Love Thy Neighbor

We have the best next door neighbors. When we first looked at our house when it was for sale, I thought (and still do) theirs was the cutest house on the block and wished it was the one for sale. As soon as we moved in, a cute blond came over to welcome us to the block, and that was the next door neighbor. She and her husband have become very dear to us. They are Julie and Larry.

When I finally got to see inside their cute shotgun house with a side hall, I love it. It has original floors, high ceilings, one with a plaster medallion, and a great floor plan. Julie is an avid gardener so we are treated to an abundance of beautiful plants and flowers when we look out our window, or pass by.

They are futbol (soccer) fans, and play in adult leagues. Alberto watches games with them. They've taken tango lessons from us. We've been to parties at each others homes, and have gone out to dinner. Their dog Coconut loves out dog Cholo.

Julie has always kept up with my various projects around our house. She reads my blog. She is very complimentary of what I do. It was she who proposed me for The Shotgun House Tour which led to The Renaissance Award, and the cover and  feature in New Orleans Homes and Lifestyles magazine.

She often asked me to help her with her decor, and I gladly said yes. But it took a couple of years. Larry didn't have time to paint, and other pressing things needed attention like replacing the fence between our houses that Katrina blew down. I would always tell her whenever she was ready we would decorate the inside.

The updated living room - photo by Sara Essex Bradley

I had some time this past winter, so I asked Julie if we could work on her living and dining room. She said she didn't have a painter. And I said, girl who do you think painted my house? We're young and fit and we can do it together!

Julie is a collector. She loves antique nick-knacks. She can't say no to a piece of vintage family furniture. So her house was a bit cluttered. Her hallway looked like the parade of curio cabinets. She loves all her stuff, so I needed to find a way to make it all work, and yet give them an updated, younger, fresher look, because they are a younger couple.

Living room before - wallpaper border, shiny green paint, and Fleur Di Lis had to go - red couch had to stay

Living room before - Super tall ceilings did not deter two petite woman!

We cleared out the living room, and painted it Vamp Greige. There was already a hallway painted  red, and a fairly new red leather couch that needed to stay. So I decided to keep red hallway, and key off the color red.
 
There was a modest budget to work with, so we got a new Oushak style rug, a large one to replace the too small Oriental they had. It has just the right amount of red in it. Julie buys quality things, so she had existing silk drapes that looked a little too gold, but the new Oushak and paint color toned them down.

The Oushak brought it all together - photo by Sara Essex Bradley

We added a couple of new lamps, moved art work around, moved in some smaller pieces of furniture, got some vintage Audubon prints from eBay and framed them with frames from a big box store. I found a fabulous large Ming style coffee table at Discoveries and Julie loved it for its classic lines, yet rustic and sturdy finish. Julie had purchased a pair of killer Mid Century Modern chairs last year, and I had her get the cushions reupholstered in a bold Ikat linen from Duralee.

The pair of cool Mid Century chairs were reupholstered in Duralee Ikat by Leonels - Julie made all the toss pillows

The  amazing Ming style coffee  table I found at Discoveries Furniture Finds on Ramnpart Street

Living room after - I created a bar area in a corner using one of Julie's antique pieces - photo by Sara Essex Bradley

Next we moved to the dining room. It had some lovely pink floral wallpaper that had to be stripped. We had a wallpaper border in the living room, and that was easy to remove compared to the wallpaper in the dining room.

We stripped the wallpaper in the dining room

The original dining rooms set needed to be kept. So I found four white leather chairs with nail head trim to break it up and make it more modern. We recovered the seats of the old chairs with white moc-croc and nail heads. It really updated the trad set. Julie had already purchased a pair of silk drapes in a metallic color, and I had her sew rings on the pole tops panels, and we added return rods. I asked her how she felt about leopard, and pointed her to an indoor/outdoor rug that I thought would be Coconut friendly.

We kept the red paint in the hallway

A huge mirror that was one hung on the wall, became a leaning mirror. The china cabinet was restyled to accommodate Julie's beloved collections. She had some white corbels and brackets that became plate stands. But the biggest change was that we painted her chandelier red! It's a big brass thing, and it's okay. The red paint job made it a spectacular show stopper. I contributed a pair of lamps with red lamp shades that look far better in her house, than they ever did in mine.

Julie's dining room "after" - photo Sara Essex Bradley

It took us two girls a couple of months to do all of this. Julie has a day job, and a busy sports schedule, and Mardi Gras

I keyed off the red hallway - photo by Sara Essex Bradley

White brackets and corbels became plate holders and I gifted the lamps to Julie who has gifted me with years of friendship - photo by Sara Essex Bradley

Our Shopping List and Sources: 

• Vamp Greige paint- Wal Mart
• Red spray paint - Wal Mart
• Oushak - Bokaei Rug Gallery
• Ming style coffee table - Discoveries Furniture Finds
• Vintage Audubon bird prints - eBay
• White leather dining chairs - Overstock
• Leopard indoor/outdoor rug in dining room - Ballards
• Moc-croc fabric for dining chairs - fabric.com
• Duralaee Ikat for Mid Century chairs - fabric.com
• Metallic silk drapes in dining room - Overstock
• Return rods and curtain rings - Overstock
• Upholstery by Leonels
• Lamps in living room - World Market, Wal Mart, Restoration Hardware
• Prints over bar in living room - Hazelnut
• "New" antique style plaster ceiling medallion for dining room - eBay
• Heavy chandelier chain - Shades of Light

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