“Valentina, do you have the keys to my house? I have a cold and my house door doesn’t recognize my voice, I can’t get in the house.” That was a client who demanded a voice-activated entry installed at his door. One day, he had a cold and the computer didn’t recognize his voice. His wife was on a business trip, the kids had gone camping and he had left the keys in the house as he usually did, he trusted the system would never fail. He ended up going to a hotel until he figured out what to do.
Electronics are excellent when they work and hopefully can free our time of nuisance house chores. However, electronics are made by humans and will always fail. Alternative plans are in order. In this video, you will see a “smart refrigerator” it will tell you when your milk or eggs expire, it will talk to you about various need you have with food and many new features we are not used to seeing in refrigerators.
Today’s appliances seem to be made for wealthy people. The refrigerator featured here costs around $5,000, but this beautiful invention cannot be the only appliance in a kitchen, it calls for all other smart appliances to play the same role in a sophisticated kitchen. In a remodeling situation, it is not difficult to come up with the “magic price” of all the appliances needed.
Watch this video, it’s fun and probably you will fall in love with this beauty.
I welcome innovations that will let us use our time in a better way, to socialize with other human beings, to read, to write, to create beauty, to help the world, and hopefully, will not give us a robotic life.
However, I am always wondering what kind of listening-in devices new appliances have these days, just saying….a thought for you.
Drinking habits and appreciation for less abrasive alcoholic drinks have changed through the last couple of decades, people have turned to wines, European sparkling wines and artisanal crafted boutique beers made in small local brewing establishments. This change of taste from hard alcohol to more delicate social drinks should have affected and changed home décor as well, thus bar carts should have gone away from people’s living rooms, but I am still seeing them as part of the décor when I visit homes for the first time. I am still seeing carts and globes holding a lot of bottles and glasses in plain view.
Photo: Maison 21 on HGTV
Zoffoli, Italy – Classic Renaissance Collection
Home bars versus bar carts might be more acceptable if people are drinking mixed drinks and cocktails that need hard alcohol as one of the ingredients. Home bars hide the sink and bottles under the counter, attractive glasses might be displayed inside glass door cabinets and the entire décor of a home bar creates an interesting corner. One think I really despise is to see a faucet and a sink in plain view in a beautifully decorated living room. The sink in the room gives me the idea of a cheap motel.
Look at the simple and elegant home bar I created in this spacious great room of one of my clients.
An even better alternative solution to the home bars is a trough cut-out on the kitchen counter. Lined with stainless steel pan, the new trough hosts ice, drinks, fruit and spices for cooking, easy to clean, easy to fill and easy for the guests to help themselves. You might want to create a trough in the kitchen and one outdoor for your garden parties.
In case you have a beautiful and valuable, or antique bar cart and do not want to get rid of it, roll it in the dining room to serve a selection of cheeses and desserts as the last courses at the end of a sitting down dinner. That will make a better impression on your guests. 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 the traditional in-house consultations, helping people with their design challenge any where in the world. She is the author of three books, all-available on Amazon: http://goo.gl/xUZfk0 Barnes&Nobles: http://goo.gl/q7dQ3w
Often I study consumer behavior statistics to get to know changes in my market. Some studies say that women are the primary decision makers in almost 90% of all home purchases. In all my projects this statistic has been correct, unless I dealt with single men. In my homeland Italy, we have a saying that goes like this:
“I am the boss, but the person who bosses me around and makes decisions is my wife”.
In my career as a designer, I made many observations on how today’s homes often don’t reflect people’s needs. Generally, the square as shoebox is the most common shape for homes (round shapes are difficult and costly). The shoebox homes have large rooms to fill with stuff and possessions, high ceilings to waste a lot of space and very little attention devoted to the spirit.
If I were a builder, I would pay more attention to people’s living habits. I would make the necessary adjustments to the concept plans to make sure the home has harmony and beauty first, then comfort. Coming home from work should be a pleasant experience, even when we have a lot of chores waiting to get done.
In all my years in design business, I have observed how people enter their homes. The front door is beautifully decorated, but they hardly see it. Home owners reserve to themselves the ugliest part of the house to enter from: the garage, where a pile of laundry, cars, stuff and all the mess will greet them everyday. They reserve the best for the guests: the front door.
