F For Fainting Moments | By: Valentina Cirasola | Interior Designer Monday, Mar 11 2013

Welcome to my A to Z Challenge on the subject of HOME.
http://myatozchallenge.com/2012/02/20/welcome-to-my-a-to-z-challenge-2/

What do the Récamier, Méridienne and Fainting Sofa have in common? Three reclining chairs of the past and present home décor that have in common one idea: Relaxation. Ancient population understood the benefits of relaxation and included it in their daily life.


For Egyptians, Greeks and Romans the idea of relaxing often on the ‘kline’ – a type of day beds – was part of the daily routine as early as the 8th century BC. The modern Greek word ‘symposion’ or “symposium” means ‘to drink together’ in a party atmosphere with music and conversation while even conducting business. The Romans adopted the daybed for reclining in the daytime and during meals and at night they slept on. This type of daybed was widely used in the Orient as well, where there was no distinction between sleeping furniture and daytime furniture.

(Madame Juliette Récamier above)

Récamier Sofa (above) took the name from Madame Juliette Récamier, a French society leader, whose salon drew Parisians from the leading literary and political circles of the early 19th century. After Madame Récamier’s guests were well fed, she would preside over the discussions while reclining on a sofa, usually wrapped in a yellow shawl. That’s how Jacques-Louis David depicted her. It seems that a bit of gossip is appropriate with a Récamier: Madame Juliette Récamier married at the age of 15 Jacques-Rose Récamier, a rich banker nearly 30 years her senior and a relative of the gourmand Brillat-Savarin, who wrote a few books on the philosophy of cooking and taste. Fantastic books, I read them all and strongly suggest them. A rumor arose that Jacques-Rose Récamier was Juliette’s natural father who married her to make her his heir. The Récamier marriage was never consummated and Juliette remained a virgin until at least the age of forty.

Méridienne – a type of asymmetrical day-bed (above) – has a high head-rest, and a lower foot-rest, joined by a sloping piece. Every grand house of France in the early 19th century had one for every room. Its typical use was for resting in the middle of the day, when the sun is near the meridian, a practice still in use in the South of Europe and Mediterranean basin.

(Edouart Manet above – Fainting Sofa)

Fainting Sofa has a back raised at one end, often wraps around and extends along the entire length of the piece. Fainting sofa deserved separate rooms in the 19th century home décor, only used by women to faint on, due to their tight corsets restricting blood flow. However, another peculiar use of this chair made it go down in history. Sex between married people was intended only for procreation. Society’s false modesty prevented  women of high social background from taking care of  their men’ frivolous sex desires, it was considered an indecent behavior left only for prostitutes. That constricted way of thinking caused female hysteria, considered a real ‘disease’ that needed to be treated by home visiting doctors and midwives through manual pelvic massage. It was a recurrent need often requiring hours for the intimate procedure to work, thus creating a room for privacy and a chair for comfort was of the utmost importance.

(Méridienne in my client’s home)

We cannot build our future if we don’t know history. Today, when possible, I like to place one Méridienne chair or Fainting Sofa in my clients’ homes and I can’t help smiling…..Ciao,
Valentina
http://www.Valentinadesigns.com
http://valentinaexpressions.com

Copyright © 2013 Valentina Cirasola, All Rights Reserved

Valentina Cirasola has been a lifetime designer in fashion and interiors. Her extensive knowledge of colors and materials led her in both directions successfully. She is well-know 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 is the author of RED – A Voyage Into Colors, Check out her three books on

Amazon: http://tinyurl.com/9agl5v9
Barnes&Nobles: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/c/valentina-cirasola

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Treasure Trove | By: Valentina Cirasola | Interior Designer Monday, Feb 18 2013

It was 11:00 am when today I entered the Treasure Trove antique shop, where did the time go? It’s now 5:00 pm and the store workers are pushing me out the door. They can’t believe I have been in there all day and I can’t believe I forgot to eat, my favorite activity!

