SALONE DEL MOBILE 2017

Hello! This post remained “frozen” for a while, because of my recent work commitments, so this year I’m in huge delay about the last trends about interior design. But I took some interesting pictures, to catch the atmosphere I breathed.

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Let me reassume simply what’ll be trendy next season:

– First of all, we’re back in the 70’s: geometric shapes, flashy colours, fancy wallpapers, round armchairs: if you’re a nostalgic, this is the perfect time for you.
– Make way for rich fabrics and materials: velvet and taffeta are the protagonist of the home, giving a cozy, warm touch, together with the classic marble – or cultured marble for the table surfaces. –
– Let’s have fun combining particular colours: dark moss green with yellow, powder blue with orange, and so on.
– Greenery is good!: wallpaper and pouffs with palms, but also great profusion of plants and vases everywhere, and also cupboards with leaves and blossoms motifs.

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SALONE DEL MOBILE 2016

Hello!I’m so sorry for the absence during this last month, i couldn’t even read properly the other blogs I follow… phew! I was really busy with work, and had no time to report anything. During April, as usual, took place in Milan the “Salone del Mobile”, one of the biggest display of interior design, as you sure know. It’s always a funny experience, I love to have the chance to see on preview what will be “trendy” for the home one year later.

This year the leading role was for the kitchens, with EuroCucina, that take place every two years. The real innovation for kitchens will be the games of simmetry/asimmetry between the elements, as well as the modularity: every company is moving in the direction of giving to the customers the possibility to “invent” their own kitchen, mixing two/three kitchen types where before was inconceivable. Another original idea is the chance of personalize cabinet doors with your own drawing/photography: doors are literaly “printed” just like a wall being covered by fancy wallpaper.

Something new is evolving also for the bedroom: before there was a clear division between wooden and upholstered beds: nowadays, these two typologies are melted together, with wooden panels supporting the cloth-covered ones, creating really uncommon effects.

Seeing these beds I can’t help quoting Le Corbusier: “L’arte del decoratore consiste nel fare nelle case altrui quello che non si sognerebbe mai di fare nella propria.” (that is – The decorator’s art consists in doing in other people’s homes what he would never dream of doing in his own. -) Hilarious way to see an interior designer, isn’t it? See you at the next furniture exhibition!

Cris

SALONE DEL MOBILE 2015: WHAT’S NEW!

Hello!Last Friday we went to the Salone del Mobile in Milano, our annual appointment with design news for the next year!It’s always great to go and have a look, it makes me feel really excited. I would like to share with you some shots of the exposition: I have so much to say, not only about this day, but also about travels and … food! (for now … I’ve not enough time! – sigh – )

I have so much appreciated many “setting” organized for the occasion: stands with lot of trees and plants, sometimes on two floors. The results have been warm and cozy rooms, with neutral colours, soft cushions and curious lights. So…stylish!

I loved the spaces given to the green: creeping plants, water retaining plants in white tiny pots, small greenhouse: everything you need to make your own urban jungle!

Another thing that I consider really “scenic” is the overlapping of geometric shapes: circles and square intersect and alternate to create harmonic and well-defined spaces.

Upholstered beds remain always “trendy”, both classical models with squared headboards and others with irregular shapes. Headboards are enriched with different colors and materilas, and also with pockets to hold objects.

Finally, colorful plaid throws and cushions, both for livingroom and bedroom: floral and geometric patterns combine themselves harmoniously in the new fashionable colours: powder pink, sage green and peacock blue. (photo: Desigual cushions)

THINGS FOR THE HOME

Hello!Finally spring is arrived! We’re having such lovely sunny days. And spring means renovations, also for the home! In this post I’ve collected some of the ideas I like the most for my home for this spring/summer seasons -hoping to have the time to dedicate to our home -.

1) PILLOWS: i love cushions and textiles, but till now I didn’t buy a single new pillow: on the top of the wish list there are the UK/USA flags cushions: I want to put them on the white cabinet in the entrance, together with the blue&red cushions I already have.

2) WALL CLOCK FOR THE KITCHEN: I haven’t buy either a new clock for the kitchen. (the previous one is broken)
We think that we could order something original with free shipping by internet, like these with the cats: Robin – our cat – will be honoured!:)

3) WORLD MAP PAINTINGS: I found on EBay this combo of three canvas boards: I would like to buy it for the living room: we may also put the “pins”on the places we already visit and check about the new destinations.

