Christmas Trees




centro storico
  


Nat’s taking a break till the first week in January.
Come back to Sette Design 7.
Or I’ll miss you.


I would like to say any kind of Christmas tree is cool (fico) and hip.

In our downtown there is a tree that is very large, structural and FULL of lights.


it will be here next year

I like tiny and full of hope and simplicity.


mother christmas

Innovative and cool, plus some humor.



our tree

Homemade, crazy-joy.



I WISH FOR YOU
PEACE
JOY AND
SPERANZA


Buon Natale

See you next year!
-Natalie

Easy Handmade Winter Solstice Candelabra



Winter Solstice Candelabra



For us here in the Northern hemisphere the Winter Solstice kicks in today.  It will be  the darkest, longest night of the year.  From here on out the days start getting longer.  We are reaching for spring.

Here is my Winter Solstice Candelabra.

wood painted metallic gold and pale blue


I took a piece of wood, painted it gold and blue. 

the ribbon is transparent blue and gold motif



Then I wrapped the wood with a pretty ribbon, the kind with wire inside, taping it on the back to secure it.

make sure to secure the candles on the wood part


Then I took all the left over candle stubs from around our house and dripped on the wax to secure them to the wood.

sometimes simple is better

It’s that fun and simple.

A cup of hot cider or mulled wine and the party has begun.  See and the world didn’t even end, in fact we are doing craft projects and have a little party.

E Via!
Salute,
Natalie

Raining

days before Christmas




“If you don’t like Louis Armstrong, you don’t know how to love.”

-Mahalia Jackson


The days are quite dark and wet, black trees and charcoal-gray pavement.

I want it to snow in the valley.

If I had a temperature reader on the balcony as I have had in the past.  I would be the type to yell the degrees back at everyone in the house with joy, or elated horror.

It is almost the Winter Solstice.

It would be nice if we could find some peace in the world, suddenly an unexpected, overwhelming sense of peace calming the world.

The girls delicately suggest I put presents under the tree.  I say, but then you will feel them out, shake them, sniff them.  I’m exaggerating to make a point.

A cup of tea is in order.

Louie Armstrong is singing Christmas carols with that velvety, deep voice of his.

He sings,

“He comes a calling when the snows the most.
And all you cats are sleeping warm as toast.
And you gonna flip when old St. Nick,
takes a lick from a peppermint stick.”

I'm relieved that Mahalia thinks I know how to love - big time!

Cheers,
Natalie

Some Italian Furniture Design






glass draw pull - a nice detail


I believe that design preference is often just a contrasting reaction to the generation that came before us.

Our eyes want to see something new.

What’s nice about design now is that it is a big mix up, something old, and something new.  A little modern – clean line next to ornate with color, smooth and shiny paired with old and worn.

Today we are going to take a look at a store I love Savini here in Foligno.  The owner Grazia has a wonderful eye for design.  Keep in mind we are in Umbria, although there are many cities it is not Milan or Rome.  Umbria is the only region in Italy that the land does not touch a sea.  This I believe (since I'm a San Francisco girl) grandly affects people mindset.



black and white check chair comfortable and simple

love this little chair for in front of the fireplace

Eco Christmas tree a decorated branch -gorgeous!

I like the idea to hang a love note or gift in mesh bag



dark red always a good accent color -the lamp is made of thread spools 



wooden table framed in metal very masculine



this door I painted in gold paint, then gold leaf and antiqued


colored glass is always timeless


way cool shelf in aged mirror



gray distressed wood dresser - I like it for the kitchen


page holder and weighty letter opener a great gift for the book worm 



little metal table paired with folding wooden chair


off white-gray wood table and chairs

Was that fun, see anything that could go in your home?
Natalie





  




Christmas in Italy





Christmas lights
 


Christmas in Umbria.

Here in Italy there is an old saying:

“Natale con i Tuoi e Pasqua con chi vuoi.”

Christmas with yours (family) and Easter with whomever you want.

In Umbria all the jewel like hill and valley towns string the historic centers with lights.  It is so fun and festive to go around and see the other cities glowing.


Friends chatting in the rain

Special moments when family is together.

Cappeletti made by hand in broth.

Citrus leaves painted gold framing doorways.

holiday glow



Wet pavement and snow covered mountains.

Nativity scenes made in tiny figurines and even constructed big as live human statues.

Running into friends and having a Prosecco at a cafe.

hot chocolate is waiting

Christmas theater and music concerts at school.

Gobbi (thistle) alla Parmigiana (Parmisian).

Taking the kids out for a hot chocolate served warm and thick like pudding.

Everyone – everywhere saying Auguri – Buona FestaHAPPY HOLIDAYS!


I say the same to you!
Natalie

12 Photos for 12/12/12


For the fun and joy of today which is 12/12/12.  I am going to post up some simple photos from my life here in Umbria.  And I will leave you with a funny quote from the fabulous Muhammad  Ali.  It makes me laugh every time.

"If they can make Penicillin out of moldy bread, they can sure make something out of you."



1.
my studio

2.
an angel

3.
ceiling on an outdoor terrace

4.
a job site

5.
our front door -very classic Italian

6.
cutting out venetian stucco

7 7 7 7 7 7 7
medieval wall with fig tree behind

8.
a night photo -gorgeous wall

9.
our main piazza

10.
strawberries and flowers

11.
wet cafe chairs

12.
a red bike -love the basket!