I am a contemporary woman, absolutely love the time I am living, but I adore the past and surround myself with anything unusual and original. Growing up in Europe it was customary to visit regularly “mercato delle pulci” flea market, they are the back door of history. It has been said that the dress Marie Antoinette wore for her coronation, turned up in a flea market years later after commoners had worn it and misused it badly. Flea markets and second time around stores are the creative source for a prolific fantasy. You must imagine a voiles curtain as a tablecloth instead, or a crystal glass for cotton balls and q-tips, or even a Bakelite purse no longer for an Opera night, but for a business networking event, where the purse might be used as an ice breaker.

Crystal ball

Vintage findings

Crystal bowl & gold plated spoons

Pierrot face

Earring covering a nail

I also find old jewelry very interesting. A long time ago women used the parure, meaning matching set composed of broach, necklace, earrings bracelet and ring. I wouldn’t go around decorated like a boring Christmas tree, that’s why I buy only one of these pieces from a parure no longer matching and use it as drawer knobs, or as a decoration to hide a picture nail, other than wear it on a cashmere sweater, or attached to the pocket of a pair of jeans.

Going to a flea market I will never leave with what I had in mind to find and neither anyone else I know. This time I was looking for a particular mirror I didn’t find, but I left the store with things absolutely not needed that I will use in my décor with a spontaneous joy. I will hang the green hat on the French chair; I will wear the Bakelite purse to a business networking, serve coffee with the golden plate non-matching spoons, serve chocolates and strawberries in the red Depression glass vase; the Pierrot brass face has found its niche between my drawings on the gallery wall in the corridor and the crystal ball ended up in the pot with the Amaryllis.

If you are looking for furniture with a flavor of the past, I would recommend bringing with you measurements of the room you want to decorate, measuring tape, picture of the room, perhaps some of the texture you are going after and a color palette, then you need to learn the skill of bargaining. Often cash is alluring and speaks better than a credit card, if you want to bring the price down considerably.

The personalized décor I like for me is the type in which everything comes from different eras and lives together very well without clashing. In my house the metals, the woods and the picture frames are all different, but they mix so well people always wonder how I do it. Simple,  break all the decorating rules and shock anyone who comes to visit!  Long time ago, I tried to have a minimalist home to avoid those dusting moments every woman hate, but I didn’t feel comfortable in an empty home, it wasn’t me, the house was cold and uninspiring. As a result, I was out all the time and neglected my house anyway, thinking that there wasn’t much to clean and could have done it in a few minutes. Those minutes were never appropriate, nor convenient because I didn’t want to be there. Now, my house is warm, full, opulent and very colorful. Vintage is for the courageous!
Time for a glass of wine! I deserve it, I have helped history staying alive. Ciao,
Valentina
http://www.Valentinadesigns.com  

http://valentinaexpressions.com

Copyright © 2013 Valentina Cirasola, All Rights Reserved

Valentina Cirasola is an Italian Interior and Fashion Designer, working in the USA and Europe. She blends fashion and interior well in any of her design work. She loves to remodel homes and loves to create the unusual. She is the author of three books, all-available on
Amazon: http://tinyurl.com/9agl5v9
Barnes&Nobles: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/c/valentina-cirasola

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Marrying Painted Furniture | By: Valentina Cirasola | Interior Designer Tuesday, Feb 12 2013

You have a tired piece of furniture, you like it so much, perhaps it has been in the family for a long time or you just care for the environment and don’t want to dispose of it. The solution is to repaint it.

It is fun to let the imagination run free when repainting furniture.  You are imagining the new piece in a particular corner, you found the right color or pattern you like so much and get equipped with all that is needed to do the paint job, but then you might realize that particular color or pattern will not fit with the décor of your room.  Before you get innamorate of a certain design,  the first think to do is to ask yourself if color and pattern will go with your room décor. When you are absolutely sure, purchase all the material needed. A couple of times it happened to me. I was totally taken by a certain design that I ended up changing the rest of the room to fit the painted piece.

