Today's look

Today is Monday and it has been a working day for many people. Since I know that almost all my female readers are working women here I am with a new fashion tip for your working week. Many of you have spent 8 hours in the office, meeting people, going to appointments, enlarging your professional network and looking for new opportunities to have a career growth. I think that a great professional and elegant outfit would really help you show off who you really are and what you deserve. A great outfit would make you feel smarter, self-confident, open-minded and talented. Of course, an outfit will never replace real talent, but this is too obvious to be underlined. This is my tip for today: put on a great outfit (a blazer in this case) without loosing your femininity and you will feel comfortable wherever you are and whoever you are talking to, with your colleagues and with your boss! You will really have the impression that what you have been wearing has made the difference, but be sure, it is only you that make the difference! With a great outfit your potential will stand out! 

Italian style interiors - Interni italiani/mediterranei

I received a wonderful gift the other day. It’s a publication (Mediterranean Style) of interiors and exterior design by one of the best known Italian architects. Her name is Fabrizia Frezza, she is based in Rome where she lives and works.  Some time ago I told you I would dedicate a post to her and here I am with some news on her works and creations. The elegant volume is a collection of some of her most important makeovers, buildings’ reconstruction and interior designing that represent a perfect mix of Mediterranean and Italian style.  Natural and neutral colors, raw materials, white, beige, brown hues or bold colors in strong contrast with the white surroundings or the colors of the nature, the spellbindingTyrrhenian sea, big decorative plants, natural materials like stones, tiles, marble floors are the some of the patterns of the recognizable and still unique Frezza Style. What I love most of these interiors is the warmth and elegance they inspire and that special Italian attitude and love towards the blooming and luxuriant nature. What I mostly appreciate of Fabrizia Frezza’s style is her capacity to maintain and stick to the genius loci and at the same time transform her buildings and interiors into something brand new and sophisticated, without transfiguring the original Mediterranean patterns of the Italian architecture. Those who will have the privilege to breathe the style of an interior designed by Frezza will surely feel at home! For more information and a wider photogallery have a look at her website! Enjoy the tour! 

Some Mondrian inspiration! 

Classical elements and paintings worthy of an imperial residence!

Stripes in fashion and interior design

Stripe patterned rugs and striped t-shirts are so trendy lately. Apartment therapy devoted a very interesting post to the Ikea ubiquitous striped rug. That rug is so inspiring to me that I had planned to propose some pictures of that versatile rug. Some of the pictures published are from Apartment Therapy. 

Stripes in fashion can be so versatile, spunky and classy. It depends on how you combine them and what outfit you choose. You can wear a striped t-shirt and choose to look casual, chic and elegant, depending on your day mood. Here are a few inspirational pictures. Please enjoy my favorite spring outfit. Striped t-shirt, blazer or trench and jeans. Before going ahead, let me say “thank you” to Habitually chic for some of the stylish pictures I’m sharing with you. 

This is how I am wearing lately.

From Vogue

Great outfits!

Fashion tips - moda a primavera

As the days pass by, I have been thinking lately, that this blog should catch fashion trends as well. Design and fashion are so tightly intertwined that I cannot ignore fashion, which I love. I have to confess a little secret of mine. Fashion has been one of my first loves. When I was in my teens I used to draw female outfits. One day or another I'll share them with you. Given the chilly days in Rome lately, this is what I love to wear. A total black outfit, lighted up by grey and brown shoes would be perfect even for chilly spring days. Black remains my favorite, super elegant and chic. To those who know me: don't you think the model resembles me a lot? 

Design, eat and dress

Here are two great French interiors of an apartment located in Paris. The whole wall bookshelves are a great solution for those who live in urban areas. Floor to ceiling solutions are so practical and give a touch of elegance to the entire working/living area. I've always thought that bold hues are too daring for urban interiors, but those bold colored pieces of furniture, the sofa and the red chair, and the yellow blinds are a great solution for those grey and dreary days that we all have. What about putting a cheesecake decorated with pieces of lemon and orange just as shown in the picture? And what about putting those Ralph Lauren sandals in an interior like this? 

cabinet makeover - trasformare un mobile

Do you remember this cabinet makeover? It was my friend's project and this is how it looked and how it looks now in her great doorway. Isn't it amazing?

Loft style 2 - arredare un loft o attico

If I lived in a loft or in a penthouse, these are some styles I would take into serious consideration, without being able to say which one would I love best. Great interiors have this effect on me. Unexpectedly, I become a very indecisive person, absolutely unable to make up my mind on what style and what kind of furniture I should opt for. Great interiors are a sort of artistic creations and I literally suffer from a kind of Stendhal syndrome.  But, I have no doubt about a few things: I totally adore wide spaces, I hate clutter and messy places, I simply go crazy about white and relaxing colors. Having a look at these interiors, I am more than convinced I'm right. It may sound a little bit assertive, but could you ever disagree?  