4) PATCHWORK ARMCHAIR: we need an armchair in the master bedroom. I wasn’t really satisfied about the classical types I found. But one of our suppliers makes a collections of funny chairs, and I totally liked this one: it was love at first sight. I love natural wood combined with patchwork.

5) A CHALKBOARD: I always loved chalkboards. I love writing and drawing with coloured chalks. I think that it would be great to have one in the kitchen to take note of the things to do, to buy, etc…
I found a lot of cute chalkboards in different sizes, with different frames: but the thing that surprised me, it’s that you can find also table trays, little pots, a variety of accessories where you can write your “thoughts”.Funny, isn’t it?

For today, that’s all. Time’s flying. You may say ” And these are the only things you need?” Sure not.
I didn’t even mentioned the curtains. ALL the curtains in EVERY room. The outdoor furniture. The pots and the plants we wanted to buy for the balcony. The carpets. The new frames we need in the kitchen, in the living room, in the bedroom. STOP. I’ll talk about our ideas next time. Little by little. Have a great day!Cris

AUTUMN MOOD

Welcome fall again! I must say that I especially love autumn warm shades of colours. This is a period of the years in which furniture companies refresh the textile sample cases, so we’re receiving new fabrics, cushions, curtains, and so on .. Let’s sneak a peek among the new colours for the season!

 

These are two of my favourite colours combos (from the book: “Enciclopedia degli schemi di colore” by Anna Starmer): fashionable colours during fall are kakhi, sand, prune, also sage green and blue-grey. These colours add vitality, sense of deep and serenity in the rooms. I noticed that the prevalent choice,afterall, is between shades of hot and warm colours, to warm up the home and also the mood. Really cozy are deep red, yellow, ochre, orange, and also all the colors of the earth.

I must say that woods (light tones) have the undisputed “main role” in this season, because wood connect us to nature, to the changing of season, and it’s pleasant to surround ourselves with wood elements at home, with its natural shades and organic texture: it’s perfect to confer to the ambience a relaxing and welcoming atmosphere.

Together with the colours and the materials, the choice of the textiles is even more important for a confortable ambience: between the fabrics, you could choose both the wool and the cotton, mixing them up together.  A new quilt or carpet will be great to renovate your home.

Finally, returning to the earth and the wooden details, you may also create a new centrepiece and other home decorations with pine cones, branches, barries and dry leaves. Good work! Hoping you’ll be inspired by all these suggestions! Cris

SUMMER DAYS FILLED WITH COLOURS AND DECOR

Hello!Finally it seems that we’re well placed in our brand new home, I’m satisfied! Summer is arrived and, as you surely know, I’m in a good mood ’cause it’s my favourite season of the year: I never get tired of sun, sea and sunsets. Of course also in our home we could bring a little piece of summer… how? With the ideas that i found searching on the magazines and in Internet, they’re quite simple after all, but really suggestive!
Since I was a child, for me summer was strictly connected to searching seashells on the seashore… and with my mother, I took the habit to collect them, and store them in small pots on the cupboard.

Small pots of fruit compote are perfect for build some homemade decoration: I use often sand (also coloured), pebbles, pieces or cutted rope, seashells, starfish, and so on…isn’t it a stylish and simple decor idea?

Also building a starfish and seashells garland is a good idea: you can place it on a door, on a panel in a corridor, as centerpiece…and also you’ll not miss your souvenirs of some special holidays.

Like always, cushions are great protagonist of our home: why not refresh our home style with brand new “marine” cushion? I found these on “Pottery Barn”site, they have a bunch of beautiful decorations: really inspiring, I’m all worked up in these days thinking at the best choices for my own home.

Surfing on the net, i found also some beautiful vases, with the colours of the waves of the ocean, they reminds me to last year in Fuerteventura: i’m totally in love with them. They’re really elegant and in different shapes.

In the end, last but not least, the original navy, or coastal style must have some blue-striped element: beautiful carpets and cushions, but also bedcovers and curtains, to recreate a piece of seaside in a corner of our home: soo relaxing and refreshing!

