First Home In New Orleans

A young woman engaged me to help her furnish her new condo in New Orleans. She recently arrived from New York when she got a job as a resident doctor in a hospital here.

The condo is a two bedroom, carved out of one side of an old  shotgun style house. It has been renovated with nice contractor grade finishes (granite in the kitchen, etc.).

The young lady had no furniture to speak of, so we were starting from scratch. She loves color, her books, and a collection of prints. She wanted a tufted modern gray sofa. So we took it from there. She reads the design blogs, and Houzz, so she has a good eye and vocabulary for decor. We speak the same language.

First home in New Orleans

The starting point was the gray sofa

We got a pair of these chests for the living room- Later on when she moves to a larger home they can be re-purposed as nightstands, sideboards, useful in any and every room

I arranged the furniture away form the front door to create an entry way - I hate when the door opens right onto a couch in a shotgun house - One of the pair of chests is placed by the front door

A breakfast nook in the kitchen was created by using two upholstered benches and a round table - These benches can be used elsewhere since they are not built in

Vamp Greige walls, gray and white furnishings, with an accent of green and black - The white chairs are part of my flex plan for the future - They could be used as host chairs in a  dining room in a larger home one day

My young lady is on a budget, so we did a bit of catalog and smart local shopping.

• Sofa - Z Gallerie
• 4 Bookshelves - Home Decorators
• 2 green studded chests - Home Decorators
• Sea grass rug - on sale at Modern Flooring (a local shop)
• White leather chairs - Renaissance (a local consignment shop)
• You can also find the white quilted leather chair at Overstock
• Pair of vintage green tables - Caravan Finds (local home furnishings shop specializing in on trend vintage)
• Green chair is one of 4 - Hotel Liquidators (a local warehouse that sells second hand hotel furnishings at rock bottom prices - These chairs were $7. each, and we spray painted them).
• Pair of floor lamps - Hotel Liquidators
• Pair of over size lamp shades - World Market (our local one)
• Drapes - custom made from Etsy
• Pillows - Etsy
• Bamboo shades (for the whole house) - Overstock
• Picture frames - on sale at our local Michael's
• Benches for kitchen dining area - Overstock
• Industrial metal kitchen table - Discoveries (a local shop)
• Paint - Wal Mart,  job done by a lovely local
• Prints for her gallery wall - various internet sites
• Daybed for guest room - West Elm
• Headboard, nightstands, lamps for master bedroom - Hotel Liquidators

This is just Phase 1. We have spent the first part of her allotted budget. She also got a padded headboard with nail heads, two nightstands and two lamps for her bedroom, and a daybed from West Elm for her second bedroom used for guests.

Once her home decor fund is replenished, we plan to get a vintage vanity for her bedroom, a rug, and drapes (she has bamboo blinds in the bedrooms now). The second bedroom needs side tables, a rug, curtains, and a desk and desk chair. Down the road, we would like to do a tile back splash for her kitchen.

Buying a first home is a milestone. What did the first home you bought look like? How did you furnish and decorate it?

Photos by Sara Essex Bradley

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