Eating just to fill up the stomach is a necessity to survive and get the daily fuel needed to have energy for all activities we schedule in a single day. What if we would elevate that food necessity by adding beauty to something more spiritual that really supports us? I am talking about our soul. Just like exercising and doing beauty routines, the soul needs care. Loving ourselves even in the small details of life is important to assure a serene voyage through life.
Ever since the world has been in lockdown, I miss people sitting at my table sharing food and stories, geez… I only know how much I miss it, but it doesn’t stop me from taking care of myself more than I did before. My table is well set every day as if I had guests coming, but in reality it is set only for the two of us and our spirits.
This is my Spring table. My home is furnished with enough objects to decorate a table in any season and for any occasion. I use everything in my home, even décor from various rooms that don’t belong on the table, appear on my tablescape from time to time. I orchestrate a nice, interesting sceneries and set the stage for a good eating experience. Everyone can have a unique tablescape, it’s doubtful someone else will come up with the same look. The décor of each home is original to the person living there.
The other day on Facebook I read this passage, I wished I knew her name, I couldn’t agree with her more: “
“It’s impossible to ban living beautiful… Taking joy from the little details… Because everything beautiful is infinite… And you will never lose your values…”
Treat yourself to a bit of opulence, quirkiness, originality, or whatever strikes your fancy. No matter what the situation is today, this is the time to love yourself more than ever. Ciao, Valentina Amazon Author’s Page
Valentina Cirasola is an Italian Interior Designer established in 1990. Often people describe her as “the colorist” as she loves to color her clients’ world and loves to create the unusual. Currently, she consults on colors based on clients’ personalities and lifestyles. She creates atmospheres using the proper lighting that is going to add harmony and peace to the homes and she helps clients creating fantasy rooms instead of typical rooms looking like furniture showrooms. She is the author of six published books, two of which are on design subjects. Amazon and Barnes&Noble
Often people refer to shades when they really mean the value, brightness or the darkness of a color.
What is a color without referring to its profile and character? Just like humans, colors have their own character. If we understand how to describe the emotions and sensations they provoke, we will always have a good reaction around the colors we choose, we will subconsciously feel the harmony inside of ourselves and in turn, others will see it and respond positively to us. How people perceive us through colors is very important, colors transmit a message and that is what others see.
What is your message when you get dressed? It doesn’t matter where you go. If you go to grocery shopping with rollers on your head and you are dressed in red, it means you don’t care what others think of you, you dare to be you, the red color will project you as having courage, and the rollers in your hair will pass in a second order. In the same scenario, rollers on your head and you are dressed in black, it means you are trying to hide from the viewers and protect yourself from their criticisms. The colors of your home have messages as well. If your front door is painted red, it means you are an upbeat person; if the front door is yellow, you are an inviting person, cheerful and sunny. My front door is burgundy… exactly…I like red wines and beyond that burgundy door, I added a bit of sophistication to my décor.
Can you sleep and wake up in your zodiac colors? Of course, you can, you were born under those colors, they are natural to your soul.
The moment you came “into the light” many planets revolved over your head making those colors your aura and affected your entire life since that moment. Often, people prefer totally different colors away from their zodiac sign and perhaps totally contrary to their character, simply because they are not aware of the beneficial effects of the colors they were born under or don’t believe it. Colors will determinate their actions, the troubled or unsettled souls living in the wrong colors will continue to feel troubled or unsettled.
With this book, I wanted to depict a colorful bouquet of information regarding home interiors, fashion, and food, all the subjects dear to my heart, each of these subjects thrive on colors. I also delve into explaining colors from a spiritual point of view and how to use them in a technical way. Nature is our best teacher, where all colors are mixed together and co-exist well without rules and prejudices. We can simply copy nature and feel perfect in our choice of colors.
If we live in a home reflecting our personality, if we wear colors becoming to our face and body and if we eat in the rainbow, we can only expect to exude positive energy, which in turn will captivate our surroundings.
Gauguin said: “Color is the language of the listening eye”. It helps our imagination soar with inner power and mystery”. Allow yourself to experiment with various color combinations and challenge your fantasy!
Let’s travel into the cosmos of colors with Valentina and RED
Starting on Oct. 25, 2019, for twenty days, I will travel with them to their planet of birth, I will write about them, their books and arts and they will receive something special about their zodiac sign. This will be a fun and unusual book launch! Some giveaway will happen as well. Anyone can participate in the giveaway by following me on Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest , Instagram, MeWe, and commenting on the launch. The contest will start on Oct. 26th and will end on Oct.31. https://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/e5ee1a9212/?
