Home Designs Master | Valentina Expressions

Italy In Small Bites | Valentina Cirasola | Interior Designer

19 Mar 2011 Leave a comment

by Valentina in Home Designs Master Tags: #150ItalyAnniversary, #ItalianArchitecture, #ItalianArt, #ItalianCulture, #ItalianFashion, #ItalianLifeStyle

This year is the 150th anniversary of the unification of Italy as a Republic, such a small country, such a concentrate of art and history, a country where even a shoe shine is an artist in his own way.
Italian emigrants and their strong patriotism have brought many Italian products around the world, shown them, talked about and place them on the market. They have made the “made in Italy” trade mark something to be proud of. It is a symbol of sophistication, elegance, purity and simple classicism.
Italian style of this century is very modern, very colorful and linear while Italians still enjoy walking around and breathing antiquity. The streets of Italy are very historical, but fashion, interiors and cars are not.
(Click on each photo to view it larger).

The architectural style of Tuscan farmhouses have been copied in California by the boat load and turned into a mansions style, but the bucolic Tuscan scenes cannot be reproduced. Tuscan style is not about a large home empty of emotions and atmospheres, but it comprises a whole life style, it means going to market everyday, cook fresh food, neighbors popping by for coffee unannounced, evening dinner with family and friends, taking afternoon naps, cultivate the land and most importantly being surrounded by the warmth of the people occupying the house.

Italians put a lot of passion when it comes to design eating vessels, an old custom that goes back to the Roman Empire. Pleasing the eyes before the palate and pleasing the palate with fresh, uncomplicated, nor manipulated food. It’s like a game of pleasures, one following the other as close as possible.

What to say about the decorative art of tile making for flooring, kitchen backsplash, bathrooms, or entryways? Italians have an incredible ability to create stunning combinations of material old and new that no one else can do, or combinations of colors and patterns within the material no one else can even think about. Ideas don’t just come because Italians are clever, their ideas are imbedded in their blood through years of tradition and history. In my design projects I can sleep soundly when I employ Italian tile setters and stone fabricators, I know that even if I don’t observe their work, it will be done to perfection. Their clinical eye is a safe heaven. (Photo right: Romeo Cuomo, Italian Ceramic Art – Via Pinterest).

Fashion is a strong weapons for Italians. We dress very fashionable every day even to go to the market. We feel an immense pleasure and satisfaction to be admired by others, it highly gratifies our self-esteem and with that comes the elegant, flirtatious behavior in both men and women. Fashion is used in office and home décor, but in these areas our fashion is classic, classic contemporary, classic modern, classic eclectic, that type of classic that will not go out of vogue in a couple of years, just to be clear.

The thrill of driving an Italian sport car, or simply seeing one roaring by at the speed of light is revitalizing. I hope Italy continues to make them, even if it is only for the pleasure of few lucky ones. (Photo Lamborghini Countach -http://www.seriouswheels.com/car-terms.htm)

Food is no exception to the country’s beauty. Anywhere in Italy food is excellent, even in a “hole in the wall”. Eat Italian food to stay fit and young. In foreign countries Italian restaurants are considered the best. Olive oil, prosciutto, Parmigiano cheese, pasta, cheeses and wines are the most exported food out of Italy. All of us expatriates, laborious, hard workers Italian people, entrepreneurial at heart have contributed to the good reputation of our high quality products.

This 150th birthday of Italy’s unification as a Republic comes at a time of world turmoil, shifting of economic power and natural disasters, but Italy is also fighting its own battle with its own government, high unemployment, poor immigrants from every where in the world arriving on the coasts of Italy by the thousand a day, causing an economic stress the country cannot support. The most dangerous battle facing Italy is the counterfeit of its original products which are being sold all over the world in the name of saving the cent.

Italy is a vibrant country, all this concentrate of beauty might be a hand full for someone, just take it in small bites, you will learn to love even the noise in the streets and the fatalism of its people. It is still the most charming country to visit and to return to.

