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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Hidden Spaces | By: Valentina Cirasola | Interior Designer Sunday, Jul 1 2012

Consumerism has put a great need in our lives to accumulate things (useful or not).
We are seeing more boxy container furniture with dual functionality to make up for the lack of space, providing additional storage and serving other functions as well, such as seating arrangements. Many corners in the house are now utilized to the fullest of their potential with various creative solutions. Lot of them are showing up in up on my Pinterest board.
http://pinterest.com/vcvalentina/

This means that many people are thinking about this problem and finding solutions anywhere they can. I will point out some good solutions to emulate and others not as good to copy.

Wet Bar – It is a perfect idea to utilize a dead space under the stairs for a wet bar in an informal basement or family room. However, I would not like to see kitchen cabinets style, appliances and plumbing fixtures in an elegant space such as living room. With state of the art Italian technology, a faucet can be hidden behind moveable walls and doors. Take a look at this video, you will be surprised to see how beautiful technology can be.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ag-J9R8DtTU

I would disguise cabinets and appliances with panels made of the same wood style and colors of furniture present in the room. The wet bar will not look like a small kitchen cramped under the stairs.

Library on Landing – Great use of both spaces. Stair landing are usually treated as transition areas with little importance and often left undecorated. At times even lighting is not adequate to travel that route. In this digital era, it is sad to see the lack of books in homes. For me, adding books around windows, doorways and landing together with a comfortable seating area, show that anytime is a good time to stop and read, even when doing the laundry upstairs.

Craft and Hobby Room – Nice solution if everything needs to be in open view. A standard base cabinet is 24” deep, there is enough space to make a slide-out cabinet from the back. After accounting for backings and sliding mechanisms, the two base cabinets might be reduced to 8-10” each. Furthermore, keep in mind that a little bending down might be necessary to reach that back slide-out cabinet.

First Step – That first step must hold the full weight of a person. To make parts moveable and operable for storage it is necessary to reinforce the tread (where foot rest) of the first step, otherwise it could cave in.

Banquette – Filling a window area with something useful such as a banquette and storage underneath is always a good idea to use as seating and storage for extra china or linens.

Stairs Drawers – Of the two examples, I prefer the drawers, but both are good use of the under stairs space.

Kitchen Cellar Stairs – I would have to say a big wow to this idea. Sure it is nice to go down below to get a bottle of wine while cooking, for me at least, but the building code requires the stairs tread (horizontal part) to be at a min. of 11” wide and at least 7” high for the riser (vertical part). Big pain! The idea is nice, but the stairs as they are built appear to be dangerous.

Implementing these small solutions can only improve the life of the people living in the house. The expense is only paid once, but the reward is immense, you get more space, a better-organized life and value added to the house.
Like what you read? Sharing is caring. Pass it along to someone who’d benefit. Ciao,
Valentina

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.
RED-A Voyage Into Colors, her new book on colors is about ready to be published.
Find her 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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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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Tempus Fugit | By: Valentina Cirasola | Interior Designer Monday, Dec 5 2011

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(Ballard Designs photos)

Tempus fugit is a Latin expression first recorded by Roman poet Virgil. The translation from Latin says:
“Time flees irretrievably, while we wander around, prisoners of our love of detail”.

Tempus fugit inscription was first seen on a sundial, today is found often on clocks. Up until the Babylonian invented the sundial, later perfected by the Greeks, people measured time with the raising and fall of the sun; with the change of weather they could tell what season they were in.

The need to have a device that would measure time rose in the Middle Age, around the 1300s when people’s life started to revolve around the concept “time is money” and if they could measure time they would know in a precise way how to dedicate the best time of the day to a productive work, when to stop for eating, when to return to work and when the day was over. Before the advent of clocks these tasks were measured by feelings, if they felt hungry they ate and if they felt tired they stopped.

The first clocks, mostly made of iron and very heavy in weight ended up on church towers to mark the church functions, the monks’ performances at different hours and to call in the faithful to take part of the religious life. The mechanical clocks came about three centuries later along with the pendulum and grandfather clocks, which we still enjoy in home décor today.

