New Orleans

Event producer Jovanca Maitland worked with interior designer, Jazzy Matthews, to design a bright home to make her feel inspired, creative and joyful.

"Walking into our current house was like walking into a dream," admits designer Nadia Ramadan. The tall ceilings, woodwork, and built-ins work beautifully with all of the bold design choices and DIY projects that she and husband, Tariq, have incorporated over the past five years.

Vintage seller and interior stylist Carly Sioux is the owner and founder of NO ERA Design, specializing in vintage interiors. And her rental house in New Orleans is both her home and studio.

When artist Josie Azuma and her husband bought this house in 2015, it was in rough shape and too small. They renovated it to be a larger, light-filled, and functional home for their family.

Photographer and technical writer Kimberly Nesmith describes her home's style as "mystical bohemian meets goth meets tropical meets vintage." And during Halloween season it definitely has "Practical Magic" vibes!

Writer Merissa Nathan Gerson is a speaker, spiritual consultant, and sex educator living in this joyful house in New Orleans.

Before Diogo moved in, the 100-year-old Spanish Revival home looked like a frat house. There were couches everywhere, different colors on the walls in every room, and the yard was a wreck.

Courtyards, curved staircases, and stunning balcony views... this French Quarter rental apartment is a dreamy New Orleans home for a family of four.

Emily starts any creative project with bold colors and patterns and calls her style "thrift store chic but make it comfortable."

Artist Danielle Lindsey's raised rental shotgun is adorable inside and out.

New Orleans homes always have the dreamiest architectural details, and interior decorator Blair Price's rental apartment in a Victorian mansion serves up plenty of enviable design elements.

Athlete and social media strategist Whitney Mitchell and her roommate share this two-bedroom apartment in New Orleans' Lower Garden District. It has tall ceilings, exposed brick, and lots of colorful art.

Parades, parties, and other Mardi Gras traditions were cancelled because of the pandemic. But New Orleanians came up with a different way to celebrate carnival this year! Happy Yardi Gras, y'all!

Amarachi Ukachu's tropical bohemian New Orleans rental cottage has copper contact paper on the cabinets, a peel-and-stick tile backsplash, and an ingenious lounge sectional made from affordable floor pillows.

KV Harper, the principal and founder of Kex Design + Build, lives in a renovated 7th Ward double shotgun camelback that's filled with interesting historical objects, but doesn’t feel like a museum thanks to good design and a mix of modern features.

Filled with crumbling brick walls, an eclectic array of furnishings, and lots of character, the creative couple's home is not only one-of-a-kind, but steeped in history, too.

This cozy shotgun apartment has no shortage of architectural delights that date back to 1896.

Laura and Ashley love the open layout, wood floors, natural light, fireplace, and mint green bathroom tiles of their Uptown New Orleans rental apartment.

This home's style could best be described as Laura Ashley meets Georgia O’Keefe.

Luke Layfield and his dog Chewy Bear live in a shotgun house in the Bayou St. John neighborhood of New Orleans. Luke's style is best described as... "not minimalist."

Graphic designer Daphne Pastard's entire home is adorable, but the back porch is absolutely envy-inducing.

Designer Maureen Stevens brought her “muted maximalism” design style to the house she shares with her husband and child and to the gorgeous guest cottage behind it.

At only 630 square feet, this cute New Orleans home is like "a kind of jewel box of the imagination.”

Welcome to my dream New Orleans house!

When Cali toured this 103 years old house for the first time it, everything about it screamed of the 1970s, down to the vinyl wood paneling dirty shag carpeting to find original wide-plank wood floors, but she knew it was an architectural gem just waiting to be uncovered.

It's tiny, but also stylish and functional.

This colorful, cozy, natural light-filled rental apartment was made even better thanks to this couple's cute kitchen DIY project.

Name: Mitchell Settoon and Thomas Ecker, Cleopatra (dog), and Damian (cat). Location: Mid-City, New Orleans, Louisiana Size: 1,700 square feet Years lived in: 15 years, owned New Orleans is known for its laissez-faire culture. Anything goes, and every occasion is an excuse for a party. Mitchell Settoon and Thomas Ecker approach life — and homemaking — with the same easy spirit that characterizes the city they call home.

Historic industrial elements like an 1800s oven, original masonry, and porcelain subway bricks blend with this residential contractor's modern decor tastes.

Tim Sheehan knew he was in for many years of hard work when he bought an abandoned New Orleans property six years ago. The grounds included a two-story 5,500 square-foot Greek Revival home and a ramshackle guest house, both in need of major renovations. The outdoor space started taking shape to become what it is today, a communal quad where Tim gathers regularly with friends, when he started using the yard as a staging ground for his many projects in 2012.

Entertaining is in this couple's DNA, and it's what inspired their home's renovation a year ago.

This shotgun house in the Irish Channel neighborhood of New Orleans, Louisiana is the home of painter Ansley Givhan.

New Orleans is known for its costuming culture. Here in the Crescent City, we have an entire season – for which people prepare all year – dedicated to masquerading. But dramatic attire isn’t exclusive to carnival season. Outside of Mardi Gras, New Orleans offers many opportunities to stretch the limits of style. One person whose wardrobe embodies the city’s joie de vivre is Kerry Maloney. We toured her French Quarter apartment last year.

Kicker and Anne Kalozdi designed and built this house made out of shipping containers... despite having no real experience building a house before!

