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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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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Where Did Thursday Go? | By: Valentina Cirasola | Interior Designer Saturday, Aug 18 2012

Where did one day of my week go? I seem to have lost a Thursday. Did this ever happen to you? Yesterday, Friday, I was doing things I had scheduled to do Thursday, but towards to end of my workday, I realized it was already Friday.

I looked around in my studio, all the pretty pictures, décor, fabrics and props I use for my work and I realized that all of this is always here, they don’t move around like I do, they don’t get exhausted like I do, at times they hear some non-sense and they observe me silently, yet days revolve without even noticing them and the busyness of my every day grinding work puts me almost in a state of hypnotism. I was told that time in space doesn’t exist, so why should it exist in my timetable? Why am I in disbelief when often I lose one day in the week? Or why is it important to do something on Thursday or Friday, for example?

I worked very hard this week, I was able to achieve more or less what I wanted, Friday arrived upon my shoulder and didn’t even make any plans for the evening. Is this really bad, or unbearable? I don’t think so. There must be a reason why I lost one day. Perhaps something is telling me to slow down this train, which runs faster than the speed of light, to breath and to be thankful for everything I create and for the people supporting me. I want to thank Jamie from http://grandmothermusings.com/ for nominating me for the “Reader Appreciation Award”. I am late in thanking you Jamie, nonetheless I am very honored and humbly accept it.

Rules of this award are:
* Post seven interesting things about yourself.
• Nominate 5 people (I am bending the rule a bit) who in turn will post on their page the award with the link to the giver.
• Let them know about the nomination.

7 Things You Might Find Interesting About Home Designs Master

1. I was made to be on stage and I didn’t know it until a few years ago, when a business coach told me I am a show person and I should use this strong feature of my character as my business strength.
2. I dream of having a home made of brick façade with a theatre stage inside, where I can entertain my friends with plays, comedy, or classical music and real actors or singers.
3. I like to have a houseboat on the water and entertain at night under the stars “al fresco”.
4. I like to cook and eat preferably with people. My motto is “Never eat alone when doing business”.
5. I like political thriller films and any thrillers, but not horrors. My favourite are Hitchcock and Agatha Christy films.
6. I know a ton of people, but I only choose a few to be my friends and they are all good.
7. Here we go again, I lost something in the 7th position.

My nominations are for:
1. http://ancientfoods.wordpress.com/ – Joanna writes about the interesting history and roots of our food.
2. http://imeldaevans.wordpress.com/ – Imelda, is a writer, her blog is Wine, Women & Wordplay.
3. http://beyondthegreendoor.wordpress.com/ – Kenley writes about savoring the Everyday Adventures of Cooking and subjects related to food.
4. http://jakesprinters.wordpress.com/ – Jake at The Sunday Post blog is a photographer and graphic artist. I learn many good things from photographers.
5. http://roamandhome.com/ – Karen writes about her travel and dining experience.

I am so happy to be part of this blogosphere made of so many interesting and colorful people. I learn from your blogs and amuse myself with all of you every day. Yes, I do read you all every day. Thank you all for following my blog, I am very grateful for all your support and comments.
I don’t know who said this: “There are no strangers in this world, only people we have not met yet”. I want to get to know all of you.
Happy Saturday. Ciao.
Valentina
www.Valentinadesigns.com
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 drawings for remodeling, upgrading, new home construction, décor restyling and home fashion. Valentina was featured in Italy on: “Vogue” magazine and many prominent publications in California. She also has made four appearances on T.V. Comcast Channel 15. She is an author and her books are on
Amazon: http://tinyurl.com/9agl5v9

Barnes&Nobles: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/c/valentina-cirasola

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Sunday Gratitude | By: Valentina Cirasola | Interior Designer Sunday, Jun 24 2012

Twice this month I have received an award from bloggers following and reading me.
This Sunday I am thanking Marianne’s from Stockholm for nominating me with the “Beautiful Blogger Award”. I feel so excited about receiving the award and humbly accept it.
Marianne’s blog is about 365 Days Mental Coaching and is very inspiring. Look forward to receive it every day. https://marianne365days.wordpress.com/

My two blog columns are about design, style, architecture, food and Italian culture.
By receiving awards from other bloggers, I have increased my readership and I am so very grateful for that. Through my blogs I was also able to get hired as a designer from distant clients in various parts of the world, such as France, Florida, England, Italy and even got a client locally at 20 minutes by car from my office.