As the professional who is always ready, I shall be prompt and ready to help you with any of your needs, whether it will decorating, designing, or remodeling and if you like Italian architecture and décor in your home, I must be the one you should hire. Leave your name in the box below, I shall answer you in 24 hours time. As a new addition to my business, I offer design consultations on-line through Skype line. Ciao,
Valentina
http://www.valentinadesigns.com

Valentina Cirasola is a trained Italian Interior Designer in business since 1990. Being Italian born and raised, Valentina’s design work has been influenced by Classicism and stylish, timeless designs. She is a designer well-known to bring originality to people’s homes. As an Italian designer and true to her origins, she provides only the best workmanship and design solutions. Check her books on:
Amazon: http://goo.gl/xUZfk0
Barnes&Nobles: http://goo.gl/q7dQ3w

The Small Steps | Valentina Cirasola | Author and Designer

07 Mar 2011 Leave a comment

by Valentina in Home Designs Master Tags: #AchievingGoals, #GoalSetting, #SelfHelp, #SelfImprovement, #SinsOfAQueen, #SmallSteps, #SuccessInSmallSteps, #ValentinaCirasolaAuthor

In my life I had many things to achieve and many spaces to fill. It is true that in order to be successful, we must be balanced in five areas of our life, love, family, financial, health and work. But most people forget that the Roman Empire was not made in one day.
God took even seven days to create the Universe and on the seventh day he rested.

The thing about making it big in this life and doing it fast, is that, invariably the first steps will be small and slow. Which oddly, for many, is the same reason they don’t take those small steps.

Picture you taking a trip in-car for 3,000 miles. You get in the car, but you don’t see all the 3,000 miles in front of you, you barely see 500 yards and a night you see even less, you see only as far as the car beams show you the way. So what does it mean? It means you are taking your 3,000 miles trip in small steps. Now picture your life. We all have been instructed to do resolution at the beginning of the year, but most of the time life gets in the way and after a month or two we have completely forgotten about the new year resolutions.

My vacation is my first resolution at the beginning of the year and the first thing I put on the calendar. By doing that, I know not to schedule anything around that time and I know I will tone my brain and regenerate my energy during that resting time, which will allow me to come back to my work strong as ever. Then I take my baby steps with my formula of the four 10’s: 10 days, 10 weeks, 10 months, 10 years. My goals of the first 10 days will take me to my goals of 10 weeks; my goals of 10 weeks will take me to my 10 months and to the 10 years goals. I am a person who lives in the present, I am not good in seeing ten years in front of me, but by taking the small steps I have reached all the goals, I have done everything I said I was going to do in life and I am continuing planning more this same way.

I love my profession, before I became an interior designer, I was a fashion designer and owned my fashion company: Atelier Valentina.
Two of the things I wanted to do and did them. At the beginning of this conversation I said I had many spaces to fill in my life.
In 2008 the economy suddenly changed and so did client’s thinking, all of a sudden I was surrounded by negativity. I didn’t want to be part of any negativity and I said to myself it was time to create my economy. The moment to publish that book I had in mind had arrived, the time was right and I was ready.

At the end of 2008, about November I started to organize my thoughts, photographs, drawings and I started writing the text. Once I had the title of the book in my head, I also had the full book plans. I decided the book was going to be about my grandmother simple and healthy way of cooking. I wrote every day, a couple of hours a day for 5 months. I thought that if I wrote one chapter a day I would have had 365 chapter by the end of the year. I didn’t want an encyclopedia, but a smaller manageable book was a doable goal. Once I choose the publisher, I sent text and graphics to them and went on vacations. The next six months were spent communicating with the editors, editing, formatting and printing the book. In Nov. 2009 my first book of 152 pages was published; a year later in Dec. 2010 my second book was published. I am working on the third book on the subject of colors and it might be published at the end of 2011.

As you see my formula of the four 10s and baby steps has helped me becoming a published author.
In the meantime, I am working with my clients and doing what I love: designing and remodeling their homes.

Making baby steps and taking action means you must believe in your abilities, you must be sure everything in your mind is doable and attainable in real-time and you must put an end date to all your goals. At one point in my life, I must have dreamt of becoming a princess, that’s right it was just a dream and not an attainable goal. Instead I became the Queen of my book, Sins Of A Queen , that was a real and attainable goal!