During the year, I make a round of visits to my clients’ homes and leave a small token at the door if they are not there. Then, I will call to let them know I was at the house and left a package at their front step, otherwise they will never see it. What is the point of making a surprise visit if I have to tell them to open the front door and pick up my small token? The phone call spoils the surprise.
(Click on each photo to view it larger).
One day, I thought if I were a builder, I would design the house with a back door foyer, where one door would lead to a mudroom/garage and one door would lead to the kitchen. In the back door foyer, I would create a drop zone for the mail, keys and charging area for phones and electronics, that way all that stuff will not end up on the kitchen counter.
The list of areas I don’t like in a modern home is very long. I have spotted a point of disadvantage in all the closets in American homes. They have no window and being positioned just in or outside bathrooms, it’s only natural that clothes smell musty, molded and old. One more thing, people who live with pets, wears the smell of their pets on their clothes. Think about it, just an operable skylight will suffice to get rid of house and pets smells. I get up in the morning and open my bedroom to let fresh air in. I would do it even if I lived in a cold climate. A few minutes of fresh air don’t hurt anyone, it helps clothes smelling fresh and keeps the house healthy.
If I were a builder, I would add a window in all the closets. I would move the linen closet outside the bathroom and find a way to circulate fresh air into it, if there was no possible way to add at least a window.
How about hosting dinner parties and entertainment? I remember a different functionality in European kitchens. We had a small area off the kitchen, closed with a door, where food preparation and cooking took place, we called it the hot kitchen, where there was the essential, a chopping table, a sink, the garbage and the refrigerator, the rest of the kitchen cabinets, storage and small appliances were in the better part of the kitchen. As soon as food was ready, we brought the plates to the table in the better part of the kitchen used for everyday informal eating. This same area was also the place where we had a cup of coffee with close friends, we paid bills, kids often did their homework and we mingled with family. Formal dining room was close to the kitchen, but not close to the hot kitchen, just so the cooking smells would stay away from the formal area. Outside the hot kitchen, we had the spice garden for our cooking needs.
If I were a builder, I would return to the European way of planning the kitchen for real cooks. For people who don’t cook but spend a bundle of money in remodeling the kitchen just to have a good resale value, I suggest to save that money and go on a fantastic trip. People who use microwave to reheating store-bought food don’t need to have a fancy kitchen. Any house will sell for various reasons, not because there is a fancy kitchen in it.
If I were a builder, I would pay attention to open spaces, dual-purpose stairs, I would turn a non-utilized spaces into workable zones and I would pay attention to creative details to build a livable home my way that would embrace soul, mind and body of everyone living in the house.
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As seen on Affluent Living:
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Remember to tell me your story, I will design your dream. Come one over to Facebook, let’s start a new friendship there too. Ciao,
Valentina
A couple of months ago Wisedecor.com contacted me to contribute to each others blog with articles on home subjects. They specialize in personalizing home décor with favorite wall letters, words, quotes & decals to apply in any room with any style. WiseDecor Decorative Lettering offers a fresh and inexpensive way to decorate.
Last week my article Cocooning In The Kitchen was published on their site:
“Do you remember the film Moonstruck with Cher? Many scenes in that film take place in the kitchen. Loretta Castorini (Cher) comes home after Johnny Camereri proposed marriage to her in an Italian restaurant. Her father Cosmo is listening to Opera on the radio in the living room. Loretta wants to announce she is getting married to Johnny Camereri and invites her father to the kitchen for a glass of Italian Spumante. A serious matter is always discussed in the hearth of the house, around the kitchen table! (…).
(…) In most families the kitchen means harmony, it is the cocoon where we find the answers to the majority of our questions in life and where everyday we go back to relax around food.
Today’s kitchens have returned to be the same multi-functional great rooms of the Middle Age, where cooking, entertainment, receiving guests, sleeping and resolving issues happened all through the day. (…)”
Continue reading my article on http://www.wisedecor.com/blog/cocooning-in-the-kitchen
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Today, I am sharing their thoughts on how Cooking Is A Form Of Love and this is the article written by: http://www.wisedecor.com
“The kitchen is the heart of the Italian house. Whereas formal guests are welcomed in the living room and presented with coffees and pastry for relaxed catching-up sessions, members of the family would rather meet around the kitchen table. Meals are scheduled to accommodate different timetables and daily routines and to ensure that everybody can enjoy food together. There is something special about eating with the other members of your family. It is far more than simply feeding and sustaining your body; it is an act of love. As Italians would say, “cucinare è una forma d’amore” (cooking is love made visible), and to share food is the best way to display that love. On one hand, the person in charge of cooking will prepare tasty dishes as a way to tell how much she/he cares for the other family members. On the other hand, those eating will reciprocate that love by eating up what’s on the plate and asking detailed questions about ingredients, origins of the recipe, and difficulties encountered in the preparation. Quite often, the story of how a meal was prepared will initiate other stories about how the recipe was discovered and in which circumstances. As a result, conversations about a specific food will often lead to the narrating of stories about people, places, and occasions that somehow relate to the dish in question. It is fair to say that every recipe carries a story that the cook will happily share to entertain and please her/his loved ones or guests.