I will tell you three things about me and what I am grateful for:
1. I am not a chef, I am Italian and because of that I wrote two Italian regional cuisine books based on simplicity, healthy and colorful food. “Eating in the rainbow” will keep us healthy, young and will give us a beautiful skin through older age. I like to cook every day, design my food, delight people with my food and talk about food as all the Italians do. I am very grateful I have learned to cook and to have a deep knowledge of food. This knowledge saves me money because I know what to cook that is good for my health and how to put a weekly menu together.

2. I am a trained designer and love my work. If we choose a “work we like, we will never work one day in our life!” Totally agree with this quote and I am very grateful I did find my passion work to carry me through life. I was a fashion designer for 15 years and I have been an interior designer for 22 years giving no signs of wanting to quit. I am grateful to have work and beautiful clients in this not so friendly economy and I am also grateful my new book on colors is just about ready to be published:
RED – A Voyage Into Colors.

3. I am grateful for one new friend I met in person last summer and for so many virtual friends I met through various social sites and blogs. Actually, my virtual friends are also becoming a reality, as I try to meet them through Skype, Facebook video, or Google+ hangout. What fun time we live in! I am super grateful for the technology that can put my family closer, allows me to meet new friends and exposes me to new work. Please, let’s not forget the friends closer to us that we can reach easily and have fun together.

It is my pleasure this Sunday to nominate three bloggers of my liking for the Beautiful Blogger Award:

http://carolgiambri.com/ – She is from Denver, Colorado and writes about beneficial and healthy food, gardening and more.

http://teaandsympathynewyork.wordpress.com/about/ - A British living in New York reporting on everything British.

http://50yearproject.wordpress.com/ – Her nom de plume is TBM, her blog is about the challenge to herself to visit 192 countries, read 1001 books, and watch the top 100 movies before she dies. It has been fun following TBM.

Now, it would be nice if you visit each blog and get to know them. What are your gratitudes for this Sunday? 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 works on consultation and produces drawings for remodeling, upgrading, new home construction, décor restyling and home fashion. Valentina was featured in Italy on: “Vogue” magazine and many prominent publications in California. She also has made four appearances on T.V. Comcast Channel 15. Check out her books on

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

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What’s Behind That Red Door? | By: Valentina Cirasola | Interior Designer Tuesday, Jun 19 2012

Red, the most vibrant color of the spectrum and the color that might give you the jitters if used in abundance. Have you ever thought of painting only one door of your home in a different color? You might wonder what is the point of doing that. Would it not mess up the continuity of the interior doors? Yes and not. Introducing one totally different color, or style door in the interior means only adding rhythm, fantasy, whimsy, character and curiosity, but if all of that is not needed, keep all the doors in one color, as everybody would do it.

In one of my project in Italy, I have used only one red interior door as the accent door. It was the door to the home office. Being the only red door, the question from people visiting the house was always: “What is there behind the red door?” That was the element of surprise I wanted to intrigue people with. That particular client was up to play unconventional games and she liked to be challenged.

In a project I am working now in California, I will be painting only the dining room door in a chocolate color to echo one chocolate wall showing up in three different areas of the house as a continuous accent color, while all the other doors in the house will remain white. The particularity of the “warm and sweet” chocolate door will be the handle, striking, fat, perhaps old fashion and very visible. If it must be different, let it be really different!

Imagine a closets in the bedroom painted in matte red lacquer over teak wood, surrounded by pearl gray walls faux finished in Venetian stucco technique and a highly polished concrete floor! (from my new book on colors Red-A Voyage Into Colors, stay tune for the launch).

Let’s see how interior doors made in different solutions have been used for a tri-dimensional effect. Stained glass, sand blasted glass, or painted glass is one of many effects.

A door with a pediment on top will give the room a formal look, or color the door surrounding area in a contrast colors from the walls.

Have fun with the outdoor, colored doors leading to the garden become playful with the nature.