Here the colours combos deduced by these images: if you click on the images there are the links at the furniture sites from which I took inspiration.

HOME SWEET HOME: BEFORE&AFTER

Hello!We’re really busy in these days ’cause we’re finally moving!I’m so excited! Now that new furniture are arrived, i can show you many details of our brand new home!I’m just in a rush, but I was impatient to show you some corners of our home, so let’s take a peek! Any first impressions? Any suggestions? Next week I’ll update the post with the photos before the renovation, i think you’ll be impressed by the “transformation”. (that’s why the post is entitled “Before&After!) Happy Week-end to You all! Cris

BEFORE&AFTER UPDATE – 05/06/14

IN THE MOOD FOR SPRING

Hello!Spring is finally here! Nature is blooming all around, showing us her beautiful pastel colours. I love spring, the nature wakes up bringing to us such beautiful colours, melted with flavours and scent of flowers’ blossom. For me spring means “pastel colours”, in every declination. As if we have to wake up too from winter, we need colours to stimulate brain and body. Colours that are the same in home interiors like in fashion, as well. Have you ever noticed that nature gives us some suggestions? If you’re in doubt with a combo of colours, you just have to watch all around you the seasons changing. As an Interior Designer, i’ve a quite well-trained eye to combine hues and gradations: I just love it, and I have lot of fun when i do this kind of things.. But, at the very beginning, when I started my work path, the most important thing was to observe everything, to assimilate every picture on home magazines. To cut-off and store the pictures that cought my eye, and take notes about why they caught my attention: these are still nowadays a pretty unlimited source of inspiration for me. Take a look at this photos below: I just took some notes over the colours that are present in each photos.I choose only 5-6 colours for each picture, but the hues of the same colours are just unlimited.

You have to refresh the complements in your home? I think these three models are just good enough.If you don’t need to make a full restyle, pick some colours for cushions, curtains, tableclothes, and so on.. your home will be all dressed-up for spring!

It’s extremely important to know that every colours has an effect over our mood, and they have the power to make us feel at ease and relaxed, or bad and insatisfied. This is also one of the principles of Feng-Shui, a discipline that teach us in which quantities we can use the colours, which are the colours made for the living room, for example, and which are no good for bedrooms. It may be obvious, but it’s not simple to combine colours and materials, every choice has a reason. The concepts are clear and rigorous, but frequently Feng Shui is applied unconsciously. However, Feng Shui is an elaborate topic, with its meanings and symbolism, so I’ll explain it better in a dedicated post. This are the meanings associated with the principal colours for Feng-Shui, with some suggestion to use them.

WHITE
Maybe the most used colour for the walls, white is a ductile and pratic colour. Sometimes, if used too much, it may cause a sense of cold and monotony. A great device is to give the colour a light-warm hue, like beige or yellow, to warm up the ambience. Another good idea is to mix white with a pinch of silver, cause white is also the colours associated with metals. White and metals are just great combined with a room in which you have a lot of wood.
GREEN
Born from the mixture of blue and yellow, it’s a relaxing colour. Green is associated with nature, with the open spaces, and with the trees that provide us oxygen. It’s a colour that allows us to clear up the mind. In its lightest hues, it’s recommended also for the bedroom, and for relaxing spaces.The darkest tones must be use with parsimony.
RED
A powerfull colour that means “passion”. Passion is fundamental in our life, but like all the feelings (and the colours), has to be moderated. Passion and strenght, infact, may flow into a distructive feeling, which could oppress the people. Light red and pink can create a relaxing and harmonious effect, so it’s ok to use it also in bedrooms or restrooms. Dark tones of red are not recommended for resting, they’re too intense.Lilac is great also for the living room, it stimulate communication and sociability between people.
YELLOW
Colour that evokes the sun, it gives warm and energy. Warm tones are great for the kitchen, and also for livingroom, in a lighter tone. On the contrary, it’s a too intense colour for bedrooms or restrooms .
BLUE
Feng Shui generally does not recommend the use of cold tones, except for light hues. Blue represents the deep of feelings, but the risk is to “navigate” too much in our interior world, so sometimes it brings to melancholy.

 Happy Colours’ Mix to You All!Cris