#DesigningOnline | Valentina Expressions

Knowing How To Do It | Valentina Cirasola | Interior Designer

We are all online, we read each other, we share content of people we like, we make friends, being online has become a new home for most us and the world is in our pocket. Years ago, I decided to make my time spent online a profitable time by offering consultations, design concepts, drawings and color solutions, all online services without moving one inch from my office.

This is a family room with a seating arrangement in a stairs void. Client told me that people feel as if they fall into the stairs void when sitting there. The void brings a cold draft in the room, thus nobody ever sits there. A small digital piano takes a space on that cold, naked wall and it needs something to embrace it. (Click on each photo to view it larger).

(Above and below: Seating into the void of stairs)

My solution is to close the wall up to a certain point leaving a large circular opening with a decorative iron design, which would allow light to spill in the stairway, would get rid of the draft and would allow people to feel more protected when sitting in that area. For the small piano, I planned a shelving unit enclosed between two flat fluted pilasters faux painted in silver-gold mix and a beautiful new lighting effect.

(Above: Concept for the wall with seating, digital piano and open shelving)

The other wall hosts a lonely, dark, outdated fireplace stuck in the middle of the wall with a fake window on the right side covered with a curtain.

With my design concept, I created a built-in unit made of dark and light wood, incorporating TV, fireplace, music and storage space. Woodworkers in the city where client lives will fabricate it. The unit will be the focal point of the room, whether the fire is on or not and will be visible from any angle of the downstairs open space lay-out.

(Above and below: Concept drawings for wall with built-in unit, fireplace, TV and storage)

Furniture of the family room will remain as it is. My involvement in the remaking of the room with a new concept was limited to designing two walls and producing a couple color palettes, both of which will create a great new atmosphere for the space. Hopefully, when the two walls will be completed, client will feel encouraged to change the rest of the room décor.

It didn’t take me long to create the new concept. It’s all about knowing how to do it through experience, love for the work and understanding client’s desires. The photos of the existing conditions and a few Skype conversations with the client told me the story. I hope to receive photos of the completed work.

Anything is possible these days when working online, from designing kitchens and baths to create color palettes. The world is smaller and work doesn’t have to be hard.
It’s all about knowing how to do it and I have the solution for any of your design challenges. Ciao,
Valentina
http://www.valentinadesigns.com
Copyright © 2017 Valentina Cirasola, All Rights Reserved

Valentina Cirasola has been a lifetime designer in fashion and interiors. Her extensive knowledge of colors and materials led her in both directions successfully. She is well-know for designing custom furniture. She cares to make spacious and functional pieces, but she doesn’t forget to introduce the element of surprise, sinuous lines, attractive shapes and colors in the style fit for each of her special clients. She is the author of ©RED – A Voyage Into Colors. Check out her books on

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

From Here To France | Valentina Cirasola | Interior Designer

Christine, a French young woman, was reading my blog and my posts on Facebook without commenting. I didn’t know she was sort of “watching” me, today we would say she was following me.
Her home entry and the studio room needed attention, she had a vague idea of how she wanted to decorate the two spaces with a few materials she attempted to collect. Then one day she connected with me and told me she was following me all the way from France.

It seems a long way to design someone’s home across the world, one would think, but the world is no longer unreachable. Through Skype line I am able to help people with design challenges in the four corners of the world.
Christine wanted to divide the two spaces with a separé (room divider), as there was no space for a swinging door. My solution was to add a pocket door with a sand-blasted glass panel, to let the light in the entry, still keep the studio private and add some flair or style to the spaces. To help her visualizing the door, I made a drawing of the glass design, added photographs of some of my previous work and emailed them to her. The door was produced locally in her town in the same wood of all the interior doors of her house and the glass was sand-blasted according to my instructions.

She told me her wall color preference was soft colors. I suggested a soft faux finish treatment that she liked very much, but had no idea how to do. I sent her a few samples in the mail and she ended up painting the entire house instead of only the two rooms I was engaged for. In areas where the sunlight hits indirectly, one can see the beautifully done sponge and stippled finish techniques.

The entry needed some furniture and her mother’s desk-chair set needed a new look. By elimination of her choices, we selected the new fabric for the chair and new knobs for the desk. The small ceramic rosettes look very cute on the dark repainted wood. I purchased them at Anthropologie store and shipped them to her. Emailing her photographs of accessories was the easiest way to convey ideas of look, texture and colors of items she could find easily in her town. The studio only needed wall paint-work and she actually made the lamp shades showing in my photos.

Floating furniture is a technique designer use often. Once we set furniture in a room, doesn’t mean they must stay in that position forever. Furniture look different and sometimes even more attractive if we move them around and set them in a different light with different accessories. I let her bring into the entry space two small chairs she had somewhere else in the house and never use them. Through Skype line was easy to see what she owned and repurpose each item. She thought nothing of some pieces she had in various closets, but I made them come alive, found new life and a new place.

The entire process took about three months, including all the work done by others. She was inspired and encouraged to reuse many of her own pieces that did not end up in the landfill. She is enjoying them in a new style and didn’t spend much money in the design process. “A clever designer must know how to romance the room and dance around client’s budget” ~ I say that.

Now, when writing a blog, be careful of what you write, you never know who is “watching”. 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.  She offers design consultations on-line through Skype and in the traditional face-to-face, helping people with their design challenges anywhere in the world. She is the author of three books, all-available on
Amazon: http://goo.gl/xUZfk0
Barnes&Nobles: http://goo.gl/q7dQ3w