#ValentinaInteriorsDesigns | Valentina Expressions

Objects | Valentina Cirasola | Interior Designer

25 Jul 2015 2 Comments

by Valentina in The Good Life Tags: #FingerFood, #MixedNuts, #PeanutDish, #Peanuts, #RedVoyageIntoColors, #ValentinaInteriorsDesigns, #WarmNuts

The object I buy for my home must have a double function: be stylish and useful. One without the other for me is always a deterrent from buying on impulse. Last month, I was browsing in a home décor store for new ideas and found a cute white ceramic peanut dish with a texture of a peanut imprinted on the exterior surface. I am a lover of warm nuts served with a glass of red wine or a cold beer regardless of the season. I think the taste is enhanced when nuts are warm.

As you all know nuts are a good source of protein and they are a type of sociable food, you cannot have only one nut without having a few more, while conversation flows and time passes in good company. They are perfect munchies for playing cards, watching a film or visiting with friends. In my house often I serve warm nuts at the end of a dinner with a cheese selection.

The peanut dish looks like a giant peanut. It is oven, microwave and dishwasher safe. It makes a great gift for any occasion at the magic price of only $7.95, available at any local and online CB2 stores, made in China…. oh well…..

Before presenting it to someone as a gift, fill it up with mixed nuts and put a nice bow around it, or create a good looking package.

This discovery could have not happened at a better time, in fact as soon as august hits, I keep my eyes open for gifts to people I want to reward at the holidays, thus I will stock a few of them now.
There you have it a useful and stylish home object, which looks good as table center piece even when not in use. How many objects do you have in your home that have a double function? Ciao,
Valentina
http://www.valentinadesigns.com

Copyright © 2015 Valentina Cirasola, All Rights Reserved
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 anywhere in the world. She is the author of three books, all-available on
Amazon: http://goo.gl/xUZfk0
Barnes&Nobles: http://goo.gl/q7dQ3w

Changing Your Perspective | Valentina Cirasola | Interior Designer

19 Jun 2015 Leave a comment

by Valentina in Home Designs Master Tags: #Digital#MuralImage, #Murals, #PhotoMural, #RedVoyageIntoColors, #ValentinaInteriorsDesigns, #WallPhotos

How many times I am tempted to cover a long wall with a city view, or a path in the nature!!! Often in my clients’ home I have to go through the process of finding the right wall paint color, only to cover it afterward with photos, prints and paintings or memorabilia, when, in reality, that large wall lends itself for the biggest digital image mural.

Just picture sitting in your home office and look at the view of Manhattan or an inviting warm beach. Granted it might distract you from working and wished you were there. In some people could create the opposite effect, but I find that looking at pretty views is very inspiring and brings out my best ideas.

Wall26Store – Etsy

Etsy-Wall26Stores

Wall26Store – Etsy

You could be looking at a city street in one of the foreign countries you have visited that brings sweet traveling memories. Do you want to feel calm and relaxed? Choose a lake view or a meadow view photo and turn it into a print.

Found on: brewsterwallcovering.com

In the ‘70s mural prints were in fashion for the first time, but they required a lot of glue emitting VOC – Volatile organic compounds, which are organic chemicals that have a high vapor pressure at ordinary room temperature. Today wall prints are eco-friendly, safe for you and the environment. There are companies that will turn your favorite photo into a digital mural print. The process is not any more expensive than applying wallpaper. I added a link below, check it out. http://www.worldwidewallmurals.com

Your large digital print will open up the room, your perspective will change and you will feel an integral part of the scenery. 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

Coastal Atmosphere In Your Home | Valentina Cirasola | Interior Designer

09 Apr 2015 Leave a comment

by Valentina in Home Designs Master Tags: #CoastalColors, #Corals, #HowToDecorateWithShells, #LifeOnTheCoast, #RedVoyageIntoColors, #SeaColors, #ValentinaInteriorsDesigns

Coastal decorating to me is ephemeral. Picture for one moment the colors of the water reflected on the walls and the next moment sun rays reverberating on the water and then again on the walls of your home. Coastal decoration is breezy, it must recreate the soft wind that carries the music of a wind chime and the echo of the sea in a large conch shell. Coastal decoration is also rustic, sandy and weathered as the seawater creates a patina on anything it touches. These are the feelings and atmospheres we want to create when decorating in the coastal style.

