christmas glitters are all gone. This is a time the Northern Hemisphere suffers most cold and it is grey or white most of the days, so why not embrace and celebrate each day of the year, not just the preordained November and December? This time of the year is perfect to celebrate the promises of something new and the life that is growing under the snow and cold weather. There is not much going on this month of January, why not clean inside all the closets, kitchen cupboards and free the spaces of old cosmetics, clothes and shoes? Feng Shui or not you should edit your environment to let a new energy in. Our home should reflect feeling and the mood of coziness of this season.

Colors and Paint – This is the time to refresh the paint of crown moldings and kickboards if a few years have passed since last time they were painted. The same applies to refreshing the paint of a few rooms, especially the most used ones, like kitchen and baths. A new paint job should be done every two years as a house cleaning practice and to update to current colors. Alternatively, to offset the grey and white of the outside, you might want to experiment with rich, deeper colors to add warmth or soft pastels to encourage spring.

Winter color combination

http://www.bellanottelinens.com/home/BNL-15/

https://www.modishstore.com/collections/coat-racks

Maite Onate – Unsplash

(photos via Pinterest)

However there are always people who will want to decorate with white and neutrals colors regardless of seasons. First thing to do is darken the floor to anchor the white colored décor and to make it not seem aloof. Then, create a warm ambience with special lighting that comes from corners, behind or underneath furniture and from inside the fireplace. In some areas burning wood is now prohibited and the beautiful, stylish, or carved antique fireplaces have become part of wallpaper décor. Well it doesn’t have to be like that, add a lot of candles or LED lighting inside the mouth of the fireplace and the dark hole will disappear giving magic to the room.

Textures – Anchor a white color scheme by experimenting with a mixture of white, ecru, beige and greige or a mixture of textures. Introduce wood furniture and wrought iron details, make imaginative pairings with layering fabric textures, raw silk with unbleached linen, mix ecologic fur with animal print, wool with voiles, lace, crystals and dry wood branches and if you want to introduce a couple of accent colors pillows you can.

Floating – I know that in American homes there is enough space to store various things, if nothing else, we can draw from our stockpile and re-hang paintings, redecorate with accessories that have been in store for a while and float furniture from other rooms. A new freshness and vibrancy will come out from the same objects and everything will look new again, while other items will go to Goodwill. That’s a good thing too.

It’s cold outside, but it doesn’t have to be cold and white in your home. Make it cozy and you will want to come home. Ciao,
Valentina
http://www.valentinadesigns.com

Valentina Cirasola, is the principal designer and owner of Valentina Interiors & Designs. She is a trained designer and has been in business since 1990. She works all over the world via Skype line and in the traditional in- home consultations producing concepts for remodeling, restoration of historical dwelling, décor restyling and home fashion. Vogue magazine and many prominent publications in California featured Valentina’s work. She has made four appearances on T.V. Comcast Channel 15 and has been interviewed on various Blog Talk Radios. Author of three books all-available on
Amazon: http://goo.gl/xUZfk0
Barnes&Nobles: http://goo.gl/q7dQ3w

Detox Yourself and Your Home After Holidays | Valentina Cirasola | Interior Designer

06 Jan 2015 Leave a comment

by Valentina in Home Designs Master Tags: #AfterHolidayDetox, #Detox, #HomeDecor, #January2015, #ValentinaInteriorsDesigns, #WinterColors, #WinterWhiteColorScheme

My holiday decorations are gone, everything went to sleep until next Christmas. Do you feel as if your home has lost its spark? All the shimmering lights are turned off, colorful decorations are gone, the glitters are not shining and everything looks opaque. Well it’s January, in most parts of the world is cold and white, why not enjoy the cold season and cooler colors of this month?

(photo: https://holawallpaper.com/wallpaper/hot-chocolate-17186-17186.html)

Let’s start with a cup of hot cocoa in our hands. Ideas come easier with something brown, silky and sweet. We need to fill that space where the Christmas tree was. I suggest a lamp in that corner, something we can borrow from other rooms for the time being, or a rope light disguised into a pot, a glass vase or behind furniture.