If you are restyling a room based on the new color of your painted furniture, remember that nothing transforms a room better than colors do. Colors in nature work just as you see them, bring them in the room, they will work just as good. A room exposed to South can take bold and rich colors on walls, furniture and accessories. For rooms exposed to North, you might want to use bold colors only in accessories.
Take one or two colors from your painted furniture and use them as your color scheme for the room. Then the fun part comes. Select one color that doesn’t even exist in your painted furniture piece and make it the accent color to help the room stand out. Note what I did in my color schemes:

First colors scheme: The green tones came from the green lines of the dresser, by introducing a raspberry color the room become vibrant. Although green is a calming color, it might not be suitable for everyone, especially for those people who have a low value skin tone.

Second colors scheme: the grounding color is black found in the chair legs, coffee table and credenza top. In the next slide, notice how the same piece of furniture looks so different with different colors around.

Third color scheme: I picked up the brownish tones from the same credenza with diamond designs, changing the feeling of the room completely. Have you noticed the rug has the same diamond pattern of the credenza? It just happened by chance.

Fourth color scheme: I chose to play with the brown tone of the colorful chest of drawers. The yellow in the drawers was my inspiration for a yellow tone floral chair. Floral chairs offer many colors to mix and match other chairs in solid colors.

Fifth color scheme: painted golden and silver stripes characterize this dresser drawer, to which anything can be  matched. I chose the golden tones, bright, warm colors and added texture with the accessories. The feel is sunny and natural.

Sixth color scheme: In alternative to paint a piece of furniture, you might want to consider covering that piece with faux leather, or wallpaper. Color black grounds a room, but also, as a graphic color, lends itself to many color combinations from classical to modern.

Today’ s wise designer must know how to romance a room and how to dance around client’s budget.

If a client needs guidance in painting a piece of furniture that can say “I am an original” , I will gladly do that, it is part of my services and color is my expertise. Ciao,
Valentina

http://www.Valentinadesigns.com
http://valentinaexpressions.com

Copyright © 2013 Valentina Cirasola, All Rights Reserved

Valentina Cirasola is an Italian Interior Designer and former Fashion Designer, working in the USA and Europe since 1990. She blends well fashion with interior and colors the world of her clients. She has been described as “the colorist” and loves to create the unusual. She is the author of three books, the latest is a book on colors RED-A Voyage Into Colors. Find them on 
Amazon http://tinyurl.com/9agl5v9 
Barnes&Nobles: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/c/valentina-cirasola

 

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From Here To France | By: Valentina Cirasola | Interior Designer Wednesday, Feb 6 2013

Christine, a French young woman, was reading my blog and my posts on Facebook without commenting. I didn’t know she was sort of “watching” me, today we would say she was following me.
Her home entry and the studio room needed attention, she had a vague idea of how she wanted to decorate the two spaces with a few materials she attempted to collect. Then one day she connected with me and told me she was following me all the way from France.

It seems a long way to design someone’s home across the world, one would think, but the world is no longer unreachable. Through Skype line I am able to help people with design challenges in the four corners of the world.
Christine wanted to divide the two spaces with a separé (room divider), as there was no space for a swinging door. My solution was to add a pocket door with a sand-blasted glass panel, to let the light in the entry, still keep the studio private and add some flair or style to the spaces. To help her visualizing the door, I made a drawing of the glass design, added photographs of some of my previous work and emailed them to her. The door was produced locally in her town in the same wood of all the interior doors of her house and the glass was sand-blasted according to my instructions.

She told me her wall color preference was soft colors. I suggested a soft faux finish treatment that she liked very much, but had no idea how to do. I sent her a few samples in the mail and she ended up painting the entire house instead of only the two rooms I was engaged for. In areas where the sunlight hits indirectly, one can see the beautifully done sponge and stippled finish techniques.