Many European countries invented each their own style of clocks, some were incased in beautiful wood species, furniture, or metal, some hung on the wall, some were made as table clock or fireplace mantel clock, some were lantern clocks surmounted over a large bell and some were even portable. One example of a portable clock, the musk-ball watch, struck me in particular. It had the shape of a ball with many holes pierced to let out the scent of herbs contained inside. The belief was that carrying herbs on the body would fight infection and certainly some stench, I agree with the latter, but why attach it to women’s girdle and not on top of the dress? It would have been easier to hear and see the time when the musk-ball watch would strike the hour with a sound. Curious, spicy episodes fill history and I am curious to learn them all.

Going back to Tempus Fugit, our perception tells us time flies, but time is space doesn’t exist. Often people waste time with nothing in particular, importance or urgency at any given moment. We know that time wasted is not recyclable and we feel guilt when we do waste it. However, I think that to allow some “nothing” time it is beneficial for our well-being and mind health, but only if we know how to balance nothing time with working time and achievements of the day.

I read this fascinating article on “What is Time?” http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2010/02/what-is-time/
Physicist Sean Carroll in explaining his theory of what time is, talks about the idea of entropy, a measure of how disorderly things are in the Universe, which started 13.7 billion years ago in a state of a perfect order, in a very low entropy and now looks like a giant mess in a high state of entropy.
We record time by recording the past, that’s our memory of time, today is still in the making, thus time really doesn’t matter yet and tomorrow doesn’t exist.
As Deepak Chopra says: “Today is a gift that’s why is called Present”.

We cannot trap time even if we try to measure it with clocks that can only mark the passing of our days and our activities. We can only follow time and be happy to live it, hopefully in full.

If we ought to decorate with clocks, how would we use them? In my house I have clocks everywhere, not because I am worried about time passing, but because I like to collect them. Each marks a different time, that’s my way of fooling time, or fooling myself, either way works for me.

A large clock in a small entry will definitively make a statement; a clock in a studio room will remind you to get up from the desk every seventy-five minutes and do office stretches; a mud room space with a clock will send a message that it is time to neatly tidy it up; a bedroom with clocks hanging from the ceiling speaks playtime, but what I really like is to fill up a wall with all bunch of clocks without any rule, in a high entropy just like the state of the Universe today. This would be a composition of clocks that doesn’t really tell time, but it reminds you it is time to be playful and to keep up with what matters the most in life.

I thought you might enjoy the Clocks by Coldplay: http://youtu.be/XbI1FpLd4Vk

As the professional who is always ready, I shall be prompt and ready to help you with any of your holiday needs, whether it will decorating, designing, or remodeling. Let me know by leaving your name down below, in which area you would like me to help you. Ciao,
Valentina
www.Valentinadesigns.com
www.Valentinaexpressions.com

Copyright © 2011 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. 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 the author of three books available on

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

 

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Country Style for City Life | By: Valentina Cirasola | Interior Designer Saturday, Oct 22 2011

This year’s fashion reflects the sluggish economy. This winter we will go back to learn crochet, knitting and heirloom waving, because that is what I am seeing as proposals for the coming winter. Fashion industry is offering a no non-sense fashion, practical, wearable at the office and to hang round, all basic colors to combine with everything existing in the wardrobe and very affordable.

I have noticed many corset laced garment ideas from sweaters to boots along with many pointelle, oblique ruffles even on peacoats and serpentine scarves.(Anthropologie photos)

I love the large cowlnecks this year worn with a shirt collar coming out from underneath, looks very comfortable.
The ¾ length coat with an enveloping shawl neckline and much gathering from the shoulders down to the breast and around the waist is so reminiscent of the austerity of the ‘40s. Back then the same coat complemented a ¾ length skirt, today we can get away with wearing a pair of fuseaux and a pair of sling back shoes.

Shoes and boots this winter have gone back to the chunky heels that make you feel well planted on the ground, the embellishments such as belts, buttons, buckles and flowers distract the eye from the bulkiness of the shape. The style of the shoes is quite dismissed, but the color block gives it a better appeal, in fact exalts the comfortable shape of the wide toecap. To wear these types of chunky shoes, Braced Oxfords or Lacebark Booties, a woman must not be necessarily tall, but she must have slim legs, otherwise these shoes will contribute to add heaviness to her body.