Interestingly, keys, wallets and purses will be left in the kitchen, as it is the “safe” of the house – someone will always be there on guard. More importantly, this is the last place you visit before leaving the house to double-check that you have all the necessary items before exiting the house.
It is fairly common to hear Italians talking about food; they exchange recipes, rate restaurants they have been to, and discuss how to improve dishes they have already made. It is fascinating to realize how, whenever in the company of Italian people living abroad or travelling outside of Italy, they always end up talking about food. And yet, this is not due to a lack of other possible topics for conversation, rather it is the concrete expression of the degree to which their upbringing has molded their ways of approaching people and establish relationships. Talking about food is often an icebreaker and also a way to strengthen emotional bonds. This is why there is nothing more accurate than the saying, “it is around the table that friends understand best the warmth of being together” (See the Italian translation for this designed by WiseDecor Wall Decals in Figure 3).
Meals will never be quick and rushed; rather they will extend for hours while several plates are introduced and more bottles of wine opened. Every conversation will start with an assessment of the food presented followed by compliments to the cook and requests to exchange cooking tips. Many other stories will originate from the initial food conversation and plans for new dinners will be made to taste and share new recipes. The length of dinner parties is impressive and the amount of time spent around the kitchen table eating often surprises non-Italians. In fact, it is important to understand that in Italy, to eat is not always directly related to being hungry. Rather, Italians think that “appetite comes with eating”! It is not surprising then to be forced-fed by the cook who will always argue that it is indeed by eating that you will eventually realise how hungry you are. Buon Appetito!”
Valentina is an Italian Interior Designer with a passion for kitchens, cooking and extensive knowledge of food. 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, outdoor kitchens and outdoor rooms, great rooms and entertainment rooms. Copies of her three books are available on
I have been a month in Italy visiting my family and friends and suddenly I noticed something about the kitchen space that should have been very familiar to me, as I had seen it for most of my adult life living in Italy.
Kitchens in Italy are purely functional, no frills, no granite counters, no luxury, only essentials; they are used for cooking only and in some cases to eat in. Casual entertaining happens in the living room, dining with friends or co-workers happens in the dining room and only close friends get invited to sit in the kitchen. Yes, kitchens are the center of the home life as a concept and it is true that most family problems are resolved around the kitchen table and this does happen in Italy too, but Italian kitchens are not conceived as the space in the center of the home. They are located as far as possible from the living quarters enclosed with doors to keep the guests out, or to hide a kitchen not totally made up or clean yet, which by the way, it isn’t a very common scene to find in Italy. Italian kitchens are always spotless, even after an army of family has eaten there. The idea of the kitchen not being in the center of the house is also to keep cooking aromas, odors and vapors away from the rest of the house.
Laundry is often located in the kitchen or near by in the corridor, or on the balcony/terrace where it is easy to just turn around and hang the clothes to dry on the balcony line. It is easier to hang the clothes to dry in the sun and wind, other than being a natural process, as no chemical softener goes into the clothes and saves on electricity. I hang my clothes to dry in the sun even now living in California, where I could have the comfort of all the technology available, but I choose to stay as natural as possible in my house chores.
Taking a closer look at the function of the kitchen in a different country brings me to the observation I had. Due to the location of the kitchen, as I said far from the living quarters and not made in an open floor plan as it is done in America, it is very difficult to snack mindlessly. In Italy when people are finished with their evening meal, they move to a room dedicated to watch T.V., reading, or playing music usually not close to the kitchen.
In America the kitchen is conceived as a great room, where cooking, living, family activities and entertainment share the same space. Slouching down on the sofa to watch T.V. and snack on poor, processed or boxed food is so much easier because kitchen cabinets and refrigerator are looking smack at you and they are in a few steps of reach. Also it is easy to have a late snack before going to bed, just because the kitchen is located conveniently in the middle of the house, something that doesn’t even cross people’s mind in Italy. Once the evening meal is finished, all the eating activities are also completed.
