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A New Home in New Orleans

September 4, 2013 By Rhoda 35 Comments

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If you haven’t figured it out yet, we are a close family and we help each other.  Me, my sister, brother-in-law, and mom, are back from a fun few days visiting my niece, Lauren and her hubby, Philip, in New Orleans.   Dad stayed home and kept my sister’s dogs, but he will be going down once the baby is born.

This young, two career couple with a baby on the way just bought their first home together and that’s been exciting to watch.  They’ve been working hard on getting moved in and stayed there for the first time, the day we arrived.  They had painters come in to do some painting in the tall greatroom and we loved getting to see their house in person.  It’s still a mess from moving in, but we made the best of our time there and got some things done inside and out.  Painting some furniture pieces were on our list of projects and I’m happy to say we got them all done, as well as painting stripes in the new nursery.  We didn’t have time to get the nursery finished, but I’m sure Lauren will be working on that in the next few months, before the baby arrives in February.  Needless to say, we are so excited for them with the new house and new baby on the way.  What a memorable sweet time for a young couple to experience.

So, here’s a home tour for you all so you can see their house too.  Keep in mind, they’ve just moved in and it is a mess, but it will all come together eventually.  That’s the fun of getting a new house, making it personal and all their own and I have no doubt that they will do that eventually.  Making a house a home takes time and they’ve got all the time in the world, since this home is one they can grow into for the future.  Their kids can be raised here with plenty of room to expand.

lauren and philips home

We’re so happy for them in their first house together.  I’d call this Mediterranean style, with an Italian feel and it’s about 6 or 7 years old.  A beautiful Bougainvillea vine is growing across the front of the house.  It was plenty hot while we were down there, but not as hot as I’ve experienced New Orleans in the past.

front door

They’ve got plenty of tropical foliage to take care of as new home owners.  Having a home comes with the yard work too.  I love the pretty double front doors.

foyer

This home has a very open floor plan with 4 bedrooms and 3 and 1/2 baths.  The flooring downstairs is all travertine tile with carpet in the upstairs.  So, it’s messy right now, but I wanted to show you the pretty floorplan.

stairs

Coming in the front door this pretty curving staircase with iron railing goes to the 3 bedrooms upstairs. Master is on the main.

office nook

Just off the front door and foyer is an office nook and a powder room.   Take a look at those double bookcases in there.  That was one of our paint projects that I’ll show you soon.  Lauren takes after my sister and shops on Craigslist for bargains and they scored some great things for the new house.

greatroom

One of the great finds was that huge round dining table and chairs.  Craigslist score, along with the china cabinet, which was another of our paint projects.

greatroom windows

Check out the beautiful view with the wall of windows on the backyard side of the house.  It let’s in a ton of light, but also sun in the afternoon, so they will have to put up some shades to help with that.  It is pretty though, all these windows!

greatroom furniture

Looking over from upstairs to the living room below.  They are going to use the furniture they have for now, but will probably eventually get something different for the living room that holds more people, like a sectional maybe.

living room

Looking from the living room back towards front door.

niche

Just inside the foyer are 2 of these niches with lights.  A wedding portrait will go here.

foyer light

Looking up to the chandelier in the foyer.

dining table

Another view from upstairs of the dining area.

kitchen

The kitchen is compact and not overly big, so they may enlarge this space down the road. There is plenty of room to expand out towards the windows in this pic.

kitchen 2

There’s not a ton of cabinets or counterspace, so it would be nice to expand that eventually.

kitchen3

The previous homeowners never added knobs and pulls to the kitchen cabinets, which made them very hard to open. That’s one of the projects my brother-in-law helped them with this weekend, installing some pulls and knobs. That is already looking better, but I took these pics before they got installed.  She got pretty brushed nickel for the hardware.

kitchen 5

Stove side.

laundry room

Laundry room going to the garage with sliding door.

