#Inspirational | Valentina Expressions

A Spring Table | Valentina Cirasola | Designer

02 Apr 2021 2 Comments

by Valentina in Home Designs Master Tags: #ColorfulDining, #Inspirational, #InteriorDesign, #SpringTable, #SpringTablescape

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.

(Click on each photo to view it larger).

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

Copyright © 2021 Valentina Cirasola, All Rights Reserved

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

Solitary Benches | Valentina Cirasola | Designer and Author

27 Jan 2020 6 Comments

by Valentina in The Good Life Tags: #Inspirational, #InspirationalThoughts, #Poetry, #RengstorffHouse, #ShorelinePark, #SolitaryBenches

Solitary Benches

“Sitting here at these benches, I hear the voices of women telling tales of love and I can’t help listening to older people telling stories of a lived life.

I hear the crying of infants in buggies and feel the fatigue of the athlete resting for a moment catching his breath.

I hear the click of a camera and I feel the swish of dry leaves falling.

You looked lonely and I chose you, but I feel the vibrations of the stories you secretly keep, I feel the warmth of the sun that tempered you, the moonlight that painted your curves in silver, the rain that penetrated your wood and soaked it.

Sitting here at these benches, I wanted to wrap myself in your solitude, instead, I will carry your energy with me for several hours and my thoughts will be occupied.

So much noise you make…and yet you seemed lonely…like me!”

This is an excerpt from my next collection of thoughts, ebook: ©The Drawer Of My Thoughts.

Have you ever felt this way? You sit somewhere alone and suddenly you feel the energy of someone else? It’s a weird sensation.

(Click on each photo to view it larger)

Reingstorff House

This park is a nice one, quite wild but well kept, I don’t think is haunted. I exercise here, and a lot of other people do too. Canoes and paddleboats flow leisurely on a man-made lake, creating a relaxing atmosphere under the sun reverberating on the water.
The historical Rengstorff House is furnished in the Victorian style and opens its doors to events, weddings, and similar ceremonies.

Paddleboats at shore

Shoreline Bridge

I like to come here when everybody is closed in the offices. I listen to the voice of silence, it speaks to me loud and clear. Ciao,
Valentina
Amazon Author’s Page

Valentina Cirasola is an interior-fashion designer, author of 5 published books, 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. Valentina became a TV producer/host and 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. Get a copy of her books here:
Amazon – Barnes&Nobles

Tackling Life At Tea Time | Valentina Cirasola | Designer and Author

04 Feb 2019 2 Comments

by Valentina in The Good Life Tags: #Inspirational, #LifeManagement, #SelfImprovement, #TeaCeremony, #TeaTime

“This year has started so fast and so busy and nothing is coming through” ~ she told me in front of a cup of tea and morsels at Tea Time. I know my friend very well, she skips and jumps from one activity to another, one life mess to another, from one toxic situation to another. She is not happy about some of her friends, her work, some of the things her grown-up kids do and who knows what else. She doesn’t keep her promises, makes appointments, then cancels them, often a few hours before when the other person can’t do anything about it and the worst thing…she doesn’t learn from her mistakes. They say that true friends never hold back when helping one another trying to resolve personal issues. Well, when I have done that, my friends have taken it the wrong way, got offended and even stopped seeing me. This time, at Tea Time, I wanted to lay it out as I felt it. After all, outside was grey and rainy, inside the tea atmosphere was cozy and conducive to confessions.

(Click on each photo to view it larger).

Tea Time

I can’t help referring to my interior design profession when I give tips on life management. Life to me is exactly like decorating a house, it’s all about rearranging, organizing, editing, refurbishing, prioritizing and spice it up. Giving my friend examples of how to beautify a house, didn’t feel I was preaching to her. I don’t have a perfect life, nobody does, but to get my life to the point it feels comfortable to me, took many years of studying people, eliminating toxic situations and old beliefs, reaching goals and driving my thinking toward positivity.