You might ask where do I take all this energy? I take it from my good food. Good food will produce good energy, junk food will produce junk energy, it cannot get any simpler than this! In my book I say “the red on the cheeks come from the mouth” for a reason. If you have the right elements in your body, you will function like a Swiss clock work. Good food is fuel to my brain, so I eat everything in moderation and everyday I can lit the whole city with the energy I get from it. Ciao,
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 ugly spaces into castles, but especially loves to design kitchens and wine grottos. Author of two Italian cultural regional books:
Come Mia Nonna–A Return to Simplicity
Sins Of A Queen – Italian Appetizers and Desserts

Both books are available in this site at the Books page and at these locations:

http://outskirtspress.com/ComeMiaNonna
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lnq8baaAq0M
http://outskirtspress.com/SinsOfAQueen

The Kitsch Of Today | Valentina Cirasola | Interior Designer

19 Feb 2011 Leave a comment

by Valentina in Home Designs Master Tags: #DecoratingTips, #FurnitureDesign, #HomeFashion, #KitschStyle, #ObjectsD'Art, #VintageStyle, #whimsicalDecor

In every era items of dubious taste appear on shelves of home décor stores and invariably we have a good laugh when we find them in people’s home.

The term kitsch refers to an item regarded as tasteless, sentimental, or ostentatious in style. Sometimes an item is so kitsch to turn irresistibly attractive, perhaps because it has an inner beauty, or an intrinsic collectible value, or better a memory of a romantic past. I love to hunt in flea markets, looking at some items often is a learning experience of the past, especially when I engage in conversation with senior exhibitors who know all the life story of an object and turn into instant story-tellers. I could spend hours and hours listening to people who have lived in different eras, I find it very fulfilling and educational. Today I want to talk about the funny aspect of a few kitsch items.

Take a look at this David statue, one of the most recognizable masterpiece of the world and an enduring symbol of Florence. To see the David in Piazza della Signoria in Florence is natural, it fits the historical environment, but to see him naked in a home would be a bit annoying.

Coat of Arms near the living room fireplace, or on top of the doorway will really tell your friends how highly blazoned you feel, unless for real you have royal blood, but in this case you wouldn’t display the coat of arms so visibly anyway.

The Folies Bergère stool is very kitschy and extremely whimsical, but I wouldn’t put it on display in the center of the most used room. It would feel appropriate in a boudoir, where you can sit to take your shoes off after a night of follies.

The Babette side table. Just the name alone of this table will tell the story. It might be useful to rest a drink on it, but its disheveled look, seamed stockings, red garters and strappy red heels demands attention!
A romp boisterous lad experiencing his first flat might like this piece as a way of entertaining his friends in funny conversation.

Folie Bergère Ottoman

Guillotine – Cigar Cutter

Babette Side Table

Ah, the guillotine was a classic in the ‘70s. I have seen it in some offices propped proudly on a boss’s desk used for cutting the tip of cigars. It was considered an unusual historic executive toy. It hurt just to see it and wondered what kind of pleasure there was to own such object.

Cleopatra Chaise, even though a little garish and excessively ornate, I can use it as an accent piece and let it claim a place of honor in my décor. After all, it is a reproduction of the famous ruler’s chair and it is fit-for-a-queen (me). By the way, my title of last published book is: Sins Of A Queen. You can find it here: https://valentinaexpressions.com/

(All photos from: Toscano Design)

Ok, I have been playing around today with outrageous things, I know, but not all kitsch items are ugly, extremely in your face, garish, or unpleasant. The idea behind choosing a kitsch object is to have fun and to create an attraction, just do not use many of these objects in one room, or many times over throughout the home décor.

Ultimately, if you like one piece, nobody can tell you what you should or should not have in your décor, just do it sensibly. Do not overlook flea market findings, they could be a treasure sometimes.

As a professional designer, I can stir the selection toward a more valuable choice and toward the choice that makes sense for the style of your home. I shall be here to help with any choice, selecting furniture and accessories is one of the specialty of my business. Leave your name in the box, I will answer you in 24 hours time. Ciao,
Valentina
http://www.valentinadesigns.com

Valentina Cirasola has been in business as a designer since 1990. She has helped a variegated group of fun people realizing their dreams with homes, offices, interiors and exteriors. She is a designer well-known to bring originality to people’s homes. Author of three books available on
Amazon: http://goo.gl/xUZfk0
Barnes&Nobles: http://goo.gl/q7dQ3w

A Tango In The Garden | Valentina Cirasola | Interior Designer

12 Feb 2011 Leave a comment

by Valentina in Home Designs Master Tags: #GardenArt, #GardenDesign, #HowToPrepareGardens, #RedVoyageIntoColors, #SpringGarden, #SpringPlanting

