Crocus and a Cappuccino

my grandmother Ann's tea cup

In Foligno, Italy the fog came in thick yesterday and this morning too.  It makes me happy inside.  It feels like San Francisco to me.  I have taught my girls to love the fog (I’m proud of that).  I said to Elisa (who is 9), when you grow up and find yourself deep in a San Francisco fog, you can get that warm feeling inside because it feels like Foligno.  She laughed at that, in anticipation.

cyclamen

I went to the flower market this weekend and bought a little group of bulbs.  So this post should actually be called a cappuccino and crocuses, ranunculuses, tulips, freesias and two hyacinths. 

look at the tiny topiaries

Then I can fill the house with flowers during the dark winter months.  My girlfriend Jessica, who is talented at many things, advises I put them in a dark bag in the refrigerator for 1 week to trick them into a cold slumber.  Then I’ll plant them in water or soil or rocks and see what happens.

Italians love cyclamen.  I see them as flaming hearts of color.  Don’t they look good with the topiaries?

the rain water has made a pound in one

Italian flower pots

A few ladders going up, you can have your pick.

ladders to the sky

What do you do to get through the winter darkness?   They have just started to hang the Christmas lights in our Centro Storico (old center).  Later I’ll take a photo, it is romantic and this year I’m hoping for architectural not cute.  Oh it does make me nervous that they will be cute.

Here's me on my path, city street, bike ride home.  I like it when the tree trunks become black from the rain.

with my bike basket full of bulbs

Happy winter.  Here we go!

Natalie

A Painted Floor

my foyer

This is my foyer.  It is a floor with linoleum tiles that I painted in gray and taupe.  I think if you don’t like your flooring you can paint them for very little expense and they will stop making everything look bad.  This is what they used to look like and believe me my soul was tortured.  From a design stand point they were just wrong.  

Painting linoleum will be a temporary fix, and they can scrape, but who cares, they will still look better then they looked before.  Wood floors age and scrape, if you think of your painted floors as changing during the aging process then they will always look gorgeous.  Like in California a good pair of faded and soft Levis jeans can achieve respect from all who understand. 

I painted these with acrylic paint, then a coat of polyurethane and liquid floor wax on top. I followed the line of the tile that was already there and it came out looking pretty. If every now and then you clean them with a floor wax on top they will maintain much better as they age.  It makes them feel good to walk on barefoot too.

This is a Loggia.

Loggia in Foligno


 

The Winston Dictionary, 1946 

Loggia

Arch, a covered gallery or portico, having at least one side open to the air

  

  

Here is some inspiration.  Look for the painted tile floors.   

  

  

ladies dancing

you could paint them with varying colors also

Happy Weekend everyone!

A presto

Natalie

I'm linking to:
http://betweennapsontheporch.net

Gratitude -Wishing Works

  

   

I grew up in a little white wooden house that was spacious and had windows everywhere – oh it was so pretty.  It was built in 1914 in a valley below a mountain, outside San Francisco.  On the refrigerator in our kitchen my mother had stuck a button that said COMPLAINING with a circle around it and a red line through it.  She later also had a photograph of herself, taken by one of those automatic cameras of her going through a red light, hands gripping the wheel, eyes dazed and searching.  Her point to friends passing through our kitchen and to us children was stop complaining and laugh at your self. 

Tomorrow in America is Thanksgiving Day a holiday where we gather around a table with friends and family and be thankful for the abundance of our lives (basically like every Sunday in Italy).  To my mother’s philosophy I want to add gratitude.  I understand that during the holidays some of us feel even more alone even in the presence of family or loved ones.  Sometimes we feel that are lives are not where we wanted them to be or imagined them to be.  I do know that life is hard and harder for some than others.  To this I want to suggest a lesion in hope.  

hope grows

 

I love to follow studies.  I am so interested in trying to live a better life.  I read all kinds of studies and then I bring them up to bug my friends or make a point.  Here are a few examples.  If there are two boys playing together and then another boy is introduced into their game, the two boys include the third boy right away.  If you do the same with girls, they will not let the third girl in to play.  They did a study about it.  I drive my friends crazy quoting the “They”.   If you drink five cups of coffee a day it decreases your chance of getting brain cancer.  I love that study! 

So I did my own study.  I have a group of  English speaking friends here and for many years we all got together to have a cup of tea on Wednesday afternoon.  Our idea was to encourage our kids speak English and for us mothers to be able to feel less isolated and it truly helped us to understand the Italian culture too. 