My suggestion was to view her life as a home decorating. If we don’t clean the house, things keep accumulating, the clutter grows, the mirrors don’t shine, the cabinets are sticky, the bed is not made, the dishes are dirty in the sink, we allow the house to take over our life, we allow the house to confuse us, and at that point we might even feel not to return home anymore. Unfortunately, some people life is just like this description, they don’t even want to be in it. The only thing to do to save a disorderly life is to tackle one problem at a time, just as a decorator would tackle one room at the time.

First, we focus on eliminating all the useless items, then clean the space to make it livable and finally organize it. Once we see a place that breathes again, we feel encouraged to go to the next room and repeat the process. Little by little, the house returns to shine releasing that pleasure of claiming each room as our space that was long denied.
Do you see the analogy of a life that is not satisfying with a disorderly house?

Inspiration by Valentina

My friend needs exactly this. She needs to rearrange her thoughts, clean up her beliefs, make plans with a calendar in her hands, eliminate all the people and situations that are longer serving a purpose and pursue whatever strikes her fancy. Those who will want to be in her life will follow, the rest will get lost in the editing process.
At one point during our conversation, I had the feeling she got offended. Next day, she sent me a message saying I am a Goddess. Yeah, right!

Living a satisfying life takes a lot of commitment, structure, and diligence. Ciao,
Valentina
http://www.valentinadesigns.com

In my 29th years of design business, I am having more fun than ever, experience eliminates stress and dictates the pace of work. I am evolving in different directions while still helping people realizing their dream spaces in homes, offices, interiors and exteriors. Colors are the main focus of my business today, changing people’s energy and life force just by introducing them to colors they would have never imagined. I am on TV once a month, that is my own TV show produced under my label Valentina Design Universe, bringing fun topics to my audience. https://valentinadesignuniverse.com
Check out my books on
Amazon: http://goo.gl/qNxXrB
Barnes&Nobles: http://goo.gl/q7dQ3w

My latest book is ©The Road To Top Of The World

The Dream I Am Still Dreaming | Valentina Cirasola | Author and Designer

16 Jan 2019 8 Comments

by Valentina in The Good Life Tags: #GoalSetting, #Inspirational, #TheArtCommunityDream, #Vision, Dreams

They say if you don’t put your dreams out there in the Universe, and shout out clearly what you want, it will not happen. I know for experience that a dream without action it’s only a daydream. In my life, I have realized all of my dreams just because of the actions I took, except for one dream. It hasn’t come true yet, it is still hanging in my head and I see it with my eye open.

The dream is about my desire to open an art school community where teachers can rent a space to teach their arts, whatever it might be, a community where experts, teachers, speakers, and inspirational people unleash their knowledge, train new minds and leave their legacy. It is a community of people young and young at heart who want to create and live in beauty. I envision theatre art, visual art, painting, music, fabric art, glasses, sculpting, modeling, writing, fashion design, interior, robotic, flowers design, design with new and old material, the list is infinite. The building I need to host all the activities is a large antique home or an industrial building, with many floors, a courtyard with fountains for relaxation, for thinking in seclusion, or for meeting people in the fresh air surrounded by odorous plants and flowers. I want a space to have wines, food, and music always available.

I found a similar image of how the building in my head should look like. The street is colorful, surrounding buildings are old or historical, they are mostly made of stones and a lot of trees line the streets. I would like it to lead to the Sea because it is easy for me to think of opening the windows and smell the salty Sea.

(Click on each photo to view it larger).

Jeff-Frenette-635409-unsplash

I see a pristine interior of the old house in my head, tastefully decorated and peaceful for all the artists who will be creating their art there.

Michael-D-Beckwith-1061006-unsplash

In my head, I see a lot happening in my art community building: fashion shows, photo shooting, filming, art exhibitions, theatre representations, musicals, I see artists growing and only happy people. I see no restrictions in learning and teaching (everything will be permissible within the legality), my art community is a free world.
The bottom area at the street level is a selling point, where artists can sell all they produce and the very last top of the building is my home with a breathtaking view. I will sit on the throne of the arts and feel as if I am the “Grand Pubah of the Universe”.