Coastal Colors my way

Sea Cockles-Photo found on http://www.pescherialoscoglio.it/frutti-di-mare.html

My shells collection

https://www.etsy.com/listing/75945106/sea-foam-green-whelk-seashell-air-plant

This style requires texturing, that means eliminating slipperiness and glossiness. The essence of a coastal effect is to keep everything as natural as possible. It is a celebration of tactile qualities where one can imagine telling a story of mariners and navigations. It is important to use opaque material, salvaged or rustic, weathered-beaten materials that are warm and cozy like driftwood, burlap fabrics and cord or rope materials often used as trims.
To perceive a soft lulling sense of the sea waves, window covers must be light, soft, easily to drape and often very sheer.

Colors are interesting, because most people would decorate using a lot of white, blues and aqua colors, but if we look at the underwater world, we will find an array of beautiful colors. In the underwater world there are coral banks ranging from beautiful orange color to purplish, white, cream and even greenish. The seabed has vegetation and algae ranging from all the grey tones, all the blue tones, all the green tones, to sage, pale yellow, and purple and even rose colors. Let’s not forget the colors of all the fish, some of which are multicolored and then all the variegated shells varying from beige and white tones to even brown tones, black, grey, blues and on and on.

To give a finishing touch, succulent plants tucked away in shells and glass topiary full of sand and driftwood would be perfect.

Nautical Theme – Model Kitchen

Colors and Material – Kitchen

Colors and Material Story Board – Living Room

A few years ago, one of my clients in Italy decided to decorate most of his home in coastal style. I called that project: “Stories of Navigations” because the client had been a life time long-distance navigator on merchant ships. Using his memories and his tales to decorate his home, my goal was to let him re-live his sea affairs. To reminding him of his distant voyages in exotic lands, I reproduced the original ancient maps he collected and pasted them on the walls of his living room. I used nautical ropes as curtain tiebacks, I placed lot of brass metals here and there as we see them on old ships, galleons and even modern yachts. The fabrics of upholstery were rough canvas, jute fabrics, striped cotton and burlap fabrics. The kitchen was huge fun to design. I found a company that specializes on nautical kitchen and other furniture. On the kitchen cabinets, the details were ship’s portholes and a lot of brass hardware. The floor was spectacular. I found a bluish-green marble that really echoed the swaying of seawater. The choice was between blue-green marble or blue painted hardwood floor. The choice was hard, as both floor solutions were very attractive. At the end marble won.

If you live on the water, refresh your home with “cool” ideas and if you need me, I am here to help. Ciao,
Valentina
http://www.valentinadesigns.com

Valentina Cirasola is an Italian Interior Designer working in the USA and Europe since 1990, specializing in kitchen, bath, wine cellar, and outdoor kitchen designs. 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 and on RAI, Italian National TV.
Author of three published books, the latest ©RED – A Voyage Into Colors is on the subject of colors.
Amazon: http://goo.gl/qNxXrB
Barnes&Nobles: http://goo.gl/q7dQ3w

Playing With My Marsala | Valentina Cirasola | Interior Designer

12 Mar 2015 2 Comments

by Valentina in Home Designs Master Tags: #2015Colors, #2015Marsala #2015PantoneColors, #MarsalaColor, #MarsalaWine, #RedVoyageIntoColors, #ValentinaInteriorsDesigns

I cannot be happier than this year choice of color: Marsala. It is a rich color, it feels velvety and opulent, it’s ruby undertone is warm and when it bounces off the walls on your skin will give you a special glow, in fact everyone with any color skin tone can wear this colors.
To some people it might feel a bit dark when used it in an interior space, but the idea is to feel enveloped. However, if the walls are painted in Marsala color the floor must be made of a light color, that is just one of the basic rules of designing regardless of colors. Adding light color furniture and mirrored furniture is one other way to avoid feeling closed-in by dark walls and I will never stress enough about lighting, which is something people don’t pay much attention to. Lighting is a vital feature for a successful décor and to feel in harmony with your space.
(Click on each photo to view it larger).

(Photo above: Pantone)

Here, I have prepared a couple of boards to give you ideas how to combine Marsala with cool aqua green and custard color together for a younger and modern décor, or how to combine it with a mixture of texture to achieve a more traditional and eclectic look.

Texturize it, explore new feelings and express it your way.

