Up Above | By: Valentina Cirasola | Interior Designer Wednesday, Jun 5 2013

Delight of my eyes! It excites me to see homes well cared with elegant details that are not always expensive. It takes only a few pieces of trim material, perfect measurements, a coat of paint or stain and voila’ it’s magic!
A simple window with a shelf on top is an opportunity to add some memory of your life, or collectibles. The shelf bracket rod functions as a curtain rod for a finished look.

A naked passageway dressed with multiple layers of cornice molding and a couple of side corbels just speaks the language of elegance.

What to say when two walls painted in different colors come together? The corner molding is the perfect solution and I would add a vertical light hidden inside the molding to give luminosity to each colored wall.

As in fashion, clothes matter, but it is really the body that shapes the clothes. Pleats and darts give fullness to a body that is not full and straight lines are better suitable for round bodies. The same is for the house. The house is a shell, the interior spaces tailor our lifestyle and the details add value to the property, don’t spare them.
“God Is In the Details” ~ Mies Van Der Rohe ~ Ciao,
Valentina
http://www.valentinadesigns.com
http://valentinaexpressions.com

Copyright © 2013 Valentina Cirasola, All Rights Reserved

Through my writing and suggestions, I am hoping to enrich your sensibility towards aesthetic, design, style and inspire you to live in beauty. I have loved my profession as an interior designer since 1990. I am here ready to offer consultations on-line if you need and in the traditional way of in-home consultations. Check out my latest book on colors RED-A Voyage Into Colors, available on
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Colors For Humans | By: Valentina Cirasola | Interior Designer Friday, Sep 28 2012

“Spanish artist Angelica Dass has conceived ‘Humanae’ for Pantone. The project applies the alphanumerics classification of the Pantone coloring system to human skin tone, communicated through a photographed portraiture series. The background of each piece is dyed the exact shade extracted from a sample of 11 x 11 pixels from the very face of the people depicted, with the ultimate aim being to record and catalog, through a scientific measurement, all possible complexions” says Pantone.

Well, this is good news for people like me in the design world. I can add more personality than ever into people’s home. It has been my trait to include in my color palettes the eyes and hair colors of the main people living in the house, often also the color related to their zodiac sign. Now, I can add different skin colors to the décor or to the walls for a total harmony.

Living in our skin color season, with the right color temperature, the right color value and color intensity can only improve our feeling good in the home environment. Is it not the same when we choose our clothes? Yes, it is. That is the reason people consult image-makers to learn about the season of the skin they live in and to select related wardrobe colors in the right season that will make them feel good and project a confident aura.

I just want to make an example. If you have golden-brown hair, brown eyes and yellow-brown skin, or ivory skin tone, your skin color temperature is considered warm. You can choose all the colors in the warm palette, reds, yellows and oranges with all their warm undertones. You will feel at ease with color from Pantone 62-6 C (photo below), for the walls of your home or a few walls in some rooms. Due to your warm skin temperature you are also allowed to choose the cool colors temperature, as violets, blues and greens, but only the warm side of these colors in combination with the reds, yellows and oranges. Therefore your room or rooms will be the result of a series of furniture and accessories enclosed in an upbeat and vibrant color combination, made just for you.

These same color combinations are also perfect for your wardrobe and will exalt all the beauty of your warm temperature skin.

I like this new discovery in the colors adventure very much, it opens new opportunities and allows me to run free with many more solutions.

Let me know if I can help you with colors in any way. I offer consultations on-line through Skype line. Share me freely. Ciao,
Valentina
http://www.valentinadesigns.com/
http://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. Valentina’s book #3 RED-A Voyage Into Colors is almost ready for the market. Stay tuned!

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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

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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.

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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
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The Gift Of A Leap Day | By: Valentina Cirasola | Interior Designer Thursday, Mar 1 2012

“Leap Day in the Gregorian calendar, is a date that occurs in most years that are evenly divisible by 4, such as 2004, 2008, 2012 and 2016. Years that are evenly divisible by 100 do not contain a leap day, with the exception of years that are evenly divisible by 400, which do contain a leap day; thus 1900 did not contain a leap day while 2000 did. […] […] a complete revolution around the sun takes approximately 365 days and 6 hours. Every four years, during which an extra 24 hours have accumulated, one extra day is added to keep the count coordinated with the sun’s apparent position.[…]” Wikipedia says.

I hope that you have taken advantage of the gift of an extra day to do something fun.
Yesterday, my business of course was on my mind, as everyday. I start very early in the morning and I go on and on, without noticing the hours, mixing pleasure and work.
However, yesterday at one point, I decided to enjoy my leap day and left my studio for a discovery mission. I visited a few fashion stores and then I sat at a fancy café for a delicious and relaxing cappuccino. While I was sitting at the café I went over in my mind on the items I had seen in stores and what I am considering buying.