I know exactly how to make a profit and turn my art community into a super desirable business, a bit like the “Montessori” of the arts. I will not discuss the business terms now. My intention is to write and express out loud what I want for my future. Yes, it is an ambitious dream! Are you listening Universe?

Cliff-Johnson-20686-unsplash

Below, my byline says I am a storyteller and I am, but this piece I wrote is my burning desire. What is your biggest dream and is it achievable? Ciao,
Valentina
http://www.valentinadesigns.com

Valentina Cirasola is a storyteller by nature. Stories are very important to her design career to convey ideas because making someone’s home or personal images is not only about building around shapes, lines, forms, and colors. It is about the story one can create around their spaces and how they want to appear to others. She is the author of four books, all available on
Amazon – http://goo.gl/xUZfk0
Barnes&Nobles: http://goo.gl/q7dQ3w
The latest book just published is The Road To Top Of The World – https://tinyurl.com/y7tuyfh8

Life Happens | Valentina Cirasola | Designer

09 May 2018 4 Comments

by Valentina in The Good Life Tags: #DealingWithPain, #Ergonomic, #FoodTherapy, #Inspirational, #LifeIssue

Being surprised? I don’t like it at all, especially if it disrupt the regular course of my life.
Six months ago, I woke up with locked fingers on the right hand and no pain. What the heck is this I thought with stupor? I wanted to take a hammer a beat it to get it open, but I did not. I massaged it instead until the finger warmed up and opened. I didn’t think anything was wrong and went on doing the usual. The next day, I woke up and there it was, a locked finger again and for the next three days it happened every morning. Irritated enough I visited a doctor. The diagnose was Dupuytren’s Contracture, a shortened of a tendon that commonly happens in men from the North of Europe. What does it have to do with me? I am a female and from the southern Europe. It wasn’t it. Apparently, computer work, a load of hours on the computer can trigger this ergonomic problem and I am culpable of that, I admit it.

I refused any medication and decided to go with natural medicine. Six months later, many essential oils applications, a new Contour roller mouse at a whopping $265 that I can use with both hands, acupuncture, hand therapy, a costly splinter, and a lot of natural remedy, I am still at the starting point. The finger hurts like hell, the splinter is in the way (of course, the idea is to prevent the hand from closing and grab something) and my life seem to have taken a sabbatical. I put on slow motion writing blogs and other things I do. Cutting with a knife is difficult, my cooking has been affected.
I drive a stick shift car, thus driving has become challenging. At a young age, I learned to do my manicure and pedicure, which I used to do in about an hour for both, now with this ergonomic problem I enjoy the tears more than the manicure itself. Drawing for my work, knitting and sewing is totally out of the question. My garden….is growing, but in the wrong direction. It’s so hard to believe one finger can cause all of this and it is so uncharacteristic of me to write about it.
(Click on each photo to view it larger).

In Europe when someone is incapacitated, even temporarily, there are all kinds of home services one can draw from, such as hairdresser, manicure-pedicure, doctors, nurses, cooks, tailors, even a daily grocery arrives at home with only a phone call. They are convenient home services that alleviate small and large problems. In America if life happens we are on our own.

Life sometimes plays tricks on us when we are the least prepared. Just six months ago I was like a train going at a 1000 mile per hour. Now, I have to be thankful for all the activities I can do even in slow motion.

However, it is not the end. I am stubborn and pain resistant.
While I am repairing my finger, I am editing my studio and my house heavily, something I have wanted to do for a long time. Getting rid of things no longer needed is important to breath, feel free and allow a new energy in my spaces.
My clothes are a hard to eliminate. I have unique and original clothes, it’s very difficult to get rid of them, of well… they will go under a heavy chop as well.

By the time this blog is published I will be on the plane going to far away lands.

I will be roaming on cobble stones again.

I will eat spectacular seafood dishes every day.

I can smell the sea from here.