With affection,
Natalie

3 Little Italian Houses





a little house in Spello

I had an epiphany this summer.  I knew how I wanted to spend my old age.  I was working painting a huge villa here in Foligno, it was hot all summer, suffocating and hovering around 40C./100 F.  I started waking up early to beat the heat.

Early one morning I was biking to work through the vacant streets, on my way I passed an old woman in her garden.  There in her garden was a little out building, a studio type structure with arched windows.  I instantly fell in love with her, the garden, and her studio (even if I think she actually had wood stacked in it).  Right then I knew and I made a big wish, that where ever I was in the world, when I grow old I want to have a little house, with a garden and a studio nestled in the garden.  Then I will go to work in my studio (doing whatever I want).  Every hour or two I’ll take a break and have a cappuccino or a cup of tea in the garden, maybe I’ll even cut some roses and put them in a basket.  Isn’t that just sublime?

right below the Basilica in Assisi waiting to be loved


When you look at these little houses, don’t you just want to fix them up?  That little house in Spello, is just begging for me to put some fuchsia bougainvillea climbing down from that roof terrace.  Oh man and what color would I stucco it?

in Sperlunga, Southern Italy in front of the Tereno sea


What is fun about this Diario di Design is that I am starting to have readers from many little corners the world.  It makes me happy to think of all you the creative types out there, working in your studios or dreaming of having a studio, and just working at your kitchen table.  Then there are some of you who are getting ready, to start thinking about working at your kitchen table. I hear ya!  Promise me you will at some point SOON get a cup of tea and think about it.  I confessed about my silly old age dream.

Happy December 10th.
Natalie

December in Umbria



  
december in umbria


Nature never said to me:  Do not.
Still less did she say: Be rich.
Her cry to me was always: Be independent.

-Nicolas da Chamfort, Writer (1741-1794)

This week I have been painting furniture and touching up some walls in a villa up in the hills in Umbria.  It isn’t deep into nature but it still gives one the feeling of peace and freedom and it is possible to get a little lost up there if you don’t know your way.

umbria is all about olive trees




man it is cold out there

In the morning it was -1 C. and the fog was in deep.  Inside it was warm compared to the bone chilling cold outside.   I was working fast, yet I grabbed a few moments to savor the view and the fog.  I love the fog, as I have mentioned before.  I promise to be redundant in this blog (diario di design).  I had brought my beloved thermos of hot coffee – how cool is that, hot coffee, gray fog and silver-blue-green olive trees everywhere.


which way to go?

Remember you can choose your path.
Natalie

The Princess and the Firemen






Palazzo from the 1400's



Yesterday I wrote about my crazy romantic perspective of life – what’s the harm I asked?  Then later I thought about an incident that happened this summer that was completely the cause of my stupid, dreamy, romantic mind.  I was working in a beautiful Medieval Palazzo, the one you see above.  I had brought my Italian girlfriend by to see the space.  She has a furniture store that I paint furniture for and she has great style and we love to talk about colors and process.  While looking at the apartment we stepped outside into the inner courtyard to look and I stood at the top of this staircase and said, hundreds of years ago I could have been a princess standing on the top of these stairs, descending them in a flowing gown.

   

princess staircase

 

SLAM – the wind blew the apartment door closed.  We had a good laugh for a few moments until the reality dawned on me.  I was now locked outside of work, my cell phone, purse and even keys to my house were inside.  Now in this world of cell phones, nobody in Italy even has landlines to look up a number in the phone book.  I couldn’t call the owners of the apartment.  I felt pretty bad because they had trusted me with their keys and I was not working and instead pretending to be a princess.

Hours later I got the fireman to come and open the door.  They brought the huge fire truck right into the center of town.  The fireman were not mad and scolding me for wasting their time.  They were distracted by the beauty of the Palazzo, proud of this hidden treasure, of their Italian culture.  They opened the door in seconds, mouths hanging open in awe, laughing and good spirited and maybe quietly, secretly standing on top of that staircase, for a split second imagining they were noblemen descending the stairs with swords resting on their hips.  Firemen all over the world are cuties it seems.

The project came out well.  The clients were really happy.

I apologize for my low technology camera and basically simple knowledge of all computer stuff.  It is a small miracle that this blog is even up and running.  Today I am taking a huge leap to even try to put up a video.  I hope it works.

It is interesting to note that the crown moldings and ceiling panels are all fake, Styrofoam with real gold leaf on the panels.  I didn’t do any of that work.  I just painted the space.  The question of if it is correct to put Styrofoam into a Medieval Palazzo, you can answer in your own mind.  The job did get completed in a very fast time frame. 

A before shot

Before



Here is a photograph of the finishes. Pearl dragged kitchen, pale grey blue living room, second living room taupe (that changes from mocha to lavender with the light) and a pale grey bedroom with rich sky blue ceiling (not shown).


wood floors installed diagonally

Here's a little video, lets hope it works.





A few photographs of the apartment being decorated.





i love these chairs in mixed pattern




this taupe color changes with the light



these walls are actually that gorgeous pale blue


Was that fun?

Natalie