When in doubt call the expert, me!!! I am always available for new adventures. It’s alway easier to row the boat with two people. Ciao,
Valentina
http://www.valentinadesigns.com

Valentina Cirasola is an Italian Interior Designer working in the USA and Europe since 1990, specializing in kitchen, bath, wine cellar, and outdoor kitchen designs. 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

Timeless Venetian Style | Valentina Cirasola | Interior Designer

17 Feb 2015 Leave a comment

by Valentina in Home Designs Master Tags: #LaSerenissima, #ValentinaInteriorsDesigns, #VenetianCostumes, #VenetianDécor, #VenetianFlooring, #VenetianInteriors, #VeniceStyle, #VenitianColors

We are in full Carnival time, a short period of the year to be licentious until Mardi Gras (Fat Tuesday) when all will end. This joyful celebration inspires me to create some Venetian interior. In decorating a home interior we can choose from so many styles: French, Asian, American, English, contemporary, antique, just to name a few, or we can have a theme like beach, country, eclectic, Bohemian, shabby chic and so on. If celebrations inspire us for instance we can decorate in the mood and colors of 4^th of July, Thanksgiving or Christmas. However a lot of the styles I mentioned are seasonal, Venetian style is a timeless style and not only for Mardi Gras. Have you seen Joan River’s home?

(John_OBrien_Artist)

To understand a particular style it is important to know the history of that period to gain some insight of what shaped a particular style and why people accepted it.

The story of a Venetian style happened many centuries ago when Venice was a very wealthy republic, peaceful and productive. Venice’s name was La Serenissima meaning the Very Serene, because Venetians were financially stable, politically powerful and did not fight with neighboring countries. Instead Venetians people traded goods with foreign countries and the Far East, especially after Marco Polo went to China through the Silk Road and brought back to Venice a new way of decorating with silk fabrics for interiors, Oriental vases and potteries, new spices to enhance food and new fabric for both men and women fashion.

The result of Venetians being peaceful and wealthy people was that they embrace lavish parties, hence the introduction of dressing up with elaborate costumes and masks at Carnival time.

The homes of wealthy Venetian Republic were highly luxurious decorated with valuable material and furniture. One of the items that still goes strong is a particular red marble called Rosso Verona used for flooring. It grows in the area and it has been largely used through the years in monuments, churches and museums. Venice sits on water, the colors of a Venetian interior reflect all the colors of the water, blues, light greens, aqua and as the sun rises or falls the warm sunrays reflect on the water, which at time becomes light pink, light purple or light blue and even light grey.

(photo: http://medievalwalltapestry.com)

Fashion had a lot of influence on the interiors as well. The silk fabrics that Marco Polo brought back were also used for the upholstery. Men and women used the same colors. It was common to see a man with a light pink jerkin, yellow silk stockings and cream ruffled shirt, as much as it was common to see a woman in a purple dress with Chartreuse shoes.

(photo: http://www.artlib.ru/index.php?id=11&idp=15&fp=2&uid=10833&iid=137048&idg=0&user_serie=0)

Venice is mostly a grey foggy and cold town, to counterbalance the grey colors of the outside a traditional Venetian interior is cheerful but delicate, it reflects the colors of the water, delicate pastels, mix of floral and a lot of cream colors.
A traditional Venetian interior is not complete without bombe’ and hand-painted type of furniture, heavy upholstery in burgundy colors to echo the wines Venetians drink and gold accessories and home trimmings to echo the gold of the jewelry they once traded on. Fabrics are usually brocade, damask, silk and velvet. Flooring is often a very dark hardwood, or a very common Rosso Verona marble, or checkered designs and heavily composition of mosaics. The windows are always embellished with panes of stained glass.

(Above photo found on: http://www.marblerome.com)

In modern Venetians interiors, the décor changes dramatically. We might still see a beautiful decorate marble floor, but with modern, industrial lighting, light-colored walls, colorful seating and contrasting color pillows, rug and accessories. Another modern decor might be an all white interior with silver-grey faux finished walls with pastel accessories and colorful paintings on the walls, artistic masks and oversized Venetian blown glass here and there. Let’s not forget Venice is the capital of extraordinary blown glass creations. The modern Venetian curtains might be made of sheer material in pastel colors or totally white.

(Cristiani-Marmo)

Even though time in Venice has remained still, the interiors have evolved. A Venetian interior today can have the features of Venice like the light colors and pastels, the fabulous floor of marble work and stunning blown glass without the heavy velvet, damask and brocade fabrics.