Lately, I have listened to the music of Miguel Del Aguila, a new exploration between contemporary classical chamber music and Latin popular folks styles, played mostly with a clarinet. His music has been my inspiration in creating a Valentine’s garden this year, where I want to find a new style of warm and descriptive passion of love through tropical plants, succulent plants and colorful flowers. To achieve that and to get colors that sing at me, I want to reproduce the colors of the Argentinean homes, colors put together without any rules. However, this is still February, days are short and in most places cold too, not much grows in this month, but if I want to enjoy flowers in a few months from now I must plant the kind of dancing beauty now in February. Planting beautiful flowers early allows more growth time for a healthy root system.
(Photo: La Boca Buenos Aires)

Sweet Alyssum can be planted in February in a sunny spot; this species likes not soggy soil, blooms in pink, purple and white. It is a fragrant flower.
Sweet Pea flowers are good to plant a month before the last frost date. Place a net over the seeds to protect them from birds and snails. They are very colorful and can be used for cutting to bring inside the home.
Marigold or Calendula is an annual plant, good to plant in February, but it will bloom in June and up to the next frost. It blooms in yellow, orange, apricot and cream.
Euphorbia, graceful curving stems with loads of tiny flowers blooms in February. Not all colors are available at the same time, consult with your nursery.
Gentiana, a long-lasting trumpet-shaped flowers with straight stems.

I like my February to be bursting in colors with tulips, narcissus, daffodils, crocus and freesia, therefore I made sure these bulbs were in the ground no later than November and now they really sing at me!

In warmer climate zones plant Strawflowers in the family of daisy flowers. They produce yellow, red, pink, orange or white flowers with papery petals. The cut flowers dry well and they do well in flower arrangements. Like petunia and verbena, Strawflower likes lots of sunlight, but protect them from any February frosts. These are flowers that grow and bloom profusely if planted in February, and they continue to look great until late May.

February is a time to do a variety of chores in the garden: harvest winter crops before they bolt; begin to divide perennials; plant bare root roses and fruit trees; continue planting cool season vegetables such as broccoli, cabbage, kale, lettuce, onions.

I wanted to share some of the ideas I have for my Valentine’s garden, hopefully they will be good for your garden too, but whatever you choose to do, remember to add music in your garden as if you are directing an orchestra, do that by using colors freely and not in a structured palette. Music is one thing flowers and plants like very much. On the other hand, you can connect music speakers concealed in fake rocks made of resins, light weight, easy to carry and play that Tango music around your plants. They will reward you with beauty.

Miguel Del Aguila says “life without music would be an error”, I agree. After you plan a Valentine’s garden, take your love for a twirl of Tango. Happy Valentine’s day.

As the professional who is always ready, I shall be prompt and ready to help you with any of your needs, whether it will be decorating, designing, remodeling, or planning your outdoor rooms. Place your name in the box below, leave a comment and I will answer you in within 24 hours. Ciao,
Valentina
www.Valentinadesigns.com

Copyright © 2011 Valentina Cirasola, All Rights Reserved

Valentina Cirasola is an interior designer, in business since 1990. She helps people realizing their dream spaces in homes, offices, interiors and exteriors.
She will guide clients in planning gardens with design concepts, selecting hardscapes, plants and accessories. No land assessment.
Check out her books on
Amazon: http://goo.gl/xUZfk0
Barnes&Nobles: http://goo.gl/q7dQ3w

Set The Mood With Colors | Valentina Cirasola | Interior Designer

07 Feb 2011 Leave a comment

by Valentina in Home Designs Master Tags: #ColorfulHomes, #DecoratingWithColors, #HomeInteriorsColors, #ValentinaBookOnColors, #ValentinaInteriorsDesigns, Avaliving

“Let me out of the grays and beiges please!” My client was screaming.
She managed a computer software company. For 10-12 hours a day she lived in a boring environment. She was longing to see a colorful home upon her return in her cocoon to balance her day. She requested bold colors and being single, she only had to please herself. As a designer many times defined “a colorist” I was in my perfect spot with this client.

Photo ©Valentina Cirasola

To really understand her needs, I went through a long list of questions to find the right colors for her personality and her life style. We all know colors are easy for designers, but not for all the clients. Sometimes a color they like very much might not be of their liking anymore after the house is painted.
Colors can either break or make a space and I did not want the result to be a failure.

This client liked the warm and vibrant colors of the buildings in Italy. She had never been to Italy, but saw enough photographs and films to make her dream about it. Good enough, I am Italian born, I know what she wants exactly, so I dared. She was astonished about all the color palettes I could come up, but not overwhelmed. In all the palettes I coupled cold colors with warm colors and added some texture samples for the areas of her liking. She chose to texturize kitchen walls and lightly antiquing the green color areas of the family/living room.