Stickers apartment

Their dog Stickers, has her own little house, which she absolutely loves.

master bedroom

The master bedroom is just off the living room with huge double doors going to the outdoor pool area.  They are getting a pretty new upholstered bed soon.

master ceiling

This is a terrible pic but you can see the trey ceiling here.

master closets to bath

Hallway with 2 closets going to the master bath.

master bath

The master bath is spacious with a nicely tiled shower and a separate tub.

upstairs guest bath

Upstairs there are 3 bedrooms with 2 baths.  This is one of the guest baths.

craft room

One bedroom will be Lauren’s craft room,which she is really excited about. She’s finally got room to spread out and play.

railing upstairs

Upstairs looking over the iron railing to the backyard and great room.

pool and backyard

Outside, they have a pretty pool right out the door along with a beautiful cabana.   I passed on my tall umbrella and stand that I used to have on my deck, since I don’t need it anymore, it will come in handy for them.  It’s great to have a pool in New Orleans with the heat they have.

pool and cabana

This will be a fun backyard for entertaining and parties.

hot tub

A hot tub sits next to the pool with a little waterfall going into the pool.

backyard pool

So pretty, I’m happy for them that they got a pool.

pool

The South is a great place to own a pool with the heat and humidity.

back of house

Bruce and Philip outside discussing plans.

Bruce in yard

This wasn’t just a fun weekend, but we actually all pitched in and helped them get some things done.  Bruce took his tools and he and mom worked in the yard some too.  Bruce loves cutting things back.

mom weeding

My mom loves working in the yard.  That’s one of her things that she enjoys, making a yard look pretty, so she got some weeding done.

mom cooking biscuits

And she cooked up some good food for us too during the weekend.  Lauren loves her Nana’s cooking so much and it was fun for her to get some of her favorite things.  It was her birthday on the 31st too, so we celebrated her 31st birthday with her.  Mom made grits and tomato gravy for breakfast one morning and we all love that dish.  I’ve blogged about it before if you want to know how she makes it. It’s really not hard at all.

It was a fun and productive long weekend and we did a LOT of furniture painting projects, which I’ll be sharing too.  It was fun to help Lauren get these things done, since she is busy with work and waiting on the baby to get here in February. She’s due right around Valentines Day.  How exciting that will be!  I’ll keep you posted on more of her plans!

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Filed Under: Family Friends and Me, Travel 35 Comments

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Susan B. Jones says

    September 5, 2013 at 5:57 pm

    Ooooohhhh what a beautiful home! Can’t wait to see all the repainted furniture y’all did and that pool is so fabulous! I’m looking forward to you blogging about her nursery and baby shower — so fun! I loved reading a while back when Lauren got married.

    Reply
  2. Sharon says

    September 5, 2013 at 6:10 pm

    What a beautiful home! And your Momma’s cookin’ looks so good…it’s making my mouth water.

    I am in love with that double bookcase…I’ll keep searching Craigslist in hopes of finding one for myself. (glad to know that’s where she got it…I can’ afford that. 😉 )

    I love how close your family is. Your niece is one lucky lady!

    Reply
  3. Sharon says

    September 5, 2013 at 6:12 pm

    Oh, and happy belated birthday to your niece. It was her “golden” birthday. I had a birthday on the 31st, too. I share my birthday with my Mom and my brother in law. Lots of celebrating!

    Reply
  4. lee says

    September 5, 2013 at 7:54 pm

    Wow what a fabulous house, I am so envious, a house like that in Auckland would cost you over 2 million dollars. I love the soaring ceilings and the gorgeous iron stair rail. All that space would be a dream for me.

    I love the French style dresser in the craft room “to be”. I can see the house will look stunning once its all in place. Look forward to seeing the finished home.

