#LivingRoomColors | Valentina Expressions

Let’s Fix This Room, Shall We? | Valentina Cirasola | Interior Designer

22 Aug 2017 2 Comments

by Valentina in Home Designs Master Tags: #ColorfulInteriors, #FurnitureCoordination, #LivingRoomColors, #LivingRoomDesign, #LivingRoomFurniture, #SpacePlanning

At times, my home projects with clients fly by at the speed of light without even knowing how they happened. Other times, they come to a halt due to vacation time, kids interrupting schedules, hectic daily life, disagreement between husband and wife or for no reason at all. This is one of those cases. We started this room somewhere around February of this year and here we are, in the middle of August, with an unfinished, unwelcoming room.

I had to wait for walls to be painted, electrical system to be completed and the floor to be restained. The floor now is an attractive distressed, warm greige and a very elegant floor, so different from the previous butcher block floor. After all of that necessary work was done, it was time to choose furniture and sometimes that process can take a long, long time, depending on how clients react to ideas, style and colors, or how fast they take decisions. The secret of making fast decisions when choosing furniture is about answering three questions:
Prices – can you afford it?
Colors – do you like it?
Sizes – does it fit?
However, for people is never so cut and dry as it is for someone like me, trained not to waste time.

(Click on each photo to view it larger).

(Above: the unfinished room as it is now)

So far, we have a red sofa, a laguna color Coletta chair, a rustic credenza with metal profiles and a beige cuddle chair. These pieces look disjointed in the room, the element that will function as trait-d’union between all the colors is missing and the project is not moving forward. I had envisioned a colorful room, a space vibrating with interesting and whimsy elements.The room has been dull for so long and that would have been a good enough reason to fix it fast. Ouch, I must wait to see my vision realized and work at people’s pace. 🙃

Many times, I must deal with people’s fear of colors and their preconceived ideas that colors will tire them and the room. The result is a fight with their emotions.
How can anyone get tired of colors?
My role as your designer is to calm souls, emotions and to convince that colors can only help them get out of the boredom of vanilla living.

(Above: my proposed concept of furniture)

The room needs a punch with a golden-yellow element to pull the golden tones of the walls together with furniture (a yellow chair). I want to add warm wood elements to contrast the subdued distressed floors (side tables, floor lamp) and warm elegant metals to elevate the metal of the credenza (lamp metals, coffee table).

(Above: my proposed pillows)

To complete the picture, I would like to see colorful pillows in yellow, red, orange and bluish to blend everything, just like a tasty cocktail. How can anyone get tired of this moderately colored room?
If it looks good on paper, it will look good in the room. Shall we fix and finish this room? Ciao,
Valentina
http://www.valentinadesigns.com

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 have loved my profession as an interior-fashion designer since 1990. I am here ready to offer consultations on-line if you need. Check out my latest book on the subject of colors, available on
Amazon: http://goo.gl/qNxXrB
Barnes&Nobles: http://goo.gl/q7dQ3w

Your Fire Is An Element | Valentina Cirasola | Interior Designer

09 Aug 2016 Leave a comment

by Valentina in Home Designs Master Tags: #AmantiFireplace, #FireplaceDesign, #LivingRoomColors, #LivingRoomDesign, #ModernFireplace, #REDColor, #RedVoyageIntoColors, #WallMountedFireplace

We have the same fascination today with fireplaces as our ancestors did when central heating had not been invented yet and fireplaces were the only source of heat. The difference is that today we are heavily submersed under city rules and regulations to save the earth and cannot use the fireplace as we would like.

In a few years, the sound of crackling fire and the smell of wood burning will be only a memory for those who have experienced it. I remember my grandmother’s large mouth fireplace where, as a girl, I stood inside just for fun, it was used for heating, to cook in, to dry clothes and when the fire wasn’t on, occasionally I played inside with my brothers. (Click on each photo to view it larger).

(fireplace in the design phase)

At this time, I am dismantling a fireplace in a client’s home (photo above) and we must abide to the city regulations. We are looking at a very contemporary style electric wall mounted fireplace controlled with a remote device.

(Ikea Ideas For Small Living Room Living Room With Fireplace Modern Stone Fireplaces)

A lush meadow with tall trees surrounds the house, the exterior environment feels very mountainous and even a train that goes by every so often contributes to the romance of the view. For this, I want to evoke nature by adding in the interior décor some elements of leather, animal prints, weaved fabric, baskets, wines and wine décor. I want to create also an enveloping feeling with a good ambience light, which communicates with the vitality of fire in the wall.

(Above: elitetile porcelana 12.2″ x 12.2″ porcelain field tile in pebblestone)

Triangles are the ideal symbolic shapes to create harmony with fire. I thought of treating the fireplace wall with stone cladding installed in triangles. These are pieces of veneer stones, pebbles or wood already set in a 12”x12” mesh easy to install. An alternative and less expensive solution would be to paint the new fireplace wall in a two-tone diamond shape or metallic faux finish.

Each of these treatments will turn the fireplace wall in the focal point of the room, thus a contrasting color and texture from the rest of the room are a must.

(Above wall finish from http://www.gspaintingpaloalto.com)

I see red somewhere in the new living room. Fire is red with all the warm colors of the spectrum: yellow, orange and even purple. Repeating the same red of the adjacent dining room either on the new fireplace wall or in one piece of furniture will make this living room socially happy.