Ask your faux finish painter to decorate a door by applying your favorite theme on it, flowers and fruits for a kitchen door, metal finishes for study rooms and offices, or a modello design for a dining room.

Make your home your fantasy cocoon and forget about what everybody else does.
I am here to help you in your choices, suggest elements suitable to your personality and encourage you to be different. At your service with lot of love and laughter. Ciao,
Valentina
http://www.Valentinadesigns.com
http://valentinaexpressions.com/

Copyright © 2012 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 her new book on the subject of colors: Red-A Voyage Into Colors. It will soon be available on

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

 

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The Story Of Your Home | by: Valentina Cirasola | Interior Designer Thursday, Apr 12 2012

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I was in a funny episode a few years ago, it just resurfaced yesterday because I was talking in a forum about this episode. I met a woman in a store in the area where I live, she was a foreigner, but we spoke Italian to each other, because she knew my language. We got acquainted and we talked casually for a while. At the end of the conversation she invited me to a party at her house that coming weekend. Bare in mind we were perfect strangers.

She appeared to be not well-groomed person, she said she was gardening that day before going out to the boutique were we met for the first time. She was very dirty, she was wearing jeans with holes (me, going out with holes in the jeans? Never, not even if they are in high fashion!), she had a mount of oily red hair flowing in the air, well you get the picture. Any way, I don’t know why, I accepted her invitation to the party.

When I arrived to her address, I saw a huge mansion of about 30,000 sq.ft., which wrapped around a hill (I learned later that the entire hill was her property, among many other properties). I called the number she gave me to tell her that I might had arrived at the wrong address. She assured me I was not and opened the gate.
Statues, fountains and scented flowers opened a beautiful path for me.
The family is a multi-millionaire ten times over. Her husband retired from his own company at age 37, he is now in his late 60s. There is no need to tell you what a beautiful, colorful and really extravagant, out of the ordinary home unfolded in front of my eyes, all decorated by her.

During the party she had a paid tour guide wearing a livery and white gloves who took every hour and half a group of 6 people at a time to visit the house interiors and the exterior luscious gardens, artificial lakes, ponds, outdoor pizzeria and outdoor rooms. The woman came from very poor origins and made it really big in this world as an emigrant.

Lesson learned. Never judge a book by the cover and never question the motives of rich people. They have it, they can flaunt it and I will enjoy every moment spent in their wealth any time I am around them.

Showing our home to the guests is a costume of certain cultures and a privilege to be shown around, but not everybody does it for a fear of losing privacy or being criticized. Commonly the rooms well made up are foyer, living room, kitchen and powder room. The rest of house being off limit to the guests is either not pretty or not clean, but you live in it and you paid for that space too, why not give a little consideration to it, adding a little sense of pride for what you achieved, may I add?

It doesn’t take much effort to bring the invisible part of the house up to par, especially with the help of a professional who has a trained eye and knows how to find the best within your budget. Each one of us has a story to tell about the house, your guests will be interested to hear it and get to know you better through your cocoon. Surprise them!
I am here for you or anyone you know. I have been at your service since 22 years ago and I show no signs of wanting to quit. Sharing is caring, pass my article around freely. Ciao,
Valentina
www.Valentinadesigns.com
www.Valentinaexpressions.com

Copyright © 2012 Valentina Cirasola, All Rights Reserved

Valentina Cirasola is a trained Italian Interior Designer in business since 1990. Being Italian born and raised, Valentina’s design work has been influenced by Classicism and stylish, timeless designs. 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. Valentina is the author of the forthcoming book on colors RED-A VOYAGE INTO COLORS. Check out her two published books available on

Amazon: http://tinyurl.com/9agl5v9

Barnes&Nobles: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/c/valentina-cirasola

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Some Like It Pink | By: Valentina Cirasola | Interior Designer Wednesday, Mar 21 2012

Spring is here, at least on the calendar, even though in some parts of the world is still cold. In the spring we want to get rid of the dark colors in favor of bright, cheerful colors that will welcome the spring in our heart, gardens, wardrobe and our spaces.
(Source: colmet.tumblr.com)

Spring palette contains most of the colors of all the palettes and all the colors of the rainbow. But can everyone wear or live in the spring palette? Certainly not.
Our skin tone is a major indicator; it will tell which color looks the best and which color fights with it.