The entry needed some furniture and her mother’s desk-chair set needed a new look. By elimination of her choices, we selected the new fabric for the chair and new knobs for the desk. The small ceramic rosettes look very cute on the dark repainted wood. I purchased them at Anthropologie store and shipped them to her.  Emailing her photographs of accessories was the easiest way to convey ideas of look, texture and colors of items she could find easily in her town. The studio only needed wall paint-work and she actually made the lamp shades showing in my photos.

Floating furniture is a technique designer use often. Once we set furniture in a room, doesn’t mean they must stay in that position forever. Furniture look different and sometimes even more attractive if we move them around and set them in a different light with different accessories. I let her bring into the entry space two small chairs she had somewhere else in the house and never use them. Through Skype line was easy to see what she owned and repurpose each item. She thought nothing of some pieces she had in various closets, but I made them come alive, found new life and a new place.

The entire process took about three months, including all the work done by others. She was inspired and encouraged to reuse many of her own pieces that did not end up in the landfill. She is enjoying them in a new style and didn’t spend much money in the design process. “A clever designer must know how to romance the room and dance around client’s budget” ~ I say that.

Now, when writing a blog, be careful of what you write, you never know who is “watching”. Ciao,
Valentina
http://www.Valentinadesigns.com
http://valentinaexpressions.com

Copyright © 2013 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 in the traditional face-to-face, helping people with their design challenges anywhere in the world.  She is the author of three books, all-available on
Amazon: http://tinyurl.com/9agl5v9
Barnes&Nobles: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/c/valentina-cirasola

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F For Furniture – A Movable Thought | By: Valentina Cirasola | Interior Designer Friday, Feb 1 2013

Welcome to my A to Z Challenge on the subject of HOME

The word furniture comes from the 1570 French word “fournir” (furnish in English). Furniture was the prerogative of the higher levels of society and nobles who lived in castles while the less prosperous sat on benches, stools or on the floor, ate at whatever table available at their disposition and often slept on beds of straw. Furniture had a double purpose: to decorate a room as we intend it today and to be mobile. In fact in many European countries where romantic languages are spoken furniture was also called “mobilia” a Latin word which means mobile. The word is still in use today.

Vacation time of the rich and nobles was like a house moving of today, they took along chairs, tables, trunks and household stuff when they left their castle and went to visit their peers in their castles. Visiting people’s castle was a common custom as today we go on vacation and stay in hotels, except that our hotels are fully furnished and clothes is the only thing we carry around.

Furniture and adornments were meant to convey the wealth of its owner. Rich oak was the preferred wood for container such as trunks and credenza; upholstered chairs in velvet or expensive materials divided rooms elegantly in vignettes; turned legs accented and beautified any boxed furniture; elaborate window treatments kept the cold winter out and gilded and decorated walls lined with expensive art really told the story of how wealthy the family was.

The Dutch were the first to use Turkish rug as table coverings and not as floor covering. They believed furniture was to admire, to use and never to crowd a room, in that it would detract the light and the spirit within. However their reason might have been a more practical one. Dutch people scrubbed and cleaned their homes every day and when entering the house, took their shoes off on the unfurnished and very bare first floor, which was considered an extension of the street. With slippers on their feet, they entered the livable home on the second floor. However, the cleanliness of their homes did not reflect the cleanliness of their bodies. One would think that the same people who scrubbed, cleaned and shined their homes, would take an exceptional effort to keep up with personal care and hygiene as well, but that was not the case. Houses did not have a room for bathing and the multiple layers of clothing that kept them warm during the hard winter months, discouraged bathing and exposure to fresh air: “the bark stays better on the trunk”.

Strangely enough, not much as changed since then, except that furniture are less decorated, more functional, respect the rule of ergonomics, often are very technological with more than one function and we don’t take them on our vacations. In decorating, we like to reproduce past styles to feel a connection to history. The Dutch four-post bed is still in use today, as are alcoves and banquette seating under windows. Family portraits and various art pieces still line our decorated walls. Entering someone’s home it’s hard to remain indifferent one way or the other. Furniture will immediately communicate the status symbol or non-status of the owner and the style will speak about the owner’s personality.

