#InteriorDesign | Valentina Expressions

Space and Inspiration | Valentina Cirasola | Interior Designer

24 Apr 2020 8 Comments

by Valentina in Home Designs Master Tags: #CeilingDesign, #ColorAtmosphere, #ColorsAndLight, #FantasyRoom, #Inspiration, #InteriorDesign, #WritingRoom

I am so honored I have been featured with my article Space and Inspiration on the site of Author James J. Cudney IV, in the Tips and Advice section, where authors can share their tips on any subject they love. My topics always gravitate around design, style, and colors, that’s what I do the best since I have conducted my design business for three decades and not showing signs of wanting to quit.

In this article, the ceiling is the protagonist. I talk about how the ceilings might play a good role in inspiring writers. Some of my pictures show extravagant ceilings of places I have visited in Europe. I am not saying that to have an inspiration, a writer must have one of those highly decorated and historical ceilings to be able to write.

Inspiration can come from anything, even from a stone, or from a dollop of butter curled in an unusual way. It happened to me a long time ago, when looking at that dollop of butter on my plate, I ended up designing the exterior part of a home in Italy.

It’s easier for me to look up above if I am waiting for something to come to me, a spiritual, artistic, or a fantasy inspiration. That phrase my father pronounced “You are not going to find it on the floor” stuck with me ever since.

Tips-Advice by Valentina Cirasola

Click the graphic above or the link below here to enjoy the article.
I hope you have an inspirational space to write or do your creative work. If you don’t, I am an email or a phone call away.

Tips & Advice: Products & Services – Valentina Designs Space & Inspiration

Permit me just a little shameless promotion of my book on Colors, available in paperback and ebook version on Amazon and Barnes&Noble:
©Red- A Voyage Into Colors, Second Edition. It will help to shed a light on all the benefits, including health and wellness, colors will bring into our life.

RED-A Voyage Into Colors, Second Edition

Thank you, James, you are a great person with a big heart, I would have never met you without the internet. Ciao.
Valentina
http://www.valentinadesigns.com

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. A couple of years ago, Valentina became a TV producer/host producing 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 and Barnes&Noble

Reminiscence | Valentina Cirasola | Interior Designer

18 Apr 2020 4 Comments

by Valentina in Home Designs Master Tags: #1950sHomeMagazine, #ColorfulHome, #DesigningWithBoldColors, #InteriorDesign, #SplitFloorHome

I don’t know why suddenly one of my clients came to my mind today, she was the owner of this house. She was a very tall woman, her weight, which was well distributed on her body gave her a powerful presence. She met me at one of my “colors” speaking engagements when I surprise people talking about the emotions colors produce on human beings. She hired me just to fix the grey and beige colors of her home, interiors, and exterior. She gave me permission to go bold with colors but not the furniture. She left all her traditional furniture in place.
The colors I selected required very modern and stylish furniture and although she was very happy about the vibrant colors, I was disappointed to not being able to finish her interiors with great furniture that would have emphasized the colors and made her home an artistic place.

(Click on each photo to view it larger).

Kitchen Dining Area – Original colors

This home was designed with a split floor, a very popular layout in the ’70s and ’80s. I love this concept of open views from any level while maintaining each area separately. She left this world at age 42 and only enjoyed her colors for a short year. Her sister, who still lives in New York, left me and my realtor in charge of the sale the house and all the contents. It was on the market for only one week, an Indian family fell in love with the colors and bought it.

For some reason, today I was thinking of her. I looked at all the pictures of her project, upstairs, downstairs, the garden patio and I noticed that the style of her furniture would have done very well in a 1950s magazine.
I played with photoshop on a few pictures and turned her colorful home into the mid-century style.

Kitchen-Dining Area – 50’s magazine style

Comparing the mid-century style I created with the original pictures, I must say, I still like the games of colors I put in this house.

Living Area – Original Colors

Living Area – Sepia tone

This is her cute patio, we sat there for coffee many times when I was overseeing this work. All her plants, garden fixtures, statues, and table sets now live in my garden.

Garden Patio View 1

Garden Patio View 2

It felt good to indulge in reminiscence, I heard her voice and the expression of happiness when the paintwork was completed.

