(Disregard the date, please! I’ve “bumped” this, to keep it at the top.)

My mother always said,
“It all started with growing up in military housing.
Nancy always HATED white walls.”

MAN, SHE WAS RIGHT!  BOY, DO I HATE WHITE WALLS!

I love color!
I love making my home unique and special,
even though it can sometimes take more time than I anticipate.

I’ve aways “fooled around” with paint and textiles and collage,
and thought that ONE DAY, I’d do something with it.

I was brought up without a lot of money and was very security-concious.
I had a “good job” in a large corporation for many years,
and fauxed and played on my walls, friends’ walls...you name it,
whenever I had the time.

And still I thought about ONE DAY.

Well, ONE DAY I lost my job. And there you go!
And here’s the business I started: http://www.bellospazio.com

Funny how the Universe works, isn’t it??! 

‘Cause frankly, I probably NEVER would have had the balls to quit!
Give up that MONEY?? NO WAY.

But, events --and ME--conspired to get me outta there!
You can read more about that on my other blog, if ya want:
http://www.wonderfullyimperfect.com/

Self-employment has been interesting.
Starting over has been interesting.
And interacting with other artists has been interesting, too.

(Which leads me to WHY I’M HERE.....)

I’ve gotten a lot of support from some great folks,
but I’ve also had people be snotty to me,
and seen really nice people “shot down”
when all they were doing was trying to get information
or trying to post or join an existing art or faux community.

This really TICKED ME OFF.

‘Cause in my mind, EVERYONE IS AN ARTIST.
EVERYONE LIKES TO CREATE IN SOME FASHION.
AND I BELIEVE EVERYONE CAN, WITH A LITTLE HELP AND SUPPORT.

And regardless of how “artsy” you feel you are....
most people I know LOVE TO CREATE A PERSONAL SPACE,
one that “sings” to them and speaks of love and relaxation and comfort.

My plans for the site are to “SHARE MY SONGS”,
share my progress on some personal projects,
as well as tips and inspirations from work I’ve done for clients....

In short, I’ll be helping you to make your walls SING!
Along the way, I’d love your feedback and comments…
and I promise: No shotguns here!

Thanks for being here!!

All the best,
NVB

Posted by Nancy Vittoria Bello in • About This Site
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Tuesday, June 27, 2006

We feel like the ONLY PEOPLE IN SOUTHERN CAL who don’t especially DROOL over granite counters.

Now mind you—I’m not knockin em!
And believe me—I don’t have a Mc Mansion...so I’m not tryin to sound like sour grapes, either.

(I’ll post about “personality” a bit more, down the road, but my beef with granite, like my beef with so
many things in the building industry, has to do with the fact that somehow so many people have bought into
the idea that THEY HAVE TO HAVE ____________ (fill in the blank).

And I hate to say this, but after working in beautiful homes for several years....many of them
LOOK MORE ALIKE THAN THEIR OWNERS REALIZE.)

MEANWHILE.....BACK AT THE RANCH:

We toyed with the idea of concrete counters, but by then had already started placing
our hardyboard, and didn’t want to pull it up and reinforce the counters
the way we would need to, if they were to withstand the weight of concrete.

And then.....I have always loved pique-assiette, the art of mosaic using broken china.
(Ohhhhhh ----I feel more posts comin’ on!!!)

Hmmmm....we thought........could we MOSAIC OUR COUNTERS???  YUP!

We pulled in an awesome mosaic artist to work with us, and lots of discussion
among the three of us finally led to a combination of stone, glass smalti, and stained glass pieces.

I’ll post a couple more pics of this later --- Bob created a stainless hood and some pull outs
for me, based on pictures....and I HAD NO IDEA HE COULD DO ALL THIS!!

(OH!  JUST SO YOU KNOW: WE’RE STILL WORKING ON THINGS!

New flooring and a new frig are coming soon -
and the cabinetry you see below the counter morphs into the living room,
(which is the room we’re currently working on) ---
so it won’t be staying white....
JUST BE KIND, OK??!  DESIGNING AS YOU GO TAKES TIME!)

Posted by Nancy Vittoria Bello in • Peeks at Our House!
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YES.....as a matter of fact, it IS colorful!

That’s sorta why it’s taken us a while to get to the living room:
we don’t want the colors to compete with the kitchen.
AND AGREEING ON COLORS...ESPECIALLY WHEN YOU’RE *BOTH* CREATIVE....
IS ....AHEM....DIFFICULT!!!

By the way, I faux-painted the (melamine) cupboards a faux pine years ago.
Bob re-arranged them and also created new cupboards when he moved the frig
into the corner and built around around the new stove.

But we haven’t repainted the cupboards yet!

So, yes....you are seeing them looking a little patchy or “raw” in some areas!
(We’re still playing - that’s how we figure out what color to paint em!)

I DON’T BELIEVE IN JUST “DOING IT” TO GET IT DONE!
I can live with a little un-done-ness, and percolate about things....
which is actually, I think, the best way to furnish a home.

Thanks for stopping by!

We angled our sink so while at the sink we can look out the back door,
to view the patio, or “lean in” into our living room
(yet have any kitchen mess hidden by the wall).

We can also chat with friends seated at our counter
as well as those in the “parlor” (aka former dining room) beyond.
(Our REAL dining room is on the patio!  But that’s to come...)

(AND YES, THE PURPLE WALL IS ANOTHER POST....OH MY! I COULDA KILLED BOB!)

Posted by Nancy Vittoria Bello in • Peeks at Our House!
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>

These last ones are just showing some of the details of the glass/stone mosaic, as well as Bob’s ingenuity!