One afternoon when the tea party was at my house I had all the mothers and kids (it was a big group of us that day) write down a list of wishes.  We didn’t have to tell the wishes if we didn’t want to, they could be kept a secret.  Then we put them in envelopes and sealed them.  I told all the kids and moms to really try to think about those wishes and to concentrate on them as much as possible, to work on them.  In six months time we would open the envelopes and do our counts.  Guess what... 42% of the wishes came true in a six- month period of time.  Let me tell you some of the wishes were hard, like I want to learn to swim, some were ridiculous like I want Mama to have another baby.  So this brought our group percentage down.  It was also interesting to see how some of the kids had a higher percentage up to 70-80% of wishes coming true, this was related to their perception of reality and I believe it was related also to how hard they worked on those dreams.  It also varied greatly within families.  Some of the group wrote their wishes down and then forgot about them.   I am also able to recount that I remember many of those wishes came true later as more time passed.

humm ... what are my wishes, there are so many

I will leave you with that story. I think I might just sneak away for another cappuccino, write a new list of wishes and see if might be able to play in the boys group.

finding my way

I want to send a message of gratitude and joy and peace to all of you around the world.  I hope that your wishes come true.

Happy Thanksgiving.

With affection

Natalie

Thanksgiving Glow

   

Thanksgiving Glow

beaded jars with candles  

    

 “There’s –a no such thing as an original sin.”

Elvis Costello (British singer)

Elvis Costello is a genius I might add, but that said, there is also no such thing as an original craft.  Sorry Elvis to bring us down to the level of crafting but this one is going to be fun and pretty and full of light. We can add our own special touch, our spin, new materials or put them in an innovative place in the house.  It is stimulating to think out of the box. 

mix it up

different sized and shaped jars

beads, buttons and votives

It would be nice to have in supplies:

Interesting jars that are flat on the bottom (makes the candle rest well)

Wire

Buttons

Beads

Votive candles

Thin neck pliers

Ribbons

Aluminum foil (which I don’t show here)

The jars are wrapped in wire to make handles, stung with beads, or buttons.  If you don’t have beads or buttons, I suggest making balls out of aluminum foil and wrap the wire around them.  This is a fun project to do with kids, but I highly suggest CAUTION when it comes to wrapping the wire.  It is easy to whip your face as you move the wire around.  I always keep my hand on the end of the wire.  If you do it with little kids have them do the ribbons and sting the beads.  You secure the wire.

I cut a long piece of wire.  Wrap the wire first around the neck of the jar.  Then I form the size of the handle that I want.  String on the beads all together (later they can be adjusted).  Then tie the wire off (wrap it) at the other end of the handle.  It is important to wrap the handle at both ends so it doesn’t slide around.  Then I form another handle going back the other direction to make it stronger, if you want to actually hang them.  Once the wire it wrapped off and cut with the pliers, I adjust the beads in the place where I want them to rest.  Just bend the wire and they will stay in their spot.  Add the ribbon but be careful that the ribbon does not go above the opening of the jar, so that they don’t catch fire.  We tied crystals from old chandeliers on to the ribbons to add extra reflection. Lastly I light the votive and drop it in.

makes the table glow with joy

hung on an old coat rack 

could be a warm welcome to guests

Do you think they are pretty?

My girls Lucia and Elisa had so much fun.  Lucia wrapped each bead in wire and Elisa chose to string them closer together.  They will be so brilliant to decorate our Thanksgiving table. 

Happy Monday everyone! 

Time to get festive.

Natalie

Harvesting Olives

Harvest Time

finding peace in the simple life

“You can have anything you want, if you give up the belief that you can’t have it.”

I don’t know who said that and obviously it is quite profound.  You know what that means… it is our fault, my fault (you say!).  I am stopping myself.  What’s worse is I had a really lovely childhood, so there is no excuse there, and yet I flounder. 

I know that part of feeling good for us creative types is to do something creative.  It is that simple.  Don’t forget it!  Also I think to be in touch with nature and the seasons is a sure fire way to finding peace, keep at bay our difficulties. 

Today we are going to harvest olives.  I know this is a design journal of sorts, but since Sette Design is coming to you out of Umbria Italy, every now and then we must do something fun and Italian, like make pizza or put on 4 inch heels, or reveal your cleavage, all the better if you are 60 years old, there are not limits because of age here.  You could also wear a pristine dark blue suit and eat a pastry with powdered sugar (risk), bike to work with your three year old in the back seat, a small ladder and an umbrella.  All of these options must be done with style.  If none of the above kicks it for you.  Then just slam down an espresso and smoke a cigarette.

