I am Francesca Meazza and I live in Northern Italy, in the West, in a small mountain village, with my husband Denny and our 17-month-old son.
The house we live in was my grandparents’ and it dates back to 1800. We have restored it in a conservative way since we deeply appreciate buildings, furniture, and materials that have a story to tell. The work began in September 2008 and finished (well ... "finished" is a big word since we always have a new project going on!) in March 2010.
I have a big passion for interiors (and exteriors as well!) and I received my certificate in Interior Design from the Sheffield School in May 2008 for personal satisfaction - but who knows, maybe one day it could become a second job! I work in my family company (Cera Novecento, we produce high quality waxes for floors and furniture) and my job is somehow related to interiors so I do not exclude that one day I will be able to put my passion for interiors in the service of my job.
I followed the works in my home step by step, I decided every single thing and, together with my husband, painted the walls, prepared a mix of lime and natural pigments, stripped all the ancient original doors which were covered with thick layers of paint, waxed the floors, and much much more.
This is a 4-floor home including 2 kitchens, 4 bathrooms, 2 wine cellars, 3 bedrooms, 2 living rooms, 1 “atelier” where I paint and restore furniture - in short, a big home and it was really a big job, but the satisfaction we had working with our hands and following it all was the best reward ever!
Of course I took care (and still take care, I love making changes and improvements!) of all the interior decoration. I salvaged ancient furniture that belonged to my family but also found many objects on Ebay, vintage or thrift shops, antiques markets, and in France too. I love searching for the “perfect” decorative object!
My home was featured on a really beautiful Italian magazine called Vivere Country (which means contry living). The staff of the magazine saw the home on my blog and asked if they could report on it - and so I said yes! It was an honour for me since that magazine is really my favourite Italian magazine. (Click on the issue below to see the original Italian magazine spreads.)
They came last September and stayed two days, two days of shoots and interviews. It was fun and exciting! We were featured in that magazine because we really lead a country life: we live with one dog, two cats, almost 40 chickens, some ducks, 6 rabbits, 3 guinea-fowl, and 5 geese! We are organic farmers and gardeners and we aim to produce as much as we can in order to become more self sufficient. I love living in the country, I could not think of my life anywhere else, that would just not be me.
Bonus
No doubt, Francesca would love this New York interior design showroom - a little bit of country in the heart of the Big City. Click here to read Rocking the Country Floors.
Congratulations, Francesca! If you're interested in learning more about the course Francesca used to help her restore and decorate her beautiful country home, we encourage you to explore the Sheffield School, New York, NY. Sheffield began as an Interior Design school in 1985, and then expanded our course offerings to train people in other design-related fields, including Feng Shui, Wedding and Event Planning, and Jewelry Design. With thousands of active students and more than 50,000 graduates, Sheffield has trained more design professionals than any school in the world.
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Jay Johnson 