>

Here’s our hood.
I showed Bob a stainless hood at Home Expo for $1600,
and he BUILT A COPY.
(The photo shows how the sides open up for storeage.
The cabinets are a bit lighter than shown here and still unfinished.)

He also copied photos of corner cabinets with Lazy Susans.
(Boy did he get ticked off when a little while ago, we found pre-made
Lazy Susans in catalogs!  HE MADE OURS ARE FROM SCRATCH!)

Additionally, he built the whole counter out about 2 feet further, so we could have an area
under which to scoot counter stools.

He also created the wide archway into the living room.
(And a niche on the living room side of
the sink area, which I’ll show, when we finish that room.)

No, he doesn’t watch http://www.youtube.com
No, he doesn’t “do” email.
He’s losing his hair.
He can be kinda GRUMPY at times. (And so can I!)
No, he isn’t into a lot of things that make for great conversation at parties.
No, he’s not “COOL”.

But he’s a pretty creative guy!!! I feel very lucky!

And I hope you’ve enoyed these!!

Posted by Nancy Vittoria Bello in • Peeks at Our House!
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Monday, June 26, 2006

(alternately titled: WHAT BOB DOES ON THE WEEKENDS...)

I’ve promised pictures of work we’ve done and HERE WE GO!

This is our gate that Bob created a couple of years ago, working on the weekends across AT LEAST 2months.
It was difficult to get a picture of the fence next to it...so you’ll just have to shut your eyes for a moment
and visualize the fence UNDULATING IN THE OTHER DIRECTION, LIKE AN S CURVE.

Very cool.

And no—he didn’t have a great router nor a router table--
and yes, he cussed a lot!

And if you LOOK CLOSELY, you might be able to see that one of the studs going across at eye level....
IS ACTUALLY A GLASS-ED IN PEEP HOLE,
so I can see who is at the gate before I open it!

He’s pretty talented, huh??

Posted by Nancy Vittoria Bello in • Peeks at Our House!
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Monday, June 19, 2006

Just wanted to share how my mind works -

(well....mebbe we won’t go THAT FAR!)

My hallway is two shades of Venetian Plaster, an ochre and a deep orange-gold,
trowled on at the same time.

The hallway doesn’t get a ton of light...and the color makes it JUST GLOW......I LOVE IT!

But I’ve never finished the ceiling. I’ve had some ideas but I’d rather wait and keep it undone,
than do it over.
(Which is why we’re finally working on our living room!!!
We FINALLY decided what we wanted!!)

Lately I’ve been looking at some of my Florentine or Italian items (I LOVE FLORENTINE TRAYS!!)
and the incredible colors and designs are giving me ideas for the ceiling,
so mebbe you’d like to take a look, too?

I love the deep blue and gold of the jewelry chest....and the layout of the tray.....mmmmm!

I’ll keep you posted!!!

Posted by Nancy Vittoria Bello in • Inspirations
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I recently completed a client’s family room.

She loves the look of old stone and European touches (ALSO FAVOURITES OF MINE!),
and is a deeply devout person, as well.

She asked me to somehow “highlight” her religious artwork over her fireplace
at one end of the room, yet tie it in to the modern Big Screen TV area.

This project has been extremely time-consuming, as THERE ARE LOTS OF LAYERS HERE!
Layers of texture, building up the faux stone and brick,
layers of paints and glazes to give “age”,
and of course...layers of touches in the border I created for her fireplace area.

More on this to follow, but hope you ENJOY!
and yu

Posted by Nancy Vittoria Bello in • Ya Gotta Love LAYERS!
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Lotsa stuff going on in Bello-Land!  Especially in my LIVING ROOM!

Please forgive me, if you’ve been checking this blog and
scratching your head or other pieces of anatomy....

I’ve been battling computer glitches and shingles and car accidents....
but it seems I’M BACK ON TRACK!

This weekend Bob FINALLY finished putting the beams up on our ceiling.
(Yes, he’d started it several months ago,
but got broadsided and was laid up for a couple of months…
man, he was SO LUCKY!! )

He’s been chomping at the bit to finish it.
And NOW we’re on to Stage 2:

filling the nailholes, priming and staining!

Sure, you’d NORMALLY prime and stain before you put them up....
but for some strange reason, the beams would start to warp after he routed them....
so we said to heck with it....especially since he could only do part of it over each weekend,
and focused on fitting them and just getting it up, correctly.
(DID I MENTION BOB IS A PERFECTIONIST???)

So, MY CHALLENGE FOR THE WEEK is being on scaffolding, with a neck brace on,
FINISHING THE CEILING!!)

But HEY! We’re THRILLED to finally get the ceiling knocked out, and move on to the walls......
and YOU GET TO COME ALONG!!

(turn up that music, will ya?? and...got any Red Bull?)

Posted by Nancy Vittoria Bello in • Peeks at Our House!
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Thursday, June 01, 2006

This bedroom ceiling was rain-damaged and although it was repaired, the client was looking for a quick fix!
She REALLY wanted to spend her time and money on cool walls and accessories, NOT ceilings.

So, we came up with a really pretty solution: WALLPAPER.

We purchased 2 rolls of (cheap-o) Home Depot wallpaper BORDERS with a nice, raised texture.
We cut it into sections about a foot longer than the room, and painted it a red (from the “mis-tint” bin).

We then glazed it twice: first with a burgundy, followed with an earth brown/gold mix.
While that dried, we dealt with the medallion (also an inexpensive model, from Home Depot):

We painted the medallion a metallic bronze, and then layered on acrylics in Raw Umber and Venetian Gold.

We then pasted the wallpaper border over the ceiling (again—this ceiling was repaired, first!),
and followed with the chandelier and the medallion.

WHAT A RICH LOOK!

Posted by Nancy Vittoria Bello in • Faking It
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