This (Possibly Haunted) Historic New Orleans Home Is Dripping in Color, Pattern, and Creative DIYs

“We were actually looking for an investment property when I stumbled upon our house listing online (Zillow). We figured it wouldn’t hurt to go take a look at it and instantly fell in love as soon as we walked inside. Although our first house (right out of college) had an amazing backyard, the house itself was a cookie-cutter ranch style that had low ceilings and small rooms,” begins Nadia.

“Walking into our current house was like walking into a dream. Tall ceilings, tons of woodwork, built-ins, and more importantly more space! It also had great history (that we didn’t know about until inspections),” explains Nadia. “The woman who lived in the house before she passed was a local New Orleans actor who was quite celebrated in the community. She did local commercials, acted at the local theater, and even had small roles in some Hollywood movies — one where she was an extremely scary character. We always joke around that our house is haunted. The house is over 100 years old, so it might just be!”

Nadia explains that when the previous owner passed away, the house was “pretty much stripped and sold” at an estate sale. But, Nadia and Tariq stumbled on a few storied treasures they were able to incorporate into their home’s decor. “We found an old metal historical plaque in three inches of mud in our side yard,” she begins. “We had no idea what it was until we started hosing the mud off. I don’t know the story behind it, but it’s a plaque from the Vieux Carre New Orleans neighborhood. Regardless, it’s a great addition to the house decor.”

“Another great find was completely hidden under a cake of black dirt in the attic. After we purchased the house I went up into the attic to explore and found six – eight 12-foot planks of wood in a corner. They looked like trash wood but I had a feeling that they were something special. They definitely were up in the attic since the house was built because I had to cut them in half to get them out. I took one plank to a local woodworker and had it planned; lo and behold it turned out to be pecky cypress, which is a rare and expensive type of wood. I ended up using it all over my house. I used it to build the vent hood and island countertop in my kitchen, wet bar countertop and shelves, office desk and laundry room countertop. It was such a great find and I loved making those pieces.”

• Kitchen, living room, dining room — Benjamin Moore “White Dove OC-17”
• Primary bedroom ceiling — Sherwin-Williams’ “6331 Smoky Salmon”
• Primary nightstands (they are IKEA) — Sherwin-Williams’ “6188 Shade-grown”
• kitchen island — Sherwin-Williams’ “6339 Persimmon”
• Costume closet built ins — Sherwin-Williams’ “0029 Acanthus”

• Rug — Wayfair

LIVING ROOM

• Chairs — Wayfair

• Mostly thrifted

• Chandelier — Pottery Barn Paxton (not available anymore)
• Knobs — Cb2

• Headboard — Estate sale 
• Pillows — William Morris at home 
• Bedding — HomeGoods 

• Headboard — Custom
• Pillow — World Market
• Wallpaper — House of Hackney

• Wallpaper — House of Hackney

• Daybed — World Market

Thanks Nadia and Tariq!

This tour’s responses and photos were edited for length/size and clarity.
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