Winter colors

Winter color combination

Let’s play with all white color range. Between the cream colors, light beige, warm whites, antique whites and crystals accessories we can edit some rooms with real winter style to make it warm and cozy. Take out the fuzzy throw blanket and the ecologic fur pillows to feel in the mood for a crackling fireplace and a good book for companion.
To balance the white colors bring in some fragrant and colorful plants such as white paper lilies, a bright red Amaryllis, hyacinth, or a winter star plant. It will be like calling spring to hurry to show up.

White paper lilies

Wikimedia – Hyacinth in the formal garden at Anglesey Abbey. Taken Apr 2012

Winter star plant

Clean the interior of kitchen cupboards, get rid of some chipped dishes and bring to the front some glasses or dishes you haven’t use in a while. Add a sachet of dry rosemary, sage, thyme, and orange peel to give your cupboard a fresh smell. Clean the interior of bathroom cabinets and get rid of expired cosmetics, dust off clothes, shoes, and handbags, they also need a renewed energy after the holidays. You want to make everything sparkling again the natural way.

How about you, your person, how will you detox from the holidays?

I started with staying a couple of weeks away from the computer electromagnetism.
I got rid of all the sweets leftovers from the holidays, except chocolate, I need that. It seems as if I am ungrateful and throwing food away, but no, I am saving my body and being good to myself. The leftover good food is already in the freezer.
I am eating a lot of fruit, vegetables, high fiber food, drinking a lot more water and reduced my food portions. Exercising at least 30 minutes a day should help my detox and this is all, nothing strenuous, nothing difficult, everything doable I can do for many months.

I don’t particularly like winter, however, I celebrate it just the same with the things, food, and activities that make these few cold months so worth waiting for the spring. 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. Find copies of my three books on
Amazon: http://goo.gl/xUZfk0
Barnes&Nobles: http://goo.gl/q7dQ3w

Christmas At Casa Valentina | Valentina Cirasola | Interior Designer

18 Dec 2014 6 Comments

by Valentina in Home Designs Master Tags: #ChristmasDecorations, #ChristmasLights, #ChristmasRed, #ChristmasVignettes, #RedVoyageIntoColors, #ValentinaInteriorsDesigns

I remember my first Christmas in USA was magical. I had never seen so much display of lights inside and outside the homes and had never seen so much stuff decorating the homes. I felt living in a Christmas fairy tale. At the beginning I questioned where people stored all that stuff, or if they threw it away to buy new things every year, if they gave it away, or even how many days took them to decorate so heavily. I realized very soon that homes in America are containers of stuff and Christmas decorations have their cozy places in the garage each in its own box.

Stores really got my attention, their visual displays were works of art to my eyes, not knowing all that production was intended to push sales. After all, in the Christian world we celebrate with lights to welcome a Newborn spiritual light coming into our world. However, after a few years in the country, this whole business of overly decorating Christmas became pavement to the point that now I only pay attention to extravagant displays in window shops, as theatrical expressions. Once in a while I drive through neighborhoods at night to enjoy the storyboards some homeowner create with their Christmas displays. Christmas to me is still a spiritual moment.

Having said that, you can just imagine by now how little I decorate my home. Through the years, I collected hand painted homes of Charles Dickens time that now fill a half wall I have in the kitchen, then I create vignettes with my displays and keep it simple, add lights where needed and use small items to add the flavor of Christmas. I am a practical person, putting up and taking down Christmas stuff doesn’t have to be more work for me. My efforts instead go towards exceptional food.
Enjoy the slide show of my vignettes.