As for cleanliness, I wonder often if people have learned anything or if technology has even helped. It’s not uncommon for me, being a designer, to go into a house for the first time and find a royal mess and stale air. The answer is to be found in the question: “what do people do with their time?”. Ciao,
Valentina

http://www.Valentinadesigns.com
http://valentinaexpressions.com

Copyright © 2013 Valentina Cirasola, All Rights Reserved

Valentina Cirasola has been a lifetime designer in fashion and interiors. Her extensive knowledge of colors and materials 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 color in the style fit for each of her special clients.
She is the author of three books all available on

Amazon: http://tinyurl.com/9agl5v9
Barnes&Nobles: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/c/valentina-cirasola

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The Sails Sofa | By: Valentina Cirasola | Interior Designer Thursday, Jul 26 2012

Yesterday, this video came across my desk, I thought it portrays the modern Italian living to the letter.

Italians have lived and enjoyed antiquities for centuries. One can find there almost every style of architecture ever invented. The county is small, but concentrated with arts from the past in every expression from the Roman Empire era all the way to today’s contemporary arts and everything in between.
Yet, Italian homes are not decorated with antiques or traditional furniture, except in sporadic cases. All those antiquities we have been accustomed to for centuries stay out there in the streets. We ignore the treasure that surrounds our daily life as if they are nonexistent. They are our landscape.

Gone are the times when Italian people lived in large homes. The film “Under The Tuscan Sun” portrayed a way of living that does not exist any more. People who still own those dilapidated homes (we call farmhouses), such as the one in the film, have understood there is money to be made and that foreigners want to experience that kind of living. The next step was to remodel and turn those farmhouses into B&B, Spas, or making them available as vacation homes for hire by the week or by the month.

Le Vele sofa

Italian people live in condos, one on top of the other, space is very limited, therefore furniture must be beautiful and contain stuff. Our homes are decorated with colors, bright lights (which I truly despise), linear furniture and very simple shapes; furniture must be stylish, but functionality and space saver are the only two notes Italians want to hear.

In this video you will see a cleverly designed sofa, which can be utilized in many different solutions, indoor and outdoor.
I am here to help you implementing these ideas, designing with you and finding you special pieces.
Like what you read? Sharing is caring. Pass it along to someone who’d benefit. Ciao,
Valentina
www.Valentinadesigns.com
http://valentinaexpressions.com/

Copyright © 2012 Valentina Cirasola, All Rights Reserved

Valentina Cirasola has been a lifetime designer in fashion and interiors. Her extensive knowledge of colors and materials 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 color in the style fit for each of her special clients. Check out her books on

Amazon: http://tinyurl.com/9agl5v9 
Barnes&Nobles: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/c/valentina-cirasola

 

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Musical Chairs | By: Valentina Cirasola | Interior Designer Thursday, Jul 12 2012

I was in a deep sleep; nothing was going to disturb that peaceful phase of my rest. Suddenly I heard a sweet melody coming from far away, it was getting closer and closer, finally stopped right in front of my eyes with a curious display of chairs dancing on a music scale, as if the chairs were notes out of a music sheet. I followed the music, smiled and continued dreaming.

That was many moons ago, I was a student in the interior design university. The day after that dream, my class was schedule to have a test on History of Furniture, which included the study of chair styles in each period of history and each period with its sub categories of every possible rulers or short-lived kings and queens and their short-lived customs. It was a load of information I had to retain and the pressure of doing well was high, at least it was for me, as up to that moment, I had received a few high honors already.

