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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

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 my palette here up above, 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. Here, one can have the idea of how many combinations are possible. (Graphic above from: On Idée Fixe Production – London – info@rogerlaborde.com)

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

Can You Be Bold? | Valentina Cirasola | Interior Designer

11 Dec 2010 2 Comments

by Valentina in Home Designs Master Tags: #DecoratingTips, #FurnitureLayOut, #HomeDecorating, #HomeStyle, #HomeTrends, #InteriorColors, #UrbanStyle, Furniture

November and December are two fabulous months for me to get inspirations from stores and their displays. Being the curious person that I am and always with a camera in my hands, I shoot at anything that attracts my eyes. The other night, after I had taken a few pictures, I started to notice a pattern in my photos. Everything in my camera view was big, bold, large, oversize and not for any particular reason. Ok, nothing wrong with that, I guess my eyes needed to sweep in wide spaces, but how do we fit oversize items in small spaces, you might ask? Let’s start by saying that one does not need to have tall ceilings and ballroom type of space to host large objects.

Two bulky bookshelves (as in the photo) will look massive in a small room, but adding a large picture, print, or canvas in between will break the bulkiness, the monotony and will fill the wall nicely. The horizontal lines must be kept on the same level for the eyes to rest peacefully and send a message of harmony to the brain. The same two bulky bookshelves placed side by side in the middle of the wall in a large room will not look so massive any more and it will allow floor space perhaps for a pair of chairs, or a pair of floor lamps on each side of the bookshelves.

I love clocks on the walls, whether they are antiques, contemporaries or reproductions, they are timeless objects of décor. A Grand Central Station wall clock, a Parisian country clock, or a Grand Father’s clock, they all need to be surrounded with the right accessories. An oversize clock hanging on the wall needs a large base, a console, or a credenza under its own weight to eliminate the feeling of “hanging” in space, then the wall feels balanced. Of course to match the right kind of style of chandelier and lighting to the style of the clock would be ideal, but today’s décor permits to go outside the rules and allows personal expression to make a statement and to define the character of the home.

Mirrors: consider them as another kind of windows opened in the walls. They reflect the light and they reflect the beauty, so place them where you can see the beauty elevated to higher power. Mirrors must not be all the same style and look, nobody said that, as matter of fact, more they are different in sizes, shapes and style, higher the interest they will bring to the décor of a room. And if one of the mirror is so large that would be even too heavy to hung, lay it casually against the wall, it will actually give a perception of height and everything reflected in it will look slightly taller. A mirror combination will fill a large wall graciously and a large mirror in a small room will change the status of the room from contained to grand.

Lighting finishes the room like jewelry on a woman’s dress. This is one item of furnishing where we can all go to town due to a wide variety of choices, but remember that the eyes find repose when they meet shadows. It is very nice to have bright light and light beams when we need to see clear, but in some special moments a light glow coming from various planes is so much more refined.

Large items have one advantage: they fill any space magically, clutter is eliminated instantly and so is the desire to accumulate more items.

As seen on Affluent Living:

Go out there and find the boldest, largest items for your decor and then set them in the most unusual way. Ask yourself what this item makes you feel, what is the emotion that it exudes in the room and how it dictates its presence. If you like to send me pictures, I shall be here to help with any challenges. 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 will create your everyday living with a certain luxury without taking away your comfort. She loves to restore old homes, historic dwellings and she focuses on remodeling.
Check out her books on
Amazon: http://goo.gl/xUZfk0
Barnes&Nobles: http://goo.gl/q7dQ3w