Do you want to know how colors affect you emotionally? This is the book you want to get in Kindle or paperback format.

RED-A Voyage Into Colors, Second Edition – Valentina Cirasola

Ciao,
Valentina
http://www.valentinadesigns.com
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. A couple of years ago, Valentina became a TV producer/host producing 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: http://goo.gl/xUZfk0
Barnes&Nobles: http://goo.gl/q7dQ3w

What’s Up Peeps? | Valentina Cirasola | Interior Designer

02 Apr 2020 13 Comments

by Valentina in Home Designs Master Tags: #HomeHistory, #HomeStyles, #HomeTallk, #InteriorDesign, #InteriorDesignTalk, #ValentinaDesignUniverse

The coronavirus has brought all of us to our knees, everyone I know is sheltered-in, but not everyone I know is doing good emotionally. Some of my friends cannot work due to the nature of the work they do and some others work from home. Some people are getting depressed and some are very happy with the slow, downtime as they realized their life was on the accelerated mode. Many people have rediscovered their homes and the people they live with and some other people are getting farther apart, too much closeness might not be a good thing for them and they are just finding out.

I heard the divorce lawyers are on stand by. I also heard that in China, after the lockdown for the coronavirus was over, there has been an increase of divorces by 30%. I also read a funny advertisement from a realtor, it said:
“At the end of the quarantine, if you decide you can’t stand the people you live with, remember I’m your Realtor” and I will add: “I am your Designer, I can design a new home for you, finally the way you want it”.

Everyone is doing something online to spend time in a productive way. Since we must stay home, why not loving where we must be for a while? I am producing daily short videos on how certain home items have come about, their history, their meaning in dreams if we happen to dream about them, and how they have evolved through time. I came up with the idea of “The Evolution Of A Home”. I love history, the human race wouldn’t be here if it hadn’t made history good or bad.
My daily episodes are intended to inform, entertain and keep each other’s company. I hope you like them.

So far I produced nine shows, all on my Youtube channel. https://www.youtube.com/user/designsvalentina
Follow me if you like and if you need me at this time, I offer consultations online. Nothing is simpler than to connect with a video and give you some of my sage advice. Ciao,
Valentina
http://www.valentinadesigns.com

Amazon Author’s Page

It’s my hope that through my writing and my stories I am enriching your aesthetic sensibility towards design, style and inspiring you to live in beauty. I love to encourage my clients to show their personality through their home décor, or the clothes they wear. I have loved my profession as an interior-fashion designer since 1990.
Check out one of my books on the subject of colors, ©RED-A Voyage Into Colors, Second Edition.
Amazon: https://amzn.to/2Bxhq08
Barnes&Noble: http://goo.gl/q7dQ3w

You Are the Glass | Valentina Cirasola | Designer and Author

26 Aug 2019 4 Comments

by Valentina in Home Designs Master Tags: #ColorfulGlass, #GiantGlassFlowers, #GlassArt, #GlassSculptures, #HomeDecor, #InteriorDesign, HomeAccessories

“A pile of sand made you, strong but fragile, soft and malleable, sharp and smooth. You melt under the delicate touch of the forger. You face fire with courage as if nothing happens in that hot furnace, but something does happen. You become sensual, your curves are more sinuous than a curvy woman, you take on brilliant colors for the pleasure of your admirers’ eyes and you come out shaped into a masterpiece. We want to possess you. We want to caress and feel you, we want to shelter your fragility, we want your shapes to embellish our life. You are the GLASS”.

I wrote this thought one day at a client’s house. I was putting the final touches together, beautiful accessories, scented natural candles, shimmering crystals, skillfully decorated ceramic plates by French and Italian artists, colorful lamps and the glass peppers on the kitchen island. I fell in love with them. They looked juicy and appetizing in their glass form just as much as they do in real life. They vibrate healthy energy. It took a bit of an effort with this particular client to show her that colors exude positive energy and she needed so badly in her all-beige home. Now she is totally into colors and even when she gets dressed, she asks herself if Valentina would love the colors she is selecting. If the answer in her mind is NO, she will not put it on. I must have converted another person to colors.