Photo ©Valentina Cirasola

She studied the color palettes for a few days, then we passed to the action: painting! The house came alive from the white walls you see here to all the colors. Emphasizing many architectural features was also my goal, in fact they looked so much better with the games of colors playing with each others.

I recall the painter singing while he was working, he really liked to apply those vibrant colors. The client was so happy and enjoyed the colors for a few years until her work moved her to another city and she was compelled to sell the house.

Now you would think it is hard to sell a house with all those colors. I must admit that it is not true. Selling homes painted in beige and neutral colors might take forever. The boring homes dressed in beige, must offer other strong features in order to sell fast, such as price, location, square footage etc. But when the market is soft, economy is not so friendly, location is not the best of the best, is easier to sell homes with colors. Paint the walls in soft yellow and the front door in a golden tone of yellow or dark red and the house will sell immediately.
People feel attracted towards yellow because is the color of the sun and towards red because is the color of many food. These are inviting colors and mean family.

After this house was posted for sale, it sold in three days, just because of the interior colors. The next buyers told me later that everyday “she baths in colors”.

Let me know if I can do the same for you. I offer design consultations on-line. Leave your name and email in the box below, so I can give you details on how to contact me and I love to hear your comments too, thank you.

Avaliving is a site for designer helping consumers. My colorful project was selected to be featured for one week Feb.7-Feb.14, 2011 among many beautiful projects of other designers. It is an honor to be part of Avaliving’s community. Thank you Ava for featuring my project again and to the wonderful team who puts everything together. Ciao,
Valentina
http://www.Valentinadesigns.com

Valentina Cirasola is an Italian Interior Designer and former Fashion Designer, working in the USA and Europe since 1990. She blends well fashion with interiors and colors the world of her clients. She has been described as “the colorist” and loves to create the unusual. ©RED-A Voyage Into Colors is her third book, now in the making and coming soon. Check out her books on
Amazon: http://goo.gl/xUZfk0
Barnes&Nobles: http://goo.gl/q7dQ3w

Sawdust Or Stardust | Valentina Cirasola | Interior Designer

27 Jan 2011 Leave a comment

by Valentina in Home Designs Master Tags: #ColorsForInteriors, #DecoratingLayOut, #FurnitureDesign, #FurnitureLayOut, #HomeFashion, #VeneerFurniture, Avaliving

Spring is almost at our door, it is time to refresh the look of interior spaces and to buy furniture. Those of you who have just finished a home remodeling, after such a big sacrifice and hardship, now is the moment to make the new areas shine, sit back, relax and enjoy the new spaces with comfortable furniture.

Before rushing to furniture stores with a renewed excitement (remember last time you bought furniture?) is important to know the shifts that have occurred in the market with supply and demand, the shift in consumer thinking or choices and to know about imported or locally produced furniture.

The annual world market furniture show at High Point in North Carolina will happen April 2-7, 2011. It is the world runway for home fashions and it happens one month after the New York’s Fashion Week. There you will find an enormous selection of furniture and accessories of all styles and historic periods. The show is overwhelming and super stuffed with beautiful furniture, but all of that will reach stores at some point during the year, so we can all enjoy and finally make a purchase.

This is basically what you need to keep in mind. Decide how much you want to spend and the quality you want in your home, then look at the product you are buying.
The most common furniture are made of melamine material, veneer, laminate, solid wood and a lot more. I will just talk about a few.

The majority of furniture are made of sawdust pushed together with various resins with the exterior surface made of plastic derivates printed and colored as wood. When the resins are not treated at a high temperature (this is an information never disclosed to consumers) they emanate a formaldehyde gas which is carcinogenic and irritating for the lungs. The odor is not pleasant and emission can last many years. To reduce the emission, these kind of furniture are covered with an exterior layer of melamine.

Furniture with veneer and honeycomb: the exterior face has a layer of about one millimeter thick of real wood, the interior is made with a honeycomb structure which doesn’t allow doors and drawers to bow with time. Furniture with veneer exterior are good lasting furniture and priced affordably.

(Photo Italian Trumeau Lombardo – http://www.labottegadegliartisti.it/catalogo2/cattrumeauuk.htm)

Real wood furniture are the stars of any interiors, they have all the characteristics of elegance, beauty, style, durability and they are pricey. Real wood furniture fall in the category of luxury, but knowing the right ebonist (artistic furniture maker) real wood furniture can be produced locally at a better price than the market.

