apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

Wow, I like the way you coordinated the painted chairs with other finishes and accents throughout your home.

I love this place. Such bold use of fun colour, and yet, it still feels like a home, not just an indecisive painter.... somehow it magically all works together.

I don't think of myself as a xenophobic person, but...couldn't the contestant have made the effort to submit her entry in English so that (most of us) might read what she had to say? Her photos are gorgeous, but I find it hard to judge when I have no idea what she has to say.

My guess is that, given her ability to assess the contest rules, she is able to speak English, so I am assuming that she is somewhat more pretentious than her charming home.

That's a pretty grand assumption to make on so little information, JenDC. Nice way to represent!

JenDC,

http://babelfish.altavista.com
You can also make an effort to read what she had to say.

Just because she can assess the contest rules, that were laid out in an orderly fashion, doesn't mean that she's fluent in English. Reading another language is very different than communicating another language, just because you can do one doesn't mean you can do the other.

I like it. Meanwhile, I think that in future contests, it might not be a bad idea to say that if your answers are not in English, then they'll be run through Some Particular Translation Program, which might encourage people to find a translator they're comfortable with or risk being misinterpreted. But having it like this, it just doesn't illuminate things for us. That said, I think the place kind of speaks for itself pretty well.

I really really REALLY love this home. Pink and orange are one of my favorite color combinations. And the tiles above the bathroom sink are so cute. I like that she combined different cultural influences in throughout her home, but I'm not sure how I should vote. If it weren't for those damn rules, I'd vote insta-finalist. Where are the 2 Good Color Tips and Favorite Paint/Brand? I'm hoping this was just on oversight on the posting because I absolutely LOVE this entry.

For the sake of stopping the arguement, she says something to the degree of...
I love color as decoration. In my house a wide variety exists together, and (something about orange). I am inspired by Mexican, Moroccan, West Euro, Italy, and the Mediterranean. (Something about living in a rainbow, I think.) I have lived here for four years and have decorated little by little. I have made all changes manually.
Sorry for butchering that. I only use Italian at family dinners.

Eva- beautiful job. I especcially love the tile. It does look DIY, but clean, and fresh, and happy.

I agree. As much as I love looking at Italian, there's no point in asking the questions if the answers aren't meant to be part of the contest. Not that we judge on them, but that we, the readers of an English site, should be able to understand them.

Hey, Jenny D.

I don't speak Italian, but I managed to figure out that she likes to use a spectrum of color but has a predilection for orange and magenta. And she is influenced by Mexican, Morrocan, East Indian, Eastern European and Southern Italian styles.

Way to be a citizen of the world.

Wow. I was pleased to see that I remembered enough of the Italian I learned in college to understand what she said. Also I love the house. La amo!

Actually, I have lived all over the world, and everywhere I go I try to learn some of the language to communicate - albeit in a rudimentary fashion - with the people I meet.

Hey, I'm not proposing immigration policy here, just expressing my opinion about how the entrant chose to present herself.

For what it's worth, JenDC, I agree. There is a definite air of pretense to submit your entry in a language that the vast majority of the readers will not understand. There's a certain implied contempt for those of us who are too "ignorant" to comprehend. Now this may not be the case, but I totally understand how it comes across this way.

Than being said, I am not fluent in Italian, but design is another story. I love the bold color choices and the playful nature, but could do without the tchotchkes on the windowsill. Playfull does not have to mean cluttered.

Wow - great job. I can't help be focus on the first image with a peek-a-boo shot of a canal outside. I almost feel like she is cheating by living such a wonderful place. Gutsy aqua color combo with the purple/red trim on the ceiling. If I had not seen the image, I wouldn't have believed someone could pull that off - but somehow in this space it does work.

NO MATTER THE LANGUAGE.

:)

Wow, I went to instafinalist right away, because of that door and BECAUSE it was in Italian. I just liked it that way....
: )

la polenta Eva voglio la polenta! Bellissima casa complimenti, soprattutto se hai fatto tutto da sola!, ma come hai fatto?

Un saluto da L.A.

I agree that the contest belongs to an english blog, but give her a break, c'mon. maybe she's done it for fun and for all the italians spread around the US, we're a lot people and we read blogs and we live in america as well. and we dont speak english amongs ourselves.

by the way if you use one of the translating web thing.. oh boy you're in for a lot of surprises. everything gets translated word by word with some extremely funny results. i dont advise anybody to use it.

ciao

I love how AT readers are the first to jump at someone else for being pretentious. This is the pot calling the kettle. In the same breath someone decries her because we can't read Italian while at the same time demanding that SHE be able to write English.

