Can We Talk Pink





fiat 500


My sister and older daughter Lucia hate pink, it must be some kind of intellectual aversion, they are both proclaimed bookworms.  I am starting to love it, haha!  I think people who hate pink are sort of proud to hate pink, what’s up with that?  But wait didn’t I earlier in this blog claim that yellow was just generally no good, then I back peddled tremendously and said vanilla was o.k. and ochre too.

So this week while out and gallivanting around, I came across a pale-pink metallic Fiat Cinquecento.  I stopped in my tracks with my mouth agape.  It was just stupendous.  And thus I became inspired to talk and think about pink.

the pink brick from Assisi




my favorite velvet and pink silk robe, throw blanket from ikea


evening pink street, o.k it' kinda lavender


Since living in this country I have come to love pink, Italy knows how to do pink, from the men who casually and sophisticatedly wear pink scarves (think black hair, olive skin) around their necks, pink pants, pink palazzos, pink brick (famous and from Assisi), beautiful old terra cotta pink floors.

my daughter elisa's natural pink lips



soft pink palazzo with dark taupe - yes!



trick of the sunset, palazzo is yellow, my kitchen is grey and white


sorry i cut off the arch - bad girl
dark wood reflected pink


Back when I was young and I lived in Brooklyn, NYC going to art school.  I lived in a gorgeous brownstone.  The owners, previous architectural students, becoming misguided architects painted our inner curving staircase walls wedding cake pink, Barbie pink! They claimed it was historically correct, but my point back then was it didn’t look good, it seemed off, big time.  We were in the ghetto in Brooklyn it looked like a brothel.  You can’t ignore that there is a ghetto outside your front door.  What I am getting at here is that where and how pink is used is important.  It is a color that there must be some consideration behind.  I don’t believe that the Fiat Cinquecento originally came in pale-metallic pink.  I could be wrong but, slim chance it was a historical color for that car.  Now doesn’t that car look fantastic, courageous, funny.  Don’t you want to know the driver of that car.  And what’ cool is since we are in Italy, it could be anybody, an old man, a young hipster, a nonna.  Whomever it is they have style and they understand pink.

fiat cinquecento, it even has a sun roof


Natale



Thinking About Wood -Staining Sub-Flooring




picture the beautiful little ballerinas dancing on this!


Recently I was staining a dance floor studio on my hands and knees for a couple of days and it got me literally in touch with wood.  Living here in Italy for so many years I really miss the wood floors of America.  There are wood floors here but they are installed right over hard tile or concrete so there isn’t the air underneath of the subfloor.  Here’s what I love about wood.

It’s warm.  It's alive.

It feels good to walk on.  It is better on the body.

It is easy to stain or paint or change, update whenever you want.

I grew up in a house with an in closed front porch, it was all windows and glass doors at both ends of the house.  The floors my mother painted high gloss white, they were wood, long-wide boards, just heaven.  And with all the muddy running shoes that tracked over them they were actually easy to clean.

I believe a stenciled motif or hand painted design over dark wood or painted floors looks fantastic and as it ages even better.

here's the before


Here is this project at the dance studio.  The point I want to make here is even though it is just sub-flooring, even with the football shapes in certain areas, it still looks great.  It was so easy to do.

i use a big thick natural brush


All I did was brush on a wood stain in a chestnut color 1 to 1 1/2 coats.  I always brush in the direction of the wood grain.

I worked on one project where other workers snapped in the plastic laminate fake wood floors in one weekend.  It was impressive.  The client spend 1600 euros (about $2,000) on supplies, it was a huge two story palazzo.  Her home looked incredible right away.  But it wasn’t wood.  It did not have the same feeling as wood. 

Sometimes I worry that we are filling our homes and lives with plastic.

imagine sub-flooring painted in stripes of gray and white


Maybe painted sub-flooring is better than laminate just because it is still natural.  What do you think?  It is so hard as design oriented people to choose what feels good over what looks good. I saw another project in the country in America where they cut up the sub-flooring in wide width boards and installed them like classic wood floors, painted them all white.  It was a lot of work, yet inexpensive and looked great.

Natalie

Keep Warm





medieval wall


Nat’s tips for keeping warm.

At this moment as I write it is raining slushy snow and sometimes hail out there on the wet, black cobblestoned streets.

If I had a fireplace I would do nothing all day but sit by it and write.  I am a heat monger.

Instead I wear wool and often put a shawl over my shoulders like an old Italian woman.  I choose one of velvet to keep the glamour up, plus velvet is heavy and warm to boot.

Recently I have been heating up a hot water bottle “borsa della aqua calda” hot water purse (glamour up again?).  Then the last unglamorous thing I do is jump rope.  Jumping rope completely gets the circulation going and heats me up fast.  Velvet shawl, hot water purse and jump rope and I am good to go.

On a more intellectual note, here are a few quotes from Helen Keller.  For my international readers I will briefly say she was an American author, lecturer and political activist (1880-1968). Who after an illness when she was just 19 months old became deaf and blind.  This first quote always makes me weepy.  She is an inspiration to me.

“No pessimist ever discovered the secret of the stars, or sailed to uncharted land, or opened a new doorway to the human spirit.”

“Walking with a friend in the dark is better than walking alone in the light.”

“The best most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched, they must be felt with the heart.”

Now go make a cup of tea and think about that!

Natalie

A Little Color Inspiration For These Dark Days



Tangerine is a pretty good word too!


Tangerines are called CLEMENTINI in Italian.  Isn't that a pretty word.  It's just like it sounds, like most Italian, no tricks.  The clementini possibly have the most perfect leaves of all.  I love to paint tangerine leaves.  My girls and I take off the shiny leaves and put them in our pockets to bring good luck, all day long.

