Hollywood Regency Glamour

When designers from Hollywood's Golden Age, like William Haines, Dorothy Draper and Syrie Maugham started decorating the homes of the silver screen stars and other West Coast socialites with overtones of glitz and glamour, a new design style emerged. The 1930s Hollywood Regency style was a favorite of celebrities ranging from actresses Joan Crawford, Carole Lombard, Jean Harlow to the future First Lady, Nancy Reagan.

Hollywood Regency design, however, is not a relic of the past. The over-the-top style is not just for the rich and famous; a modern version is surging in popularity, fueled by designers like Kelly Wearstler.

In honor of this beautiful style, I unveil my gorgeous, newly restored Hollywood Regency Secretary (c. 1930s) soon to be featured on my 1stdibs storefront.

A gorgeous marriage between the art deco and Louis XV styles, this secretary is reminiscent of the glamour of the golden age of Hollywood.

Made of solid french walnut with burled walnut doors and inlay marquetry on the drawers. Heavily hand carved cabriole legs...

And take a look at the inside!



The inside is made of bird's eye maple with a diamond patterned back mirror.









A flat wooden surface with black glass slides out to convert this piece into a glamorous writing desk.

Can't you just see Coco Chanel writing a thank you note while sitting at this desk?





Stay tuned for more pieces soon to be finished.

To view my complete inventory, please visit www.disegnoKarinaGentinetta.1stdibs.com

Timeless Beauty

Rare 19th c. Serpentine Back Louis XV Walnut Sofa

France
c. 1850

This sofa or settee has a bench style seat that is solid and sturdy and a rare serpentine back that follows the soft curves of the wooden walnut frame. Completely restored down to the 8 way hand tied springs and newly upholstered in a simple white cotton canvas fabric. Handcarved walnut frame with shell carvings on cabriole legs and front. Exquisite detail and patina. Deep, comfortable sofa that can easily accommodate 3 adults.

Sigh....

To view this piece and others in my inventory, please visit my 1stdibs storefront.

Old Meets New

(from pinterest.com)

To get this look:

Molded Chair by Verner Panton (1967)

Eiffel Chair by Eames for Herman Miller

Italian Chandelier with Vintage Murano Glass Crystals by

disegno Karina Gentinetta

You provide the crumbling walls.

Poland

Have you discovered the beauty of Poland lately?

Mierzecin Palace Hotel in Miercezin, Poland

Hotel Royal Baltic in Ustka

Gdynia

To my friend, Ewa, who follows my blog from her seaside city of Gdynia, Poland, this post is for you and for your beautiful country and people.

Powinniście być dumni z tego dziedzictwa piękne i kraju.

Milanesas de Pollo

Did you ever noticed that people who are creative or who have a passion for homes, interiors, and design tend to be foodies? My dear friend, Frances Russell and I were talking about that not too long ago as she and I have discovered that we are both food aficionados and in addition to our love for design, we exchange recipes (have you checked out her post on Austin Leslie's Southern Fried Chicken which recipe I sent to her and which she, so lovingly, made in her home in Australia?) Frances, you gave "Southern" Fried Chicken a whole new meaning!

Both my husband and I love to eat and to cook and we wake up thinking about what we will do for dinner. But then again, we also live in New Orleans where amazing food surrounds us every which way we go. I think New Orleanians find any reason to eat and eat well. And the amount of garlic and seasoning we use in this city should be a crime. Although after Hurricane Katrina many contemplated moving away to other cities, their love of good food kept them here.

Being from Argentina, I have grown up eating Argentine food which is basically Italian food. I think I seduced my husband into marrying me with my osso bucco and homemade gnocchis. He, on the other hand, tends to cook more eclectic foods, having worked under some of the best chefs in New Orleans, including John Harris of Lilette Restaurant and Emeril Lagasse.

AJ and I hardly ever go out to dinner and choose instead to cook at home with the kids and have family dinners which may range from something very easy and simple to something quite sophisticated. This is the thing that has kept us together especially through the difficult times after Hurricane Katrina.

So I thought that from time to time, I may share some of my favorite, family recipes with you. There will be no formal ingredients or quantities as I tend to improvise with "a dash of this and a dash of that." But just email me if you have any questions.

On Saturday, AJ and I took the kids to an afternoon matinee of Puss In Boots. If you haven't seen it, it is so cute and that Antonio Banderas still makes my heart skip a beat, I tell you.

We got home close to dinner and we had not really planned on much since the kids and AJ (and me) have had a horrible cold for the past week which makes us all just want to take long naps and pass the tissue box around.

But it was Saturday night and I was determined to have a nice family dinner - cold or no cold. And comfort food was the name of the game.

So I made one of my all time favorite Argentine dinners which I grew up with -- Milanesas. "Milanesas" gets its name from "Milan" and are essentially Italian (or Argentine) wiener schnitzel, or panned veal cutlet. In Argentina, we make Milanesas with very thin beef instead of veal (Argentines use beef in everything!) but sometimes, if you are fancy, you will make them with chicken which I love.

Soooooo, I decided to make Milanesas de Pollo (or Chicken Milanesas).

And here is the recipe:

Take boneless and skinless chicken breasts and slice them in half lengthwise so that you get 2 thin chicken cutlets from one breast. You can also cut this step by buying thin chicken cutlets.

Setting aside the chicken, finely chop some Italian parsley and a couple of cloves of garlic together.