Animal print pants will still be around this spring and even though I have plenty of them, I wouldn’t mind having a red pair. They are so fabulous under a blazer.
Could never have enough of corsets in all shapes and forms, especially if they are encrusted.
Cuff bracelets are so attractive when more than one covers the forearm. I love the orange and brassy looking metal.

There is a plethora of shoes in stores, half of which are not even worth considering due to cheap material that will do nothing for the feet only hurt them. I am Italian and accustomed to super good quality shoes, I refuse to put plastic shoes on my feet. The right choice of shoes will contribute to the sexiness of the feet worth admiring. Unfortunately women will fill up their wardrobe senseless with shoes, no matter what.

In the last few years, women shoes resemble more like heavy tanks than sexy shoes, adding only heaviness to the legs and that trend is still continuing in the spring. The chunky heels are back in fashion, at least they are better for supporting the weight of the body. Heavy, massive shoes are not really becoming for women with very muscular or heavy legs, but often women will wear what is in fashion at all cost instead of what looks good for their body shape, or skin coloration.

In the spring fashion there are so many bright and sunny colors, vividness and gentleness. There are more colors in the spring palette than in any other palette and not much of dark colors.
Spring people (light skin and hair with low contrast coloration) should avoid dark color, especially white and black. The colors of the Far East are perfect for a spring person: light purple, peach, saffron, orange, bright green, turquoise or soft lilac and light blues. The choice of colors is endless this coming spring.

I saw many flowery prints and powdery colors, dusty beige, pearl gray, or dusty rose. I tried on a lovely dusty rose leather jacket, the shape and the design were absolutely gorgeous, but the delicate color washed out my golden tone skin and blonde hair. I had to let it go with disappointment. Knowing about colors helps me not to buy on impulse. The wrong color will drag me down and the face will look opaque, as if the light has been turned off.

It was a good exercise thinking of spring in this rainy, leap day and a much appreciated gift from the cosmos. I was also rolling in my thoughts amused at the knowledge that in some countries, on leap day, women can propose marriage to a man and wondering how many did and got excepted, or how many did not get excepted and must wait four more years for the same chance.

Using colors is an art. Either one is gifted at birth, or one must learn it.
“To see the sunlight, one must have sunny eyes” ~ Anonymus.

Should you need my help in selecting architectural colors, or fashion colors, please do not hesitate to contact me by leaving your name in the box below.
Please share me with your circles freely. Ciao,
Valentina
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. She is the author of RED-A Voyage Into Colors, the forthcoming book on the subject of colors. Check out her two published 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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Keep It Festive | By: Valentina Cirasola | Interior Designer Thursday, Dec 29 2011

Every year most people get the beautiful Christmas decorations up and functioning soon after Thanksgiving festivity. For more than a month we get used to live with shimmering colored lights, many different colored decorations, scented candles, crystal items and silver flatware. Everything looks so lucent and elegant. We do need all of this as a way to reward us for a year of hard work and to celebrate in style the passage into a new year with renewed hopes, dreams and goals, but as soon as we are into the new year the trees and decorations go down and the shimmering lights are turned off. I keep all of my Christmas decorations until January 6th to celebrate Epiphany Day. This is a Christian commemoration of the Magi or Wise Men’s visit to baby Jesus, which marks the end of all December festivities. Kids get another present, just like Jesus received incense, myrrh and gold from the Magi, the Christmas tree is taken down on that night with all the beautiful lights and decorations, Christmas markets close, holidays are over and officially the year starts.

Epiphany day was a fun day for kids. On that night of January 6th, my parents organized a tree dismantling party and invited other kids with their parents. Our Christmas tree, as most people did, had chocolate decorations hanging among all the other Christmas decorations.
With a draw, one kid at a time had to find the chocolate decorations as a price, whatever object the kid touched first, that was the item he/she had to take down first. If a chocolate decoration was found first, the game moved over to someone else. Another kid’s name was drawn to give everyone the chance to dismantle the tree and to find the chocolate pieces. Kids fought, laughed or exchanged items, according to each of their tempers or level of vices. This game lasted for hours, before all the decorations were down on the floor, but the tree game was the excuse to get the adults together for another eating feast. My mom and her sisters prepared the last treats of the holidays, generally it was panzerotti (small size stuffed calzone), or home-made pizza, potatoes coquettes, or arancini (rice balls), lot of vegetables, sweets, biscotti, pies and prosecco. This custom is now gone forever as Christmas is more of a consumerism event than a celebration of life, light, spirituality, love and New Year’s good intentions.