Let me be your chosen designer who can put star…dust in your décor. I can help you with any style. Put your name in the box, leave a comment and I will answer you within 24 hours. Ciao
Valentina
www.valentinadesigns.com

Valentina Cirasola has been in business as a designer since 1990. She has helped a variegated group of fun people realizing their dreams with homes, offices, interiors and exteriors. She is a designer well known to bring originality to people’s homes. She also designes furniture and has been successful in producing them locally with local artists craftsmen. Check out her books on
Amazon: http://goo.gl/xUZfk0
Barnes&Nobles: http://goo.gl/q7dQ3w

Give Me Space | Valentina Cirasola | Interior Designer

22 Jan 2011 Leave a comment

by Valentina in Home Designs Master Tags: #ContainerFurniture, #DecoratingSmallSpaces, #DecoratingTips, #FurnitureDesign, #HomeFashion, #SmallSpacesSolutions, #ValentinaInteriorsDesigns

Buying furniture can be a difficult or easy task, depending on how you react to your need, prices, choices, or necessity. Particularly in the case of a couple getting married for the first time and the unknown factors of how large the family will grow, or even if the marriage will last in time. Then come the questions of how to choose colors, styles, sizes, functionality and how to fit everything intelligently in each space in order to maximise the available space in every small inch.

When buying good furniture allow yourself plenty time for searching and don’t stop at the first offer just because the price might be right for you. Evaluate material and price of the furniture and don’t fall in the trap of discounts. If you purchase furniture on the Internet to save 70-80% and then turn around and pay a high price for shipping that is not at all a good savings, therefore buy locally and really save! Some local stores will offer shipping free of charge just to gain your custom.

Furniture to me, as a designer and lover of practicality, must be beautiful, stylish and hold a double functionality. Not necessarily made for contemporary décor with straight and clean lines, furniture can be antiques, or classic, but they must always offer storage space solutions, in that space is a challenge in everybody’s home and a precious commodity.

A Tartan Credenza (left) in the living room can decorate a wall beautifully and serve as a storage for table cloths, napkins and silverware. A kitchen credenza (right) can also hold office files on one side with a roll-down panel to hide the files when not in use.

If you are looking to add rhythm and dynamism to an office space or a kids’ room, the Code bookshelf made by Snaidero (left) is a good solution. Looking at my photo most people will think of kids’ room immediately.  A bookshelf designed in colored squares is perfect for kids, that’s right, because it offers infinite playful compositions. But why not thinking of a dynamic office, filled with young minds, or young at heart people, innovative and productive, who want to keep up with evolving times? This type of free-form modular shelving multiplies in space vertically, horizontally and performs well all kinds of functions, even in the kitchen, or pantry.

Do you have a bare corner? A drop shaped vitrine (Photo right) with interior lighting made by Carpanelli is a good solution to hold a few collectibles and to light a corner. I like to add lights in corners, it gives the illusion of larger spaces. Ottomans and settees are also super solutions for storage and stylish furniture, which can be added anywhere in any décor.

When giving a particular attention to storage spaces and assign a dedicated space to each of your activities, life becomes simpler and pleasant. Well, now it is time to go shopping. I am here to help you finding the right furniture solution, or build some storage spaces for you, your home, your style and improve your life. Ciao,
Valentina

http://www.valentinadesigns.com

Valentina Cirasola has been in business as a designer since 1990. She has helped a variegated group of fun people realizing their dreams with homes, offices, interiors and exteriors. She is a designer well-known to bring originality to people’s homes. She also designs furniture and has been successful in producing them locally with local artists craftsmen. Check out her books on
Amazon: http://goo.gl/xUZfk0
Barnes&Nobles: http://goo.gl/q7dQ3w

I Prescribe Bohemian Style | Valentina Cirasola | Interior Designer

10 Jan 2011 9 Comments

by Valentina in Home Designs Master Tags: #BohemianColors, #BohemianHomeFashion, #BohemianStyle, #DecoratingBohemianStyle, #HomeTrends

In my second book, Sins Of A Queen, I wrote that “Salt is the spice of food, attitude is the spice of life”, but in my designing business colors and fabrics are the spices of a home.
We have entered a new decade of a young millennium with a new gentle attitude when approaching style. We are freer than ever to decorate or even to dress as it is most pleasurable to our eyes and without following made-up rules any more. Yet every 40-50 years we take inspirations from past time décor or fashion, turn it around and make it new again. That is because looking back in the past is nostalgic for those who have lived it and refreshing for those who have not yet. Who would have imagined that the hippies ‘70s era would have brought inspiration to copy today!? Well, not really copy it, but remake it into a new sophistication.