La sua casa è bella! Amo i colori luminosi e lo specchio al di sopra di il divano.

last thing.. who said that the vast majority of readers dont understand italian? do we know how many foreign actually read AT? i dont think so right? so dont judge please, let it be and take it as an opportunity to see what's up on the other side of the ocean.

here's the (rough) translation of what she said:

"I love the color and the decorations. In my house they together cohabit a wide phantom of colors, even if I prefer magenta and the orange. For the decorations I take cue from the style Mexican, Moroccan, Indian, west-european, and of the Mediterranean style of south-Italy...

These styles are all stir to you to create a joyful rainbow of inks and shapes. Living in this house is very fun. I have acquired this house approximately 4 years ago and from then I have begun, little to the time, to color it. I have made all by hand (and by myself): the walls, the decorations, the restructures of furnitures, the chairs, the floor tiles, the pavements."

you dont know her, dont assume shes pretentious. maybe she can read English well, but wasnt comfortable with her writing skills. she just wanted to share a space that she loved and is proud of, geez louise.

So, does she read the site in English, but can't write? I think the pics speak for themselves anyway. At all the entries I look at the pictures and then I vote. Then I read what they wrote.

Mi piace molto! Mi dispiace per che il mio italiano e molto brutto. Ho studiato in Italia, a Siena per tre mese nel anno pasato. Penso che hai una casa bellisima a sono molto gelosa! (soprattutto per che vive in Italia---lo manco!)

Strabella!

st@cy... sometime is easier to read in a foreign language than write, believe me. i can read and understand french but to write it.. holy cow it would be a disaster.

I kind of love the person who gave this entry it's title.

Amo i colori! And that's about all the Italian I can drum up off the top of my head.

I quite like the idea of opening the blog up to participants in other languages - given the importance of pictures, you can figure out what is going on even if you aren't so hot with the language. The motto at the top of the page is: "Changing the WORLD one apartment at at time" after all.

And the world operates in multiple languages. Nothing pretentious about using one's native tongue.

Jen DC,

I'm a brazilian woman and I access AT everyday.
I can't understand all texts and wright is almost impossible for me, because my knowledges about English are very defficient.
BUT I enjoy it (AT) so much, because ONE IMAGE SAYS MORE THAN THOUSAND WORDS.
I hope you also can read the shapes and colors of the world.

I love the fact that the entry was submitted in Italian, even though I can't read or speak Italian. Seeing a submission in another language reminds me how international AT can be.

I was still able to enjoy Evalula's photos and her fun use of happy colors in her home. No translations needed.

Can't figure out why some posters thought it was "pretentious" for Eva to use her native language. This is not a case of someone showing off high school French in front of a date at a fancy French restaurant. This is someone who, although she may be able to read enough English to join the AT community, isn't strong enough in English to write in it. Let's take the blinders off and stop demanding that everyone in the world be able to communicate in English for our convenience.

A bit of Google translations, however poor, would have given anyone a rough idea of what Eva was saying. That said, AT probably has access to the linguistic talents, among staff or friends or online members, to have included an English translation from the start.

Eva, the colors in your home are so bright and cheerful!

First, in response to the home: Love it! The colors remind me of Indian saris - they're so rich and beautiful.

Second, in response to the Italian: I look at the pictures first and color tips second, if at all, because I don't want the words to influence my reaction, so in that sense, the Italian wasn't a problem for me. But I agree with JenDC: The tips should appear on this English-language site in English, or at least accompanied by an English translation.

Frankly, this is a no-brainer; if I posted a contest entry in English on an Italian site, would anyone here tell the Italian readers that they weren't being "citizens of the world" because they want to read a website in their own language? Somehow I doubt it.

One day everybody will need learn chinese... So... kkkkkkkk

She says:

”I love colors and decoration. In my house a wide spectrum of colors co-exist. Although my favorites are magenta and orange. My décor is inspired by Mexican, Moroccan, Indian, Eastern-European, and the Mediterranean styles of Southern Italy.

These styles are all mixed together to create a joyous rainbow of tints and forms. It’s a lot of fun to live in this house. I acquired this place 4 yrs ago and began, a little at a time, to fill it with colors. I did everything by hand (and by myself): the walls, the decorations, restoring the furniture, the chairs, the tiles, the floors."

