The Simple Life
Cuteness Power is when something is so adorable and cute
that it makes you just stop and exclaim how wonderful life is. It gives you that giddy feeling like
life is full of hope.
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| Sette Design |
Design Diary- Painting Techniques- The Simple Life in California and Umbria, Italy
Cuteness Power
Painted Bohemian Side Table
Recently it had been a bit discarded and I thought I’d give
it a new look. I think now I
almost love it! I work so much here in Italy painting stores and homes for clients often in the tones of
white, cream, taupe, gray, which I understand is calming to the eye. Yet, it is making me crave some color
and motif.
California Cottage - Gothic Italian Palazzo
A Feel Good List
The Simple Life
Good Morning
It’s March and Monday in Umbria Italy, presently the day is bright
and sunny. I’m going to give you some feel good homework for the week. I love lists and I love to check things
off my list. Last week I had 27
things to do on my list. I
actually accomplished 17 of those. It was a joy to check 17 boxes off.
Painting My Floor Kiwi Green
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| Sette Design |
I want to ask you to take a deep
breath before you continue on, now try not to judge me on the hideousness, the
profoundly abusive, ugliness of the before shot my linoleum floors. If it hurts you to look at for a moment
on the Internet, think what it has done to me and my family, all these
years. O.k I’m being silly…kind
of.
Sette Design
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| Sette Design power |
<a href="http://www.bloglovin.com/blog/4618391/?claim=ue9n3hudwhv">Follow my blog with Bloglovin</a>
I can paint flowers freehand all over a wall in a couple of hours, but I will not confess how long it took me to get the Social Media icons on this Diario di Design. Lucky for me, I don't really know long it took, I'm pretty sure there were naps and cappuccinos involved and insecurity and days if not weeks passing by.
The Magic of Spello
The Simple Life
Here in Umbria if you don’t like
the weather wait 20 minutes.
That’s what they say I think in the Northeast of America too. We do not say that in California, so it
pisses me off. I’m always getting
fooled.
This week in Umbria Spring has
sprung with glorious green fields and pink and white budding fruit trees,
Mimosa galore puffy and brilliant, shocking yellow. The birds are going crazy, chatting away, they have so much
to sing about. We all have so much
to sing about!
Tin Can Planters
Valentines and Some Quotes on Love
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| bejeweled foil heart-thorns and all - sette design |
Happy Valentines my darlings.
Here are some great quotes about love.
Want To Make Your Life Easier?
The Simple Life
Want to make your life easier? I know is that a trick question?
This last week I created this Vanilla Raisin Brown Bread and
believe me it has changed my life.
I’m a single Mom and I work for myself, so it becomes pertinent to have easy snacks for school, something quick to grab to give me enough energy to keep painting a ceiling or
having something around incase “someone”(tall, big BF) wants a midnight
“mirenda”.
A Simple Valentines Idea
Valentines is just around the
corner. I love to make valentines
for the ones I love. In America it can be a message of love for anyone who might be important to you. In Italy Valentines is viewed as something
you do just for the “one” you love, not your mother or child or best friend.
A Lesion in Paintbrushes
The Simple Life
I have a friend and mentor who
is a master painter, she recently gave me all these gorgeous paintbrushes. She is in her 80’s and is still going
strong with a passion and love of life that is not found often.
Soon it will be Summer
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| summer in Italy |
Soon it will be SUMMER
It will be so hot that you will
walk around barefoot.
The streets will be empty
because you could fry an egg on the pavement. YOU WILL SEARCH FOR SHADE.
The idea of turning on the oven
will disgust you.
You might decide to eat only ice
cream for dinner.
Imagine, you will come home from
work and instantly want to take all your clothes off and pour yourself a cool
cocktail.
You will be so suffocating hot
that you will look forward to winter, to see your breath in the air and wrap your hands around a mug of hot chocolate
smothered in whipped cream.
You will be begging for the cold
blue air of Winter and think it will never arrive.
Well guess what it has arrived!
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| storm clouds |
With affection,
Natalie
Architectural Elements - Corbels
I love the idea of architectural
elements lying around in interiors and in the garden. Rome is full of them with ancient Rome present in daily life. You might be walking down the street
and come across a dirt space and a huge Roman head or column just there –
gorgeous and shocking.
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| architectural elements in interiors |
I once drove over the boarder to
Mexico from California with girlfriends to go shopping and what did I come back
with but a huge concrete ball. I
kept it for years lying around my various apartments. I wish I still had it now here in
Italy. If you put a piece architecture in your space it makes the space look interesting instantly. Corbels, columns, architraves, pieces of stairs, a newel or chunk of a banister, capitals, arches, leave them on a beautiful floor or lean them up against a wall, put a bowl of floating flowers and candles and there you have a scene of tranquility and antiquity.
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| the writing desk is from the 1700's Italian (certo!) |
If these Corbels were for me I
would have painted them a great color like sapphire blue or ruby red. In San Francisco I had a pair that were attached as a true architectural support under a square archway and I painted them a chalky rich pink. Man did they look great! In this situation I must do what the client wants alas.