Transforming a space in a period style or in a particular theme takes knowledge. The first step in any design project is gathering inspiration. How can you know which elements to choose for your space if you do not know history?
Happy Mardi Gras. Ciao,
Valentina
http://www.valentinadesigns.com

Valentina Cirasola is a trained  Interior Designer  in business since 1990. She is the owner and principal designer of her company: Valentina Interiors & Designs. Being Italian born and raised, Valentina’s design work has been influenced by Classicism and timeless style. She will create your everyday living with a certain luxury without taking away a comfortable living. Find Valentina’s three books on
Amazon: http://goo.gl/xUZfk0
Barnes&Nobles: http://goo.gl/q7dQ3w

Embrace A New Beginning In A Cold Season | Valentina Cirasola | Interior Designer

15 Jan 2015 Leave a comment

by Valentina in Home Designs Master Tags: #2015NewBeginning, #FabricTextures, #LEDLight, #ValentinaInteriorsDesigns, #WhiteColorScheme, #WhiteWinterColors, Illumination

New year is a time for a new beginning and new home editing. Yes, the house needs to be edited every season, the same as everybody calls de-cluttering.

Spirit and Soul – If you believe in Feng Shui now is the time to consult an expert of this science or a book to make sure all the elements in a room are in harmony. Spring and summer are too far away and Christmas glitters are all gone. This is a time the Northern Hemisphere suffers most cold and it is grey or white most of the days, so why not embrace and celebrate each day of the year, not just the preordained November and December? This time of the year is perfect to celebrate the promises of something new and the life that is growing under the snow and cold weather. There is not much going on this month of January, why not clean inside all the closets, kitchen cupboards and free the spaces of old cosmetics, clothes and shoes? Feng Shui or not you should edit your environment to let a new energy in. Our home should reflect feeling and the mood of coziness of this season.

Colors and Paint – This is the time to refresh the paint of crown moldings and kickboards if a few years have passed since last time they were painted. The same applies to refreshing the paint of a few rooms, especially the most used ones, like kitchen and baths. A new paint job should be done every two years as a house cleaning practice and to update to current colors. Alternatively, to offset the grey and white of the outside, you might want to experiment with rich, deeper colors to add warmth or soft pastels to encourage spring.

Winter color combination

http://www.bellanottelinens.com/home/BNL-15/

https://www.modishstore.com/collections/coat-racks

Maite Onate – Unsplash

(photos via Pinterest)

However there are always people who will want to decorate with white and neutrals colors regardless of seasons. First thing to do is darken the floor to anchor the white colored décor and to make it not seem aloof. Then, create a warm ambience with special lighting that comes from corners, behind or underneath furniture and from inside the fireplace. In some areas burning wood is now prohibited and the beautiful, stylish, or carved antique fireplaces have become part of wallpaper décor. Well it doesn’t have to be like that, add a lot of candles or LED lighting inside the mouth of the fireplace and the dark hole will disappear giving magic to the room.

Textures – Anchor a white color scheme by experimenting with a mixture of white, ecru, beige and greige or a mixture of textures. Introduce wood furniture and wrought iron details, make imaginative pairings with layering fabric textures, raw silk with unbleached linen, mix ecologic fur with animal print, wool with voiles, lace, crystals and dry wood branches and if you want to introduce a couple of accent colors pillows you can.

Floating – I know that in American homes there is enough space to store various things, if nothing else, we can draw from our stockpile and re-hang paintings, redecorate with accessories that have been in store for a while and float furniture from other rooms. A new freshness and vibrancy will come out from the same objects and everything will look new again, while other items will go to Goodwill. That’s a good thing too.

It’s cold outside, but it doesn’t have to be cold and white in your home. Make it cozy and you will want to come home. Ciao,
Valentina
http://www.valentinadesigns.com

Valentina Cirasola, is the principal designer and owner of Valentina Interiors & Designs. She is a trained designer and has been in business since 1990. She works all over the world via Skype line and in the traditional in- home consultations producing concepts for remodeling, restoration of historical dwelling, décor restyling and home fashion. Vogue magazine and many prominent publications in California featured Valentina’s work. She has made four appearances on T.V. Comcast Channel 15 and has been interviewed on various Blog Talk Radios. Author of three books all-available on
Amazon: http://goo.gl/xUZfk0
Barnes&Nobles: http://goo.gl/q7dQ3w