Auguri -- Che meraviglia che il mondo intero legge 'Apartment Therapy"! Vi prego, non dare retta a certe persone con poca educazione.

Ma si puo sapere dove si trova questo bellissimo appartamento? (In che parte d'Italia?)

Very beautiful and cheerful!

I love love love this entry. Eva's home is so lovely, bright, refreshing and whimsical. Yea yea yea!!! This is exactly why this contest is so great.

(You do know that anyone can go to Yahoo!, search for a site and hit "Translate this Page" to read it in their native language? After 10 school years of Spanish I can not only read that language but puzzle out Italian and French pretty well, too. But as a rule it is harder to compose in a language one is not fluent in than to decipher it.)

Thanks to everybody!!!
My reply to Monarda: I live in Trentino, near Trento (Nord-Nord-Nord-Italy...)

you guys are losers giving Americans bad names.
Who the hell cares what language it's in?

You SHOULD know Italian if you expect her to know English.
I do.

Chill out for Christ's sake.

Dear Sprite:
You could post something in English on an Italian site and none of the Italians would care in the least.

Want to know why?

Because they would all be able to read it with no problem.

In terms of the numbers of readers who can read this: I can pretty much make out what Evalula is saying. If the submission were in French, I'd be fine. If it were in Spanish, I could piece it together slowly. If it were in any other language, I'd use a web translator. That said, I consider myself unusual when compared to the general USA population.

If it were I submitting this, and I couldn't do a good translation myself, I would have included a request for translation from the other readers of AT.

Honestly, I tend to skim over the writing from the submitters in the contest thingies.

On a completely different subject: I like the apartment.

You say 'color' and I say 'colour' this is colo(u)r in any language.
Bellisima!

However much I like the photos (and they do say more than you know how many words), I have to back up AT as an English-language site.

I'm one of AT's international readers (Copenhagen, DK) and English is not my first language, but I'm not writing this post in Danish, French or German - because I know fairly few wouldn't understand.

If Evalula has problems writing in English, she should ask for help translating, and we've already seen how helpfull AT readers are, so it shouldn't be a problem.

Love the pinkish Moroccan pattern in the hallway and the play of light created by the small mirrors on the drapes covering what I assume is a closet. Inspires me to be more free-spirited with the use of color in my own home! Very refreshing combination of colors... nicely done.

Wow. So many wadded panties.

Well, about the house. I really appreciate the first photo of the entrance with the colorful door and tile. The rest of the house is not really my preference due to the cluttered feeling I get from it. In my opinion, though the colors she chose DO relate well to one another, I don't think they relate well in THIS space. It almost makes me feel tense/anxious looking at it. It's like "ok, here's a pink chair, and now a blue wall, how about a red couch, and add a purple pillow. ok done." I'm sure that's not how the homeowner did it of course but it just doesn't feel quite put together. Perhaps just editing down...I don't know.

I tend to wonder whether or not this entry would be getting as many high marks as it has so far if it were located in the states. As though somehow the fact that it's "italian" makes up for it being a farily disheveled, disorganized....something.

That being said, I really do appreciate all those colors, but I don't think that, in the end, it's a very good use of them.

Lastly, I entered the contest myself. Haha. A humbling experience to say the least. I hope I do not offend this homeowner by my opinions. Just one out of many I'm sure.

How fab to able to see a home from Italy! Thanks so much for sharing! I was immediately enchanted when I saw the door. I love that color scheme and what a wonderful invitation into your home.

My favorite color of late is turquoise, and you use it splendidly. I love it with the red sofa. I, too, have a red sofa so may paint a wall turquoise. I am also in love with the purple pillows, the orange and pink drapes, the painted dining chairs. Your color palette is perfectly integrated.

I am not so much a fan of the yellow, but that it is just me. I seem to have a bias against yellow and would rather see an orangey color there instead.

Great work! Hope to see you in the finals!

I speak and read French fluently. I write like a 5 year old. When I'm faced with writing for a French speaker I'm stuck with two choices: write w/my crappy written French and be judged on that, or write in English and be judged for doing that. C'est la vie.

I like all the color choices here, but I can't say I like them all together.

I read all the comments after posting, and was fairly surprised. I found it utterly charming that the entry was written in Italian, it added to my illusion of traveling to another country. I only remember a teensy bit of high school Spanish, so I had a great time trying to understand her words, which because I was able to place in context, I actually did pretty well.

It just proves to me that color is a universal language.

