#GardenViews | Valentina Expressions

Backyard Paradise | Valentina Cirasola | Interior Designer

It’s time to invite in beautiful garden views and say goodbye to any fence, walls or dividers that are plain unattractive. Would you like to sit in your garden without seeing the fence or the retaining wall between your home and your neighbor? Look at this photograph carefully. The fire pit, the seating and the steps are all real, all the greenery and the flowers are not. That is an image printed on a stone wall between two homes.
(Click on each images to view it larger).

Do you have a favorite vacation image you want to look at all the time?
Do you have a picture of the place you got married?
Do you have your favorite zoo images?
Would you like to reproduce in your entry an image from the Versailles Palace?

You can. Anything is possible with this printing technique. What are the advantages and why is it better than murals or trompe-l’oeil? You might ask.

1. If you have a garden view with flowers and vegetation, it helps conserving water, because there are no flower and plants to water. If you have a water scene, you don’t have to change the water to keep it clean.
2. The images are printed on panels easy to roll away with a change of season and mood. If you are handy, it’s a super easy to do it even by yourself.
3. The product is fire-retardant, anti-mold, washable with water, weather resistant and hard to destroy.

In the Before and After photo of the pool area, you can see an empty wall turned to a water view. Once the real water filled the pool, the vignette looks cohesive, as if that pool is looking over a lake. Pretty impressive!

In this next photo the cacti, the lawn and the chairs are real, but the view of the Canyon is not.

(Photo courtesy of Wall Sensations. Permission granted)

I took many pictures of flamingos at San Diego zoo. I want this image on my garden fence, so I can enjoy every day the memories of these colorful and elegant creatures, they impressed me so much.

I invited the company Wall Sensations to my TV show, two handsome lads came to explain to the audience their innovative idea and product. if you want to watch the show, click here – https://youtu.be/uUM10Rw6p0s
Ciao,
Valentina
http://www.valentinadesigns.com

As an Italian designer and true to my origins, I am well-known to bring originality to people’s homes, but that’s not where I stop. Being a curious person, any situation is a perfect opportunity to design something out of the ordinary.
I draw my inspiration from anywhere. Check out my three books on
Barnes&Nobles: http://goo.gl/q7dQ3w

Sipping Away | Valentina Cirasola | Author and Designer

I am thinking about Summer, the cozy corner in my garden is waiting, it will be good to sit there conversing with friends or by myself with my thoughts and a good book. A drink will be a nice complement to this pretty picture. In Italy we have a variety of Summer drinks that we can buy at any kiosk in the street while walking around in the Summer heat, or we can make at home just as good.
(Photo above: BH&G).

Campari Time-A
In Spritz veritas… a perfect orange mood!
Equal parts ingredients:
fresh squeezed orange juice
chilled Italian Prosecco (sparking wine)
a few verbena leaves
a couple of raspberries per person, orange slices for garnish.
Serve it either in a champagne glass or in a large juice glass.

First, place a couple of raspberry in the bottom of the glass, fill the glass half way with orange juice, then fill the rest of the glass with well-chilled Italian Prosecco.
Add a couple of verbena leaves, decorate the glass with an orange slice.
You can substitute Prosecco with sparkling water and crushed ice.

(Photos credit given to the respective owners)

Italian Lemonade
2 cups fresh squeezed lemon juice, about 12 to 15 lemons
2 cups simple syrup
2 cups of chilled sparkling water
crushed ice
lemon slices and basil leaves

Make simple syrup first by combining 2 cups sugar and 1 cup water in a saucepan. Simmer until the sugar is dissolved, about 5 minutes. Cool it, before using. Squeeze fresh lemons, mix in simple syrup and water. Place it in a nice looking pitcher and cool it in the refrigerator until ready to serve. Serve it with crushed ice and garnish with a lemon slice on the edge of the glass. To add a punch of taste a few fresh basil leaves will do.

Tropical Granita
Equal parts of water melon, pineapples, mango and oranges. Peel and chop all the fruit in chunks. Place them in a medium size saucepan with 1 cup of water and 1 cup of brown sugar if you like it sweet. I use no sugar. Bring to a boil, simmer for about 10 minutes to break down the fruit. Cool and strain it. Line a terrine with a plastic film and let it hang outside the terrine. It will to help you later in removing the frozen mixture from the terrine. Place the liquid in it and freeze. After it becomes solid, grab the film and pull out the frozen mixture. Cut the mixture in strip about 4” long and ½” wide. Insert one fruit strip in each champagne glass and fill with Italian Prosecco or Champagne.

White peach, Cassis and Champagne floats
It will make two portions:
2 peaches, pitted and cut into small wedges
1 pint peach ice cream
2 tablespoons crème de Cassis (black-currant liqueur) and a little more for drizzling
2/3 cup chilled brut Champagne or sparkling wine

Make layers. Place 3 peach wedges in the bottom of each tall glasses. Top with 1 scoop ice cream, another layer of 3 peach wedges. Add second scoop ice cream and top with 2 more peach wedges. Drizzle 2 tablespoons crème de Cassis. Pour 1/3 cup Champagne or mineral water into each glass. One more scoop of ice cream, fill with champagne and serve.

June 10^th is the National Iced Tea Day. I like tea that are also medicinal to cure a common cold. Hand full of lemon tree leaves, mueller leaves and mint. Boil these leaves in water until water turns a nice golden color. Steep and cool it. Fill serving glasses with crushed ice and tea, serve. Also serve it warm.

With these fun drinks you must have cool glasses.
(Photo:
Napa Style Glasses)

Napa Style sells a collection of six Venetian Tumblers for $59.00 with the rack at $59.00 too.
For a more elegant look, try the Dotted Venetian glasses for champagne, liqueurs, white and red wines at $89.00 each set of four glasses.

Find more of these kind of Summer treats in my second published book: Sins Of A Queen, available here in this site on the Books page.

Enjoy your Summer with your favorite colors, friends, drinks and the perfect mood.
If you need help in creating the perfect atmosphere, please contact me, I shall be ready to help you with so many wonderful ideas. 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, outdoor kitchens and outdoor rooms, great rooms and entertainment rooms. She is also the author of two Italian regional cuisine books available here in this site on the Books page, on Amazon and in various other locations:
http://outskirtspress.com/ComeMiaNonna
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lnq8baaAq0M
http://outskirtspress.com/SinsOfAQueen