8 Photos with Some Design Advice

The Simple Life

Living in design.

1. Blue is always fabulous!

2. Wherever you go look for pattern.

Flowers in a Box

Let's add come color!

Oh how I love flowers in a box.  I just put a couple jars of water in the box to not rot the wood and arranged the flowers from there.

Here is an arrangement I created by for the arrival of my niece, Rosalie I put them by her bedside table as a welcome. I did not make up her name just to fit this floral gone crazy blog post.  I collected the flowers on a bike ride to Spello, resting them in my bike basket on the return home.

Antiquing a Table Gray Silver

This project came out so pretty.

I love how sophisticated yet distressed it is.

My Chaotic Studio

The Simple Life

Isn’t my studio pretty a mess.  Put a sepia tint on the space and it becomes uniform, just shape and light.

Today, just this photo and a quote from Georgia O’Keeffe.

“I found I could say things with color and shape that I couldn’t say any other way, things I had no words for.”

Un bacio, to all of you with a messy studio, or to those of you who want one.

Natalie

How to: Play with Glass Paint and Silver Leaf

I’m supposed to be working on my Painting E-Course and finishing up this gorgeous gray and silver table but instead I played hooky.  Hooky is what we call it in California you don’t go to school and instead go to the beach or to a café.   Of course, one can play hooky and not go to work also.  This Diario di Design is kind of like always playing hooky for me.

So I played hooky because I became inspired to do a vignette of tarnished silver and painted glass, then I thought it would be fun to just add silver leaf to encourage more reflection. 

Shabby Chic Bed, Breakfast Crate

I’m going to keep it to few words today (do you believe me?), let the photos speak for themselves.

I do want to show you my Painting Techniques Course.  SOOOOO Fun.

I’ve been working hard and waking up early is painful and awesome I must say.  I am getting so much done, life feels blissful and full of hope.

Here is a bed I did in Shabby Chic distressed mode.  A good tutorial I did you can see just Click Here.  This tutorial of mine is crazy famous on Pinterest, it shows how obsessed people are with Shabby Chic. I used the same process only a different white.

Painting a Chair - Modern

I forgot to mention in my last post, not only am I giving a Painting Class in Umbria, Italy, but I am also creating an E-Course on Painting Techniques for Furniture, Walls and Art that can be sent to you where ever, you are in the world.  It will consist of little films, photographs and writing.  I think it is going to be pretty cool.  All I want to do is have fun and encourage others to have fun too.

I’m working hard on the E-Course, but it isn’t done yet, soon I hope.  In the mean while I am still have to work and be a Mama and right now, as I write to you in my peripheral view there is a couch full of clean laundry to fold.  The mound is getting bigger it might be a mountain soon and the volcanic type.  The Italians are freaker’s for ironed clothes.  I can’t get to folding let alone ironing.  They actually iron underwear.  Freakers I tell you.  To all my Italian readers, you look gorgeous, I know.

Paint Class in Umbria, Italy

Today I am complete thrilled and enthralled with two things. The first is last night we moved our clocks ahead one hour Daylight Savings Time has begun.  Yahhhhh!  You know what the means one hour more to paint in good light and one our more to sit in outdoor cafes.

The second thing is I have finally organized my Painting Class in Umbria (click here).  It is going to be such fun.  You can read all about it above this post, below the Sette Design sign there is a section titled Painting Class in Umbria click on it. 

Party Decorations/Temporary Art

I’m always impressed by the people who create temporary art, like stones piled high on the beach only for the waves to crash them down, or building furniture in the forest out of twigs, drawings on the street.  Here in Umbria we have the flower festival in Spello after the designs are complete there is a religious procession that literally walks over them (Here is the link to the Flower Festival, it's amazing).  At the Flower Festival I always leave before the procession, so maybe I’m still learning to love and understand the concept temporary art, maybe I romanticize it.

Painted Bohemian Side Table

I must admit that I never liked this little piece of 1950’s furniture that I found on the street.  But we needed it and the girls liked it.

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.

Painting My Floor Kiwi Green

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.

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.

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.

 

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.

 

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.

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.

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:

Between Naps on the Porch 

Cozy Little House

French Country Cottage

Savvy Southern Style
Ivy and Elephants

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.

the doors are almost an oyster off white
(not green tinted) it's the light

here I left the wood of the desk natural

I did the Shabby Chic effect on the bookshelves, this way the shelves looked more aged in this antique room.

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.

 

painting on the brown wax for Shabby Chic effect

I love this apricot color tile floor

Shabby Chic bookshelf

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

Between Naps on the Porch

French Country Cottage

Creativity Living Blog

Painting Crystals

It is a rainy Monday morning in Umbria.  Yes I have a cappuccino by my side, do you? I love the rain, to me it always magical.  The Italians are funny because they will sometimes have their umbrellas up even when it isn’t raining.  For this Northern California girl it has to be really raining for me to put up an umbrella or even carry one.  Now I know to look out my window not to see if the umbrellas are up but to look on the river and see if there are needle-point circles in the water.  Then it is raining.

 

the crystals I wired on with a flexible thin gage wire

I’m really excited about this post because a while back I had a great idea.  I thought why not paint with colored glass paint the crystals that go on chandeliers.

In the past I had tried to use glass paint and I found it really hard to work with but that was when I was painting kiln loads full of pottery and the kiln makes everything look so amazing that glass paint seemed pathetic.

Now that I’m painting furniture and walls, glass paint seems just like another fun alternative.  Plus I’m all about process and learning new techniques.

I'll show you some before shots now.

here it it before straight from the junk store

candelabra painted white already better

On crystals I suggest a thin layer with a soft brush that does not show too much brush stroke.  Then if you want to let it dry a few hours you can do another layer.

 

here they are before flash photo

I painted only one side of the crystal, this was all that was needed to show the color effect.

painting crystals
glass paint comes in many colors go to your art store

I absolutely love brown with a warm color.  I think it is so hip.

I like the idea of doing an amber brown color with this white chandelier. 

sorry I don't have the photo of it installed yet

painted crystals on chandelier

I wish you all a good start to your week.  I hope it is raining wherever you are in the world.  Remember every week do something creative that fills your soul up rain or shine.

plus the holidays are coming!

XO

Natalie

I'm linking with:

Between Naps on the Porch

Modern Vintage Life

Romantic Home

French Country Cottage
Shabby Nest

Painted Pear Box

Happy November first, can you believe it!

Here we go with the pears again.  This time I am going to try to let the photos speak for themselves.

You can see where I took my creative influence.

A silver bowl and some luscious pears.

natural pear stippling - heaven

simple life- still life,
a book, sage and pears in a silver bowl

Then I thought I would try to copy the finish of the pears on this box, simple as that.

Acrylic paint, some silver leaf and some stippling in dark brown with a tiny brush.

I like the irregularly applied silver leaf
on the box closure hardware

It somehow humored my heart to paint this project.  Later I gave it as a birthday present for a 9 year old friend, filled it with candies and gave the pear too, wrapped separately.  It is funny to give someone a pear as a birthday present, they never expect it!  It is good to throw them off, especially those tricky friends.  I am sure you have some tricky friends.  Did a whole hoard of them cross your mind just now with yourself leading the pack?

painted pear box

It is fun to look around and find your inspiration anywhere.  I would love to do the bathroom walls or a laundry room, some small space stippled like a pear.

With affection,
Natalie

I'm linking with:

French Country Cottage
Romantic Home
Between Naps on the Porch