#LivingRoomDesign | Valentina Expressions

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

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

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