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Carmen Nomellini has just a few rules for home decor.
Don't leave any walls white. Make your home so comfortable that guests won't want to leave. Spend $2,500 on a single decorative piece if you must, but balance that with another one for $13.
And always stop at a furniture store when you see the "Going Out of Business" sign.
"It's not magazine style. It's just my taste, my eye, and what I think fits my personality," Nomellini says as she greets a visitor to her home on a quiet street in Walnut Creek, "and I know how I want people to feel when they come to my house: welcome."
The remodeled interior, the furniture and accessories and the colors suggest the Mediterranean, but the house also draws on Nomellini's roots in Peru.
"One thing about Peruvian culture, your home is usually what you are, not some expensive car," she says. "I want a welcoming home where people can eat, laugh and have a good time."
Nomellini — Carmucha to her friends — was married to an Italian-American with his own roots in San Francisco's North Beach. Although they have been divorced for a decade, she remains in love with Italian culture.
"I love the passion about people, food and family," she says.
The home she shares with her 10-year-old son, Gianluca and their corgi, named Corgie, was built in 1968; she bought it after the death of the owner in 2003 as a fixer-upper.
Nomellini flips through
"But it felt so peaceful and open, and it had a great flow," Nomellini says. "I looked at it and said, 'I know exactly what to do.'"
She had a window punched through a dining area wall to open the room to the garden. She painted the kitchen cabinets white, then gave them an antique finish. She designed a new fireplace with a massive mantle (though she's still not quite finished with it).
With a nod to the practice of feng shui, she curved the openings between rooms and painted the living and dining room walls a buttery — yes, welcoming — yellow, and replaced the flooring with a light maple.
Nomellini took down the chandelier and the hole in the ceiling is still there.
"I haven't found that piece yet — it's been like that for four and a half years."
First came the remodeling, then came shopping.
Nomellini has a vision, and inspiration can strike at any time.
"I was in a shop in St. Helena and I saw an ottoman with a tiger pattern in chenille, with a frame of antique-y wood. It looked very striking and sexy and beautiful, and at the same time it was a classy piece."
Now the bench-like ottoman is in the center of her living room, with three books about country-style design artfully stacked on one end, and a potted orchid on top.
"That's my little tiger personality," Nomellini says. "If I want something, I go and get it."
The couch, upholstered in a mossy gray fabric with a subtle diamond pattern, came from a Walnut Creek furniture store that was going out of business. In contrast, the velvety pillows were handmade to Nomellini's design by a Peruvian seamstress.
Above the couch stretches an unframed painting of a Venetian scene of terra cotta buildings lined up along a canal and gondolas bobbing in the foreground.
"It's Venice — the colors, the water, the dream," Nomellini says. "When people see that, they say, 'Oh, I want to go there.'"
Nomellini is willing to spend thousands of dollars on accessories that she finds meaningful.
There is a purple glass urn on an out-of-the way corner table. At the other end of the couch is a bronze sculpture of an elephant, one of her passions.
In contrast with those expensive accessories is the black metal candle holder that fits perfectly in the fireplace and holds eight fat white candles. It was $13 at Costco. Across the room, an aspidistra she bought for $15 at a garden store near the Oakland Coliseum sits on a metal plant stand from Michael's craft store.
There's more contrast in the dining room, where a country-style painted table she picked up for $900 is surrounded by four custom-designed and upholstered chairs. Nearby is a small chest she found at Breuner's going-out-of-business sale, "even though I wasn't really a Breuner's kind of customer."
Family images are translated into art. Above the fireplace is a handsomely framed "mother and child" black-and-white photograph of Nomellini and her son when he was 7½.
Above a console facing the entry is a color photograph — more like a painting — of her son when he was younger, holding onto a vintage tricycle. And on the console is a framed black-and-white photograph of Nomellini's father when he was in his 30s, looking like a movie star.
The garden continues Nomellini's passion for all things Italian, with big classical pots overflowing with blossoming plants, and pergolas with redwood crossbeams on top of spiral columns entwined with grape vines.
Both the house and garden have the colorful but sophisticated look that shows up well in slick shelter magazines, but Nomellini doesn't expect anyone to copy what she's done. The process is all about personal style.
"Really," she says, "it's what you like, your taste, your feelings and how you relax."
"A Peek Inside" is an occasional feature that offers a look at some of the East Bay's most interesting or unique homes. And we're always looking for candidates. If you know of a home with a certain something, then let us know about it. Homes should reflect the owner's personal style rather than a professional decorator's vision. Send us a note explaining why the home is special, as well as names, addresses, phone numbers and e-mail addresses. Photos are extremely helpful. Send everything to jmorris@bayareanewsgroup.com or A Peek Inside, Joan Morris, P.O. Box 8099, Walnut Creek, CA 94596.