Tasting food is my primary goal during my trips, I will meet nice people in beautiful panoramas and will discover new things. I will stay away from emails, social sites, no blog, no phone calls, no computer, only me, my camera and occasional travel notes. Forgetting the world will be one way to forget my painful finger.
“Loving myself is my magical wand” ~ Louise Hay.
Life happens…..the only way to cope is to deal with it. Ciao,
Valentina
https://valentinaexpressions.com/trips-to-puglia-2/

As a writer and cultural promoter of Puglia, her native land, Valentina’s intention is to let readers feel and experience a new ”wheel of emotions”. She wants to encourage them to visit areas of Italy not beaten by massive tourism. Through stories of local customs, art, architecture, fashion, food-wines, shopping, she wants them to create their special adventures and live it up in Puglia! Check out her books on
Barnes&Nobles: http://goo.gl/q7dQ3w

Women Who Make Things Happen | Valentina Cirasola | Interior Designer

12 Jul 2017 2 Comments

by Valentina in Home Designs Master Tags: #AnYesvanRhijn, #BlogTalkRadioAnYesvanRhijn, #BlogTalkRadioValentinaCirasola, #EntrepreneurBranding, #EntrepreneurMindSet, #Inspirational

Three years ago today, I had the opportunity to be interviewed by AnYes van Rhijn on her Blog Talk Radio show, all the way to France.
She is a business coach for mindset, self-confidence, self-care, personal branding and personal effectiveness for professional women.
Here is the link to the interview.

http://www.blogtalkradio.com/womenwhomakethingshappen/2014/02/03/valentina-cirasola–the-interior-designer-who-loves-to-color-her-clients-world

At the time of my interview she was starting her series of radio shows and I was happy to have been chosen as a guest. She was a good host and directed the show to meet the needs of her audience. The core of the conversation was to help her followers understanding basic business principles and issues entrepreneurs usually struggle with, such as how to be productive in business, how to overcome self-doubts, how to be disciplined, even when, at times, there is little desire to work, how to set goals and achieve them.

It takes courage to become an entrepreneur, accepting to earn money inconsistently at the beginning and to work lonely long hours. It also takes courage to accept changes. An entrepreneur must be ready for the transformation, which naturally happens with unfolding events of a new business. Fear is normal, but it does not have to blur the targets, never lose the vision of the goals one wants to reach.

(Photo Microphone: Free image https://www.iconfinder.com/icons/37056/microphone_record_icon)

My secret to endure hard times in a new business in a foreign country was not to put myself in the box, even if it meant to be a fashion designer one day and an interior designer the next day. I put all my qualifications to work with diligence, making sure they were all related. One of my business coaches once said:
“money is money, doesn’t matter where they come from. Honor it” therefore I had skills, I put them to work for me.

(Photo AnYes van Rhijn – Linkedin https://www.linkedin.com/in/anyesvanrhijn/?ppe=1)

The conversation with AnYes then evolved on the difficulties a foreigner meets when doing business in the adopted country. I am sure everyone moving to a foreign country experiences difficulties with the new life, new customs, new way of thinking or even making jokes. Often, what was funny to me, was taken the wrong way by the locals. I had to adjust my thinking and speaking out loud was something I had to forget, otherwise I would have created the desert around me, that was not my goal.

Writing books, in a foreign language was also one of the questions AnYes directed to her followers, many of them are foreigners and want to write a book, but debate if writing it in the native language or English. I chose to write my books in English, only because I want to sell to the world and no only to a small country like Italy. Why put limitations?

Being an entrepreneur doesn’t have to be difficult or painful, as long as one conducts business with humor, caring for clients with love, understanding personal limitations, doing the best one can, resting between tasks or projects and never overwork. Make clients part of the business life, share moments behind the scenes, be open and transparent. Humans run businesses, treat the business as a friend with humanity and people will come.

