Valentina Giovando

Furniture decorator

©Valentina Giovando

The furniture embellisher

Valentina’s creations embrace history of art, design, literature and tradition
She lives and works in Sarzana, on the scenic Ligurian coast
Her first creation was a screen with 680 crystals

Valentina Giovando clearly remembers the exact moment when she thought of starting a new craft: decorating pieces of furniture, furnishing accessories, chandeliers and lamps with a personal style characterised by exquisite craftsmanship and Italian refinement. “I started out as an antiques dealer, and one day I found a box full of crystals. Back then, people were throwing away classic chandeliers with crystal drops to replace them with more modern pieces and halogen lights. My idea was to recover those crystals and bring back the chandelier as the protagonist of our homes.” Initially, Valentina used to repurpose discarded furniture, but for more than 20 years she has been collaborating with a carpenter who makes new pieces according to her own designs and with a metalworker who creates the frameworks of the chandeliers that she then decorates.

Interview

©Alessandra_Ianniello

©Valentina Giovando

Which techniques do you employ to create your works?: The process is entirely artisanal and of my own invention. In the case of furniture, it consists of a superimposition of different materials: precious fabrics, metal sheet, fibreglass, brass, iron, crystals and sequins. For my chandeliers, I use industrial materials combined with more noble ones, which are sometimes recycled.
What aspect of your profession do you love most?: The freedom to express my personal concept of beauty. I believe that the greatest privilege is to be able to live from one's passion and creativeness: it is a form of total expression.
How important is it for you to be working in Sarzana?: I like living in my home province because it allows me to enjoy my daily life with peacefulness and serenity. The environment also plays an important role, because for my creations, which stem from the history of furniture, I take inspiration from nature.
What is little known about your craft?: People find it hard to appreciate the time it takes to make one of my pieces, how much care we put into the making of a decoration. It requires a long time even in the design phase, because the layout has to be planned in detail before I start working on it.

Valentina Giovando is an expert artisan: she began her career in 1998