Today looking at the ’70s means to take the psychedelic patterns, the bold colors, the vivid floral fabrics of that era and mix them with the contemporary style or even with traditional furniture. The objective is to incorporate without falling into the matchy-matchy syndrome.
I say, feel free to mix paisley with geometric lines, fringes with appliquéd designs or rich velvet, quilted pieces with leather pieces, masculine with feminine, but do it with a conscious style and taste.

The Bohemian style of this decade has a well researched look, sophisticated, soft, gentle and vintage versus the jumble of colors and patterns of the ‘70s that went hand in hand with scruffy, casual and untidy fashion look. The Bohemian style is totally different from Shabby Chic style, you might find vintage items and vintage colors and fabrics, but you will not find distressed and worn out items, only suggestions to the past.

Furniture of the Bohemian style are well-preserved even if they are from the ’70s, no chipping in the wood and in the varnishes, leucite, bakelite materials and flowers in every colors and shapes for accessories. In homes a striking Bohemian color palette allows the browns, grey/silver and Prussian blues to live together in a combination of velvets, tapestries and 16th century French prints. Opposite to this autumnal colors, the new Bohemian style allows to decorate interiors in a more young dynamic way with pinks, oranges and dark blues or purples in an attempt to revive the hippies fashion’s vibrancy and rebellious colors.

natalie_quilt_company_store (Photo: Natalie Quilt – The Company Store)

In a bedroom, bring a patchwork floral quilt with mixed floral prints pillows and set it against a heavy textured wall for a new chic. We will see beautiful and interesting stones on the walls again, such as bricks. I absolutely adore any natural stones! In the living room, add a bundle of colorful flowers pillows to that beige tired sofa and watch life come back to the room!

(Photo: the Company Store)

I prescribe Bohemian style in your home, because it is comfortable, unpretentious, yet chic and refined. Walking down the street in a Bohemian fashion is a head turning. Whatever ideas you have, I can help you put it all together, I am only an email away. From there is easy to develop a project through various communication channels that will not break your bank. Ciao,
Valentina
http://www.valentinadesigns.com

Valentina Cirasola has been in business as a designer since 1990. She has helped a variegated group of fun people realizing their dreams with homes, offices, interiors and exteriors. She is a designer well-known to bring originality to people’s homes. As an Italian designer and true to her origins, she provides only the best workmanship and design solutions.
Check out her books on
Amazon: http://goo.gl/xUZfk0
Barnes&Nobles: http://goo.gl/q7dQ3w

A Fabulous Space For Bacchus | Valentina Cirasola | Interior Designer

29 Dec 2010 Leave a comment

by Valentina in Home Designs Master Tags: #FurnitureDesigns, #HomeRemodeling, #ItalianKitchenStyle, #kitchenDesign, #KitchenRemodeling, #WineCellar, Avaliving

Wine Tasting Area & Chef Pantry ©Valentina-Interiors & Designs

Brazilian Cherry and Pecan wood inlay. This is the kitchen among many of my designs that Avaliving selected to feature this week. The area where the refrigerator used to be became a space for wines and an area where to taste cheeses, slicing prosciutto, basically an area where to prepare aperitif. The tall floor to ceiling cabinet hosts sixty bottles of red wines on roll-out shelves. Clients did not really require a temperature controlled room for the red wines, as they use them every day with friends and family visiting often. A small refrigerator for white wines under the granite counter top was necessary to free the space in the family refrigerator, already bursting with food serving two growing boys and the family entertainments.

Full Kitchen View ©Valentina-Interiors & Designs

I strategically placed this wine area between the new door to the dining room and the chef pantry. The supplies such as crackers, toothpicks, dried nuts, fruits and stuff for aperitif are now kept close by the wines and the wines have easy access to the dining area with a new passageway, saving the owner a trip around the wall.
Planning a well-functioning kitchen is not just about designing cabinetry to stuff the walls, but it’s about letting all the spaces communicating with each others and their function.