Glass Red Pepper

As an Italian, I grew up appreciating the beauty of Murano glass. The art of Murano is unparallel, colorful, transparent like tissue paper, delicate and precious. It always fascinated me how a pile of sand can be transformed into something so mesmerizing. One moment seems the glass lays there lifeless and as soon as the light goes through, it picks up a totally different dimension, inside the glass every little nuance comes alive.

I was at an art and wine fair this weekend and I fell in love with tall glass flowers, glass teapots, and glass sculptures, I would have brought home everything I saw.

Giant Glass Flowers

Glass Teapots

Glass Sculpture

Picture one of these colorful pieces in each room of modern sleek décor, one of those style with very straight lines, black and grey color combination and very minimalist. Do you see it? One of these art pieces will add color and character to minimalist room décor.

So many artists, so many ideas, so many choices. Going to fairs and art shows is one of the many ways I help clients. I find items they might overlook, or have no access to it.
I hope one of these glass artists will want to appear on one of my TV shows, the invitation has been extended. 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 online design consultations through Skype or Zoom, as well as the traditional in-house consultations, helping people with their design challenge anywhere in the world. She is the author of five books. The two latest published books are ©The Road To Top Of The World – Amazon – https://tinyurl.com/y7tuyfh8
and ©Naked Lemons – Amazon – https://amzn.to/33bVRyQ
Barnes&Nobles: http://goo.gl/q7dQ3w

Why Humans Make Art? | Valentina Cirasola | Interior Designer

10 Jul 2019 8 Comments

by Valentina in Home Designs Master Tags: #ArtandInteriors, #ArtisticDecorating, #ArtisticInteriors, #ColorsandArt, #InteriorDesign, #InteriorsAsArt

Last week I appeared on KMVT 15 TV in the show Why Human Make Art. Producer Adek Anukai sees my interior design profession as art and art as an expression of life. This is is very true. Each one of us makes art every day, whether we procreate, we design a home or a garden, whether we cook exceptional meals or the way we build cities and illuminate stores, whether we create fashion or extravagantly wear clothes, whether we learn ballet, play a musical instrument, or to drive creatively like Italians. I don’t believe people who say they are not creative. Every one of us makes some artistic expression.

(Click on each photo to view it larger).

©Sunglasses Mirror by Valentina Cirasola

Prologue by Producer Adek Anukai:
The psychologist Nathan Lents, believes that “throughout history, much artwork was made for no other explicit purpose than the production of beauty.”
Merriam-Webster dictionary defines art as “something that is created with imagination and skill and that is beautiful or that expresses important ideas or feelings.”
It seems that the common drive in making art is to produce “beauty”.
Even at the dawn of mankind, humans drew pictures, danced, and sung. From the cave paintings to the breathtaking works of Leonardo Da Vinci, was the motivation the same? We paint, compose, sing, dance, write. We design beautiful dresses, jewelry, and decorate houses. We create new ways of expressing ourselves through the creation of “beauty”.

Remembering one of Dostoevsky’s affirmations: “Beauty Will Save the World.” And it will. In beauty there is harmony, in harmony, there is peace, in peace there is prosperity and in prosperity, there is a good healthy life.

During the show, the producer asked me: “Art does not seem to be critical for our survival and in most cases has not been financially rewarding. Actually, for most people, being an artist is a lifetime uphill battle, but it does not stop anyone. Why not?”

Most of us have the desire to leave something to posterity. Often artists make art to prolong life into the future, even when they are recognized as great artists only after their death.

©Natura Morta by Valentina Cirasola

Art is a kind of rebellion. Nobody stops producing art even when is not profitable. Through art, people express their anger, anxiety, contentment, happiness, social events, or just memories.
I remember when I returned from Africa the first time I went there, the only thing I wanted to paint was the mesmerizing sunset I saw, bold and colorful. I wanted to immortalize a spectacle I had never seen before, a sky at dusk with purple, red, yellow, orange streaks, sometimes all mixed together. To these days I can’t forget those bold colors in the sky and even though the canvases I painted are no longer with me, those sunsets are sculpted in my mind.