I saw dancing in front of me Greek and Roman style, Savonarola chair, Chippendale, Queen Ann, cabriolet legs, Louis XV-XVI and all the Louis, freezes and linen fold, Empire style, Liberty Style, Modernism and post- modern style, Asian style, Italian and Venetian style, French Bergères, fauteuils, racamier, fainting chairs, gossip chairs and slipper chairs, Art Déco and Belle époque style…..blimey, I am out of breath just thinking about it.
That tune was Tea For Two by Nat King Cole played in two versions:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OCEcDhF2LSo&feature=related

That pleasant and sweet dream remained in my memory. Later in the years I learned one simple thing about chairs, their hidden meaning is POWER. A chair puts in focus leadership, desire of emerging, acquiring or abusing power. At the time my desire was to become the best home designer known and be empowered with knowledge that would help people improve their life with better spaces, colors, furniture and life style.

The chair was invented to distinguish humans from animals, but mainly to distinguish the higher strata of society from the plebs and had a resemblance to thrones than chairs. The rest of the people and servants either sat on their knees (as we still see in Oriental cultures), on stones, or on stools and benches without a back.

The word chair in Greek (the base of all Romantic languages) translates in Kathedra. In Latin the word chair translates in Cathedra as the bishop chair in the cathedral and the word Cattedra in Italian translates in desk from which to teach, thus requiring a chair to sit down and turn the setting into a place of authority.

The expression he/she has arrived often refers to someone who occupies a chair of importance in society, in a political career, as a President of a company, the chair of a University Dean, or the throne of a modern King and Queen, just to name a few. The Pope sits on a beautiful gilded chair.

To dream of being sited on a chair like a throne means the inner self is looking for an exasperated search for power while losing the grip on reality. To dream of being sited in an enveloping chair means to be surrounded by a suffocating female figure, or suffocating family. Interesting? Practically every piece of furniture in dreams has a particular meaning, which always refers to our inner self, searching for something, or emphasizing certain aspects of the dreamer’s character.

Humans first crawled, then learned to walk, soon after felt the need to sit down and invented the chair. The concept of comfort was not always present in the mind of the chair’s inventors and builders, their concern was to produce chairs fit for power. Today, with the long hours all of us spend at the computer we need to think in term of ergonomics postures and sit on chairs that are going to protect our spine and knees. Comfort is of the utmost importance, style matters, price doesn’t. Your back supports your life, nourish it as you nourish your brain.
Like what you read? Sharing is caring. Pass it along to someone who’d benefit. Ciao,
Valentina

Design Website: http://www.Valentinadesigns.com
Books Website: http://valentinaexpressions.com/

Copyright © 2012 Valentina Cirasola, All Rights Reserved

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 on consultation and produces design concepts for remodeling, upgrading, new homes, décor restyling and home fashion. “Vogue” magazine and many prominent publications in California featured Valentina’s work. She also has made four appearances on T.V. Comcast Channel 15. Her new book on Colors is almost ready to be published. Stay tuned for RED-A Voyage Into Colors.

Amazon: http://tinyurl.com/9agl5v9
Barnes&Nobles: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/c/valentina-cirasola

 

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Excited in Grey | By: Valentina Cirasola | Interior Designer Sunday, Mar 25 2012

This weekend, in this part of the world, we are having a spring grey day, but that did not stop me from thinking colors, excitement or positive vibrations. Outside is raining and the sky is cerulean grey, the type of grey that encourages curling up near a fireplace with a book and a cup of hot cacao.
Cerulean grey, I like how it describes itself and the message that communicates. It has a bit of light blue and faint aqua blue mixed in with grey. Cerulean grey is playful and warm, not like the heavy, depressing battle ship grey.
A person with cerulean eyes and dark hair has a high contrast face, which lends itself to beautiful combinations. First of all, grey alone is a very elegant color, together with black and white makes a classic combination. I love to wear grey pearls over a white shirt, jeans, black gloves and black shoes. Cerulean or not, I thought of a few very exciting things I can do with the color grey.

