Walls with Stripes

nautical stripes via flickr
Since Heather from concrete jungle in Phuket commented on my last post that she pictures wide blue stipes for the walls under the blue ceiling, I got totally hooked with stripes on walls.

Yesterday, I skyped with Angelo and told him the idea ... his first comment was: "come?!" (what?!)  He asked me to make a drawing for him to better understand.

But first of all I had to think, vertical or horizontal stripes? While I thought about two or three bold wide blue horizontal stripes, my consultant from neighbouring Phuket thought wide vertical stripes. And to get some inspiration I googled "stripes wall" and "Streifen Wand" in German, and got plenty interesting results. Some of them I have to put in this post, but first my latest drawing, sorry I am not a professional interior designer and the scanned sketch comes out a bit pale, but you can see the four walls of the corridor :

two bold blue horizontal stripes under a blue ceiling in a small corridor

The photos that Angelo sent me yesterday are not really ideal to picture the corridor and to photoshop in the stripes, but I did it anyway and in both horizontal and vertical direction:

two horizontal stripes of different width, they could go around all four walls (except on the doors)

five vertical stripes - probably nice if only on the long wall with no door

The last vertical stripes make the room appear higher, which is not necessary. The horizontal stripes could make the small space appear larger, which could be more useful. But not only do stripes something to the space regarding the size, it also adds an interesting touch. Vertical stripes look more elegant, horizontal more unique. I like also the geometrical modern touch they add to the rather playful classic ceiling. But above all, I like the blue stripes idea because it's nautical ! It adds a beach house touch (to my beach house).

I checked the international nautical flags :

two blue stripes: J for Juliet or "on fire!"

And here are my favorite vertical wall stripes :

blue stripes in corridor, via Elle Decor


blue and white stripes, equally about 10 cm wide

stripes from wall to ceiling, different width

Tiffany blue wide wall stripes

Forrow & Ball paint, stripes about 10 and 20 cm wide

interesting fresh colour match

dashing arrangement of orange, grey, black and white stripes by Designer Sheila Bridges, via Elle Decor

same colour mix, same room as above

black and white stripes French style (white border around hooks and ceiling!)

nautical stripes via flickr

And here some of my favorite vertical stripes:

Vibrant orange-and-pink stripes race down the bedroom-corridor walls of designer Muriel Brandolini’s Victorian weekend house in Southampton, New York, via Elle Decor - THIS is about our corridor, but we have doors too...


very wide blue stripes

these two stripes in our blue could do

a wallpaper, too bold for living in

stripes of different width, strange deco though - but this is about our blue and could be our arrangement (the grey would be our light apricot) - but this here is a wallpaper

light gray stripes in a cozy beach house bedroom, via Coastal Living

a bold white stripe below the ceiling makes the room appear less high - light blue paint by Schoener Wohnen (D217), bed linen by IKEA

nautical stripes via flickr

what a difference a blue stripe makes !

I know, painting stripes, no matter which direction, is a lot of work (measuring, taping), but Angelo has proven a hidden talent. And as you see far above, I thought of two stripes only, maybe even only on one short wall. Let's see what Angelo says. And what do you think?

Sources:
since I found so many different photos it was too much to collect all the sources, some are from DIY sites or wallpaper shops - the best source, however, with even more inspiration is Wall Treatments: Say it with Stripes by Elle Decor

----
UPDATE:
And here is our result:


see other pics here

Of course Angelo could not resist and try out horizonatal AND vertical stripes. These are different areas, but connected. It is a fun optical detail, a surprise for the visitors eyes. 

Blue Ceiling by Angelo

Today I receive a blue ceiling via email :



And the text massage goes like this :

The ceiling of the corridor in front of the ground floor bathroom. I missed the blue after so long time! Is that ok? What color do you want the walls? White? Light yellow? Light ocra? Light pink?
Ciao
Angelo
Ah, I have missed Angelo's humour. I almost forgot about his "blue" addiction, didn't thought it's that strong! I wrote back that I like it. Light blue makes the ceiling appear higher - not that this was necessary in our case - but here the blue leads the eye towards the center. You do not notice right away that the ceiling is not symmetrical. And I really like that simple Art Nouveau lamp. We had it in storage so far - can you believe that? ... it never had a place to beam. Not sure though, if this short side corridor is the right place. We might have a better spot, but will see. Regarding the walls I opted for just white paint as this is a small and rather dark corridor. If this is too boring we can repaint it later.

I am happy with this Wednesday mail by Angelo. Grazie! 

Work Progress in March

photo documentation about work progress - click above to enlarge

Angelo, my father-in-law, who also at the moment functions as our contractor on site, sends us photos via email about the work progress. Sometimes I get several mails a day, each with a couple of pictures about different subjects or rooms and his comments. At the moment his reports are all positive about completion and progress. Very promising and inviting. We have gas for cooking, we have hot water for shower and heat for cold days.

The screen capture above shows my "March File". It shows thumbnails about the seminterrato where the walls were insulated, it shows a waste water pump in the garden, the renovated scuri of the windows of the primo piano, the actual status of the bathrooms, the new doors in different areas of the house and the finished stairways - which deserves a post of its own. 

Since the second week of March is always a busy week for me (birthday and anniversary celebrations) I had no time to update the blog. But now, I am back on track.    

Happy International Women Day - Auguri per la Festa delle Donne


"Auguri per la festa delle donne !"

It's international women's day, like every year on March 8.

I wish you a happy day, to all of you women, ladies, girls, mothers, wifes, sisters - to donne, mamme e ragazze.

It's international women day all over the world. Originally it celebrated the working women.

In Italy it is popular and the flower that is given to the ladies, wifes and girlfriends to day is the yellow mimosa.

If this day is celebrated in your country in a special way or there are some special customs, please share with us !

Facade: before & after picture update

It is February, the sun is shining and the oranges are growing in neighbour's garden. Below it is our palazzo that stands together with this picturesque church at a small piazza with no name in the historic center of Pizzo.

view of Palazzo Pizzo, chiesa del Carmine and the bay with beaches of Pizzo

Now, below, this is an old picture of February 2008, when we just started the renovation and restoration. The old windows have been taken out already, the old doors are still in and we had some sample of coloured plaster painted on the facade. The roof is not tiled yet. The walls of the facade show cracks and damages. However, I love this picture. It shows a charming old house and a calm sea with sunshine. Oranges are growing in the neighbours garden and the church makes it even more peaceful. This picture is my screen saver since three years.

BEFORE: our house in February 2008

But Angelo complaint. After all the work he had supervised and done, I could update my screen saver, he said. So, I asked him to send me an update, same perspective please - and that's what I got:

AFTER: our house in February 2011

New plaster, new colour, new roof tiles, walls for window frames repaired and new windows mounted, new window sills, new entrance doors, new  zoccolatura (skirting board), new iron grids for ground floor windows, new roof rail and rain gutter,  restoration of "fake" stucco windows, re-painted balcony rails, new bell and name plate, installation of a second street lamp from the commune, dismounting of a flood lamp (for the church), rewiring for the lamps  .... - I think, this is it. For the exterior. But one old thing we reuse: the former green metal letter box plate.
 
 
You might also like these Before & After posts:
 
 
See all renovation posts BEFORE and AFTER.


Photo source:  photo nr. 2 was taken from a window of an apartment in a neighbouring house that was under renovation three years ago. But since this apartment now belongs to a foreigner who was not in Pizzo, Angelo had to climb on top of the roof to get a similar perspective. Mille Grazie !