Although I like the open floor plan, I don’t find it particularly warm or private. Often I go into people’s home and I can see a messy kitchen from the entry in plain open view. I must say that when I lived in Italy never paid attention to the functionality, because every kitchen was made with the same simple principal, but now as an interior designer and living in California, I do notice the difference and it would be really hard to propose something different that would bring an entire new concept of living, one of which would be to get rid of snacking, get rid of gracing all day long and late night snack. It might seem strange to hear that the farthest from reach the kitchen is, the easier it is to keep slim. Italian kitchens other than being very modern, also serve that purpose and I like that.
If you need help with planning your kitchen space, please do not hesitate to contact me, I am here to help. 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 unattractive spaces into castles, but especially loves to design kitchens and wine grottos, outdoor kitchens and outdoor rooms, great rooms and entertainment rooms. Valentina is also the author of two published books on Italian regional cuisine. Her books are available on
Most of you know the kitchen is my favorite room, I like to design it and I like to live in it. In my family, the kitchen is the place to resolve our difficulties and the place where we invite the real friends to sit. (Click on each photo to view it larger).
I executed my schoolwork on the kitchen table, where I could be part of my family life, instead of being closed in my room alone.
Most of the kitchens of today are conveniently located near the garage or entry door and just because it is convenient turns into in a dumping ground for mail, bills, magazine and stuff.
Nowadays we got so complicated we must have Feng Shui in the kitchen too, but when I was growing up we called it common sense. Here you will find some of my life habits on how to keep the kitchen in harmony with the soul.
* September is the month of cleaning the kitchen cupboards inside and out. Prepare the kitchen for the coming holidays, make room for new serving dishes and cooking equipment you might buy this Fall. Some are so inviting!
This is the time you will get the opportunity to throw away or donate all the items you don’t want anymore. Get rid of those non-matching plates and glasses that have lost their companions. Cupboards need to be completely emptied out of contents at least every change of season to keep a clean positive energy in the kitchen. If the job feels too overwhelming, get help, there are plenty people out there who want to do this kind of work.
Keep all the bills in the home office, study, or any room dedicated to office/school tasks, but please don’t take the bills in the bedroom. Kitchen functions are for cooking, tasting, and conversations. Keep everything else out of it, unless you have a dedicated desk in a corner of the kitchen.
Today we see mail with suspicion. Mail is no longer welcomed, as when a letter arrived from far away, or we received friendly cards from people we knew. Today we get bombarded with emails and our post mail is filled with advertisements and junk mail. Stand by a fireplace or trash when reading the mail of the day and don’t even let it in the kitchen.
Recycle all the store plastic bags you bring home with food or other items. I reuse them as garbage bags and I have no need to buy more plastics. Recycle also any paper bags for other uses, such as packaging wrap, for more shopping, or to keep in the car as garbage bags. In my garage, I have two containers, one for recycled plastic bags and one for paper bags rolled up neatly.
Organize all the food plastic containers, find the matching lids and keep them together in one place. Throw away containers without lids. The same applies to cooking tools. There is nothing more irritating than being in need of a cooking tool ready for the task and instead finding a tangle up mess of tools in the kitchen cabinet drawers.
(photo: BHG)
If kitchen space will not allow to store large pots, baking pans or slow cookers, take these items to an adjacent closet.
Appliances garage and roll out shelves are designed on purpose to keep small appliances out of sight and counters neatly clean.
I like to keep my expensive chef knives in a drawer with a magnet to keep the knives from sliding back and forth and to protect the tips.
To have a fresh lemony air in the kitchen, put lemon peels in the sink garbage disposal, lemon peel in the dishwasher utensil tray and lemon potpourri sachet in each kitchen drawer and cabinets.
I don’t like my kitchen steamed up with cooking vapors, not only it creates condensation, but the odors will stay in the house, especially if the kitchen has an open floor plan communicating with other rooms. The vapors and grease will go up to ceiling and will come down on the upholstered furniture. Keeping windows opened during cooking will redirect vapors outside and you might hear the wild birds singing at you for the good aroma you are producing in the kitchen.
