New Orleans Snapshot

 

I had a spectacular week last week in New Orleans and there will be many posts to come on the sights, sounds (jazz baby) and tastes of the amazing week spent with BlogTourNola. While I'm organizing my many, many photos (nearly 200!) I wanted to share a little bit of my week.

But first, I wanted to say that while I was having a great time, my heart was in Boston. I have never been more proud to be from Massachusetts as I was this week. My heart is so heavy for the unimaginable pain that those who lost family members are feeling right now. And for the nearly 200 injured whose lives have been changed forever, I cannot imagine their pain. But I have so much pride at how our city rallied around the victims and each other, and how well all the law enforcement officials and first responders pulled together to make the captures so quickly; it is a real testament to their professionalism. At 2:50pm on Monday, we'll all be participating in a moment of silence.

I spent my week in New Orleans with a great group of interior designers and kitchen designers and have come away with lots of inspiration that will undoubtedly help my design business. We visited the famed Garden district to admire the gorgeous architecture, strolled Magazine Street antiques shops, visited some of the hardest hit areas from Hurricane Katrina and met some truly inspirational people who are still working hard to rebuild their lives. We finished the week at KBIS, the Kitchen and Bath show, and were wowed by some beautiful products.

Meanwhile, take a peak at some of my favorite textures and colors seen over the week. DuVerre Hardware, one of our tour sponsors, has asked us to put together a Pinterest board of sculptural elements, lighting and textures that we found inspirational. Click here a check out some of what I saw and loved. And I'd love it if you would click the like or repin your favorite images a there's an iPad mini on the line!

 

 

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New Orleans: The French Quarter, A Street Car, Garden District, Shopping and Food

Well, the title about sums up today's #BlogTourNola adventure!

BlogTour is all about great design, local culture, a lot of walking and plenty of sustenance to keep us going!  We're starting today with an amazing champagne brunch at Lüke, Chef John Besh's restaurant.

Lüke is Chef Besh's homage "to the grand old Franco-German brasseries that once reigned in New Orleans". Check out the sample menu here. Yum. Speaking of yum, so is Chef Besh:

Our hosts for this breakfast is KBIS, the Kitchen and Bath Industry Show, which starts on Friday. KBIS is the world's largest international trade event dedicated to the kitchen and bath industry. It showcases the latest products and most innovative design ideas that change the industry to meet the needs of the marketplace. This captivating event features the largest array of product displays and demonstrations, professional development courses, keynote & session speeches, interactive roundtable events and the opportunity to network with thousands of industry professionals. The show attracts key decision makers from national and international markets and targets dealers, designers, distributors, retailers, home centers and more. I'll be extensively covering the show here later on in the week and likely in the weeks that follow.  As an interior designer,  I'm always excited to bring to my clients the latest in great design,  technology and finishes. I'm also going to be gathering ideas for my Dream House project as well.

After our hearty breakfast, we'll be taking the St. Charles St. Street Car for a scenic tour of the Garden District and then walking through the Antebellum splendor to the famous Magazine Street which is filled with design shops for miles.

We'll be headed to Shaun Smith Home where the designer himself will lead us in a tour of great design and antiques shops on the street.

We'll return to Shaun's adorable shop for some much needed refreshments (hopefully something long and cool - it's gonna be a bit warm there!)

We have a couple of hours break to do some more sight-seeing/shopping and head back to the hotel to freshen up for what is going to be a spectacular evening which includes a meet and greet at the Odgen Museum with the amazing designer Miles Redd!

The Ogden Museum, which is part of the University of New Orleans, was one of the first museums to focus solely on Southern art, helping to identify and define the genre. Ogden's collection helped to revive the forgotten works of great Southern artists and preserved an important aspect of Southern culture.

I interviewed Miles Redd at The Skirted Roundtable last Fall when his fabulous new book Big Book of Chic came out. I actually have the electronic version of the book, not a printed copy. I wonder if he would sign the cover if I just printed it out... tacky?  Maybe, but much lighter in the luggage

After the Miles event, we'll be headed over to Chef Susan Spicer's Bayona Restaurant, taking in some music at Lafayette Square on the way.

Boy, I do hope we're sitting outside for dinner! After our long New England winter, this looks pretty amazing!