I am so grateful to my Supreme Being to be able to see all the glorious colors in its realm, fantasize, wallow in their vibrations, sentimentally self-indulge in their atmospheres, and to be able to talk about them every day. Ciao,
Valentina http://www.valentinadesigns.com http://valentinaexpressions.com
Valentina Cirasola is an interior-fashion designer, author of 5 published books so far, a storyteller, and a blogger of many years. She has conceived a few new books of various subjects to which she is working simultaneously. Her books are non-fictional practical ideas to apply in the home, fashion, cooking, and travel. She never gives up trying new things and doesn’t fear failure. A couple of years ago, Valentina became a TV producer/host. She produces shows under her label: Valentina Design Universe. The goal of her shows is to entertain, inspire and inform, while she is living her passion. Her goal is to write a screenplay for theatre or TV.
Get a copy of her books here: Amazon and Barnes&Noble
Eating is a story, not just a moment to fulfill a necessity. Every nation has special holiday dining customs and rituals. In the western world, we sit at a well decorated table and give our guests something stunning to look at while they gather to enjoy dinner. Your dining table should be colorful, inviting, extravagant (why not?) and especially filled with good food.
It is easy to set up a table with traditional dishware, crystal glasses and silver flatware, nothing to it. The challenge comes when you want to do something out of the ordinary, colorful and follow your instinct instead of rules. How a table that responds to these characteristics would look like?
First, create a color scheme, let’s say blue. It doesn’t mean everything on the table must be blue, you need to create a rhythm with complement or analog colors.
Vincent Van Gogh said: “There is no blue without yellow and without orange”. Right there is the answer. With a blue tablecloth, yellow and orange tableware will be perfect. Blue is a cold color, yellow and orange are warm colors. You have created a color temperature.
Start with choosing a theme for your table: Bohemian, bucolic, country and so on.
Then select dark, medium and light values of the color you plan on using.
Find some complement or analogue colors to mix in and to add rhythm to the table setting.
Mix and match the tableware as you like.
(Click on each photo to view it larger).
For this first tablescape the theme is Bohemian. I chose a white tablecloth as the base for layering all the colors. Two different colors tea tablecloth covered opposite corners of the table, one black with bird motifs and the other one in golden tones with classical motifs.
Playing with geometry and mixing round with square plates from various dish sets is fun. Mix vintage and modern plates, mix colors and shapes, no rules and surprise yourself.
I made the napkins from leftover material of various projects and closed them in brass napkin rings. Tea light holders made of rusted metal go well with brushed bronze flatware.
Glassware don’t match on purpose, but the greenish tone is their common denominator to other items on the table.
Prosecco bottle has an interesting Venetian embellishment. She is the autumn leaves lady that sometimes is on a wine bottle and sometimes is on a mirror somewhere else in the house. Her purpose is to embellish.
For the second Bohemian table, I have used a floral tablecloth, made of silk fabric in silver tone, as the base, then I cover it half way with a red voiles shawl. Each set of glassware is made of three different styles glasses and each set is made of the same three pieces. Even though, I chose a continuity in the glassware, I wanted my plate sets to be extravagant in style and colors. The silver flatware is a contrast to the gold wine glassware. I scattered some acrylic diamonds on the cloth to pick up light from candles and lamps outside the table. The table is set for two, it would be just the same for 4-6 or more people.
A dinner table is for food and conversation, decorations should be kept minimal and low to allow guests to see each other and talk across the table.
This will be the topic of my next TV Show: “Dinner At 7:00” produced under my label Valentina Design Universe.
I hope you have a splendid Thanksgiving. Ciao,
Valentina http://www.valentinadesigns.com
Valentina Cirasola transforms and creates spaces realizing people’s dreams in homes, offices, interiors and exteriors. She infuses your everyday living with a certain luxury without taking away a comfortable living. Valentina is well-known for bringing originality on any project and for thinking outside the box. Her interiors are not made with cookie cutters, only follow client’s inspiration, lifestyle and personality. She offers on-line design consultations through Skype and the traditional in-house consultations, helping people with their design challenge anywhere in the world. She is the author of three books, all-available on Barnes&Nobles: http://goo.gl/q7dQ3w Amazon: http://goo.gl/xUZfk0
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Valentina Expressions 