Vacant home tour
I took these photos the day we signed for the house and it became officially ours. Even in that moment I already had ideas swarming around in my head for each room. I thought it would be fun to show you the vacant spaces with my mood boards and descriptions of my vision so you could see where it all started…
So, here we go!
To start off with, our home is in New Orleans located in the Central City neighborhood. This area has been going through a lot of changes over the years and we have been renting only 4 blocks from our new house for the last two years. We love this area so much, it’s close to everything, we feel safe and there’s so much character. We are a few minutes walk to St Charles Ave and from there straight into the Garden District which is one of my favorite areas to walk around and take photos.
During our house hunt we looked at so many homes ranging in degrees of work needed. This was the 5th house we put an offer on and it needed the least amount of work. Originally we thought we wanted a fixer upper but now realize that a renovated home really suites our lifestyle at this time with everything else we have going on.
The house itself is over 120 years old. It was renovated right before we bought it by an amazing guy who put so much love and detail into this house. It was apparent when he walked us through the space that he felt a lot of pride in the work he did here. He created a beautiful updated modern space but still retained all the important history and charm that every New Orleans home should have. The house originally was a double (a very common style home in NOLA split down the middle to created two identical sides) but was converted into a single. It has 12’ ceilings which is very common here and I’m afraid I’ll never be able to go back to standard ceiling height after this!
Because the home used to be a double we have two front doors. We chose to make the door that opens into the kitchen our primary entrance.
We are so glad the builder chose to keep the fireplace in here. It’s not functional but it adds so much character to the space. There used to be 8 of these in the home but to make the most functional layout he removed all but this one.
The kitchen is gorgeous but I really want to warm it up with natural tiles, a colorful light fixture, either wood or black cabinet pulls and eventually a rug and kitchen island.
Next to the kitchen is the dining room. This whole area is so bright with all the natural light it feels like a greenhouse in the morning, my favorite place to be.
I’m choosing bold yellow curtains and a pop of orange in the dining chairs. Going for a simple and clean look in here.
The dining room looks into the living room through the original pocket doors. There are no windows in this room which I actually appreciate. We will have our TV in here and I don’t mind a dark moody space for watching movies.
This room will be all about color. Pink walls, orange sofa, teal and green coffee tables. Plus huge floating shelves along the TV wall.
Next to the living room is the office.
I didn’t put together a mood board for this room but I see soft grey walls and pops of contrasting bold color.
The guest bathroom is next to that. Yes, this is the GUEST bathroom. Are you shocked? Me too. I still walk in here everyday in awe. I feel like we’re in a luxury hotel and I don’t mind one bit!!
I would love to change out the mirror for a wooden one to help warm up the space. An updated light fixture and faucet will be in the future as well.
Across the hall from the bathroom is the laundry room. It has my favorite doors in the whole house.
The next room down the hall is the master bedroom and master bath. Yep, another crazy good bathroom. Feeling really spoiled right about now.
No mood boards for the master yet. I always seem to focus on decorating the bedrooms last….
I do know in the bathroom I want to warm it up with some paint. Maybe a deep teal or shade of green with a jungle wallpaper on the large wall across from the vanity. A wood slat accent wall that wraps onto the ceiling would look really great behind the toilet as well with some open shelving.
At the end of the house is the third bedroom. This room will eventually become an Airbnb. It has it’s own entrance, bathroom and huge closet which will double as a “kitchen” (fridge, microwave, coffee). We have ordered some amazing acoustic panels for this room as well to help keep it more private and quiet. I’m really looking forward to sharing. Stay tuned this summer.
I plan to paint the tub a fun color and add wallpaper to the walls. We also need to add a shower head and curtain.
Large closet will have a built in counter and open shelving, fun wallpaper and lighting!
That’s the whole interior of the house! I’ll share the outside of the home and the yard soon.