There were previously messed up
in an electrical fire blacken with smoke, but no real damage done. They are made out of terra cotta.
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| Corbels before shot |
I painted them taupe in acrylic
and then dry brushed over them in oil color (raw umber).
The project took a few days for
drying time, but the actually working time was minimal. It was fun because it was such a quick transformation.
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| Corbels as book supports |
I am wishing a Happy Sunday to all
my lovely readers around the world.
Kind regards,
Natalie
I'm linking with these fun parties:
Above Splendid
I just go crazy for a cappuccino
in a jar. Then I can take it to
the job site or move it around my big Gothic apartment. If I get a phone call or distracted I
can just close the lid and come back to it.
Also above splendid is:
The fog in deep and riding on
our bikes with our bike lights glowing in the grayness.
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| this is not me, but I wish my bike was this red |
Sleeping with a hot water bottle
at the bottom of my bed.
A tower of blood red oranges on
our kitchen counter.
Going for a run with my black gloves and cashmere hat on.
Having a moment to freely put
down some ideas.
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| coffee, charcoal pencil and a paint brush - heaven |
A presto,
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| can you see the sideways hidden heart? |
Natalie
Shabby Chic Italian Library
Now that it is the new year
doesn’t it make you want to clear everything out and start fresh? Here is a job I did recently that is a
good example of new beginnings.
Sometimes it is hard to paint
over the dark wood especially in a library setting.
Here is the before shot.
First I painted the ceiling an
antique rose. I believe that
painting the ceiling a color is way hip, especially here in Italy where the
ceilings are often so high that it makes the space seem empty and cold. Color above right away makes the space
glow with warmth.
Then I painted the walls a
creamy white that had a tiny hint of pink in it. You can’t really see the pink on the wall, but I could see
it in the paint bucket and once the walls dried it gave the effect that the ceiling
was reflecting pink onto the walls.
Which it was, but I helped it along.
This room really shows the
changing light of the day. Under
gray skies it has a splendid effect of tones of white and off white. Then with the sun out a blush comes
over the space.
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| the doors are almost an oyster off white (not green tinted) it's the light |
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| here I left the wood of the desk natural |
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| the glass is definitely half full |
I painted the bookshelves the
same color as the walls only in acrylic paint with a satin finish. I didn’t prime them since I wanted the
wood to come through easily. Here
there is 4 coats of off-white, one to two coats of polyurethane.
Then I sanded just the edges of
the bookshelves, painted on some brown wax, waited a half an hour and rubbed it
off with a piece of wool (an old sweater). I left the wood of the desks as it was, touching it up some
with Mordente (wood stain) and the white shelves ethereally rise above.
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| painting on the brown wax for Shabby Chic effect |
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| I love this apricot color tile floor |
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| Shabby Chic bookshelf |
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| Shabby Chic distressing detail |
This client was going relocate the hat collection and put the books back in, plus some colorful art on the
walls.
Isn’t this Italian Library just
reeking of a fresh start with hope permeating the air? I love the view of the secret garden ensconced inside our crazy city.
With affection,
Natalie
I'm linking with:
Miss Mustard Seed
Miss Mustard Seed
Pink Roses and Olive Leaves
I have a dark little secret and
it is dark because this Diario di Design is supposed to be all about light and color and
design of course and joy and if you remember 2014 =7 and that means it’s going
to be a kick-ass year. I will not be one of those people who write
kick-a**. You have no idea how my
profanity is in check on these posts.
My secret is I hate the darkness of this
time of year.
I count the minutes of
light that are arriving. Here in
Umbria this is the break down, we are gaining about 1 to 2 minutes of daylight
a day. This means that by January
20th we will have found 15 more minutes of “enlightenment”. Right now the sun rises at 7:41 (way
late) and sets at 4:50. Any sunset
that has a four in front is just wrong.
Yet when I have traveled to
places in the world like Ecuador or Indonesia that are close to the equator, it is so strange to have an even
12 hours of light and 12 hours of dark all year round. So my dark secret is that I'm a hypocrite, becasue actually I love the changing days
and looking forward to the sun rising higher in the sky.
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| olive leave and pink roses - bliss |
As of tomorrow school starts
again and that means we start waking up at 6:30 a.m.
My solution and it truly helps,
is to fill the house with flowers and candles. I try to have the candles lit by the time the girls get to
the kitchen table in the morning. Get
the coffee on and tea water to boil and then I sometimes even cheat and plug in
a space heater for a few minutes.
What are your solutions to get
through the dark days?
I love the idea of olives leaves
(peace) and roses (love) together.
The bright pink roses and slate gray-blue of the olive leaves is a great
color combination.
Nature always has the answers
for me.
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| peace and love all around |
With affection,
Natalie
I'm linking with these parties:
Between Naps on the Porch
Creativity Living Blog
French Country Cottage
I'm linking with these parties:
Between Naps on the Porch
Creativity Living Blog
French Country Cottage
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