Name: Kelly Ransom and her dog Omelet Location: Faubourg Marigny; New Orleans, Louisiana Size: 1,400 square feet Years lived in: 2.5 years; Owned Kelly’s 1830s cottage, located on a quiet residential street in the Marigny, has the kind of charm for which New Orleans homes are known. Light blue shutters open to reveal four sets of French doors and classic wrought ironwork.

Name: Tami Hills Location: Central City — New Orleans, Louisiana Size: 1,266 square feet Years lived in: Owned 6 years Tami Hills never imagined she would buy a move-in ready home. The professional organizer and DIYer dreamed of buying an old New Orleans house she could fully renovate. But after looking at nearly a hundred properties in a fiercely competitive market, she was exhausted. “I would fall in love and be outbid. It happened over and over again,” she explained.

Name: Timothy Sheehan Location: Treme-Lafitte — New Orleans, Louisiana Size: 2,300 square feet (second floor living space) Years lived in: Owned 6.5 years When Tim Sheehan first entered his home in 2010, a hand-scrawled sign that read “KEEP OUT” was taped to the front door. The house, used as a rectory for the church next door, had been abandoned since the congregation held its last service in August 2004, a year before Hurricane Katrina.

Carla is a shop owner, photography historian, writer and editor with a passion for art and her black roots.Her colorful Seventh Ward home is bursting with history.

Name: Anne Yvonne Stoltze and her Ragdoll cats Teddy (who sadly passed away this summer) and Nigel Location: Treme — New Orleans, Louisiana Size: 650 square feet Years lived in: 1.5 years, renting Anne’s romance with New Orleans began three years ago during a visit for Jazz Fest, a familiar story here in the Crescent City. The unique architecture, lush landscape, and celebratory way-of-life felt just right for this Iowa-born bon vivant.

Name: Melinda McSpadden Location: Garden District — New Orleans, Louisiana Size: 1,300 square feet Years lived in: 11 months; the apartment is one of the perks of being a live-in innkeeper The setting for Melinda McSpadden’s life is dripping with Southern charm — lush greenery and a canopy of century-old oaks surround a Queen Anne-style mansion built in 1890 in the heart of New Orleans’ picturesque Garden District.

Name: Wesley & Levi Janssen; their kids James (6), Anders (5), and Julia (1); and the family dog Logan. Location: Mid City — New Orleans, Louisiana Size: 1,690 square feet upstairs; 1,200 in raised basement apartment Years lived in: 4 years, owned It was the second-to-last last day of Wesley Janssen’s maternity leave when a “for sale” sign in front of a stately raised-basement Art and Crafts style home caught her eye five years ago.

Name: Joy Wilson, aka Joy the Baker Location: Bywater — New Orleans, Louisiana Size: 1,700 square feet Years lived in: 1.5 years, owned “New Orleans, you beast. You wild, unpredictable, crazy fun, wholly overwhelming place. New Orleans isn’t just a city… it’s a spirit and culture. It’s a lady and a trouble-maker. It’s palpable and irresistible, and will not be ignored. New Orleans, you excite me. New Orleans, I’m hungry. New Orleans, I love you.

Name: Liz and Tim Kamarul, with pups Bo and Cudi Location: New Orleans, Louisiana Size: 176 square feet Years Lived In: 5 months, owned I find it incredibly inspiring when people shirk off their worldly possessions, say no to the 9 to 5, and trade a rent check for a home on wheels.

Name: Jill Dupre Location: Fairgrounds Triangle — New Orleans, Louisiana Size: 160 square feet Years owned: 3 years, owned “Let’s hit the road, Ann.” Jill Dupre remembers her grandfather’s catchphrase whenever she’s getting ready for travel, big or small. So it seemed only fitting that when it came time to name her vintage Airstream trailer, she chose Ann, after her grandmother.

Name: Adrienne Breaux, Keith Fields, Stanley the shih tzu, Otis the giant yellow lab Location: Carrollton — New Orleans, Louisiana Size: 500 square feet Years lived in: 4 years, renting I’ve been madly in love with this apartment since the moment I walked in. After a long day of looking at horrifying rental apartment listings, I stepped into this small space flooded with light, took one look at the fireplace and the giant cove molding, and I signed an application on the spot.

Jessica Yatrofsky is an artist, photographer, minimalist, and a certified tidying consultant specializing in the KonMari Method™.

Name: Alex Geriner and the amazing shoulder-balancing cat Isfahani Location: Uptown — New Orleans, Louisiana Size: 1,100 square feet Years lived in: 2.5 years; Rented The colorful exterior, the big bright windows, the original wood floors – Alex’s apartment in New Orleans’ Uptown neighborhood certainly isn’t lacking in charming architectural details.

Tami’s New Orleans home couldn’t get much happier than it already is. It’s bright, colorful, completely unique, and even has it’s own name. Tami’s home is constantly changing, in true artist fashion. But if you like what you see right now, check out her resource lists to shop her unique style and make your space happy, too!

Name: Swathi Narra and Jay Miller Location: Marigny — New Orleans, Louisiana Size: 2,200 square feet Years lived in: 1 year, renting Swathi is a worldly woman of fashion while Jay is a man of science. Combine these seemingly disparate influences inside a sun-drenched New Orleans “dream rental,” and you get a perfectly balanced environment that’s sophisticated, personal, and inviting.

The building has a modern, minimal style with concrete floors, white walls, sleek cabinetry, and sliding glass bedroom doors.