Still continuing on the sweet and very feminine side, roses and flowers made of felt and fabrics over abound on garments as on bed duvet and curtains. In designing interiors we are bringing the outside inside, in fashion we are adorning our clothes with echoes of nature, organic fibers and fluid designs. In my interpretation of the next winter fashion style, I feel a sense of fusion of nature with the human body and the fusion of cultures with their colors.

I believe every home interior should have a touch of eclecticism just for added interest. All natural material dress the home of my liking, which is often designed with a lot of wood details, it doesn’t matter if the species differ from one another, juxtaposed with natural stones, natural dyed fabrics and glass. To inject a dose of personality, architectural salvage yards, estate sale and Internet auctions are good places to find several unique vintage pieces.

The country fashion of this winter is very wearable for city life and not only for a weekend in the country. The shoes are wide toes and comfortable even for going up and down between tubes and stairs, or walking to the office. Coats have a fitted appearance, but they are loose enough to wear layered clothes underneath and the fabrics are lightweight.

There are seasons when only one color is particularly in vogue, this coming winter colors are gorgeous, they range from golden-yellow to papaya and mustard, from red or green apple to marine blue, from rust to chocolate. Nobody will have any difficulties finding the right colors for their own skin and still be in fashion.

Even in the home fashion we can have some fun mixing hand-made kilim rugs with pied-de poule, velvets and Prince of Wales fabrics. I know this might sound too confusing to people who are not familiar with fabric names or textures, but it is not that difficult to match so many fabrics with a distinctive character. The important thing is to find a common denominator and carry it through many areas, especially through open spaces.

If this is helpful to you, let me help you playing the tune of fluid and natural design in your clothes or in your home décor, just leave your comment and your name in the box below. Ciao,
Valentina
www.Valentinadesigns.com

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

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 also an author, check out her books’ site: www.Valentinaexpressions.com

or find her books on
Amazon: http://tinyurl.com/9agl5v9
Barnes&Nobles: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/c/valentina-cirasola

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Small, Cute, But Functional | By: Valentina Cirasola | Interior Designer Tuesday, Oct 11 2011

Living in small spaces is challenging, but small spaces teach us how to stay organized and how to save money too. Due to so much market offer, I think it is very easy to clutter up small spaces that we use to live in and therefore buying everything we see in stores should be out of the question. Buying a lot, stuffing each space with unnecessary items, might results in an excuse to want to stay out as long as possible to avoid seeing the problem. Let me tell you I have seen a few stories in my design career!

In a small space every little inch counts and every piece of furniture must have a double function for storage and living tasks. Sofas must turn into beds for visiting family and guests.

Coffee tables, ottomans and sofa tables must have a storage space inside. Just to give you an idea, these pieces are ideals to store a couple of tablecloths and napkins sets, or a few dinner mats as most of the time a small space will not have a formal dining room, still you want to eat on something pretty.

In the kitchen, storage might be limited also. The best way to have everything handy is to hang most skillet and pots or pans in convenient, reachable areas. It would be wise to install a few deep drawers under the kitchen counter to keep plates and silverware all together, that is if you own the small space, it will be money spent well for sure.

Consider the versatility of a baker’s rack. In the eating area it can function as a storing place for dishes, glasses and wine bottles. A baker’s rack also function as a bookshelf or media center in the living room. Place it in the bathroom to display in plain sight bath towels and a few bath supplies. However you want to use it, a baker’s rack is an open “showroom” sort of speaking, make sure to display pretty items.

In the bedroom it is not a good idea to store shoes and seasonal items in boxes under the bed, as positive energy must flow freely in the room to impact positively your sleep or your quiet hours. This is where saving money comes into play. Buy only the necessary fashion clothes and accessories to keep at a minimum the need for storage, thus avoiding the so much feared clutter.