Add this mix of garlic and parsley to a bowl with two eggs and beat the mixture together. Add the chicken cutlets and let marinade for an hour or so in the refrigerator.

Anything for me??????

Take one chicken cutlet at a time from the bowl(making sure that not too much egg mixture drips off when you take them out) and bread them with seasoned Italian bread crumbs.



Take the breaded cutlet and fry it one at a time in about 1/4 inch of olive oil until they are golden brown on both sides.

I love mine a dark golden brown.

Once they are fried, place them on a plate with some paper towels so that any remaining olive oil drains off.

At this point, I squeeze some lemon juice on them and keep them warm in a low oven while I fry the other cutlets.

Once they are all fried, you serve them up with a side dish. In Argentina, it is customary to serve them with mash potatoes (Milanesas con Pure), but on Saturday, I served them with Angel Hair Pasta that I tossed with some fresh basil pesto sauce and with some whole garlic cloves which I had roasted in olive oil (did I mention we live in New Orleans????)

The garlic not only does wonders for a cold but it also wards off vampires. So we killed two birds with one stone. No vampires were flying by our house on Saturday with all the garlic we ate, I tell you!

Sprinkle a little Parmesan on the pasta and here you go!

Milanesas de Pollo with Basil Pesto Pasta and Roasted Garlic

Unfortunately, we still have our colds, but at least we ate well and went to bed happy.

Where in This World Does This Post Find You?

My father had a passion for cultures and origins. Invariably, when he met someone (whether he or she be the newspaper boy, or nurse, or cab driver, etc.), he would always ask them their name. Last names fascinated him and so when a person would give him his or her last name, he would ponder for a while and say, "You must be English" or "That is a very German name!" or "Your ancestors must have been Italian." From there, he would go on about the virtues of that culture. He never passed judgment or brought up politics when he inquired about your ancestry.

This went on all of my childhood and adult years. Even during his last 2 weeks in the hospital until he passed away, my father asked everyone their last name and then proceed to tell them about their origins.

My mother, Dora Hada Zazzetta, as a young child (second from the left, front row) was the youngest child of Italian immigrants, Atilio and Aida Zazzetta. They moved to Argentina during Mussolini's reign.

My father's passion was passed onto me in a way in that I love to find out where people come from. When I hear someone with an accent, I immediately ask them where they are from. In doing so, I have found that some people are very proud of where they are from and gladly share their origin or birthplace with me. But, sadly, other people hesitate even when they have a heavy accent that inescapably gives them away. I say sadly because for the most part, I have found that those people are from countries such as Mexico (who may fear being thought of as "illegal immigrants" just by virtue of being from there) or Russia or one of the Middle East countries. These people, I find, are scared or embarrassed to acknowledge their birthplace for fear that they may be associated with or thought of as embodying all the negative aspects of their countries.

Well I for one know what it is like to be an immigrant and all the hardships and personal sacrifices that go with that choice and for me, if you have moved to this country in search of a better life and are working an honest job and are a good person, then you should not carry the political baggage associated with where it is you happened to be born. Afterall, we do not choose our birthplace. I always tell my kids, if you happen to be born in a country that is free and rich in resources and opportunities such as the U.S. or one of the European countries, then you have already won the lottery in life.

But I digress (as I'm always fond of doing!).

All of this monologue on my fascination and respect for cultures and ethnicity is just a background for what I'm about to ask....

I have recently discovered by way of Google analytics that although I'm not one of those super popular blogs that have thousands of followers (I'm so envious!!!), I do have a widespread and diverse following. And that fascinates me!!!!

Today, I saw the following countries represented in my readership:

United States

Argentina
Australia

Brazil
Germany
Romania
Canada
United Kingdom
Italy
Poland
Russia
France

Wow!!!! Romania! Germany! Poland! Russia! I cannot tell you how excited this is for me!

So I want to hear from all of you, please. I want whoever happens to read this post and is from a place outside of New Orleans (yes, I want to know how many people in Iowa are reading my blog) to leave me a comment or email me as to where you are from. It would certainly make my day and I know, it would have made my father's.

Come on, I want to know where this post finds you!!


I'll start:

"Hi, my name is Karina, and I was born and raised in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and am writing from my home in New Orleans, Louisiana."

Now, it's your turn.....

Miguel Flores-Vianna

As we are on day 3 of my home's magazine shoot for Southern Living, I'm appreciating the talent and hard work that goes into creating that perfect interior shot. What looks casual or unstaged may actually have taken hours to prepare and achieve. Perhaps that is why we all love looking at magazines such as Elle Decor, Architectural Digest, Veranda.... we all want that look in our own homes. You can get it!!! Just make sure that in addition to your interior designer, you also hire a stylist, a photo editor, a photographer and a prop person (all of whom are in my kitchen as I type!).

One of my all time favorite interior shots come from Miguel Flores-Vianna who does a lot of interior shots for Elle Decor, The World of Interiors, Domino, Architectural Digest, 1stdibs, House & Garden and Veranda. And what do you know???? Miguel grew up in Argentina (perhaps we were childhood neighbors). A former editor-turned-photographer (not to mention artist/global nomad/bon viveur), Miguel embraces life with an ardor that spills over into every corner of his existence.

Here are some of my favorite shots that he has captured. Pay close attention to the small details in the photos that may go unnoticed but were so carefully placed there.

Miguel at work.

You can view more of Miguel Flores-Vianna's work and interior shots here. And stay tuned for my Southern Living Magazine debut this Summer!