Se vivessi in un loft o in un attico, eccovi alcuni stili che terrei in seria considerazione, senza però essere in grado di dire quale sceglierei. I bellissimi interni hanno questo effetto su di me. Inaspettatamente, divento una persona molto indecisa, assolutamente incapace di decidere per quale stile e tipo di arredamento dovrei optare. Considero gli interni arredati con gusto una sorta di creazione artistica e devo ammettere che soffro letteralmente di una specie di sindrome di Stendhal. Ma non ho nessun dubbio su alcune cose: adoro gli spazi ampi e ariosi, odio il disordine e il caos e vado matta per il bianco e i colori rilassanti. Nel vedere questi interni, credo di avere ragione. Forse suona troppo presuntuoso? Ma potreste mai non essere d'accordo con me? 

DIY Artwork - decorare una parete

It couldn’t be otherwise, being the daughter of a very creative, great at sewing, a very talented painter, able at rearranging things, at putting in order every corner of the house, I am naturally keen on crafty persons and I consider myself very lucky to be the friend of one of the most crafty women I know. She is a real source of inspiration and a wellspring of creativity. It goes without saying that her house is just perfect, ready to be published on one of the best design magazines, being her owner a restless decorator. Here is a DIY artwork she has hanged in her wonderful  modern apartment overlooking the Tiber river.  It couldn’t be more crafty! All you need to recreate this piece of extremely contemporary art is some metallic thread, forks, knives and spoons that you don't use anymore and above all a beautiful woodframe.  

ecological initiative - iniziativa ecologica

In questo blog parliamo molto di arredamento, di fai da te, di come poter abbellire e decorare gli ambienti in cui viviamo e non possiamo esimerci dal parlare di natura, di aria fresca e di ECOLOGIA. Sono quindi felice di partecipare alla campagna promossa da "doveconviene". Visitate il sito, mi raccomando. BASTA CLICCARE SULL'IMMAGINE. L'iniziativa ha come scopo principale quello di piantare un albero per ogni blog. Più verde, più salute, più felicità! 

We talk about interior design, DIY pieces and we cannot ignore environmental issues and ecological commitment. I am very much concerned about environmental related issues, because our future and our health depends on how much we do for nature. Therefore, I am really happy to be part of a fantastic initiative promoted by a group of people concerned about nature. This blog will contribute to the health of our dear planet and a new tree will be planted. For more information just click on the image. More green means more health and more health means more happiness!!!!!!

o

Loft style - stile da loft

I've always connected the word loft to the German word Luft which means air. I have to do some research to find out whether my intuition is right. I have always been looking for lofts and open spaces in Rome, but there aren't so many ex industrial places in Rome ready to be transformed into urban living places. You can find lofts in Milan and other industrial cities, but not in Rome, where I live. People living in areas where disused plants and factories have been converted into living places are really really fortunate because they can afford themselved wide spaces, void rooms, mega parties with friends, great working spaces and a lot of other funny and serious activities.   

Here are some of my favourite lofts! Hope people out there living a loft can find some inspiration! 

Easter time

Hope you had a great Easter time! Mine was characterised by abundant dinners and lunches, walks at the park with baby boy and hubby and a big amount of fresh and chilly air. I had a great time but I would really have liked to be in a place like this!! Freshome published this picture a few days ago. Just in case you wish to be there one day or another, this paradise is in Mexico!

Spring in Rome

Spending a spring holiday in Rome can be a memorable, unforgettable experience. April and especially May are the best months if you want to enjoy that fresh and warm air that makes you feel like you had wings and were just about to fly in the air. Rome in spring is just wonderful. I often hang out and snap pictures of unseen corners, art pieces, antique sculptures and pieces of antique ruins that I didn’t know I could find in unpredictable places, like the street I always walk by going at work. Rome is the unpredictable city, the unique and sole capital in the world where antiquity coexists with modernity giving birth to a perfect fusion of art. Here are some of the photographs I’ve been shooting a few days ago. Just imagine what a unique experience it can be to be in these places. I feel so privileged and lucky to live in this marvelous city and yes, just feel what you are feeling, ENVIOUS!!!!  Obviously, the pictures I am posting are not like those pictures that you will find on every post card and every touristic guide. They are really special and were shot just for you! Hope you like them!

Bertrand Russell used to say about spring and Rome: Italy and the spring and first love all together should suffice to make the gloomiest person happy.

This poem by Goethe, which he wrote during his long Roman stay sums up my feelings in this time of the year! He wrote them after accepting in  his life, his last wife, Christiane Vulpius, that he had met in Rome. The romantic spring air that permeates the whole city rose in Goethe that uncurbed and overwhelming feeling about a very simple girl.

Oh, how happy I am in Rome, remembering the times

When grey days clung to me, back there in the North,

The sky was dark and weighed heavily on my head,

The world around me colourless, formless, dull,

And I’d sink to brooding over myself, trying to see

Down the gloomy paths of my discontented spirit.