Exotic Sunsets

People making art keep pushing even when nature creates impossible barriers. Deafness does not stop composers and blindness does not stop painters from creating their artworks. Artists want to defy destiny and prove that anything is possible because “beauty” is the only thing humans want to be surrounded.

©Guest Bath – Concept Two

©Guest Bath – Concept One

The producer/host of the talk show went on comparing my interior design work to modern art. He wondered how challenging must be to interpret everybody’s taste and creating spaces where people feel their lives have improved. Yes, it is very challenging, but that’s what I chose to do.
The show will air in September 2019. Ciao,
Valentina
http://www.valentinadesigns.com

Valentina Cirasola has been a lifetime designer in interiors and fashion. Her extensive training and knowledge in both fields led her in both directions successfully. She is well-known 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 also focuses on color theory and psychology to transform people’s life.
She is the author of ©RED – A Voyage Into Colors, Second Edition.
Amazon and Barnes&Noble

Check out her latest books, a travel narrative ©The Road to Top Of The World

Colors Of Barcelona | Valentina Cirasola | Interior Designer

22 Mar 2014 6 Comments

by Valentina in Home Designs Master Tags: #BarcelonaColors, #ColorEnergy, #InteriorColors, #InteriorDesign, #RedVoyageIntoColors, #RelaxationColors, Barcelona

Ah Barcelona….! The city of dancing colors, as I call it. I was there last year between Thanksgiving and Christmas, it was cold, but the amazing colors of the city knocked off the winter darkness from me and made me feel warm inside. Color, style and funky shapes are everywhere. As I am approaching to return, I can see the colors all over again enveloping me in their warm sunny light.

(Click on each photo to view it larger).

The undulating building Architect Antoni Gaudí designed are the quintessential of extraordinary, a precursor of his time who was much criticized for his outlandish ideas of conceiving buildings. Nobody had built anything like that before him and nothing compares to the art of Antoni Gaudí. He left an invaluable and astounding patrimony the world admires breathlessly. The city is happy, colors affect people and their life. They are up all night strolling the streets, eating and drinking through the small hours of the night and I have not found one rude person there!

Every nuance of color has its own taste. The greens are luxuriant, the blues echoes the sea and sky, the reds and the purples are juicy like strawberries and plums. Nothing is dull. In this kind of environment is hard not to live in full colors. If I ought to have a flat in Barcelona, I would decorate it exactly as I made my color scheme palette, modern in style, hip and funky.

(Photo credit is given to each owner of each piece of furniture seen in my board above)

I would use all the colors of energy in the kitchen, dining, great room, and living; I would reserve the colors of relaxation, blues and the greens in bedroom and baths; I would paint in beige, cream and light browns all transition areas, study, and library, but when I get to my home office I would treat it a funky way to make each working day pleasant and playful.

What do you say? Can you handle all these colors throughout the entire home? Or after a while, you would need a detached house to get away from the energy of all these colors? Ciao,
Valentina
http://www.valentinadesigns.com

Valentina Cirasola is an Italian Fashion-Interior Designer working in the USA and Europe since 1990. Often people describe her as “the colorist” as she loves to color her clients’ world and loves to create the unusual. “Vogue” magazine and many prominent publications in California featured Valentina’s work. She also has made four appearances on T.V. Comcast Channel 15. Author of three published books, the latest ©RED – A Voyage Into Colors is on the subject of colors.
Amazon: http://goo.gl/xUZfk0
Barnes&Nobles: http://goo.gl/q7dQ3w

Curvaceous As A Woman | Valentina Cirasola | Interior Designer

31 Aug 2010 Leave a comment

by Valentina in Home Designs Master Tags: #ColorfulKitchens, #CurvedFurniture, #InteriorDesign, #kitchenDesign, #KitchenRemodeling, #MixedKitchenStyle, #RoundKitchenCabinets

Many times I wonder why people think cabinets intended for kitchens and baths must be just square boxes lined up like soldiers either on the walls or on the floor. Cabinets are utilitarian items and must serve a purpose of storing lot of cooking arsenal, food and products. Their functionality determines their bulky status, we know that, but we can at least improve their look by using certain strategies.
Mixing expensive wood on few panels with less expensive wood is a way to save and improve; mixing colors adds interest and movement. Using recycled wood, or hammered metal doors here and there will give your guests something to talk about. Counter tops don’t have to be all the same colors and the same materials and islands don’t have to be a box either. Once I saw an old Queen Ann dining table made into an island with the cooktop in the center of the table.