Decoupage lamp

Dickens characters singing Christmas carols

Renaissance jesters

Christmas display

Led light in the vase

Murano glass and velvet Christmas trees

Dickens’ village painted houses

Fairy on the moon

Fairy on the corbel

Happy Christmas to all and if you don’t celebrate it, take time to reflect on your spirituality. 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 to add an overall feeling of peace and relaxation. Find copies of my three books on
Amazon: http://goo.gl/xUZfk0
Barnes&Nobles: http://goo.gl/q7dQ3w

Christmas Atmospheres | Valentina Cirasola | Interior Designer

09 Dec 2014 Leave a comment

by Valentina in Home Designs Master Tags: #ChristmasDecorations, #ChristmasTableSetting, #HolidayTheme, #RedVoyageIntoColors, #Tablecloth, Lighting

This year I would like to suggest nature simplicity on Christmas table. Let’s stay away from the artificial decorations and stinking petroleum candles. Let’s make instead “organic” the focus of our table and I mean even organic food. Let’s turn our attention to food grown locally with zero travel and zero carbon emission. How do you do that? Read labels and ask questions to your grocer, find out where the food you want to buy is coming from and make your decisions. As far as decorations a simple trip to your local market will suffice to find your decorations as well.

Tall decorations on the table look impressive, we got used to see them in stores or magazines and never understood why we want to copy the same look for our tables, considering that those vignettes are about merchandising and displaying products for sale. Decorating a table is about creating an atmosphere of pleasing colors and tasty food, these are the only attractions of a table, to which we must add harmonious and well diverse company sitting under a suiting light.

Guests sitting at the table must be able to talk to the guests across the table without the obstruction of tall decorations. This year think of grocery shops as inspiration for your table centerpiece and play with food arrangements, pumpkins, tomatoes, vegetables, flowers and pine cones. On both sides of each guest there must be at least 18” of space to perform certain actions with ease like cutting food, but if space around the table is limited each guest should have at least a foot of clearance.

Fiandre runners-Leonardo TV, Italy

Vegetable centerpiece-BH&G

Light coming from above the table such as a chandelier should be suffuses but not totally dimmed, you want your guests to see the color of food and the beautiful table setting. Recessed lights must be directed over the plates and the lights above the two head table need to crisscross at the center of the table to highlight the centerpiece. If recessed lighting is not set right, it will create bags under your guests’ eyes and your women guests will not appreciate it, be kind to them, don’t make them seem older or sick.

Cover the table with an elegant tablecloth, it is Christmas after all, treat yourself and your guests to something special. I have three suggestions:
1. Flandre linen, high quality monochromatic textile produced in Belgium since the 1800s. It is very formal.
2. Chambray linen, produced in the city of Cambrai, France. This is a plain weaved fabric with a hint of silk, also produced since the 1800s. It is perfect for casual elegance.
3. Boutis, a Provençal quilting cloth used for table covers made in the South of France since the 19th century. It is similar to the Italian Trapunto, which started in Italy before the 14th century and still produced today. It gives the table a semi-formal look.

Boutis corner work Found on: http://www.artquid.com/artwork

On top of the tablecloth add the most beautiful dishes you have, be creative even in mixing and matching if you like, add all the glasses and flatware and let the dinner roll. 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

Thanksgiving In Cognac | Valentina Cirasola | Interior Designer

10 Nov 2014 Leave a comment

by Valentina in Home Designs Master Tags: #Cognac, #CognacColor, #HolidaysDecorations, #Pantone2014FallColors, #PantoneColors, #RedVoyageIntoColors, #ThanksgivingColors

I have gone around various stores to get ideas for the next holidays colors, but except for the usual traditional gold, red, silver, white and an occasional blue I have not seen anything exciting in terms of color for table décor.

If we look at the colors of Thanksgiving’s food we will find the warmest jewel tone colors ever and those are the colors we should decorate the table this year to complement our food. Think of the golden color of a well-roasted turkey or potatoes, the ruby red of cranberries and the slightly purplish red of a sangria wine, the dark and light green of all vegetables, the brown of mushrooms or the warm auburn color of cognac. Ah, cognac a drink for thinkers!

Taking in consideration the Pantone color scheme for Fall-Winter 2014, here are is my thought on how I see this year Thanksgiving’s table in cognac color with all the links to help you find some of these items.
The colors I selected for the tableware are: Cognac, Misted Yellow and Aluminun; Sangria for the flowers and various decorations around the room.