On eBay, I found this new 4 pieces bed set and duvet filled with sunflowers over pearl grey for only $98.00. A snip! http://tinyurl.com/84hbe7d

Another beautiful choice, again on eBay, is the green base cotton 4 pieces bed set and duvet with large yellow tulips. The soft grey in the leaves is gentle and very pleasant, together with grey flooring and some few grey lampshades in the room, the environment is inviting. Try these colors, they will slap the grey out of a rainy day!
http://tinyurl.com/7x3e378

A Canadian company presents the eco-green collection in the tones of aqua green and stone. As you can see the accent in this room display is the red lampshade (I imagine there is more than one lamp) that warms up the cool grey tone palette.

The set from the same company called Floral is so chic and elegant. I love the chocolate satin piping against the light grey and golden tone floral design.
With this combination, the walls in the room can pick up a golden cream color and much more chocolate-brown accents to echo the piping.
http://www.highlandfeather.com/linen/Floral.htm

Frette, the famous Italian linen company presents Tundra, a stunning mixing of gray into beige. http://tinyurl.com/76euadq
The grey slate flooring under the bed gives the right shabby chic attitude to the setting. I love natural materials!

For a long time the color grey has been regarded as a boring color fit for seniors, but in this decade grey has assumed a younger attitude. More fashion companies are using grey paired with raspberry, yellow, pink, orange. Gray and yellow have been a new inspiration for weddings themes too. (Source Williams Photography)

Dark or light grey is beautiful on women as much as on men. These fabulous hand painted man’s ties by Bethany Shorb on Etsy worn by the right men on the right outfit, I am sure will turn some heads. http://tinyurl.com/6wvfj7s

And this exquisite necklace by Deborah Lonergan on Etsy is the perfect accessory for the gray palette: http://tinyurl.com/83hged3

Since I cannot cook anything grey, oh, that would look so unappetizing if it did exist, I am going to make may usual colorful orange muffins, the house will smell sweet and colorful. Take advantage of these new color solutions, but if you get stuck in your color selection for home or for the color you wear, I am here to help. I am one call or email away. Look out for the launch of RED-A Voyage Into Colors, my new book on the subject of colors. Ciao.
Valentina
www.Valentinadesigns.com

Copyright © 2012 Valentina Cirasola, All Rights Reserved

Valentina Cirasola is an Italian Interior Designer and former Fashion Designer, working in the USA and Europe since 1990. She blends well fashion with interior and colors the world of her clients. She has been described as “the colorist” and loves to create the unusual.

Check out her books on

Amazon: http://tinyurl.com/9agl5v9
Barnes&Nobles: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/c/valentina-cirasola

 

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Tète-à-Tète | By: Valentina Cirasola | Interior Designer Tuesday, Feb 21 2012

February is a cold month in most parts of the world, fortunately is warmed up with the fuzzy theme of love. Thinking of love, the tète-à-tète chair comes to mind.

Typical and essential piece of décor for gardens and interiors, the tète-à-tète chair marked an era when a man could only court a woman by looking not by touching and under the vigilant eyes of her relatives. It was designed for coziness, close enough to look at each other in the eyes, occasional brushing elbows could slip out, but the armrest in the middle divided the two sexes keeping them at a certain distance.

Actually, the chair didn’t serve only lovers. Gossipers also used it while sitting together. Sitting face-to-face was favorable to discretely passing in each other’s ears all the juicy details of someone else’s life, or of a person present in the room unaware of being the subject of interest. The tète-à-tète chair allowed women to sit comfortably with fashionable belled up dresses with cumbersome crinoline underneath.

Fast forward a couple of centuries and we see some new versions of the tète-à-tète chair. I have to admit warmth and coziness are gone, but they are attractive in their own unique modernity. The black and white of the Eli-Fly Chair is very graphic, the lines are slim, sensuous and lonely. The two chairs can face each other at a distance, or can be set closer to make caressing a little easier. But it seems to me this is a type of chair the people in “need of their space” would buy.

More modern versions of the tète-à-tète chair are also available for the garden in wrought iron or wood. I have seen a pretty set painted in blue in one of the historical establishments in California. They wrap them around trees, where people can relax with a book and courtship under a magnolia tree might be possible again.