Kitchen and bath cabinets I see around are so uniform, so even, so square, so boxy and so boring! They are as common as they can be.
I didn’t have to become a designer to like different things, shapes and forms. I became a designer just because my thinking is different and I can offer so many solutions to the people I want to serve.
Let me tell you, curves in home furnishing and cabinetry have never gone out of fashion, just like curvaceous women have always existed in history, in paintings and even more so in modern times. In fact plastic surgery enhancing those parts of a woman God forgot to add, or just about, is producing more curvaceous women than ever before.

Curved lines in kitchen cabinetry create rhythm and flow other than saving floor space, as we all know those 2 or 3 inches make a difference on a floor plan. Curved corners bring so much harmony in the stark look of any cabinetry. Look at this elegant kitchen curio cabinet I designed for one of my client.

Think of a kitchen space as a whole, don’t look at the price of the curved cabinetry. Choose warm color wood species, add warm colors in the hard surfaces material and walls; open up some cabinets by adding glass door front with interior glass shelves and lighting; mix closed cabinets with open shelves and just wait to see how pleasurable the kitchen will be.
Curves in bathroom cabinetry make an easier flow with fewer points of danger. Curved cabinetry fit well in contemporary décor as well as in traditional style.

Producing custom-made curved cabinetry has many advantages and no disadvantages that I can list, contrary to what most people think. The cost to produce curves is higher than boxy, squared cabinets, I agree, but originality is priceless, in this world of “common looks and common places”. Would you not like to enter your kitchen or bathroom and say to yourself: “Yes, this is me!”. I think you would, especially when guided by a designer that will follow your dreams and allow that to happen. Today, being original is a way to preserve your personality and your soul.

Furthermore, consider that home fashion décor doesn’t change every three months as fashion does, so it makes sense investing once in a good cabinetry material made with superior craftsmanship that will last more than a decade, thus stretching your money for a long period of time.

This cabinet made of hare wood is original in design, fills up a dead corner intelligently, parades its beauty every day and it is there to stay for years to come with much of my client’s satisfaction who doesn’t have to spend more money to redesign the space in two years again.

Don’t be afraid of using expensive woods on small cabinetry, it beautifies the space with only a small amount of dollars.
Tell me about your storage challenges, I will resolve it with style, beauty and save you money at the same time. That is my goal.
Valentina
http://www.Valentinadesigns.com

Valentina Cirasola, the principal designer and owner of Valentina Interior & Designs is a trained designer and has been in business since 1990. She works on consultation and produces design concepts for remodeling, upgrading, new home construction, décor restyling and home fashion. Valentina was featured in Italy on: “Vogue” magazine and many prominent publications in California. She also has made two appearances on T.V. Comcast Channel 15.
Valentina is also the author of two Italian regional cookbooks and the forthcoming author of the book on ©RED-A Voyage Into Colors. Find them on:
Amazon: http://goo.gl/xUZfk0
Barnes&Nobles: http://goo.gl/q7dQ3w

Ciao Mamma | Valentina Cirasola | Designer

09 May 2010 Leave a comment

by Valentina in Friday Fashion Tags: #1940VogueMagazine, #EuropeanFashion, #InteriorDesign, #ItalianLifeStyle, #ItalianStyle, Fashion

The Mother – a Queen of every household. My mom sure was The Queen and a lot more! She was our friend and confidant, the angel of our home. Today, I think she was named Angela not by mistake, I think there is a correlation between her name and who she was in her life. Her blond hair was like a golden aura around her face, her blue eyes were so transparent, one could see inside of her soul. Some of her friends thought her eyes reflected the bluish-green water of Adriatic sea in Italy, where we lived.