Although the inside doesn't look bad either! (images via Bayona's Facebook Page)

This certain to be delicious dinner is hosted by Mr. Steam, a premier source of upscale, and high quality steam products including towel warmers, shower speakers, shower seats, aromasteam and chromasteam™ systems. Their advanced technology, engineering, and design provides equipment that enhances lifestyles worldwide. The company has refined — and redefined — value and reliability, assuring the highest level of quality. In addition to providing private luxury enhancements for residential use, from smaller homes to estates, our products service a large roster of hotels, resorts, health clubs, spas, and professional team headquarters.

Ahh.... While I think New Orleans provides its own steam quite nicely (humidity frizz, here I come!) Mr. Steam seems just about right for a cold New England winter (well, fall and spring too, to be honest!). 

This is going to be a great day! And tomorrow, we're headed out to Gentilly to tour some of the homes that have been rebuilt after the devastation of Katrina. We're not just focused on the sparkling gems of New Orleans, but also the real-life aspects of this amazing city as well.

Laissez les bons temps rouler!

If you would like my help on your dream house project, I would love to chat with you! Please email me. Thanks! Subscribe to ::Surroundings::

Travel Tuesday: Renaissance Arts Hotel in New Orleans

It's been a while since I've done a Travel Tuesday post and since I am traveling today, I though it was appropriate to showcase the beautiful hotel that will be our homebase during BlogTourNola. The Renaissance Arts Hotel is situated in the Warehouse District of New Orleans and features a world class collection of art, including sculptural chandeliers by glass artist Dale Chihuly.

"From the flowing, asymmetrical Dale Chihuly chandeliers that greet you in the lobby to the visually stunning John Scott paintings and sculptures placed throughout the hotel, you will find your senses are both satisfied and stimulated." (via website)

This bedroom will be a fun and perky way to start each morning!

Hospitality suite.

The Rene Bistrot Bar where the BlogTourNola gang will convene the week of amazing events. 

Lovely rooftop pool area - though based on our schedule, we're not likely to spend much time here!

Though I do hope they stay open late!

But first, we'll be heading off to the French Quarter for the first of what will be many amazing meals. Dinner will be at SoBou Restaurant, which is owned by the Brennan family of the venerable Commander's Palace and Brennan's Restaurant, and others.

Per their website: "SoBou is inspired by our family's colorful time at the Absinthe House, as well as by the great barkeeps as far back as the inventor of the Sazerac in New Orleans, Antoine Peychaud, all the way to today's King Cocktail Dale DeGroff. Our reverence for a well-run tavern where the food makes your eyes roll back in your head and the showmanship of the bartender pales next to the beauty in the glass - that's the kind of joint we imagined. Classic but current, not weighted down by the past, but fueled by it, professional but unserious; an entire spirited restaurant where everyone seems to have an "I just did something slightly naughty" perpetual grin on their face like BarBar, our elephant.  BarBar has that SoBou style - he's debonair, but always up to something. He has plans and you can join him at any point along the way."

Main Dining Room

The Apothecary at SoBou

The Beer Garden at SoBou

I don't know what's in store for our dinner, but this looks pretty tasty!

Tomorrow we're hitting up the Garden District with all it's amazing architecture and a day of shopping on Magazine street, plus more meals. More on that tomorrow. 

You can follow everyone's tweets at Twitter #BlogTourNola and you can follow my NOLA Style Pinterest Board here.

If you would like my help on your design project, I would love to chat with you! Please email me. Thanks! Subscribe to ::Surroundings::

Boston

It's a sad, dark day here in Boston. I was going to start today with a bright and cheery post about my heading off to New Orleans, but felt I wanted to send my heartfelt prayers and best wishes to all those directly affected by this unknown attack. I lived in Boston for several years and am in town on a regular basis. I shot the image above just last week, looking towards Beacon Hill and the State House - our fair "City on a Hill". I consider it my home. And my home was attacked. Like everyone here, I spent the day glued to the television, like we all did on 9/11.

And, once again, we saw our amazing First Responders run towards the flames so that others could run away. I don't know who took this amazing photo above, but I would expect it to become one of the iconic images of the day. It's an amazing shot that not only captures our city's finest officers in action - running towards the flames - but it also includes many world flags standing at attention - showing we're all really one. The runner on the ground is reportedly a 78 year old man who has previously run the marathon; he is okay. I'd also like to point out that the officer on the far left is a woman. Girl power!

 And I'd like to give a warm shoutout to my high school classmate Eric McDevitt, a long time Boston EMT. We knew from an earlier FB post that he was on duty and had prophetically wondered how busy the day would be. I was relieved when he showed up on television, looking very hale and hearty, and very much in control of the situation. We love you Eric. My mother (who was friendly with his late Mom) said she knows how proud his mother would have been of him today.