I absolutely adore the Heart Cone Chair designed by Verner Panton in 1959 and reissued by renowned furniture company Vitra.
Price of the Heart Cone Chair: $3,670. Precious!
It would fit beautifully in any décor and in any empty corner. Red is imposing, calls for attention, but this chairs brings passion.
“Most people spend their lives in dreary beige conformity, mortally afraid of using colors,” Panton said, in the mid-1950s. I could not agree more.

What does this chair have to do with the tète-à-tète chair of Victorian time? Nothing. The heart is already there, it needs two people to sit in each other’s lap and the tète-à-tète picture is complete.

Let me support you in finding your uniqueness in décor and style, but don’t forget to leave your name down below. Ciao,
Valentina
www.Valentinadesigns.com
http://valentinaexpressions.com

Copyright © 2012 Valentina Cirasola, All Rights Reserved

Valentina Cirasola has been a lifetime designer in fashion and interiors. Her extensive knowledge of colors and materials 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 color in the style fit for each of her special clients.
She is the author of RED-A Voyage Into Colors, her forthcoming book on the subject of colors, due to be released in the Spring 2012. Check out her first two books on

Amazon: http://tinyurl.com/9agl5v9
Barnes&Nobles: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/c/valentina-cirasola

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Funky Sofas | By: Valentina Cirasola | Interior Designer Tuesday, Feb 7 2012

This month I am searching for a sofa, would love to have a funky one for me, but for right now I need to get on with my search and find one exceptional for a client. Funky shapes and vivid colors attract me. Will they attract the client too? She is young and seems to be receptive to new ideas. I can surprise her, stand back and observe her reaction, or I can play safe presenting her all traditional shapes and perhaps get an indifferent face reaction.

Actually in my design world, nothing is left to the chance and nothing is a guessing game. So much thought and planning goes into a design concept. Sometimes a client takes months to come out with a decision, it is almost like a light bulb comes on suddenly for a surge of electricity and sometimes the decision comes so quickly that I have to put a break and let them ponder for a short while.

The cleverness of a designer is to avoid the first scenario from happening, risking of losing the availability of one particular item and have to start the search all over again, putting in the trash precious time and effort already spent. The best strategy that will help the designer understanding a new client, whose habits, likes and dislikes might not be totally known is called “talking and asking”. That’s right, I talk and ask a lot of questions, instead of roaming in the dark. After that is rock and roll designing and composing the project together with the client.

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The selection of even one piece of furniture must be coordinated with the existing pieces and colors in the room. For a designer with a clinical eye it should not be a hard thing to do. Introducing a new color, or a new piece of furniture is like putting together a group of friends, they all must get along, otherwise there will be trouble in the air. Conversely an empty room is a blank canvas for anyone and the road to freedom of choice.

In my client’s home, the room I am designing is an empty canvas, kids and adults will be using this room, that’s why is important to remember to buy for various tastes and style preferences. The new sofa in this room will not be the primary seat, it will be a corner filler, a conversation piece, or a mood piece just to play around. Based on my conversation with her, I know I can dare with something fun, funky and colorful. I can’t wait for her reaction. The last three lounge pieces in red and orange are from Scandinavian Designs, way under $1,000. The others are Italian or European made.

Searching for furniture pieces is part of my every day work. Please let me know if I can help you or anyone you know in this task. Brighten your home with something out of the ordinary, even if you have a traditional décor, it will break the routine and feed the soul. Ciao,
Valentina
www.Valentinadesigns.com
www.Valentinaexpressions.com

Copyright © 2012 Valentina Cirasola, All Rights Reserved

Valentina Cirasola has been a lifetime designer in fashion and interiors.
Her extensive knowledge of colors and materials led her in both directions successfully. She is well-know 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 is the author of RED – A Voyage Into Colors, her forthcoming book on the subject of colors due to be released in the spring 2012.
Check out her books on 

Amazon: http://tinyurl.com/9agl5v9
Barnes&Nobles: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/c/valentina-cirasola

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