Bedroom closets or any closet in small spaces should be organized with plenty shelves and drawers to contain everything that is necessary for a good living.
The extras are called “extras” because are not needed. If space is limited and not just in the bedroom why keep buying more items? Get rid of something old, or that doesn’t have much use anymore before buying new items. Getting rid of stuff is a way to give a second life to items someone else will want. Living in today’s difficult economy is all about recycling and repurposing.

In the entry a small étagère (shelf) with baskets will function as a last stop box, for library books, outgoing mail or DVDs to grab as you head out the door and as an inviting area where it will be easy to apply the last touch before going out.

Hanging paintings and wall art in small spaces is not that difficult. The gallery wall is made of small paintings or photographs, or a mixture of both. It adds character to the walls, tells the story of your life or of your likings and it is interesting to look at the variety of the artwork. On the other hand, large paintings, prints or photographs will save money in buying many frames and many artworks. You only need one for each empty wall, but that one lonely artwork, unless it is a Miro’, Chagall, or Matisse, just to name a few, after a while, might keep you bored, just something to consider.

Of course there is so much more to cover when creating a cute small space. A functional order should be a priority for a good living. Ask me about space planning and organization, I am a master. Leave your name and comment in the box below, I will answer in 24 hours time. Ciao,
Valentina
www.Valentinadesigns.com

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

Copyright © 2011 Valentina Cirasola, All Rights Reserved

Valentina Cirasola is an Italian trained Interior Designer and a former 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 established her company Valentina Interiors & Designs in 1990. Being Italian born and raised, her 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. She is a published author of three books. Visit her book’s site: www.Valentinaexpressions.com
or find her books on

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

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Renaissance Canopy Bed | By: Valentina Cirasola | Interior Designer Tuesday, Sep 27 2011

It is a pleasant surprise to start the week with a project featured on Avaliving.
Thank you Avaliving for choosing my projects among all the very talented designers hosted on this site. Avaliving is a site for experienced designers who want to showcase their work to consumers and help them decorating or restyling their homes through on-line consultations.
This week’s theme was a timeless canopy bed. I presented my Renaissance Canopy Bed, which I designed for a teenager who enjoyed the room until it was time to leave the nest to go to college. This is still her room when she returns home and she is still enjoying the timeless décor.

Four-poster beds became very popular around the early 1600. They usually had side curtains, which afforded a great measure of warmth, as well as privacy to their occupants, although personal privacy concept was taking off as an idea, it was relatively unimportant at that time. Small kids still slept in the same room with the parents, as they did in the Middle Age time, while the older kids slept in one room all together. A desire for a greater measure of privacy was evidenced by the separation of the masters from their servants, who usually had beds in the smaller adjacent rooms, or near the kitchen.

Furniture was to be admired and to convey the wealth of its owners, but the primary function was to be used, just like today. Tables, chairs, containers furniture such as credenza and cupboards, curtained four-poster beds were of oak or walnut with elegantly turned legs and often hand painted with the application of gold or silver foil. Canopy beds, when they were very ornate, found their place in the middle of the bedroom as a focal point just to add style and character, or against the largest wall in the bedroom.

Today we have kept the same custom. In my room featured on Avaliving (top photo) the canopy bed takes the center stage in a very colorful room. It was custom designed accordingly to the girl’s taste. The frame at the feet of the bed was hand-painted on wood in the style of a Renaissance bucolic theme. A local metal worker, who executed my design, forged the metal posts beautifully. (BH&G photos)
http://www.valentinadesigns.com/ResidentialProjects/PaloAlto/PaloAltoGirlRoom.html

A canopy bed can fit in any style décor, even in a contemporary style with straight lines, dark wood and neutral colors.
I like the spicy colors in this photo (below). I find it very relaxing and vibrant.
Vintage pillows on the coral velvet settee that sits at the base of this bed bring a splash of colors, while bringing life to a neutral color bedroom.

Have fun with a canopy bed, take inspiration from the past, or look around in stores to adapt elements that might be used for something else and make it your own. Not everything we see is meant to have one function only.