Detox Yourself and Your Home After Holidays | Valentina Cirasola | Interior Designer

06 Jan 2015 Leave a comment

by Valentina in Home Designs Master Tags: #AfterHolidayDetox, #Detox, #HomeDecor, #January2015, #ValentinaInteriorsDesigns, #WinterColors, #WinterWhiteColorScheme

My holiday decorations are gone, everything went to sleep until next Christmas. Do you feel as if your home has lost its spark? All the shimmering lights are turned off, colorful decorations are gone, the glitters are not shining and everything looks opaque. Well it’s January, in most parts of the world is cold and white, why not enjoy the cold season and cooler colors of this month?

(photo: https://holawallpaper.com/wallpaper/hot-chocolate-17186-17186.html)

Let’s start with a cup of hot cocoa in our hands. Ideas come easier with something brown, silky and sweet. We need to fill that space where the Christmas tree was. I suggest a lamp in that corner, something we can borrow from other rooms for the time being, or a rope light disguised into a pot, a glass vase or behind furniture.

Winter colors

Winter color combination

Let’s play with all white color range. Between the cream colors, light beige, warm whites, antique whites and crystals accessories we can edit some rooms with real winter style to make it warm and cozy. Take out the fuzzy throw blanket and the ecologic fur pillows to feel in the mood for a crackling fireplace and a good book for companion.
To balance the white colors bring in some fragrant and colorful plants such as white paper lilies, a bright red Amaryllis, hyacinth, or a winter star plant. It will be like calling spring to hurry to show up.

White paper lilies

Wikimedia – Hyacinth in the formal garden at Anglesey Abbey. Taken Apr 2012

Winter star plant

Clean the interior of kitchen cupboards, get rid of some chipped dishes and bring to the front some glasses or dishes you haven’t use in a while. Add a sachet of dry rosemary, sage, thyme, and orange peel to give your cupboard a fresh smell. Clean the interior of bathroom cabinets and get rid of expired cosmetics, dust off clothes, shoes, and handbags, they also need a renewed energy after the holidays. You want to make everything sparkling again the natural way.

How about you, your person, how will you detox from the holidays?

I started with staying a couple of weeks away from the computer electromagnetism.
I got rid of all the sweets leftovers from the holidays, except chocolate, I need that. It seems as if I am ungrateful and throwing food away, but no, I am saving my body and being good to myself. The leftover good food is already in the freezer.
I am eating a lot of fruit, vegetables, high fiber food, drinking a lot more water and reduced my food portions. Exercising at least 30 minutes a day should help my detox and this is all, nothing strenuous, nothing difficult, everything doable I can do for many months.

I don’t particularly like winter, however, I celebrate it just the same with the things, food, and activities that make these few cold months so worth waiting for the spring. Ciao,

Valentina
http://www.valentinadesigns.com

As a designer in business since 1990, I am interested in helping people designing their interior and exterior spaces with an overall feeling of peace, relaxation and harmony that will draw them home eagerly. Find copies of my three books on
Amazon: http://goo.gl/xUZfk0
Barnes&Nobles: http://goo.gl/q7dQ3w

Christmas At Casa Valentina | Valentina Cirasola | Interior Designer

18 Dec 2014 6 Comments

by Valentina in Home Designs Master Tags: #ChristmasDecorations, #ChristmasLights, #ChristmasRed, #ChristmasVignettes, #RedVoyageIntoColors, #ValentinaInteriorsDesigns

I remember my first Christmas in USA was magical. I had never seen so much display of lights inside and outside the homes and had never seen so much stuff decorating the homes. I felt living in a Christmas fairy tale. At the beginning I questioned where people stored all that stuff, or if they threw it away to buy new things every year, if they gave it away, or even how many days took them to decorate so heavily. I realized very soon that homes in America are containers of stuff and Christmas decorations have their cozy places in the garage each in its own box.

Stores really got my attention, their visual displays were works of art to my eyes, not knowing all that production was intended to push sales. After all, in the Christian world we celebrate with lights to welcome a Newborn spiritual light coming into our world. However, after a few years in the country, this whole business of overly decorating Christmas became pavement to the point that now I only pay attention to extravagant displays in window shops, as theatrical expressions. Once in a while I drive through neighborhoods at night to enjoy the storyboards some homeowner create with their Christmas displays. Christmas to me is still a spiritual moment.