Whatever you do to take the Christmas decorations down, it remains the fact that at the start of the year the glitters and glamour are gone and that corner where the tree was is now in the dark. Some people suffer the blues after Christmas is over as they settle into winter, cold and short days. What do you do to avoid that? Redecorate, move furniture around or thinking of Spring already? In some parts of the world Spring may not come until late April, that’s a long time to stay depressed. For me it is easy and simple, as I have adopted a simpler life.

I keep some Christmas decorations around for the next three months. I choose to leave out the not so obvious Christmas decorations, but only one special item for each room, one with an attractive shape or color. First thing to do is to illuminate dark corners with some light decorations, hang something with a visual impact from the ceiling, embellish a doorknob, or a lamp. Glass balls or ornaments generally have interesting shapes and nice colors, I like to keep them in bowls on coffee table and furniture mixed in with other textures. I also like the idea of filling lanterns with colored balls and create an arrangement of three. After the holidays nothing will look Christmassy any more. Take a look at the photos to get an idea and perhaps you have some of your own you want to share with me.

The ornaments will keep my house festive through some cold days while surprising some of my friends. In the meantime, while I am waiting patiently for Spring, I will think of new ways to redecorate and go through the process of cleaning out closets and cabinets. As it happens every January, there will be someone new who wants to take the renovating journey with me as their designer to guide them. It will be a new adventure just right for the new starting year. If you are ready to take that journey with me, do not hesitate to leave your name in the box.
Happy New Year, may all your wishes come true. 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 also the author of RED-A Voyage Into Colors, the forthcoming book on the subject of colors and the author of two published book on Italian regional cuisine, available on Amazon, Barnes & Nobles and various other locations.
http://outskirtspress.com/ComeMiaNonna
http://outskirtspress.com/SinsOfAQueen

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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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Chaos And Dinner | By: Valentina Cirasola | Interior Designer Saturday, Oct 29 2011

What a way to celebrate Halloween! Last night and for the second time, I went to a cabaret show at Teatro Zinzanni in San Francisco, the ultimate crazy amusement. Teatro Zinzanni is one in a long line of high-spirited San Francisco theatrical experience.

The high pace, high energy program evolves in a combination of cabaret, cirque, opera, vaudeville arts, games and dances. There is no real stage, actors, singers and acrobats perform in the middle of the circular room and between tables where diners are sitting.

Guests are greeted at the door by young and beautiful women in fish nets stockings, garter, feathers and corsets. It is a step back in time, a prelude of an exceptionally fun evening.
“The Belle Époque” era, late 1800, is the style of dresses all the staff wears and the high performers are in their stage costumes or the character they impersonate.

The interior of the Theatre reflects the same era, with a lot of red velvet upholstery and gold trims, very frivolous, but very stylish and very Moulin Rouge.
Waiters and waitresses, bus boys and girls all serve in costume, dance and sing while they are holding in their hands the dishes full of food to be served at each table. This is fine dining at its best. I especially appreciated the squash velute’ soup with roasted apple slices, dill and a few lemon juice drops. Photographing during the performance is not allowed.
The scenario is happy, up beat and frivolous and the performances take place during the development of a 5-course dinner.

The only draw back is that unless you buy the table for yourself and company you bring along, you will end up being seated with many other people who might not be interested in socializing for the time you must spend together at the dinner table.

On my left I had a couple in their early ’50 and a couple in their early ’70 on my right. We made our acquaintances at the table.
The people on my right clearly don’t find life very amusing, because they did not even laugh one time during the show. The show was so funny, how could they not laugh? The people on my right were checking their watch every 15 minutes, counting the time aloud: it’s seven o’ clock, it’s 7:15, it’s 7:30, perhaps the show started past their bedtime and couldn’t wait to go home and get in the sack.

My evening was fun no matter what and I really enjoyed myself, but if I had been seated with a crowd more alive, the evening would have been an incredible one.
Perhaps those people sitting at each of my side, deep down inside, wished they could have been as a free spirit as I am.

The show at the Zinzanni mirrors the spirit of the city, a magical place that embraces frivolity, fun, intimacy and self-expression.
Enjoy life when opportunity comes, enjoy every moment and don’t worry about people who want to put a break on your frivolity or happiness.

If you have a desire to decorate a home theatre in La Belle Époque style, or only one room, I am here to help you, just leave your name in the box below. I would be thrilled to decorate in such exciting Parisian style. 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 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 available on

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

 

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