To be able to create a color palette that will always be in harmony with our skin, we need to choose colors that have the same temperature and value as our skin, hair and eyes. Let’s say you have a cool-based coloring, violet-rose skin tone, grey-blue eyes, cool greyish or cool brown hair, then I can say your coloring is cool and you can choose colors from all cool hues families.

Warm colors are not off limit to a person with cool colors, just need to find the undertone of the warm colors and mix them with cool colors.
Sounds difficult, but in reality it is not.

If the skin agrees with certain colors and not others, the interiors of our spaces react the same ways when we use the right colors that match the color temperature and color value of our skin. If the wrong color bounces off the walls and reflects on our skin, we will certainly look and feel not at ease.

(Source: Pinterest)

Some like it pink, but pink doesn’t like everybody and I am one of them.
My skin has a golden tone, pink will clash with it and with my personality.
I can wear pink away from my face, as for instance I can wear a pink purse, which will be the accent and not the main colors on my body.

I apply the same rule to my spaces. My main living colors must be in the golden tone, or vibrant warm tones. I can highlight an area with pink, as in my photograph of the open view bookcase with pink wallpaper in the background. I can accent an area as the pink staircase, or the pink refrigerator in the kitchen, but pink for people with golden tones, must be used in a small format and must be toned down with many browns, grayish brown and warm greys, or black.
Although for some people pink equals vintage, its use can be quite attractive and elegant in home décor.

In the Italian bath photograph (below) the use of pink is limited to accent the room. The smarter part is the way grey tiles mixed with the pink tiles create a verticality of dynamism. Silver plumbing fixtures, accessories, a large skylight and all the silver contours in the room add a load of natural light and pleasant reflections. The bathroom is playful but elegant and it can be used by both sexes. It is equally masculine and feminine. (Source: Italian Magazine)

On the contrary, the Russian designer’s pink bath glows in playfulness. (Source: http://milleniondesign.com/apartment)
Two different styles and both are elegantly original in pink.

There is a lot to say about colors, when in doubt, ask the experts.
I am one of them and I can save you money, time and headache.
Like what you read? Sharing is caring. Pass it along to someone who would benefit. Ciao,
Valentina
www.Valentinadesigns.com

A Design Success Story Video:
http://youtu.be/pOKI6LkOkkA

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. Red-A Voyage Into Colors, her book on the subject of colors is the publication and will be released by the end of April 2012. Check out her other two books on

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

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My Red Philosophy | By: Valentina Cirasola | Interior Designer Saturday, Feb 25 2012

Lovely to place another check mark near my goals with the word DONE. Here I am at my third book, finishing up the publishing process.
Red-A Voyage Into Colors will be released in the Spring 2012.

In this book, I have talked about colors in our spaces, homes, offices, gardens, fashion, food and astrology. I have also included easy studies on colors for those readers who want to learn how to make colors, learn how to see and interpret them, or learn to understand their psychology. Oh, yes, wear the wrong colors and the face will show signs of aging, the body will look awkward, out of proportions and the wrong colors in the house will give us headache.

The philosophy of Red-A Voyage Into Colors is based on the playful nature’s colors we have been gifted with and that we enjoy every day. It was easy to think of nature and write about it. I get up in the morning and salute the sun. Even when it rains, I welcome the gray colors of a wet day and wear the brightest colors in my wardrobe as a propitiatory dance to let the sun return into my life, but in the meantime I enjoy the changing of weather. Nature is my inspiration, always.
Color is life! We live under a blue sky and a yellow sun; a silver moon kisses us at night; we swim in green-blue seas and climb on brown mountains; we stroll in green parks and forests, our gardens are filled with a profusion of colored flowers. Nature has done it all for us, we can just copy it and celebrate. We are the nature; we are the colors.

[Find my images on Pinterest]

A jolt of happiness travels through our brain and body when we get up in the morning and see beautiful colors in our house and then again when we go into the closet to select special color combinations fit for the occasion of the day.
With the promise of a colorful day that will put our disposition on a positive track, why would anyone live without colors?