I will need my client’s fire to complete the room and to play the game of textures with colors. Creativity craves passion and courage, this is what’s all about when creating a space. Ciao,
Valentina
http://www.valentinadesigns.com

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 have loved my profession as an interior-fashion designer since 1990. I am here ready to offer consultations on-line if you need.
Check out my latest book on colors ©RED-A Voyage Into Colors, available on
Amazon: http://goo.gl/qNxXrB
Barnes&Nobles: http://goo.gl/q7dQ3w

Autumn Leaves Inspiration | Valentina Cirasola | Interior Designer

21 Oct 2013 2 Comments

by Valentina in Home Designs Master Tags: #AutumnColors, #ColorTheory, #LivingRoomColors, #MyPersonalAToZChallenge, #NatureInspiration, #OnLineDesignServices, #RedVoyageIntoColors, #ValentinaInteriorsDesigns

Welcome to my personal A to Z Challenge on the subject of Home. The goal, in a year time, is to elaborate and dissect topics regarding the Home not as containers of stuff, but as a cocoon for the soul, mind, and heart.
I will touch on decorations, style, trends, history of home and sometimes technical information.

**********

A new on-line client from France hired me to compose a warm color scheme complete with furniture suggestions that is in tune with her Autumn archetype. I went to my nearby park to get inspiration. The leaves are yellowish, brown, burgundy and if I stand in the right light I can see undertone colors like lavender, grey or chocolate. The jewel tones of the Autumn are amazing and really suit me. Fortunately, this new client likes them too.
I took many pictures of the leaves fallen on the ground and studied them in-depth. The yellow color in the Autumn leaves, although beautiful, indicates that the chlorophyll and oxygen are gone, therefore the leaves are lifeless and fall to the ground. The yellow has many undertones, from sandy color to golden beige and brown. Some grayish leaves with lilac tones spotted with burgundy really intrigued me. Amazing how something lifeless as these leaves still retains an attractive beauty!

The palettes for my French client contains all the colors I saw in dead leaves transferred in the furnishing and accessories suggestion. I gave her two solutions, one with walls in Grey and the other with walls in Chocolate Brown as shown in my video. Each background color sets a different mood.

Autumn Leaves

Autumn Leaves Color Chips

Autumn Inspiration with Brown Walls

Autumn Inspiration with Gray Walls

Burgundy Inspiration with Sky Blue Walls

Of course, I can go with a hotter color scheme in burgundy, light brown, beige and Sky Blue on the walls. With this third color scheme, I will substitute the silver console with a piece of furniture in brown or sand color.

While I am waiting for the client’s response, I would like to know which of these color schemes is your preference?
Designing on-line is not any difficult than designing in loco. The challenges and the energy are the same, except that I am not physically on the project and a lot of things I do, become the client’s work, like overseeing the project development and managing contractors.

Sharing is caring. Ciao,
Valentina
http://www.valentinadesigns.com

It’s my hope that through my writing I am enriching your aesthetic sensibility towards design, style and inspire you to live in beauty. I have loved my profession as an interior designer since 1990. I am here ready to offer consultations on-line if you need it. Check out my latest book on colors
©RED-A Voyage Into Colors, available on

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

Hot Fireplace | Valentina Cirasola | Interior Designer

07 Dec 2010 Leave a comment

by Valentina in Home Designs Master Tags: #Fireplace, #FireplaceDesign, #HomeInteriors, #HomeRemodeling, #LivingRoomColors, Avaliving, Decorating

I am so happy to start my Monday with the news that one of my project is featured on Ava until next Monday, a site where designers can interact and connect with potential clients anywhere in the world without having to travel. Ava’s site is a place where anyone looking for home solutions can find it there and learn from the experts. Every week AvaLiving has a theme and based on that it features the best submitted designs.
This week theme is: Hot Fireplaces.

I presented my project in Foster City, California of an interested fireplace in the living room with attached built-in unit.
This room was part of the entire home remodeling. Clients had no preconceived idea of any style, or decor. They were open to any suggestions. The only request was that the T.V. would not be on top of the mantel, as it is usually seen in most homes. A fireplace is for enjoying fire, while reading a good book, or sipping wines in company of friends. A crackling fire should be a cozy background for watching T.V.

In designing this fireplace I had a few challenges: two windows on both sides of the fireplace and not enough clean walls to place a larger plasma T.V. as the client requested.
The result of my studies of the room was to design a built-in unit attached to the mantel to make it visually looking as one continuous wall. The built-in unit would include a short bookcase, a smaller plasma T.V., storage for DVD/CDs and the fireplace itself.
The fireplace’s stones came from the work done in other areas of the house. Being budget conscious I make sure no material goes to waste, as usual in all my projects. The iron stone was very expensive, it was a good thinking to use the left over for the hearth application. As the professional who is always ready, I shall be prompt and ready to help you with any of your design needs, whether it will be decorating, designing, or remodeling.

I am honored to be featured on AvaLiving, thank you Ava for your support. Life is good at Valentina Interiors & Designs. Ciao,
Valentina
http://www.valentinadesigns.com

Valentina Cirasola has been in business as a designer since 1990. She has helped a variegated group of fun people realizing their dreams with homes, offices, interiors and exteriors. She is a designer well-known to bring originality to people’s homes. As an Italian designer and true to her origins, she provides only the best workmanship and design solutions. Check out her books on
Amazon: http://goo.gl/xUZfk0
Barnes&Nobles: http://goo.gl/q7dQ3w