She was a simple person with a big heart and strong believes. She had empathy and was always ready to help others.
In her early life as a young lady, she was forced into learning to sew, but she would have preferred to go to school to become a psychologist. She was into people, could understand their problems and always gave her helping hand to resolve some rough situations people could not resolve on their own.

“Put a passion in everything you do and make the best of what you have” she kept telling us. This is what she did when she was forced in that trade, but after a while, she became such an expert in the field of sewing that she turned it into a lifetime business. And boy she was good! Her dress designs were in a high demand. She produced only exclusive, one of kind garment for the élite clientele.

(Above Simplicity magazine)

She found her inspiration in magazines like Mademoiselle and Simplicity and made those patterns much better. “Simplicity is the key of elegance” she kept saying. I learned that so well, that I made it the motto of my life. Actually, to that, I added mine: “When life is simple and easy, God answers”.

WWII was a time of scarcity, but for my mom was a time of increased creativity.
She made original dresses out of scrap fabrics. I remember her telling me stories of improvisation and studying better ways to get the most of everything, food, clothing and all the necessary elements of living.

During the war-time, she was photographed many times in one blue-white polka dots dress, which was turned over many times around. One time she had added white-collar and white cuffs, the next time she took off the white details and added red buttons and a red belt. “Make the best of what’s available to you”.

My mom was good at creating fashionable hats also with scraps of materials. Hats of the ’40s were so elegant and feminine.

She faced a lot of adversities in life that made her a tough human being, but she never complained. She thought that out of every adversity there is always something good to learn and found the way to turn any negative experience into a positive one. I am so grateful for this precious teaching.
Her love for life was exceptional.

In the early part of my career, I became a fashion designer, even though she kept repeating: “The needle is very small but very heavy. Go to school and learn a profession instead”. I could not help being attracted by her amazing creations. With a few elegant movements and a few folding and draping of fabrics onto mannequins, she would make any piece of cloth come alive into a beautiful dress. I must thank her for my love of colors, fabrics, and fashion, all the things I took from her and made a successful career for myself. I must thank her for the well-decorated home we lived in, simple and functional, but full of people who brought us much love. Simplicity is the rule I live by. I must thank her for showing me what really matters the most in life and for teaching how any hardship can be turned into a positive experience.

Today, in my career of interior designer, I do well just because my mom taught me how to be into people, how to listen to their problems and how to resolve them. After 20 years of serving a variegated group of people, I am still having a load of fun.
Long live mamma in our hearts and in the hearts of all the people you touched.
Valentina
Interior Designer
in business since 1990 and loving it!

Fashion Services
https://valentinadesigns.com/services#fashion-services

Valentina Cirasola is a trained Fashion and Interior Designer, born in Italy in a family of artists. Style surrounded her since the beginning of her life. Her many years of experience led her to offer consultations in both specializations and now she can remodel homes as well as personal images. She is passionate about colors and encourages her clients to express their individual style in their homes and with the clothes they wear. To better help people all over the world, she offers consultations online. She is the author of three books. Get your copy of Valentina’s book on colors: ©RED-A Voyage Into Colors on

Amazon: http://goo.gl/qNxXrB

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

Conversation With A Client | Valentina Cirasola | Interior Designer

17 Apr 2010 Leave a comment

by Valentina in Home Designs Master Tags: #DecoratingWithStones, #Granite, #InteriorDesign, #Marble, #RomeRemodeling, #ValentinaInteriorsDesigns

Dear Valentina,
In magazines, marble seems to be the first choice for the master bathroom. I like the traditional look of white or crème marble, but it is more maintenance. I have Corian now with no maintenance. It is great. But I want to be more upscale, age well and the “in look” for resale.
I saw honed beige travertine vanity and floor tile to match. I think honed shows more finger prints. Isn’t travertine softer than marble?
I looked at marble. Seems it’s hard to match the counter top with the floor tiles. Several places had pre-cut counter top slabs but no matching floor tile. Should the vanity match the floor? Can you do granite vanity with marble floors? I have a sample porcelain tile that looks like limestone at home.
I like it, but can I mix it with marble or a quartz countertop. Should I go all natural stone, or all porcelain and quartz?