Cognac tablecloth – http://www.tablelinendirect.com/10rosasetaco2.html

Silver or colored napkins – http://www.houzz.com/photos/1203846/Libeco-Home-Frascati-Linen-Napkin-traditional-napkins-boston

Grey napkins – https://www.etsy.com/listing/182733122/light-gray-linen-napkins-hemstitch-for?ref=market

Brown plates – http://chinasearch.co.uk/buy/hornsea/heirloom—brown/149873/dinner-plate

Yellow bird plates – http://www.houzz.com/photos/177999/Yellow-Bird-Plate-eclectic-plates

Yellow wine glasses – http://www.amazon.com/Le-Cadeaux-Fleur-Yellow-Glass/dp/B002AHOLI8/ref=pd_sim_sbs_k_2?ie=UTF8&refRID=0N2N1ZHBXH9HM5SZ08JW

Water glasses – http://www.monstermarketplace.com/unique-wine-accessories/wildlife-wine-glasses-set-of-four

Flatware – http://www.stylehive.com/bookmark/rustic-adirondack-bronze-twig-flatware-and-twig-serving-set-in-bronze-by-vance-kitira-481160

Before and after Thanksgiving dinner, you might want to serve some bubbles, either Champagne or Prosecco, like diamonds, they are high class and put people in the right mood to celebrate exciting life moments.

Cognac is the after dinner drink for fine palates, getting a hangover from it will lower that person a few steps.

Life is for living, not for deprivations, indulge and have a splendid Thanksgiving. 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. 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

Grass On The Window | Valentina Cirasola | Interior Designer

17 Oct 2014 5 Comments

by Valentina in Home Designs Master Tags: #EcoFriendlyHomeDecor, #GrassRollerShades, #GrassWindowCovering, #RedVoyageIntoColors, #SustainableFabrics, #SustainableHomeDecor

As long as I can remember and even before I became a designer, doing window dressing has been one thing I never liked to design. I think if the view is pleasant and perhaps vegetation or altitude protects your privacy, there is no need to cover the windows. Soak in the beauty surrounding your home and let the colors of nature fill your interior, but if that is not the case and privacy is an issue, I understand you must cover your windows to protect your life.

Roller blinds on from Jaluzi-Service Window. Metering, delivery, installation – You can see out, they can’t see in

Top-down – Bottom-up Mechanism

Create valance

Bottom-up – Home Depot

For many years the design industry has talked and created eco-friendly designs solutions to help to protect our natural environment with new sustainable products that will also meet our changing needs. Grass on the windows means exactly that: window covering made of natural grass material.

Skilled weavers create woven shades out of the finest natural wood, reeds grasses, and fibers that are carefully selected and hand-woven on traditional looms. Grass roller shades give the room an aura of organic beauty. The artistic hand-craftsmanship and the elegance of modern window dressing, transport rich sentiments of nature and worldly sophistication to any room.

Grass roller shades have the same features as the conventional hanging fabrics: independently operable liner shade is available in various tones and opacity; top-down and bottom-up mechanism to choose the view you like to see; hand pull-up cords or motorized function, just in case you get too comfortable; you can create a valance or mount the grass roller shades inside window frames. One more feature and I like this one: you can see out, but they cannot see in your home.

No more fabrics hanging on windows collecting dust and contributing to your interior pollution. Dry cleaning the curtains will bring home more chemicals than you want to breath. To clean the grass roller shades you only need a vacuüm with a soft brush duster.

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Living and dining window treatments

Texture

Do you think designers like to design everything they are hired for? I don’t think so, but when that happens we must comply and find the right solutions to make customers happy. I just finished designing this traditional window treatment for the entire home of a client. Would I put these curtains in my home, absolutely not! My style doesn’t allow heavy curtains and heavy patterns and simply doesn’t allow curtains, but I wasn’t working for my house. As long as the client is happy, I am happy too.
Sharing is caring, I am here if you need help. Ciao,
Valentina
http://www.valentinadesigns.com

It’s my hope that through my writing I am enriching your aesthetic sensibility towards design, style and inspire you to live in beauty. I have loved my profession as an interior 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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