Here is my olive grove.

olive grove

It was a bad year for olives in Umbria.  This summer it hovered around 100 degrees for 2 months straight.  I was suffocating working painting on a ladder (heat rises).  The heat killed the olives.  I have a friend who said some of her trees had only 5 olives on them.  Umbria for olives is like Napa/Sonoma Valley is for grapes.

The land from Assisi to Spoleto has good exposure to the elements and the trees grow strong out of the rocky earth, therefore the olive oil is delicious. Toasted thick country bread, prepared with salt, a raw clove of fresh garlic rubbed over the bread and olive oil poured on top is paradise found (Bruschetta).  

23 olives

I have 23 olives on my little tiny tree.  I harvest them off and put them in a bowl, cover them in salt. Then I leave them on my balcony for about two weeks. Mixing them every now and then. It really should get down to freezing temperatures to cure them well.

my harvest

mix in salt

ingredients

After  two weeks I take them in, clean off the salt with water.  Then I mix in olive oil, salt, garlic and orange peel.  Chop up the garlic and orange peels fine and sprinkle them on top, give it a day to cure and they are ready to eat.

Enjoy!

Natalie

P.S. The Winston Dictionary copyright, 1946 says

Cure 1. the act, or art, of healing; 2. a remedy; 3. spiritual change; 4; a method of preserving.

Sky Blue Ceiling

I have started to come to the opinion that painting the ceiling a color is a good way to make a nothing room look really good and a beautiful room look spectacular.  

I have a friend from design school, he is one of those multi talented types.  I am often inspired by his opinion, yet we love to fight about design and color. Years ago he said, “If you paint the walls the same color as the ceiling it makes you feel like you are drowning." I had attached myself to that belief for too long.  Now I feel that color on the ceiling can make the right space feel intimate.

This week I painted a ceiling blue and the walls lavender.  The morning I started the work I dumped all the materials on the job site and then went for a quick cappuccino.  At the cafe when I told my friend and barista I was painting a ceiling sky blue.  She said,” Hai trovato il cielo?”  Have you found the sky?  She was making fun of me, of all of us, sky searchers, dreamers.  I lose sight of my sky on a daily basis, no hourly basis.  Then I get up and reach for that deep blue all over again.  

sky blue ceiling

                                             

love this armoire  

 

The key to painting the ceiling is make sure the ladder is tall enough to not have to paint from beneath the ceiling, instead paint it with your arms stretched out in front of you.  Cut the line and work in. If you can do it with a roller extension from the floor this is good too.  I paint a whole corner and the walls too, then I move the furniture into the corner if possible.  If you don't have the extension to your paintbrush, just tape a brush to the end of a broomstick to do the last touch ups of pinholes of white that pop through, instead of moving the ladder and furniture all over the place. 

late afternoon light makes it moody

sky blue and stars

This is a photo of a alleyway in Sperlunga when I was on vacation in southern Italy, so cool to come across on our evening stroll, made the dark space full of hope.  

notice the layers of blue and irregular stars

Have you found the sky? Are you even trying? Don’t lose sight of the sky. 

Bust it out!

Natalie

WINTER PEARS

Buongiorno

lavender and deep berry red - great color combination

Today I painted a room the color of this plate and the ceiling sky blue.  So far it looks great, it's not done yet.  My morning did not look like this photo.  It was a big rush to get out of the house and then I had all my paint supplies and brushes and everything in my bike basket and hanging off my bike.  It was raining big time, pouring rain.  Why you may ask did I go on my bike?  The piazza where the client has her house is all ripped up and under construction, there would be no way to get there in a car or park.  Our city Foligno is such a mess (the streets are being worked on) that it is really better to go on bike, plus it is more fun.  I can see friends when I am going out and about.

I want to make a simple suggestion today.  Paint a pear, you are sure to have success and to get in touch with the feminine, they are so sensual and beautiful.  If you don't paint, you could eat a pear.  I have a girl friend who makes a yummy dish of cooked pears with melted white chocolate poured on top.  You could also just look at this photo below for a quick moment and realize that we are all just like pears, strange and individual, growing in weird directions, yet the essence of beauty too!

green pears and sage

Keep it in mind, it might make your day easier.

