New Orleans Style

Some of my favorite design photos depict homes in New Orleans, a unique city whose rich heritage has been shaped by both French and African cultures. The interiors I share today are beautiful, but the formal elements are balanced with comfort. The rooms are unabashedly feminine, but nothing is too precious. Silk draperies pool on the floor next to chipped antiques that celebrate their age. Contemporary chandeliers sparkle above faded tapestries. Art and fabrics subtly tell the story of a city that is full of spirit.   

In the dining room, "a French neoclassical-style dining table, circa 1800, wears its original paint. . . . Louis XVI-style chairs [are] upholstered in silk from ABC Carpet and Home. Upping the room's sex appeal are orange embroidered Indian silk curtains from the Silk Trading Company."

Karyl Pierce Paxton's 1897 side hall Queen Anne cottage in New Orleans, Louisiana.

Interior design by Karyl Pierce Paxton.

Photography by Kerri McCaffetty.
Stylist: Gregory Bissonnette.

Interview by Mimi Read.

"French Furniture Really Lasts" produced by David M. Murphy.

House Beautiful (January 2008). 

Painting by David Harouni, "an artist who fled from Iran and moved to New Orleans." Pieces from Africa and New Guinea share space on a painted 18th-century Italian console with a silver service that once belonged to the homeowner's grandmother.

Karyl Pierce Paxton's 1897 side hall Queen Anne cottage in New Orleans, Louisiana.

Interior design by Karyl Pierce Paxton.

Photography by Kerri McCaffetty.
Stylist: Gregory Bissonnette.

Interview by Mimi Read.

"French Furniture Really Lasts" produced by David M. Murphy.

House Beautiful (January 2008).

 "Antiques look beautiful in front of [Benjamin Moore paint 521, which the homeowner calls] Empire Green . . . the greatest neutral on earth."

Karyl Pierce Paxton's 1897 side hall Queen Anne cottage in New Orleans, Louisiana.

Interior design by Karyl Pierce Paxton.

Photography by Kerri McCaffetty.

Stylist: Gregory Bissonnette.
Interview by Mimi Read.

"French Furniture Really Lasts" produced by David M. Murphy.

House Beautiful (January 2008).

"In the second parlor, a pair of Louis XVI fauteuils conjure instant romance with their faded needlepoint seats and backs made from antique Aubusson tapestries."
Karyl Pierce Paxton's 1897 side hall Queen Anne cottage in New Orleans, Louisiana.
Interior design by Karyl Pierce Paxton.
Photography by Kerri McCaffetty.
Stylist: Gregory Bissonnette.
Interview by Mimi Read.
"French Furniture Really Lasts" produced by David M. Murphy.
House Beautiful (January 2008).

Brick courtyard.
Karyl Pierce Paxton's 1897 side hall Queen Anne cottage in New Orleans, Louisiana.
Interior design by Karyl Pierce Paxton.
Photography by Kerri McCaffetty.
Stylist: Gregory Bissonnette.
Interview by Mimi Read.
"French Furniture Really Lasts" produced by David M. Murphy.
House Beautiful (January 2008).

"The side hall distinguishes this type of New Orleans house."
Karyl Pierce Paxton's 1897 side hall Queen Anne cottage in New Orleans, Louisiana.
Interior design by Karyl Pierce Paxton.
Photography by Kerri McCaffetty.
Stylist: Gregory Bissonnette.
Interview by Mimi Read.
"French Furniture Really Lasts" produced by David M. Murphy.
House Beautiful (January 2008).

 

 Karyl Pierce Paxton's 1897 side hall Queen Anne cottage in New Orleans, Louisiana.

Interior design by Karyl Pierce Paxton.

Photography by Kerri McCaffetty.

Stylist: Gregory Bissonnette.
Interview by Mimi Read.

"French Furniture Really Lasts" produced by David M. Murphy.

House Beautiful (January 2008). 

"To keep a rustic feeling [in a romantic guest bedroom], Paxton used salvaged cypress floorboards from a barn and left quarter-inch gaps between boards."
Karyl Pierce Paxton's 1897 side hall Queen Anne cottage in New Orleans, Louisiana.
Interior design by Karyl Pierce Paxton.
Photography by Kerri McCaffetty.
Stylist: Gregory Bissonnette.
Interview by Mimi Read.
"French Furniture Really Lasts" produced by David M. Murphy.
House Beautiful (January 2008).

Karyl Pierce Paxton's 1897 side hall Queen Anne cottage in New Orleans, Louisiana.

Interior design by Karyl Pierce Paxton.

Photography by Kerri McCaffetty.
Stylist: Gregory Bissonnette.

Interview by Mimi Read.

"French Furniture Really Lasts" produced by David M. Murphy.

House Beautiful (January 2008).

"The dining room gives pride of place to a silkscreen of New Orleans-born gospel singer Mahalia Jackson by local artist Richard Thomas. Louis XV chairs are upholstered in a toile called Louisiana Purchase. 'Each chair depicts different iconic imagery,' says interior designer Hal Williamson, including St. Louis Cathedral, plantations, and flatboats on the river.' "
New Orleans, Louisiana home. 
Interior design by Hal Williamson.
Photography by John Kernick.
Interview by Mimi Read.
"Change it with Romance" produced by Mary Emmerling.
House Beautiful (October 2008).


"The living room is alluringly feminine with its subtle range of purples . . . Walls are Benjamin Moore's mauvey Driftscape Tan. The Louis XVI wing chairs and sofa may look formal, but the chairs 'have a wonderful pitch, so you can sit comfortably for hours . . . and many naps are taken on the sofa.' "
New Orleans, Louisiana home.
Interior design by Hal Williamson.
Photography by John Kernick.
Interview by Mimi Read.
"Change it with Romance" produced by Mary Emmerling.
House Beautiful (October 2008).

New Orleans, Louisiana home.
 Interior design by Hal Williamson.
Photography by John Kernick.
Interview by Mimi Read.
"Change it with Romance" produced by Mary Emmerling.
House Beautiful (October 2008).

"Walls are painted in Benjamin Moore's Woodlawn Blue - a cooling water color for hot, humid summers. . . . The photographs of tables in silhouette are by New Orleans artist David Halliday."
New Orleans, Louisiana home.
 Interior design by Hal Williamson.
Photography by John Kernick.
Interview by Mimi Read.
"Change it with Romance" produced by Mary Emmerling.
House Beautiful (October 2008).

"In the second-floor parlor - 'the Ella altar' - a photograph of Ella Fitzgerald, taken at a New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival, hangs above a carved French desk."
New Orleans, Louisiana home.
 Interior design by Hal Williamson.
Photography by John Kernick.
Interview by Mimi Read.
"Change it with Romance" produced by Mary Emmerling.
House Beautiful (October 2008).

"Tart green walls (Benjamin Moore's Castleton Mist) set a jovial mood in the garconniere. Louis XV chairs are covered in an African-inspired ikat print by Kravet. Williamson surprised himself by finding a rare hot pink, gold and citrus green antique Oushak rug that pulls the room's colors together."
New Orleans, Louisiana home.
Interior design by Hal Williamson.
Photography by John Kernick.
Interview by Mimi Read.
"Change it with Romance" produced by Mary Emmerling.
House Beautiful (October 2008).