It's been stormy here.

everyone wants gray walls and furniture it looks good with bright color

The sky often looks like this.


Monte Pale dusted white

These last few days it snowed all over the mountains, but still not in the valley like I wish.


Foligno

Isn't Foligno pretty.  Foligno is a hidden secret, there are too many other famous hill towns around like Assisi.  In Foligno the people are cooler also.


oh delicious tones of red



clementini with perfect large leaves


shades of green with unfinished wood


and pink with bright green


love the purple and pink



paint or bake or eat raw?

Does it make you want to paint an apple or think about cooking an apple pie?  I make a really good apple cake with raisins, walnuts and tons of apples - it's addictive.  I'm supposed to get in my studio but it makes me want to bake instead.

My studio is a bit big and cold recently see above photos for verification.  I think I better warm it up with a hot cup of tea and some music played loud - always.

Carry on.

Natalie


How to: Shabby Chic Furniture




shabby chic furniture - i love orange and pink roses together

Note to Friends and Readers:  Anyone interested in my Painting Techniques Course for Interiors, Art and Furniture click the Image below.

Painting Techniques Course



Here in Italy I paint lots of Shabby Chic furniture pieces, here we mix it with modern furniture and also beautiful antiques.  The pieces that work best are the old solid furniture that have some nice detailing.  It is definitely in fashion to "fare chiara" make it light.  A big dark armoire really controls  the feel of a room.  If I paint it light it opens up the space and allows for more play with modern pieces, highlights what is put inside and just gives it new life.


sorry i forgot to get the true before shot


First I start by washing down and sanding (a bit) the piece to clean it up.


Then I paint it a pretty creamy color.

shabby chic already a big improvement


It usually needs about three coats of paint.  Let them dry completely in between coats and after, before sanding it.

i use a rough sand paper and the work goes fast


Then I sand the edges or moldings.  I put on 1 or 2 coats of water based clear coat.


shabby chic - here comes the fun part!


I like to add brown wax with a paint brush because it highlights the dark wood underneath.  Then I rub it in, not letting it get too much on the cream paint (or it looks yellow). If the furniture is not dark wood you can go so far as to stain the sanded off part, paint in the dark stain with a small brush.  I believe what makes the Shabby Chic look good is the dark wood underneath.  It adds a contrast.  The brown wax is painted on, then rubbed off, then I wait about 20 minutes and rub the wax vigorously with a piece of wool (cut up old sweater) to make it shine on the edges.

notice i didn't sand it too much,



Isn't it pretty.  I was happy with how it came out and the clients too!

do you like it?
A project like this might just help us survive January.  The hope of spring around the corner.  I'm dragging along here.  How are all you out there?  Slowly, slowly in Italy the days are getting a tiny bit longer.

Natalie

Link Party:
I'm linking to:
http://MissMustardSeed.com








Snow Quilts - Simon Beck



Simon Beck snow art


Artist Simon Beck plods though the snow in snowshoes creating these sensational patterns of snow art.  Working for 5-9 hours a day, each final piece is typically the size of three soccer fields!  The geometric forms range in mathematical patterns and shapes that create stunning, sometimes 3D designs, when viewed from higher levels.  How long these magnificent geometric forms servive is completely dependent on the weather.  Beck designs and redesigns the patterns as new snow falls.  Sometimes unable to finish a design due to significant overnight accumulations.

“The main reason for making them was because I can no longer run properly due to problems with my feet, so plodding about on level snow is the least painful way of getting exercise.  Gradually the reason has become photographing them, and I’m considering buying a better camera.”  - Simon Beck

The above is the information I got in an email from a friend.  I tried to get a hold of Simon dreaming of getting some kind inspirational quote about design.  I confess I am not on facebook, much to the displeasure of some of my friends! Anyway he is a busy guy.  My mother suggested I put up his art on my site with out his knowledge because “all artists want exposure.”  I would love to know what he thinks about as he works.  So there you are just breathtaking, stupendous, words cannot even describe.    I do understand that he uses an orienteering compass to create the perfect geometric designs, sometimes even a head lamp while creating at night and that he studied Engineering Science at Oxford University.












Go Simon you have a fan in Italy.

Natalie


Living in Design - a home tour in little glimpses


pink, red, and ocher


What is living in design?

i like to make things in wire

Most of our furniture I found on the street near the trash bins (then of course I painted it) or I made it. 


the girl and the dog


It is nice to have beautiful art. 

the inner courtyard is yellow- this is the sun set and fog making it pink 


The palazzo we live in is 800 years old.  It is Gothic and built of pink stone.  In the front it has pointy arched windows, 2 feet thick walls, high ceilings, low doorways.  People were short back then, my boyfriend Alfredo is very tall, he just passes under the doorways.


lucia's bed, i designed it back in California when she was 3

Colored walls.

mirrors and candles sticks I made, if you sand the edge of the mirror it fogs it

The girls and I have the ability to destroy a clean house within three hours, it is quite a shame.

furniture in my studio being painted


Our home is never very organized (thus the glimpses).  I like to joke with friends, come over to our messy house for a cup of tea.  It will make you feel good about your self.

classic school chair painted like a doll house

Music playing.

flower pots waiting to be painted

Home made bread in the oven raising.

alfredo taped up some inspiration for me on my olive ladder


Books.

i have a lot of paint brushes

I turned our living room into my paint studio and put a sofa in the kitchen.

lucia loves to make cushions

Flowers and candles make people happy, even if they don’t know it.

i don't smoke cigars, but i do wear pearls

What is living in design to you?
Natalie