Having said that, you can just imagine by now how little I decorate my home. Through the years, I collected hand painted homes of Charles Dickens time that now fill a half wall I have in the kitchen, then I create vignettes with my displays and keep it simple, add lights where needed and use small items to add the flavor of Christmas. I am a practical person, putting up and taking down Christmas stuff doesn’t have to be more work for me. My efforts instead go towards exceptional food.
Enjoy the slide show of my vignettes.

Decoupage lamp

Dickens characters singing Christmas carols

Renaissance jesters

Christmas display

Led light in the vase

Murano glass and velvet Christmas trees

Dickens’ village painted houses

Fairy on the moon

Fairy on the corbel

Happy Christmas to all and if you don’t celebrate it, take time to reflect on your spirituality. Ciao,
Valentina
http://www.valentinadesigns.com

As a designer in business since 1990, I am interested in helping people designing their interior and exterior spaces to add an overall feeling of peace and relaxation. Find copies of my three books on
Amazon: http://goo.gl/xUZfk0
Barnes&Nobles: http://goo.gl/q7dQ3w

Stories Of A Designer: Totally Out Of Place | Valentina Cirasola | Interior Designer

06 Oct 2014 Leave a comment

by Valentina in Home Designs Master Tags: #BeachHouse, #MountainHouse, #SanJoseCalifornia, #SanJoseDevelopment, #SiliconValleyHomes, #SilverCreekHomes, #ValentinaInteriorsDesigns

Last week I visited a house for the first time, the new person could be a potential client. She lives with her husband six months out of the year in Florida and six months in California, not too shabby!
Her house climbs the mountain of California, it is surrounded by a golf course and a lot of luscious vegetation covers the property almost entirely. All her windows face the mountain and rugged mountain scenery. However, at the door, when I rang the bell, I had the impression of being at the beach. Her door wreath made of seashells, seahorses and sea stars screamed of beach. Flamingoes and seagulls decorated her porch. I entered the house and my impression was confirmed. Blues, aqua, cream and beige colors filled every room, beach home accessories scattered everywhere decorated the house meticulously as if the beach was right outside the windows. The house was nicely decorated, but totally out-of-place.

I also noticed all the cabinets around the house looked like kitchen cabinets with granite countertop, no distinction of room and function, even the master bedroom had wall to wall kitchen cabinets with granite top used for office stuff and medicines. That’s the way builders conceive homes today. They raise walls and stick kitchen cabinets everywhere as fast as they can, without paying attention to details, design or style, but this is another matter. So sad, homes are without charm!

From: San Jose Map

San Jose Real Estate Home

Would you decorate a home set on the rustic, reddish and mystical Grand Canyon with snow scenery of the Swiss Alps, yodeling sounds and cowbells hanging everywhere?
Would you decorate a house set in Hawaii with pictures of rainy days of Paris, just because you like Paris scenery?

Decorating a home is very personal and I understand people decorate with things that make them happy, even when they are totally out of contest.
Long time ago, I had to bend to a client’s request, a single man, living in the center of a metropolitan city, who wanted his bedroom to look like a jungle. It was tough to accept his ideas, I developed the project regardless of my disappointment, but I never took photos of that design work.

The exterior environment plays a large role in home décor. In order to bring harmony in our soul, we must feel connected with nature surrounding the home. Colors and texture of the outside should be respected and taken into consideration, that’s when we can say to feel completely at home.

Visibly the woman I visited had a revelation moment when I explained the reasons her interior felt awkward to me. I am sure she liked the décor of her home and I could almost hear her saying: “I like the beach scenes, do I have to change everything now?” Somehow I felt her discomfort with certain elements of her spaces and décor.

People can live the way they want in their spaces, there is no rule saying a beach décor belongs at the beach house. My function as a professional (as all the professionals in any fields) is to stir people in the right direction for optimal results, the rest is up to the client to follow suggestions or not. Ciao,
Valentina
http://www.valentinadesigns.com

Out With Bar Cart | Valentina Cirasola | Interior Designer

23 Sep 2014 2 Comments

by Valentina in Home Designs Master Tags: #BarCart, #GlobeLiqueurCart, #HomeBarDesign, #KitchenCounterTrough, #kitchenDesign, #ValentinaInteriorsDesigns, #WinesTrough

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.

Great Room and Bar by ©Valentina Interiors & Designs

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