What is the trend for upscale bathrooms? The bathroom I’m replacing, was remodeled in 1990, but It looks 1980’s. So what look would age well? More important: what’s best for resale. My 2 other bathrooms are light color wood cabinets with white Corian. Do I need to carry the white color to all the bathrooms? Is it important that all the bathrooms be similar? Should the cabinets all be light or can one be dark? For a formal look, would chrome or polished nickel look better?

Has building green really caught on? Then quartz would be in? Do you think quartz will be the replacement for granite? The granite look has been around for a long time, so when does it change? I think all granite kitchens are too heavy-looking. I looked at caesarstone, silestone, and zodiac.
I think quartz maybe more appropriate in the kitchen. But is it the next look?
The big question: what is upscale, ages well and good for resale in a pale color for a master bathroom?
Thanks for you advice.
Wendy

Dear Wendy,
I would like to say one simple thing to show you how people think when in the process of buying a home:
Resale value is something people have in their mind, but it exist only to a certain extend. Why?
People buy homes mainly because of location, school district and square footage, followed by all the amenities such as how many bedrooms, closets, how many baths, how many kitchens, how many cars can fit into a garage, balconies, terraces, butler pantry, home automation, high-tech solutions, interior elevators, European doors, home theatre, wine cellars, home office, back yard, landscaping, lighting, and to an infinity of items.
People don’t buy homes because of colors in the bathrooms, or any other rooms, ever!
Having said that, any choice you make right now to improve your bathroom thinking it will sell better, 99% of the time, will be remodeled again by the new owner. New home owners will always try to add their own style to the home previously owned by somebody else. It’s our way to mark our territory.
So, please take my advice: remodel the bathroom(s) for your own pleasure and in your own style, enjoy it while you are living there and don’t worry about who is coming after you.

About the stones:
Marble is always more attractive, elegant, sophisticated and at times more expensive than granite, or anything else. It does add value to the bathroom and therefore makes it “upscale”. But “Upscale” is a perception, is an image sent to the eye. Anything can be upscale, even corian and avonite, depending on how people use stones and how they mix them together. I can arrange unexpressive stones in a gorgeous design and make it upscale.
Travertino filled or not filled is a lime stone, therefore brittle, but nonetheless durable. In Italy we have used it since the Roman times, buildings are still there and have been under the weather for centuries.
Vanity and floor are two different entities, you can match it, or you can do something totally different, there is no rule, whatever strikes your fancy.

Bathrooms don’t need to be similar and no color need to be carried from bathroom to bathroom, otherwise why would we make a distinction between Master Bath, Powder Room and Guest Baths?

You asked me if dark cabinetry are better for resale value. I like to know who makes up these rules. The only so-called “rule” to follow is:
lighter counter top, dark cabinet and darker counter top, lighter cabinet. This is what people do, but let me assure you, it is not my rule. There is never going to be a replacement for granite, people like it! It is easy to care for and maintaining, it is natural and durable, plenty available in plenty colors and in a variety of prices. Also granite can be found in so many fun finishes: polished, honed, tumbled, leather effect and many more.
I am finding that many of my clients appreciate the leather effect on granite and use it as an accent stone. They might use it only for a kitchen island, or for a small counter in powder rooms, or as a top for a piece of furniture. This finish is a bit more expensive than any other finishes, but if used wisely will add so much more value and beauty to a remodeling project.

Granite can be used as flooring, counter tops, window sills, table tops, door knobs, lighting switchplates, landscaping and many more, applications are endless.

I particularly don’t like the granite with a compact look filled with speckles, it has no life and it is boring. I like the granite with lot of movement and open fields. The lines must be book matched when joining the seems to make a continuous design, then you will see nature in a playful mood!
When spending money on any stone, make it attractive and a conversational piece.
You mentioned the caesarstone, silestone, and zodiac. Fine stones too, with attractive colors and mostly contemporary colors. They are man-made and there is nothing wrong with them, but they are not less expensive than granite, as most people think. Silestone is nothing but crushed marble chips fused together with silicon.

“Building Green” is real among those people who understand the concept and can afford it. Unfortunately, prices of the “eco-friendly material” are still way too expensive and discourage people from using them.