As the professional who is always ready, I shall be prompt and ready to help you with any of your needs, whether it will be decorating, designing, or remodeling. Ciao,
Valentina
www.Valentinadesigns.com

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

Copyright © 2011 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 also the author of two books. Visit her books website: http://valentinaexpressions.com

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

 

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Animal Attraction | By: Valentina Cirasola | Interior Designer Saturday, Sep 17 2011

Year after year, I am fascinating with the “animalier” look, even when animal prints were not so much the vogue, I have always worn at least one item in those prints. I believe my attraction comes from the visual rhythm in the movement an animal pattern can imprint in my mind, more than the animal magnetism I might feel.

Animal prints can stir feelings of vulgarity, just as much as feelings of elegance. In the ‘50s the elevated elegance was to wear one or two strings of pearls around the neck and only one small garment in animal print, perhaps a bill box hat, a pair of gloves, or a pair of ballerina shoes and never all together.

Today, animal prints are over used and produced in all colors. Being aware of how to use or wear them will put us on the path of elegance. Animal prints when paired up with a sober look, will give an extra touch of highly seductive femininity. In fact, today the animalier prints are a symbol of high-class fashion, no longer for sexy bombshells that want to make a lasting impression. Ethno-chic and retro styles are the rage in this year 2011 fashion, just as much they have been in past collections.

Pop animal prints spotted in blue, green, or red (confess it, you have one of those too), are fun to wear, but bordering vulgarity is easy to do when the pop colored animal patterns are matched with sequins, bright shiny stuff, or with the wrong colors.

It is not good to mix or match all the prints together, just because they are the same theme or color. One of model wearing Giambattista Valli’s collection has the right color shoes, picking up two of the colors in her animal print dress, but the other model (right) wearing different tonality of zebra print in the dress and in the pochette portrays a confused and not very elegant look.

I am constantly searching for artists in different mediums and subjects, from furniture to fabrics, to paintings that can complement my design work. Through social sites, I got to know Angel Ray’s fabric art. She is a professional silk painter and I love how she describes her scarf:
“The colors of amber, browns and sunset oranges are perfect for autumn, and for any special occasion to add a little ROWR to your wardrobe! A definite conversation starter, throw on this beauty to immediately add bold glamour to your look”.
http://www.etsy.com/listing/82032427/leopard-lilies-hand-painted-silk-scarf

I find her Leopard Lilies to be striking elegant, if it is worn under a total dark brown ensemble, a ¾ length jacket and a short skirt just one inch above the knee. Perfect for a daytime business lunch, or an early afternoon cocktail before 5:00 o’clock. This is my suggested idea, let’s see what she thinks of it.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/musesilkpaintings/sets/72157627255484577/

Angel, with a bit of advanced notice, is able to produce fabrics for interior décor too and I am very happy. That same Leopard Lilies striking elegance can easily change from a scarf to decorative pillows. Picture a cream color sofa, or a brown, black leather sofa with pillows painted in her Leopard Lilies mixed with pillows of the solid colors in the scarf. In each case, they will change the mood and the feeling of the décor, which can swing from contemporary to traditional.

As an interior designer it happens often that I am attracted to animal prints in home décor. Leopard printed carpet was so appropriate for the masculine game room in my photo, but I didn’t try to match anything else to it risking to produce a vulgar space. In fact, the large hand painted mural on the wall takes a center stage and the animal carpet print almost disappears on its own.

If I am voluntarily breaking some accepted decoration rules is because I want to provoke and create some strong emotions, as I did when I designed the zebra ottoman for a woman with a strong personality and bold taste. It is not zebra skin, it is printed leather and it looks so real! The ottoman found its place in the client’s white bedroom with dark cherry wood paneling and grass fabric area rugs.

In my next interior the client is a young woman with a super traditional taste. It took a lot of convincing to mix a racamier seat dressed in animal print in her very traditional living room furnishing. I wanted to lift the heaviness of the rest of the room by adding a new dimension with one contemporary piece and a contemporary throw rug. An extravagant piece, as she called it was too scary for her, but it turned out her favorite piece in the entire décor. I am glad she saw what I saw.

Animalier prints have conquered thousand of women because it is young, transgressive, elegant or….less pretentious; it is a good fit for any age, or in any décor and above all it is fun for any occasion.

