Design Diary- Painting Techniques- The Simple Life in California and Umbria, Italy
Warming our hearts of the Holidays
I love December and the Holidays, it warms my heart. Tomorrow we leave to go back to Umbria for Natale in Italy with my darling Alfredo and all our friends. I still haven't packed! It would be lovely to return dressed elegantly, instead of the painters whites that I usually bicycled around the city in.
San Francisco Colored Houses
Recently I finished painting an
apartment in San Francisco. It is
a space I have worked on before, twice actually traveled from Italy to work on the interior. Every time I return to the
neighborhood of Pacific Heights, I find myself in dreamland, architectural
wonder, full on cloud nine o.k. ! It
is amazing. On the top of the hill with views of the Bay, Alcatraz and the Golden Gate
Bridge. Then I fall in love with
every single house. Watch and see if
you don’t do the same.
Pretty Festive Photos
I’m feeling excited for the
festivities and to be home in America for Thanksgiving, everyone is heading out to the
beach house, the whole big family together.
I have been working so hard and
just finished painting an apartment in San Francisco. Soon I’m going to show you all the amazing houses in the
neighborhood I was working in, each one looking like a jewel.
Happy Third Anniversary Sette Design Blog
#3
To tell you the truth. I forgot and I got the date wrong. I'm that bad. I actually love this blog and so I should have remembered her day. To be honest I just have too much going on right now. It was November 5th 2012 when I took the leap and started it up. I was living in Umbria, Italy then. Click Here if you want to flash back and view my very first blog post.
Pendant Pomegranate
I can’t believe it is
raining right now in California as I write to you. The ground is quenching its thirst from months and years of
disappointment. It is November first
and it is raining! Happy November everyone.
These photos I took earlier
in the week. I wanted to pay tribute
to this pendant pomegranate. I
have been tentatively watching it remain, consistently hanging low for
weeks. To me here at Sette Design
it is poetry.
Charcoal-Grey Painted Dresser and a Bunya Cone
Display Empty Frame and Flowers
Oh it is almost the weekend… and
today for your pleasure I have a simple display of just a single empty frame
and flowers.
2 Houses I Love
Do you ever find yourself
driving to work or walking around your neighborhood and falling in love with certain
houses, maybe you pass a certain way just for the joy of seeing your special house.
This is how I carry on my days
here at Sette Design.
Living in the Wine Country
Sometimes in the fall in Umbria,
I would make the girls stop in their tracks and smell the air of pungent fermenting grapes. I would say
that is the smell of the crush, the smell of home. Elisa and Lucia would undoubtedly respond, “but Mama it’s
GROSS”.
Love Wins
I’m sorry that I have been away
for more than a hiatus.
What is more than a hiatus anyway?
My daughter recently told me
that in medieval times a moment was measured as 90 seconds.
The dictionary describes a
hiatus as:
2. A
missing part; gap or lacuna.
I like it that a hiatus refers to space and action.
Small Spaces
The Simple Life
Now since we live in our little California cottage I need to force myself to think small and organized. The days of rambling around our huge Gothic Italian apartment are gone. Guests used to actually get lost and not find the way out. There were a lot of doors!
I like to play with scale and so I set up this pretty scene just for YOU.
A little chest of drawers, a silly tiny ice cream swirl chair and a bunch of flowers.
A big rosemary topiary.
A Starting Place
I found this phrase the other day and it humbled me. It is so simple and perfect.
Start where you are
Use what you have
Do what you can
I'm sure it has been said before and should be said again. Wouldn't you just feel better if you followed that advice?
Natalie
Painting Furniture
For Inspiration
Today I’ll show you some of the
furniture I have been painting.
I always want to keep all the
pieces for myself. This is silly
because it is supposed to be my job not a hobby, but it is like they are my babies. This little five drawer dresser I really could have put
anywhere in our cottage here in the wine country. It would have even fit up on my loft
bed right below the eves.
Bohemian Loft
Here is the loft I finished
painting a while back. Everyone
who walked into this space wanted to move in. I called this loft the House of Doors. There are five doors exiting the bottom
of the loft and no inner doors at all, except one going to the bathroom. All the doors lead to the huge garden
and courtyard area. To me this is a Bohemian Loft because of the mix of elements in the design and also because I know the people who own it will fill it with books, art, wine and unmade beds. The Bohemian life we all want.
Oak Tree Galls a Creative Display
The Simple Life
I’ve finished the loft I was painting a while back. I call it the Californian Bohemian Loft. I plan to show you it in the next post. Today some strange and splendid inspiration, Oak Tree Galls and garden flowers.
Ukrainian Egg Dying
Around this family compound
there is lots of Ukrainian Egg Dying going on. Since this is the wine country, I can also say that friends
bring over bottles of precious wine and then sit down and let their creativity
go. It is interesting how good
people are at it. Everyone wants
to dye eggs!
Springtime and The Nashberry Cocktail
The Simple Life
Oh do I have a special treat for you. It is COCKTAIL TIME, now here in
California (and the U.S.) we have change our clocks forward to save daylight
time.
Spring forward
Fall back
March Already
I’ve lost my grip on The Simple Life. I don’t have my calm. It’s funny because I changed the heading
on this blog to The Simple Life in California but it isn’t true at all at this
point. We moved into a tiny little
cottage but honestly it is a mess most of the time and not simple. I don’t make bread anymore either. I’ll tell you there is a lot that goes
on and down when one moves across the world even if it is to a world that you
think you know. I don’t know this
life in Cali, I’m learning it all over again.
Crazy for Camellias
I go crazy for Camellias they bring vivid color to any environment in the winter, in Umbria and where we live now in the Wine Country of California they are abundant. To me they always seemed like a Valentines flower because of all the varying shades of pink, red and white.
Two Houses I Love
If you read this blog a tiny bit, you know that I love houses, tiny houses, rambling big houses, colored houses. As I wander through my days I fall in love with so many houses.
Today I have for you a couple of houses that I LOVE.
One is a playhouse covered in brambles and winter leafless wonder.
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| Sette Design |
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Anyone interested in taking my Online Painting Class for Interiors, Art and Furniture --click the link below. It is inspirational!
Credenza and Table
Today as promised I’m going to
show you the last job I did in Italy.
The last job before I left.
There will still be other jobs in Italy in the future, “Salve Italia”.
I hope this will be
inspiring. As you know I love grey,
this was a taupe-grey. Here I did the
credenza a shade lighter than the table.
Distressed both the pieces.
Then on the table I sanded the edges irregularly and added bronze.
A New Year 2015
I can hear the train whistling
in the distance.
I’m drinking a Ruby Red Grapefruit Margarita
Why because I’m in Cali not
Italy, it is still so shocking.
It was 68 degrees today- unprecedented!
The sky was deep blue, now it is
black.
At night I look up in the sky
and there are so many stars I know I’m home and this is my big sky.
I’m sorry I disappeared for a
bit there I took an unannounced hiatus.
I did just move across the world. There may be more hiatuses to come.
I’m back now and I want to wish
you
Happy New Year.
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