The “anticato” tile floor I added really suited the clients who are Italians and like me, they don’t care that the floor or counters show a little ring of wines here and there, the signs of a good time and the sign of a lived home. Natural stones will leave with us and will become beautiful when they start showing the sign of life, just like our stones in Europe are living through centuries and everyone admires their beauty.

This wine area was part of the entire kitchen remodeling with family and dining rooms included.
There you have it, another example of how I can change a kitchen from an unattractive 1970 cooking area into a contemporary dining, cooking and entertainment showcase. Thanks to Avaliving featuring it this week, more people will have the chance to admire it.

I am available to consult with the wine lovers out there and to design a fabulous space fit for Bacchus. Ciao,
Valentina
http://www.valentinadesigns.com

Valentina Cirasola is an Italian Interior Designer with a passion for kitchens and cooking. She has been operating in the USA and Europe since 1990. She loves to remodel homes and loves to turn unattractive spaces into castles, but especially loves to design kitchens and wine grottos. She is also the author of two Italian regional cookbooks:

©Come Mia Nonnna – A Return To Simplicity http://outskirtspress.com/ComeMiaNonna
©Sins Of A Queen http://outskirtspress.com/SinsOfAQueen

Amazon: http://goo.gl/xUZfk0

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

I am ready to add colors to your life | Valentina Cirasola | Interior Designer

23 Dec 2010 Leave a comment

by Valentina in Home Designs Master Tags: #2011Colors, #2011FashionColors, #2011HomeColors, #HomeTrends, #HoneysuckleColor

New year, new life, new style! At the end of each year those of us concerned with style and colors are always curious to know about new directions to take for the coming year, whether it would be for a remaking of a space, a remodeling of a house, or presenting a personal image. It is a genuine need we have to feel and look good first and to please others second.

The first decade of this millennium has been characterized by bluish colors, from indigo to plum, in all the tints and tones. We are leaving the blues to dive into the pinkish, in fact Pantone has declared Honeysuckle the color of the coming 2011. Honeysuckle is a hot and vibrant color, but many, I am one of them, might not feel too hot in this color. This color is considered an “escape from reality” and a boost to our self-esteem in facing everyday problems and life challenges. This is all good, if a simple slap of honeysuckle color on the walls really helps people keeping their sanity!!!!

We all know that in time of stress every little cheerful thing helps. During the depression the colorful glasses were invented and the pink glass was the color most in demand then. The Federal glass today are highly collectible and valuable.
(Find this champagne Federal glass on http://www.replacements.com/webquote/fegnorp.htm)

As you can see from the palette up above by On Idée Fixe Production – London – info@rogerlaborde.com, honeysuckle can be combined with many hot colors to emphasize the energy, or with dark colors to calm it down. The best way is to use it sparingly, as an accent. This graphic gives the idea of how many combinations are possible.

In decorating a room, honeysuckle will help the decor come alive without overpowering the rest of the décor, but only if it is used on one wall or when used in a bunch of pillows and nothing else, or even when used on draperies alone.

Honeysuckle emanates a great energy around food areas, such as kitchen, dining and family rooms. It has been said it is a powerful color to increase appetite and feed conversation, just like the red and orange colors. To add a rhythm to a white kitchen, it is a good idea to paint and accentuate some cabinets in honeysuckle. In the same color, paint wood door knobs/handles and attach them to the white cabinets, then attach Federal pink glass knobs to the honeysuckle cabinets. Now that’s rhythm! I just gave you a solution for an innovative make-over kitchen without spending a boat load of money.

Colorful pillows create a fresh young atmosphere in a house, a few here and there in honeysuckle color can be the base for the dominating field which communicates with some pillows in light green, beige/brown, white and even red. Use my palette of circles (above) as a guide for home and fashion.

There is a little something for everybody in honeysuckle color, even men. Hermès ties in honeysuckle with muted orange and brown stripes are a delightful sophistication, or a geometric pinkish design makes an interesting tie when worn with pearl grey pants and shirt with a plum jacket.

I am ready to fit this new 2011 color in my life. Are you ready to have a striking vibration and a new level of energy this coming year in your home or guard robe?
Ask for my help, you shall receive it. Ciao,
Valentina

http://www.valentinadesigns.com

Valentina Cirasola is an Italian Interior Designer and former Fashion Designer, working in the USA and Europe. She blends well fashion and interior 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 and her own life is a continuous evolvement of colorful events. Check out her books on
Amazon: http://goo.gl/xUZfk0
Barnes&Nobles: http://goo.gl/q7dQ3w