So many people spend their life in dreadful beige homes, or worse in the colors for resale value, living not in colorful spaces of their liking, but living the life of the next buyer. People are so afraid of colors and yet colors have flavors, emotions, harmony and music. Colors play along with the daily rotation of the sun transforming their structure and light each time the sun touches each colored surface with its warm rays and because there is rhythm in colors, let’s not forget that each colors will increase our creativity, or inspire us.

Allow yourself to experiment with various color combinations and challenge your fantasy, when in doubt, always refer to nature.

I have produced one book a year for the last three years. I can really say nothing is impossible! I know which book will be next, I will leave that news for later.
Stay tuned for the release of Red-A Voyage Into Colors, hardcover, filled with my photographs and my drawings.

I am available for hiring in speaking engagements on colors and how we can use colors to our advantages. Ciao.
www.Valentinadesigns.com
www.Valentinaexpressions.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 her two published books on
Amazon: http://tinyurl.com/9agl5v9
Barnes&Nobles: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/c/valentina-cirasola

 

 

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Hunted and Saved | By: Valentina Cirasola | Interior Designer Friday, Jan 20 2012

Ciao everyone,

For a few days now I have been going around the house looking to give a second life to some old pieces. Strong of the experience I had a few years ago, I am ready to repeat the artistic experience with a new piece. Sundays are perfect days to go bargain hunting around garage sales and flea markets. I love flea markets! In one of those excursions, I found a few old pieces of furniture and ventured through the refinishing process.

There are a few things you need to do before you tackle a refinishing of a piece of furniture. First, you don’t know where the piece has been before you and how the previous owner used it, unless someone tells you the history. Disinfect, clean it really well and keep it in an open and well-ventilated place for a few days to eliminate previous odors. While you are deciding on the transformation of the piece, the new design, color, pattern or the overall new look, I would suggest taking pictures of the piece and visiting some reputable antique dealer who will tell you just by looking at the photograph if it is a valuable piece or not. If it is a value piece you might want to leave it as is, just give it a good clean, otherwise if it gets restyled into a new life, the piece will lose its antique/historical value.

The refinishing process is very easy. Strip old paints and varnishes with a coarse sand paper by using a sanding machine or plain elbow grease, which I like better as it is another way to exercise muscles. The plain wood grain will surface again in all its beauty. At this point you can decide to leave it natural to emphasize the wood grain and apply only transparent varnishes, or you can paint it in your favorite colors. My photographs show painted examples, découpage and antique finishes.

Dust off the remaining of the sanding with a soft cloth; make it really clean, you must not feel any grain under your fingertips. Apply a coat of primer paint to cover all the imperfections, wait until it dries well, sand it lightly with a less coarse sanding paper, and dust it off again. The surface must be really clean every time another coat of paint goes on.

Apply the first coat of the paint color of your choice. Let it dry. If the result is good, then the piece is almost done, but if it needs another coat of paint, sand it lightly again, dust it off and apply a second coat.

Most of my pieces have been speckled at the end. With a small brush I splashed a dark varnish here and there for interest. Highlighting all the details is the fun parts. The style of the piece of furniture will dictate whether the highlights will be antique or contemporary style.

Découpage is always done as the last detail. The only items needed are a flat brush, a découpage glue and an image, nothing to it.
If you like to draw an image free hand, that step is also done after the piece has received the last coat of paint. Trace the image with a carbon paper; with a brush go over the line drawing and paint your image with the selected colors. This is the easiest way to apply a design. Stenciling a design over the top coat is another way, but this takes a good skill. Seal the découpage, stencil work or any drawing with a non-yellowing water base varnish.

Now it is time to apply the jewelry. Get your fantasy in motion, use anything and everything for drawer pulls, or door knobs. One of my cabinets has a pair of hearings as drawer pulls. Others are a mix of style, colors and textures. Arts and craft store sell wood knobs and pulls, which can be painted in any style you like; that will satisfy your artistic vein, other than saving you money.

There are professional artists on the market who make excellent money in producing elaborate faux finishes. I know this process as I have described might sound simplistic. If you don’t have velleity of taking your refinished piece to the Guggenheim exhibition and you just want to give a second life to something old with interesting shapes, then don’t make the refinishing process complicated. Follow these simple steps and you will produce an attractive piece just like those in my photographs.