I am here to help if you need to lift the image of an area in your home with animal magnetism. Ciao.
Valentina
www.Valentinadesigns.com

Valentina’s design success story
http://youtu.be/pOKI6LkOkkA

Copyright © 2011 Valentina Cirasola, All Rights Reserved

Valentina Cirasola is an Italian Interior Designer since 1990 and a former 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 turn unattractive spaces into castles. Fashion designing has been her first career choice that made her happy in her own fashion company for fifteen years before settling in the interior designing business. Find her books on

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

 

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Diva, Complacent, Or Expert Designer? | By: Valentina Cirasola | Interior Designer Saturday, Jul 23 2011

It is not very uncommon as a designer to work with overly extravagant people, or people who like all the possible décor photographed in magazines, regardless if it fits their personality or not.

What if one day a designer is facing a client’s request to cover the entire floor of a large home with leopard print wall-to-wall carpet? The designer’s blood pressure would go up at once.

This absurd request after about three weeks would push people living in the house to either hide in a closet to avoid contact with that sort of carpet, or throw themselves in the pool. Too much to look at!

But the client likes that idea and nothing is going to take her away from that print.
A skillful designer should know how to compromise and stir the client toward the right decision.
The overly extravagant leopard print carpet will take on a stunning effect if used in small quantity to exalt the beauty of an area that might not have any interest. For example, one of those areas could be a short and straight staircase that connects to an empty corridor upstairs.

Reviewing the design list, the client might come up with the idea of covering all the walls with various faux finishes and murals in each space. In her wish list there is Venetian plaster, old world textured walls, each ceiling painted in Renaissance scene with cherubs, tropical view, Tuscan view, garden climbing plants and on and on. Then there will be a mixture of metal finishes and the story doesn’t finish here. Does it sound like another pain to cure? A skillful designer likes to grab these challenges and turn them into doable ideas.

Another issue to consider is the large open space of the main floor. That is where the client wants to fit dining, living, family, kitchen, foyer, library, painting room, did I forget anything?
Any skillful designer will find a common denominator that will work seamlessly in this large open space where each area will turn into an activity space. To assure a great success the common denominator would be either colors, textures, or style of décor.

The chosen texture on the wall around the staircase has faint blue lines in it. This the perfect place to hang a hand blown Venetian chandelier with a blue tone in the clear glass.

Venetian style and blue tone are two key words to start the sequence of many selections.

Let’s bring some bluish-purple tones into the family room. The fireplace surrounding area gets painted in purple and some of the seating are accented in bluish-purple velvet fabric.
Large windows in the family room allow the view of the lush vegetation in the garden.
Why not bringing some of that green into the furnishing of the family room? Bluish and green are both in cool spectrum of colors.

A perfect green antique Venetian vetrine will fill a corner and some of the seating with a faint green geometric fabrics will echo that lush vegetation outside.

As you see Venetian is the key word that is giving a load of ideas. Embracing but not closing the family room with two heavy columns of Rosso Verona marble is just a perfect accent, along with a couple of red velvet side chairs, while a representation of climbing vines in the sky gives the ceiling an ethereal feeling that everything is OK.

This beautiful home has been featured on Avaliving for the entire week July 18-25, 2011 and will be in my design show series I am filming for an Italian T.V. station in Italy, called California Living.

Is your designer a pushy diva, the type of person to decorate your home only with what she/he likes? Will she/he give you everything you want, regardless if it fits or not just to keep you happy?
Perhaps you should think of hiring one designer with the magic wand I call expertise, knowledge, good taste and common sense to take you into the design world, allow you to design right along, give you the power to choose and leave you with affordable luxury in a comfortable living.

That’s the description that fits me as a designer. After 21 years of business I can say that without feeling self-congratulatory. Please leave your name down in box, should you need my help. Ciao,
Valentina
www.Valentinadesigns.com

http://www.youtube.com/user/affluentliving#p/u/2/eC2LVXANG5U

http://www.youtube.com/user/affluentliving#p/u/0/kWuB7I8uJjg

Copyright © 2011 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 will create your everyday living with a certain luxury without taking away your comfort. She loves to restore old homes, historic dwellings and she focuses on remodeling. She is the author of three books available on 

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

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