"Under the Tuscan Sun" - HOW TO ?
 When you think Tuscany do you picture bright sunshine bouncing off stucco walls, red tile roofs , courtyards and terrazzo filled with lots of clay pots, urns and flowers everywhere? Well you can bring that Mediterranean feeling regardless of where you live: east coast or west coast. With very little effort and even on a small budget, your dream décor can be brought into your home. A Tuscan home is warm and inviting and is inspired by the textures and colors found in nature. This Italian style living offers a very airy and open feel to any room and this is why it is becoming more and more popular in this last decade. Today, many homeowners are attracted to the idea of the kitchen as being “the heart” of the whole house, so because of this, the new built homes offer much more space in this special part of the house. For people who plan to redesign their kitchens, lots of do-it-yourself stores carry wonderful assortment of fixtures, tiles and accessories to help achieve such look effortlessly! In Italy villa style homes and farmhouses have textured walls. This timeless look gives any space an Old World feel. This effect can be accomplished with the popular technique called “stucco” using materials such as Venetian plaster to add texture. Also, if your budget allows, you may want to consider changing your square hallway opening to an arched hallway which then can be trimmed by a big decorative molding and topped by a wrought iron plaque. The signature of Tuscan style is the loads of usage in wrought iron and mosaic tiling with flower and fruit motifs. Mosaic tiling can be found on outdoor fountains, on ceramic pots and even on outdoor tables, in fact this is what differs Tuscan garden furniture from other styles. Dining room tables are usually in wood and rectangular in shape. They are usually made of solid wood with heavy legs on the outer corners. You can mix the chairs with other style of chairs or you can keep it matching by just adding a fabric seat cover for a splash of color. Accessories. The key to a beautiful Tuscan room is how you accessorize. Keep in mind the Old World style when choosing your Tuscan decor accessories. Tuscan homes abound with lots of decorative touches. For accessories choose items such as metal urns, lots of greenery, terra cotta pots, wrought iron sconces, candle holders chandeliers, shelves, flower cart, and baker rack as well as glass apothecary jars, and lots of Tuscany scenery for your framed art wall. Color choices for Tuscany decor are gold and yellow, dark green and sage, with different shades of brown reds and blue. These earthy tones can be found on walls as well as in furniture, pottery and rugs. These colors display the strong connection to nature that Italian style imbues. Since the colors of Tuscany are drawn from mother nature, keeping this thought in mind can make your coloring selection much easier. |  Whether your goal is to achieve a Mediterranean villa style home or a Tuscany farmhouse, you must first start with the kitchen. Kitchen. If you are planning on remodeling from scratch then, it is important to consider incorporating- in your kitchen design- some open shelving in between the cabinets. The open look and feel of the shelves allows beautiful Italian pottery to be displayed and creates an instant theme in your room. This also functions as a color breaker against the creamy color background. Cabinets in a Tuscan villa typically look miss-matched; so to attain a very authentic feeling it is important to insert another wood color. Your kitchen island is a good place to introduce a contrasting wood color that can add drama, class and authenticity to your design. Flooring. Tuscan kitchens also call for magnificent flooring that can be either marble tiles or rustic ceramic tiles. The back- splash of your cabinets should also carry the marble or the tiles (depending on what you have picked), and the more decorative and textured the surface is, the more Tuscany it will look. An old world feeling in your Tuscan kitchen decor can be attained very inexpensively by just repainting the kitchen cabinets in off white- creamy color. (Adding strokes of brown to the inner corners of the panels will give an additional antique look). Then as a finishing touch you can add decorative wooden or iron handles. Living Room: should offer rich burnt yellow/orange on the walls and be trimmed with white moldings. The fireplace in this room can be changed from a small, brick covered mantle to a massive, marble framed fireplace that shows strength as it is surrounded by the robust, detailed white mantle. The furniture in the room should carry heavy-big lines especially in pieces such as the TV armoire stand. Wrought iron shelves can be used as accents as well as large ceramic urns holding fern plants to make any corner of the room special. This technique successfully brings additional color and freshness to any Tuscan decor. A Tuscany living room can become a place of peace and serenity making guests feel well beyond comfortable, and welcomed. Dining Room: Comfort should bask in this room and muted tones of red walls will create just that. The furniture should look very masculine for this space, so a bit of dark wood for the dining table can be necessary to create such look. You can soften this dark wood and make it become Tuscany Shabby Chic by adding skirted covered chairs in beautiful floral patterns. Here you can frame the walls with wrought iron sconces and wrought iron chandeliers. On the wall facing your table you can add a beautiful ornate mirror to allow a radiant reflection of light to bounce from the adjacent chandelier. Hard wood floors are important but can be softened by an intricate pattern of heavy wool area rug placed underneath the dining table. Remember: The key to a beautiful Tuscan room is how you accessorize. Keep in mind the Old World style when choosing your Tuscan decor. Accessories can make or break the room, stay with the theme and you will achieve the look and feel you are after effortlessly. With a bit of planning and a bit of work, anyone can transform their home in a Tuscany delight without breaking the bank. Hope you enjoyed this posting. Blessings, -Cristina- |