    Lee 🙂

    Reply
  5. Sylvia says

    September 5, 2013 at 8:55 pm

    Rhoda
    Yours was the very first blog I ever followed. I found you looking for a good corn bread recipe. I found it here…Nora’s Memaw’s Alabama Cornbread. I make it all the time in my old cast iron corn stick pans, and I’ve followed your blog ever since. I love the way you make your readers feel like family. I sometimes forget that I don’t really know you, but wish I did.
    I love your niece’s new home. I know she will make it beautiful and personal, just like her aunt Rhoda. I look forward to watching her progress. As usual, thanks for sharing.
    Best regards from HOT West Texas.

    Reply
    • Rhoda says

      September 5, 2013 at 9:23 pm

      Thank you, Sylvia! I remember finding and posting that cornbread recipe. It came out of the local paper over in Birmingham when I was there. I will have to get my mom’s cornbread recipe and post it too. She was teaching Lauren how to cook cornbread last weekend and her’s is delish as well. It’s very similar, I think to the one I posted too.

    • Rhoda says

      September 5, 2013 at 9:52 pm

      Sylvia, I thought I had documented my mom’s cornbread and I have. Here’s her recipe if you want to try it too:

      http://southernhospitalityblog.com/southern-cornbread-and-chicken-dressing/

  6. gretchen says

    September 5, 2013 at 9:33 pm

    The house is lovely. I so enjoyed following you on IG and watching your paint projects. Looking forward to your posts about them!

    Reply
  7. Ruby says

    September 5, 2013 at 9:51 pm

    OMGosh! Grits with tomato gravy! Now I have to have some! I’m from Tallahassee…both my parents were from Florida, and I also grew up eating this wonderful breakfast dish. (or dinner, or whatever!)
    Your niece’s home is beautiful…I look forward to seeing pictures of the final product.
    I used to live in B’ham also…and still get back to visit friends once a year or so. Small world!
    Love your blog!

    Reply
  8. Linda Coleman says

    September 5, 2013 at 10:16 pm

    What a wonderful home!

    Reply
  9. Julia @ Cuckoo4Design says

    September 6, 2013 at 4:55 pm

    What a gorgeous home. I love the windows overlooking that amazing pool. That’s what I always dream of.

    Reply
  10. Laura J says

    September 7, 2013 at 8:24 am

    Tha tis one gorgeous house, with beaucoup potential. A house like that in on Long Island (NY) (if you could even find something like it) would be a FORTUNE. Not to mention the taxes — some of the highest in the country. Sooooo jealous!

    PLEASE tell Lauren we want to see more of her lovely home as she makes it warm and cozy.

    Reply
  11. Gail D. says

    September 7, 2013 at 5:48 pm

    Lovely home, but it’s going to cost a fortune to cool. I live in Hemet, CA, which is very close to Palm Springs. Houses with open floor plans don’t sell well here–too expensive to cool, as we have many, many 100+ degree days here!

    Reply
  12. JL Baker says

    September 8, 2013 at 1:01 pm

    How well I remember when Lauren married and you all went for the bridal shower and then the wedding. So exciting for them to have a little one on the way. The home is already lovely and I feel certain that Lauren will tweek to make it just perfect for them. My schedule has been so busy; I regret that I have missed a lot of your blogs, but have tried to save for when I have time to really digest and enjoy them. Have been following you since just after the divorce (maybe before?) and am pleased with how you have blossomed and grown. Keep up the good work!

    Reply
  13. Tammy says

    September 8, 2013 at 7:00 pm

    Sounds like y’all had a great and productive trip! A loving family who will pitch in and work, work, work is such a blessing.

    Love your blog….it’s always interesting!

    Thanks,
    Tammy

    Reply
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Thanks for stopping by! I’m Rhoda, from Atlanta, GA and I love decorating and DIY projects. Decorating a home doesn’t have to cost a fortune and I’ve spent years thrifting at antiques markets and yard sales, finding those treasures that make a home unique. I’m here to inspire and encourage other women to find their own inner creativity. Won’t you join me?

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