Also, I was really enchanted not to have to read another "I use color because it makes me happy..." We all know that the correct use of color makes us happy, but I continually felt a longing for indepth descriptions of applied color theory.... oh wow, now I sound pretentious. I'll shut up.

Suffice it to say, that I found this entry charming and the language added to the charm.

I would encourage the editors of AT to continue their policy of not imposing their vision (or language) on contestants. And I for one feel very proud that this blog that I love so much and have followed faithfully has a worldwide audience.

Whew. Sorry about that. It's off my chest now. Thanks AT audience for an entertaining read once again. Now back to mundane reality...

Fun, utterly charming....for me, the front door and the tile is the overall winner. Inside it feels a bit much for me, but I'd linger outside her door all day.

monarda, Grazie for your response! I wish my written Italian were better because I would have written the exact same thing. When I lived in Italy, I learned how intimidating and humbling it can be to not speak or write a language when you want to express yourself intelligently.

I'm embarassed by the reactions of so many of the posters here. msjessica is completely right. if the situation were reversed, the italians would most certainly be able to read english.

that being said, what is this contest about? the process or the results? if it's purely the aesthetics of the space, why is it so necessary to read and understand the accompanying text?

One more comment -- I loved the cheerful exuberance of this, and, although I don't speak Italian (it's on the Life List), I have enough of other languages to understand most of what she wrote, including that she had done the work herself.

Why are people so wedded to their ignorance? any educated adult, which should include most of the regular visitors to AT, should be able to get the gist of this -- English literature alone is so filled with words with Romance, Greek and German roots that it doesn't take a genius to pick through a couple of paragraphs in Italian.


grrrr.

There is a big difference between being able to read a language and being able to write intellegibly in the same language. The thing that amazed me was that I was born there, since this 6000 people burg used to have the only hospital for kilometers around.
E' il Brenta che si vede dal balconcino?

Right, Francesca. The Brenta ...

Yes! Brenta!

Enough complaining that the post wasn't in English. Can't you see that the beauty of the entire entry was that it WAS in Italian? The post is a snapshot of her life, her home and all the things that make it more colorful, more intriguing and inviting. Creating the entry in English would have diminished its character. So, enough with the attitude.

Remember: AT is the venue which enables us to come together and live vicariously through others--worldwide. Embrace it.

quanti italians ci sono che leggono AT?

would love to know.

on the whole reading and writing in another language - when i moved to france and was in school there, i picked up the spoken language in a snap, it wasn't until i came back to the states and realized things in retrospect that i really got a grasp on the written language - i mean come on, how many of you know everything there is to know about the english written language what with all the parts of speech? you write a long complicated sentence and then break it up into parts of speech for me. i'd love to see it. that kind of thing comes naturally from hearing it your entire life, even if you don't know which is the past participle and so forth. there are words in french you do not say in the spoken language but that you say in the written language, and the rule is even more strict on the flipside. and boo on you for not appreciating the world enough that we should all speak english - you can go to ANY country and find more people there that speak english to help you find your way to the subway than you can here in finding any person on the street that will understand what in the hell you are saying.

this entry is called "Eva's Italian Lesson." i think she, intentionally or not, gave us all a lesson. was it a lesson in the italian language or in cross-cultural acceptance? just asking.

LOL. You should come and live in Europe.

Creative!

Beautiful! Bella! This isn't my style at all, but somehow I love it. I love the mosaic above the sink in the bathroom-- great touch. Oh, and the stenciling in the entryway...nice.

troz -- non sono italiana, pero sono americana e vivo in italia!

i love the colors in this house, especially since color is pretty rare in italian houses. as an american in italy, it's really struck me that italians do not usually paint the walls in their houses with colors. most houses are entirely white-walled (in fact, the word for paint is "inbianchare" which basically means "to whiten").

so when i moved here and decided to paint our apartment all kinds of colors, my italian in-laws were slightly scandalized. my mother-in-law kept saying that in italy we don't do things like this... but when we stripped off the white paint in our 500 year old apartment (seriously, it was built in the 1400s) we found lots of different layers of color under the white. so obviously in the past color on walls was used.

but i think i have discovered why it makes more sense to just have white walls though. at least here in florence, houses tend to be damp, and so it's common for mold to grow around windows. you need to dab bleach on it to remove it, which also removes the color.

now color is becoming more common on italian walls, so i think things are changing here. in tuscany especially, it's becoming common for people to use yellows and oranges on their walls.