I hope to have been an inspiration to all the brave and courageous new entrepreneurs out there. Thanks to AnYes van Rhijn I can remember that day, she was so great interviewing me and that’s an art on its own.
The story of my business continues. Ciao,
Valentina
http://www.valentinadesigns.com

As a designer in business since 1990, I am interested in helping people designing their interior and exterior spaces with an overall feeling of peace, relaxation and harmony that will draw them home eagerly. I am always looking to add that special touch with original findings to the spaces I design. Color is the focus of my business today, changing people’s energy and life force just by introducing them to colors they would have never imagined. Vogue Italia magazine, Gentry and many prominent magazines in California featured my work, I appeared on RAI, National Italian T.V. and nonetheless my story continues. Find copies of my book on colors ©RED – A Voyage Into Colors and the rest of my books
Amazon: http://goo.gl/qNxXrB
Barnes&Nobles: http://goo.gl/q7dQ3w

An Incredulous Vision | Valentina Cirasola | Interior Designer

27 Oct 2012 32 Comments

by Valentina in Home Designs Master Tags: #BlogAward, #ColorTheory, #Inspirational, #LovelyBlogAward, #RedVoyageIntoColors, Dreams, Self-Improvement

An incredulous thing happened to me yesterday afternoon around 6:00 pm, I just want to know if any of you have ever experienced anything similar. I am still thinking about it and what is the meaning of it.

I was driving on a super busy freeway, when all of a sudden, the town I was approaching, but not yet my exit, all the lights of that town, the freeway landscape, the shape of the winding road, all reminded me of another place in Europe.
In my over imposed view, I could not recognize this place in my déjà vu, but I was sure I had been there sometimes in my previous life. It was very clear in my mind, it was very familiar, I know I had been there in that cozy place, but where was it?
Then, as in any dream, I had an abrupt awakening, the view disappeared and returned to the dreadful, super busy freeway.

This morning, I drove 45 miles to return to the same spot on purpose, but the view I had seen yesterday didn’t come back. Perhaps the view of that beautiful place in Europe appeared because I was hungry and the emptiness of my stomach played a trick on me, or I was wishing in that moment to go somewhere unknown. Perhaps, the strange lights of a freeway in the early evening distort images, or the stress of my work is taking a toll. I think the latter is more real and not an excuse.
What do you guys think and what does it mean? Why this view appeared yesterday and not any other day, since that is an area I drive through often?
I will remain puzzled.

On the note of my stress, a few days have passed since I wrote my last blog, I am feeling withdraws as if I have a blog vise and a few days have passed by without thanking Jamie at http://grandmothermusings.com for nominating me with two awards:
The Reality Blog and One Lovely Blog Award. I appreciate your wisdom Jamie and I appreciate all the bloggers’ talents, information, photos, fun and personal dilemmas. That’s is what a community supposed to be. It is not always possible to answer all of you, but I do see and read you all everyday.

These are five questions for both Awards.
I will only answer one, my eye lids are falling off at the moment:
1) What is the one thing really scares you?

Being left completely by myself on this world, no people, no animals, no books, nothing.
2) If you could change something, what would you change?
3) If you could repeat an age, what age would it be?
4) What one dream have you not completed yet and do you think you will be able to complete it.
5) If you could be someone else for the day, who would you be?

(Photo above http://www.delish.com/food-news/a44086/champagne-water-cooler)

I am thinking that perhaps I need something as joyful as this in my photo above, chilled and refreshing, in any corner of my house. I might be able to find another meaning of life, or will cure my stress.
I am also thinking that some of my clients will appreciate having one of this in convenient places, especially when we are in the remodeling process.

I will nominate five bloggers and there is no specific rule to these awards. Each nominee is free to accept and do what he or she will with his or her award.

http://tresorsdeluxe.wordpress.com

http://passport.laurenoliviaco.com

http://astronomybythecosmos.com

http://katrinaperkins.wordpress.com

http://fueledbyvegetables.com

Create a great weekend. 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 interior and colors the world of her clients. She has been described as “the colorist” and loves to create the unusual. Her latest book ©RED-A Voyage Into Colors is published. Check out her books on:
Amazon: http://goo.gl/xUZfk0
Barnes&Nobles: http://goo.gl/q7dQ3w