Have you thought of a calendar for family activities and one for weekly menus? My mother added a comment at the very top of our weekly menu calendar: “If any of you don’t like this week menu, there are plenty restaurants that will take your money”. Needless to say we, teenagers kids ate at home all the time.
Prepare your table with a tablecloth and napkins, every time you eat at the table, even if you eat alone. Feeding your soul with beauty and comfort will distract your stomach from overeating.
Enjoying fresh food prepared in the kitchen, to me this is an important ritual. Kitchen and food nourish and bound the family together.
Kids who grew up with good food and pleasant kitchen atmosphere will always want to return home even after they have formed their life.
(Photo right found on: http://www.magazyndomowy.pl/przechowywanie-w-kuchni/zdjecie/14971/)
I am here ready to help, if you need to organize your kitchen and feel really overwhelmed with the task, just leave your name in the box below.
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 the author of two published books on regional Italian cuisine, available here in this site on the Books page and in various other locations:
I have always made claims that kitchens look like soldiers lined up for a parade when cabinets are all the same size, when the look is uniform, when there is no change of colors, wood, nor striking details.
(Photo: http://www.pecorellaarredi.it/cucine-in-muratura/w4u/prodotti/66268,7,133323)
My idea of a fun kitchen is exactly the opposite. I like to see cabinets with different heights, some accent colors, some accent wood species, I like to see fenestration with glass and interior lights and especially I don’t like granite counters. So many varieties of stone material, why limit the choice to granite?
The primary characteristic of the kitchen is to store cooking and serving equipment. That function remains in any style, whether it is modern, classic, country, elegant, or funky. If the kitchen function is utilitarian and of service then why not design it with style in mind, with cabinets which give movement and rhythm to the space?
I love to add unique details to coordinate with a personal taste. I love to create warm and refined atmosphere, with quality and robust material that will last in time, thus break the monotony of “all alike and uniform” cabinets.
I am a big believer in savings, even when designing kitchens. I am showing here a new way Italian manufacturers design kitchens in the walls. They are beautiful, stylish and made to save even without the typical exterior sides.
(Photo found on http://www.tuttocasaesposi.it)
Basically the kitchen is made only of solid wood doors, interior shelves are also made of wood, but the interior walls are made of usual sheet rock and painted to taste. Cabinets are recessed and flush with the walls, so they don’t stand in attention. The interior is as spacious as you like it to be, no need to stay with the standard solutions 18”-24”-27” and so on, doors will follow the interior width.
The idea is to save on material and to attribute a feel of lived antiquity and rusticity while still having all the modernity of appliances and equipment. Of course the choices of style are endless, even contemporary.
The details on walls and hardware will beautify these kind of fitted kitchens, even an elegant chandelier, totally unrelated to the rustic style will look so appropriate, suitable for those people who love to surround themselves with beautiful and exclusive things.
The style of fitted kitchen has been seen only in Europe so far, but if you like to know more about it, or if you would like to install a kitchen in your home like these samples, I am here to help, just place your name below in the box. 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 unattractive spaces into castles, but especially loves to design kitchens and wine grottos. She is the author of three books available on Amazon: http://goo.gl/xUZfk0 Barnes&Nobles: http://goo.gl/q7dQ3w
Brazilian Cherry and Pecan wood inlay. This is the kitchen among many of my designs that Avaliving selected to feature this week. The area where the refrigerator used to be became a space for wines and an area where to taste cheeses, slicing prosciutto, basically an area where to prepare aperitif. The tall floor to ceiling cabinet hosts sixty bottles of red wines on roll-out shelves. Clients did not really require a temperature controlled room for the red wines, as they use them every day with friends and family visiting often. A small refrigerator for white wines under the granite counter top was necessary to free the space in the family refrigerator, already bursting with food serving two growing boys and the family entertainments.
I strategically placed this wine area between the new door to the dining room and the chef pantry. The supplies such as crackers, toothpicks, dried nuts, fruits and stuff for aperitif are now kept close by the wines and the wines have easy access to the dining area with a new passageway, saving the owner a trip around the wall.
Planning a well-functioning kitchen is not just about designing cabinetry to stuff the walls, but it’s about letting all the spaces communicating with each others and their function.
The “anticato” tile floor I added really suited the clients who are Italians and like me, they don’t care that the floor or counters show a little ring of wines here and there, the signs of a good time and the sign of a lived home. Natural stones will leave with us and will become beautiful when they start showing the sign of life, just like our stones in Europe are living through centuries and everyone admires their beauty.