As Mr. Rogers famously said:

Thank you to the helpers. And thank you Lord for looking over my friends and family who were there and keeping them safe, and for welcoming those who don't make it into your loving embrace.

New Orleans Bound!

 Top row, L-R: Erica Islas @EMIIntDesign, Carmen Natschke @DecoratingDiva, Arne Salveson @ArneSalvesen
 2nd row: Tamara Matthews @nestnestnest,  Linda Merrill@Surroundings, Jennifer Mehditash @decaporter
 3rd row: Rebecca Reynolds @RRKitchenDesign, Leslie Fine@lesliefineint, Gloria Graham Sollicito @Kitchens4living, Barbara Elza Hirsh @elzabdesign 
4th row: Patricia Davis @patriciadavisbr, Cynthia Bogart @thedailybasics, Toma Clark Haines @TheAntiquesDiva, Kelly Morisseau @Kitchen_Sync


I'm getting ready to pack my little bags and head out to New Orleans to spend an amazing week with all the lovely folks pictured above, and oh, pretty much everyone who is anyone in the kitchen, bath and window treatment industries. Over the last two years or so, BlogTour, The World Designed produced by Modenus, has brought together over 80 designer bloggers (see below) who have not only toured major international industry events in New York, London, Cologne and now New Orleans, but have also delved into the local cultures of these amazing cities. It's truly a holistic view on the world of design.

It's an honor for me to have been included in this week of amazing culture, food and design. New Orleans is like no place else in the US, perhaps the world. It's probably got the best the US has to offer, and the worst, all stirred up in a literal gumbo of great food, music, architecture, celebration and pathos.

Throughout the coming week, I will be sharing daily updates on all the amazing things I'll be doing and those who have made it possible, and I can assure that there will be lots of pictures and stories to tell!

Design highlights will include a streetcar ride through the Garden District, shopping on the famed Magazine Street with Shaun Smith, a factory tour of Bevolo Gas & Electric Lights, and a meet and greet with the amazing Miles Redd at the Ogden Museum. And finally, there is the Kitchen & Bath Industry Show (KBIS) and all the amazing treats in store there.

Speaking of treats - there will be, no doubt, several opportunities to munch on delectable beignets, though apparently we've been warned not to wear black at the Cafe du Monde  - uh oh. We'll also be enjoying a champagne brunch at Chef John Besh's Lüke Restaurant, eating at Sobu which is part of the Commander's Palace family of restaurants, and many other treats and surprises along the way.


All this wining and dining aside, we never forget that our industry is about one of the most fundamental aspects of human existence  - a place to call home. Whether it's posh or puny - our homes bring us together, provide shelter and offer comfort. They can speak of who we are today, who we want to be and where we come from. But sometimes, our homes are not enough to protect us from the storms that can rage - whether they are natural or man made. Few of us get through life without being tested by the fires and the citizens of New Orleans have certainly had more than their share.

I suspect one of the most memorable parts of this amazing week will be on Thursday when we have the opportunity to tour some of the hardest hit areas since 2005's Hurricane Katrina and meet with homeowner's who are still rebuilding their homes and lives. We'll be touring houses built by Brad Pitt's Make it Right Organization which has been building LEED certified homes in the hardest hit areas of the city. We will also be meeting with a couple who are one of three families who are being helped with their rebuilding by The Storehouse of World Vision project and KBIS. The Storehouse of World Vision, is a network of six storehouses which supply donated goods such as building materials, school supplies, personal care items, and clothing from corporate partners to more than 2.2 million people annually in low-income communities.

Since 2005, many people have lost their homes due to floods and other natural disasters, financial troubles and the fiasco of the mortgage meltdown. I am one of those people and so, in fact is my friend and fellow BlogTour member Toma who's Berlin apartment burned along with all of their belongings just last fall.  Whether it happens in dramatic fashion with the whole world and Anderson Cooper watching, or more privately, losing one's home is devastating and can at times feel impossible to rebound from.  So, I am looking to this part of our New Orleans adventure with great anticipation.

So, stay tuned for daily updates and follow along at Twitter #BlogTourNola. It's expected that we will make more than 1 MILLION impressions across all aspects of social media. Our Tweet Chat last Monday trended to the top of the Twitter hot list and we even pushed the passing of the Iron Lady herself off the top. There's power in them there tweets!

This gorgeous photo is by Heather Green of Briole Photography and can be purchased here.

If you would like my help on your design project, I would love to chat with you! Please email me. Thanks! Subscribe to ::Surroundings::