For a formal look, some people even use gold polished or satin chrome, or crystal. The hardware finishes must follow the style of your bathroom.
You might fall in love, as I did, with a total glass blue faucet, as in my photograph. This faucet can be placed in a formal, elegant and extravagant bath. It is such a beauty! The hardware is polished chrome and glass. This is formal enough to me, even though it has a modern style. (Photo: James McKelvey)

What if, let’s suppose your formal look is Old Europe? You will never use chrome hardware, but oil rubbed bronze instead, to emulate antiquity.
It all depends what formal means to you. Define formal, you will have the answer.
I want to conclude by saying that, in the perfect design world, there are no rules, thank God. It is all about YOU, the client !!!
What you like, what makes you feel good and what you can afford are all the rules! Nothing is written in “Stone”.

I am always available to resolve any design challenges. Love to hear your comments, or your friends’ comments, if you like to forward this article to someone else.
Designed regards,
Valentina
Interior Designer
in business since 1990 and loving it!
www.Valentinadesigns.com

Valentina Cirasola is an Italian Interior and Fashion Designer, working in the USA and Europe. She marries well fashion and interior in any of her design work. She loves to remodel homes and loves to turn unattractive spaces into castles.
Author of the forthcoming book on the subject of colors, ©RED-A Voyage Into Colors. Stay tuned!
Amazon: http://goo.gl/xUZfk0
Barnes&Nobles: http://goo.gl/q7dQ3w

Valentina Interiors And Designs Has Been Featured Again! | Valentina Cirasola | Interior Designer

06 Apr 2010 Leave a comment

by Valentina in Home Designs Master Tags: #HomeDesign, #HomeRemodeling, #InteriorDesign, #ValentinaInteriorsDesigns, Avaliving

Hello World,
It is so rewarding to come to work on Monday morning from a short Easter weekend holiday and finding my name published all over the Internet. Avaliving, a site for designers offering their services on line, today has published my interview with them.
http://www.avaliving.com/article.php?aid=1617

As a designer, I have been part of Ava’s family since about three years ago. The scope of Avaliving’s site is to give a larger exposure to those designers participating in its programs.
My profession as a designer has really changed in the last eight/nine years. To be able to stay on the market and in a profitable business, I had to adapt to new ways of thinking and accept the new ways clients shop. It is not imaginable anymore to raise a sign outside the studio/office and think clients will come. Designers must have a presence in the local market made of referrals to sustain the business in a continuous flow and a larger presence on line, a new and most important way to sell services. It really doesn’t matter what kind of design business one might have, if a designer is in the service business, she/he is in the marketing business of selling designer services. This is the new twist, we can’t expect to be sitting behind a fashionable desk, in a well decorated office and expect clients to multiply.
I have transformed my business and my mindset with advices, solutions and strategies from expert marketers to achieve my dreams and help my clients in realizing their dreams.

I am an Italian expatriate by choice, not by necessity. I knew since I was a little girl my place was supposed to be in the World and not just in Bari, Italy, my home town where I was born, studied, worked and lived all my life. I made the decision to move when the time was right.

I carry with me the educational baggage of an Italian with the beauty and style I have been used to caress and admire. I bring the same into people’s homes, give my clients the power to design with me and at the end I leave them with affordable, comfortable luxury.

I said in my interview with Avaliving that my life is a continuous evolvement of colorful events. That’s because I am a curious person and I get interested and involved in everything.

People who know me say I am a great cook. Food is fuel for my brain. I don’t care what kind of petrol I put in my car, but I care about what kind of food I put in my stomach. In fact, I love food so much, I have written my first designer cookbook and published it: ©Come Mia Nonna-A Return To Simplicity.
Robert T., a friend and business associate of www.wine-fi.com says:
“Valentina – an International Professional Interior Designer is now giving you an opportunity to redesign your palate”.

Check out my first book, it is making people happy, I was told:
http://outskirtspress.com/ComeMiaNonna

OR

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

**********

Life is simply good!

Please forward this article to anyone you think might be interested in reading it and let me know what you think by leaving a comment below. Thank you.
Designed regards,
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 unattractive spaces into castles, but especially loves to design kitchens and wine grottos.