This wine area was part of the entire kitchen remodeling with family and dining rooms included.
There you have it, another example of how I can change a kitchen from an unattractive 1970 cooking area into a contemporary dining, cooking and entertainment showcase. Thanks to Avaliving featuring it this week, more people will have the chance to admire it.
I am available to consult with the wine lovers out there and to design a fabulous space fit for Bacchus. Ciao,
Valentina http://www.valentinadesigns.com
Valentina Cirasola is an Italian Interior Designer with a passion for kitchens and cooking. She has been operating in the USA and Europe since 1990. She loves to remodel homes and loves to turn unattractive spaces into castles, but especially loves to design kitchens and wine grottos. She is also the author of two Italian regional cookbooks:
I like to fantasize about a period décor, the antiquity, traditions, elegant woods, beautiful but simple furniture, how about you? Perhaps you see yourself sipping a glass of aged Bordeaux wine while sitting by a carved stone fireplace, you know, that kind which has a large mouth and a very tall mantel. I remember one of those in my grandmother’s home when I used to stand in it and feel completely tall. It is a nice feeling to go back in time and sense the enveloping of classicism and the warm atmosphere of the past. Do you like to smell the wood and do you appreciate looking at the craftsmanship of artisans who worked on wood like a sweet poetry? Then you would like “Arte Povera” in your home.
Arte Povera, literally “Poor Art” is a movement which started in Italy in the decade between 1960 and 1970 by the Italian art critic and curator Germano Celant. It sprung up as a rebellion and as a rejection of the convoluted and massive Italian furniture used before World War II. Urban artists from Genova, Milano, Torino and Roma exhibited their works in various galleries showing a new concept of making art using poor and recycled materials and bringing art into a new dimension. The ‘60s in Italy were turmoil times, every level of culture was attacked by cynicism, skepticism and rejection of the past, but it was also a time which a new consumerism was embraced. Italy, as the whole Europe was enjoying a new post-war wealth, consuming every possible merchandise was a very attractive idea. I remember the first Vesta and Lambretta (mopeds) and the first, very exciting Fiat 500. What a jewels they were! Contradiction, modernity and simplicity marked the ‘60s in Italy.
Arte Povera as I said started as a rejection of the heavy and classic bourgeois art of the past. The new concept of furnishing in the ‘60s was conceived with simplicity in mind, taking inspiration from the simple woods and linear shapes of the farms and country life, but some other furnishing were made with new everyday materials, interchangeable, vibrant colors, anything and everything was used as the new material, making Arte Povera so modern and surprisingly contemporary even for this new millennium.
Last year I went on vacation and spent a few days at a B&B in the Salento area, a southern Italian region. The architecture was a typical farm-house with stone walls and vaulted ceiling also made of stones. Furnishing was made of decape’ farmer’s pieces and soothing colors. My room was beautifully elegant in its simplicity of Arte Povera, it was very homey and cozy, but the price was not at all poor. I must say that since in Italy furnishing in the Arte Povera style is in high demand, it has become very expensive.
Decape’ style, or Shabby Chic is one style comprised in the Arte Povera. This is the perfect style to renovate old furniture that has little value. With a few paint techniques, it is possible to exalt the simple beauty of an old piece and to create a romantic retro environment.
In the kitchen I have designed for one of my client (photo), the kitchen cabinets were made of oak stained in dark walnut, the client brought in an old dining table from a farmer that really added character to the kitchen room. The look we were after was that of a country Italian kitchen, but every detail was well-studied and executed with the same care and passion characteristic of the poor farmers making their own furniture by hand. (Click on each photo to view it larger).
My experience of decades in interior designing allows me to rebuild or restore any décor by taking care of the small details that will change your home into a master piece, even if it is decorated as a “Poor Art”. If you have a creative vein, you can tackle a project of refinishing a piece of furniture in the decape’ or poor art style, but if you want a well-researched and sophisticated look in the Arte Povera you should consider working with a professional. This is why many people are discovering the benefits of working with me as their trusted interior designer and consultant, someone who can make you feel at home in all of your dreams and decisions. Ciao,
Valentina Cirasola is an Italian Interior Designer in business since 1990. She loves to remodel homes and loves to turn unattractive spaces into castles. 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. Check out her books on Amazon: http://goo.gl/xUZfk0 Barnes&Nobles: http://goo.gl/q7dQ3w
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
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