Natalie

A Simple Pearl Finish

pink and taupe

In the previous post I said I didn't like yellow and thus I have already offended one good friend who has a yellow in her apartment.  Now I'm going to cram my foot in my mouth and say, "If you are blond you really should not have a yellow apartment."  It's redundant.  If you haven't painted your home in 1200 years it is time to think about a change.  Shake it up!  Then watch how much better your life gets and how good you feel.  I have another client and friend here in Italy who has an all white house, shades of cream, gray-white wood floors, painted metallic gray banister.  She has long black hair and dark eyes and it looks great for her style.  If I had an all white house, you might not be able to find me.  I would blend into the walls.  Just imagine what I would look like in the morning before my cup of coffee.  Ah! vanity, Italian woman believe that a healthy dose of vanity reflects confidence, it is a necessary part of presenting ourselves to society.

I now will back pedal a tiny bit and say.  I like vanilla or butter as a color on walls.  I did a Venetian stucco wall in a loft in NYC and it was so warm and soft, the other walls were exposed brick.  Ochre is completely "della MOda" in style for this season.



Pearl Finish

sand colored door with shadow and pearl accent

Just to keep you yellow freakers happy I'll show you this pretty sand colored door.  This was such a fun project to do because the door was nothing special, yet I think it came out pretty.  I painted it this pale sand color, then I put some of the sand colored paint in a separate container and I mixed in a tiny bit of black tint (any black paint will do if you don't have tint), just do a small amount, because you can always add more.  I got a gradation of gray that seemed just like a shadow.  I marked off the door with a ruler and pencil for the shadow.  Then I hand painted over it.  If the line comes out imperfect, all the better.  Then I added the pearl on the tiny detail of the frame.  If it had been my door I would have painted the door handle pearl too! I get my pearl paint in a tube or jar of acrylic from the art store usually it is called platinum white.

garden chair with a pearl finish

I found this chair at our outdoor market, it was so ugly and rusted to a brown-white color.  I loved it right away because I felt like all my life I had been drawing versions of this curvy garden chair.  Plus with the legs bent out of place it looked like it was ready to start walking (she had places to go!). The first thing I did was go to the hardware store and I got new rubber feet that fit over the legs.  Then I mixed some pale blue metal paint with a little bit of red till I came up with this lovely cornflower blue.  Once it dried for a couple of days I put a touch of pearl acrylic paint over it irregularly to high light the curves.

detail of pearl finish

Isn't she pretty?

Have a great weekend everyone!

Natalie

I'm linking to:

Miss Mustard Seed
Romantic Home

Some good Italian colors

I am now going to jump right into some fun color combinations, just to spice it up and show how I love color.

Think about these colors for interiors or for furniture since we don’t all live in Italy where it is acceptable to go crazy with color (at least on exteriors).  Right now in design the colors for interiors are tranquil, grays, whites, whipped cream, and taupe.

Here is one of my favorite buildings.  When I first moved here almost 10 year ago they had just painted this building these colors.  I was happy to walk past this palazzo, it would make my heart sing.  I think it still looks good all these years later.  I am not a person that loves yellow, but shown here as columns and with the grey window frames I think it works well.

Any shade of blue is always gorgeous.  Don’t you agree?

Taupe and celadon just looks so hip to me.

This color I don’t even know what to call it.  It is a rich sand color, sand as seen with tinted sunglasses.  I won’t call it yellow,  just to be stubborn.  The grey shutters and off white window frames look fantastic as accents.

What colors inspire you? I sometimes feel like I have been gravitating toward greens and blues for 20 years.  Recently I am enthralled with fuchsia or rich pink. It looks so good with dark taupe or chocolate brown.

 Natalie

White

Sette Design 

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   

I was rushing to school on bikes with my younger daughter this morning, over pavement and cobblestones, through traffic and yelling teenagers, commotion in abundance.  Then I looked up and through a narrow space of tall buildings I caught a shocking sight of snow on the mountains!  It looked like a dusting of powdered sugar, over dark blue land.  Our first snowfall of the season, my heart pounded.  "It snowed!" 

Later riding over the same streets in return from the school drop off I thought, it is time to get the courage up to start your blog.  So here I am a California girl living in a Gothic palazzo in Umbria with my two daughters and painting furniture and interiors.  I am obsessed with color, yet I want to begin this journal with the inspiration of snow and the color white.  White is a beginning, a necessary start.  It is pure and fresh and neutral.  As a background it makes all colors true, put inside of color it pops.  White is forever moving and changing, taking the reflection of other colors, absorbing the light of the day.

Some find white peaceful, others feel too much of it might drive them crazy.  What do you feel about white and white rooms?  Does it feel like a beginning? Or perfection attained.

Now lastly, I will leave you with some white doors, opening to who knows where…  Yet certainly these doors are opening to something splendid.

I hope you will follow along because we are going to have fun!