A few years ago I helped a person in France restyling her piece. She contacted me through Facebook, asked me questions about the furniture she wanted to refurbish, liked my answers and hired me to assist her in the production. I did not move one inch from my desk, our communications developed through Skype calls and emails. She purchased the knobs from my selection photographed in a store. Her French piece turned out beautiful. If you are stuck, let me help you or anyone you know in restoring your piece, it doesn’t matter where in the world you are. Ciao,
Valentina
www.Valentinadesigns.com
www.Valentinaexpressions.com

Copyright © 2012 Valentina Cirasola, All Rights Reserved

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.

She is the author of RED-A Voyage Into Colors, her forthcoming book on the subject of colors.
She is also a published author of two regional Italian cuisine books. Find her books on

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

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My Christmas Village | By: Valentina Cirasola | Interior Designer Wednesday, Dec 21 2011

I can finally take care of “building” my village. This year many days ran together, during the course of many weeks I lost at least one day every time and wondering where did my time go. How did I manage that? This year has been a real lesson for me and I will take care of my busyness at the beginning of next year, but now it is time to think of my Christmas village.

Years ago, I fell in love with hand painted houses representing Charles Dickens’s village. I was new in USA, seeing Christmas villages in stores were new thing for me, just as everything else was. I started to collect as many little houses I could until one day I had no more place to store them and stopped the collection.
The village I build for Christmas every year is my fantasy, not a real village. The style of architecture does represent Victorian England of early 1800s, the small statues of people are dressed in Victorian fashion, so darling, but everything else is a fantasy. I have a theatre for plays, comedies and ballet performances, the Opera House is grand. I have many pubs and restaurants, hotels, various shoppes, antique stores, a seamstress’s house, playgrounds for kids, the light house and a barn, an ice skate ring with moving people (battery operated), a few library buildings, a train station with a sound of a train coming and a real moving train, a battery operated toy. In my village there is no police station, no hospital, no government buildings and no schools. Hey, this is my village and in my fantasy we all learn from each other, we are all good to each others and help one another.

It takes many hours to put the village up, string all the lights inside the small houses, creating attractive streets and passages over bridges and gardens, arrange the houses to design an inviting village with the main drag with all the fashionable stores just as if I were a certified city planner. I like to place street benches next to cozy corners or views, kids and carriages in the right spots and attach all the sounds to make the village come alive. I like to keep all the lights and sounds turned on all day, but at night it becomes magic. The lay out of my village varies every year, streets and things to do are never the same and I amaze myself how many solutions I can create. It’s playtime!

I leave the rest of the room in suffuse lighting to allow the village to be on stage, when is completed it is quite beautiful. December is the only time of the year I can live almost in history, I get to step back in time to experience a much simpler and slower life even though is only in my fantasy and through toys. Perhaps during Charles Dickens’s time they said the same thing about a slower living style before the 1800s.

In a separate area of the room, away from the village display, I don’t miss to set up a spirituality corner with my little manger made in Germany by wood workers artists who are still designing small items all by hands and some angels made of Venetian glass made in Murano. LED light strings and candles everywhere illuminate the rest of the house.

The custom of turning on shiny, bright and colored lights in December comes from the burning the “Yule Log” in Germany, a medieval pagan festival that occurred every December to celebrate the winter Solstice and the short dark days of winter. The burning of the Yule Log was a way to welcome light, the return of the sun and it represented Jesus as the light of the world.

However I want to look at it, I am one of the few people who decorate Christmas in a different way. The important thing is to celebrate a new light that will take the darkness of the winter away from our life and project us into the New Year with a renewed spirituality and new goals toward the humanity and ourselves.

I hope you will come up with your own different display too and please remember I am always ready to decorate and design with you.
Have a Happy Christmas and happy holidays. Ciao,
Valentina

www.Valentinadesigns.com
www.Valentinaexpressions.com

Copyright © 2011 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 the forthcoming book on the subject of Colors entitled RED-A Voyage Into Colors, due to be published very soon.

Valentina’s books on the Italian regional cuisine are doing very well. They are available on

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

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