Apartment Therapy: Breeze & Lauren's Adorable Double Shotgun

I can add Breeze and Lauren's adorable double shotgun to my list of all-time favorite house tours. The place is filled with so many pieces I wish I could call my own. The turquoise SMEG and antique church pew top the list! I'll be taking cues from their renovation when we're finally able to renovate a house of our own in this city full of buildings just waiting to be brought back to life.

Below are some of my favorites photos from the house tour. Visit Apartment Therapy to read about these lovely women and see the full tour.

Apartment Therapy: Seth & Elisabeth's Shipping Container Home

I was so excited to have the opportunity to photograph Seth and Elisabeth's shipping container home. The fact that Seth built the house himself, with a lot of help from friends, family, and former colleagues, makes this place extra special.Below are some of my favorite images of the space. You can read all about their unusual home and check out the full tour on Apartment Therapy.

Apartment Therapy Tour: Joe & Alana's Colorful Newport Home

I just love Joe & Alana's Newport home. The beautiful 160-year-old house is filled with playful art, bright colors, and bold patterns. It's exactly what I would expect from this couple, who seem to have mastered the art of having fun. You can read about their place and see a full house tour on Apartment Therapy and see some of my favorite photos of their home below.

Apartment Therapy Tour: Megan and Sam's Mix of Antiques and Art

There's so much to love about Megan and Sam's bright and beautiful Central City home. The house is filled with many beautiful antiques they've inherited from their families and has a lush New Orleans courtyard. You can read about their place and see a full house tour on Apartment Therapy.

Here are some of my favorites photos of Megan and Sam's home:

Apartment Therapy Tour: George & Shena's Beautifully-Salvaged Home

The Marigny home of George Peake & Shena Troia is one of the most impressive examples of a complete home renovation I've seen. You can read their story and marvel at George's craftsmanship on Apartment Therapy.

Here are some of my favorite photos from the shoot:

Newport Folk Festival 2015

The Newport Folk Festival provided yet another weekend of wonderful music, surprise collaborations and all-around excitement this summer at Fort Adams. Here are some highlights:

Langhorne Slim takes his high-energy performance into the crowd.

Langhorne Slim takes his high-energy performance into the crowd.

My Morning Jacket, after making a surprise appearance, backs Roger Waters during his much-anticipated set.

Jim James of My Morning Jacket

As usual, Jon Batiste and his band Stay Human perform with exuberance. These guys know how to infuse a crowd with joy.

Jon Batiste, left, and Joe Saylor

Percussionist Joe Saylor

Jon Batiste & Stay Human pose for a photo on top of a wall inside Fort Adam. From left, are: Eddie Barbash, Jon Batiste, Joe Saylor and Ibanda Ruhumbika.

This Nashville crew is looking great in their new custom-embroidered Levis denim. From left are: Joe Fletcher, Emilia Pare, Jenn Ross and Libby Rose, host of Wildwood Revival.

Jess Wolfe, left, and Holly Laessig of Lucius

Wesley Watkins of Nathaniel Rateliff and The Night Sweats

Calin Peters of The Ballroom Thieves

Courtney Barnett

Left: Dan Blakeslee Right: Amato Zinno and Bessie Bessin of the Rhode Island-based Haunt the House

Brad Barr of The Barr Brothers plays guitar during a quiet moment inside Fort Adams.

Sufjan Stevens

Childhood friends Sam Beam, of Iron and Wine, and Ben Bridwell, of Band of Horses, perform songs from their new album of covers Sing Into My Mouth.

Courtney Barnett

Calexico

Nathaniel Rateliff

The crowd, below, goes crazy for Brandi Carlile, who performs with twin brothers Phil and Tim Hanseroth.

Brian Elmquist of The Lone Bellow

Zach Williams of The Lone Bellow

The crowd, below, reacts as Hozier, left, takes the stage. Performing with Hozier is cellist Alana Henderson, right.

Hozier fans

Taylor Goldsmith of Dawes plays "Maggie's Farm" using the Fender Stratocaster played by Bob Dylan 50 years ago when he famously surprised the festival crowd by going electric. The grand finale of this year's festival, '65 Revisited, included a rotating cast of performers paying homage to Bob Dylan and his iconic set in Newport. 

Dave Rawlings, Gillian Welch and Willie Watson

Dave Rawlings

Ian O'Neil, Duane Betts, John McCauley, and Taylor Goldsmith

The weekend ended with a sing-along of "Rainy Day Women" that even included members of Preservation Hall Jazz Band, who showed up just to participate in the special finale.

Apartment Therapy: A Tour of Lara's Newport Apartment

Head over to Apartment Therapy to check out my tour of Lara's sweet Newport, RI, abode. You can read about her style and take the full tour HERE.

And here are some of my favorite photos of her space:

Apartment Therapy: Chris & Ali's Live/Workspace Tour

Earlier this summer, I was lucky enough to meet Chris Scheurich and Ali McNally, the lovely couple behind the Uptown boutique Neon Heart. I photographed the space where they live, work and play for Apartment Therapy. You can see the full tour HERE.

And here are some of my favorites photos from our shoot:

Guest quarters

Guest quarters

Guest quarters

The couple's boutique Neon Heart, located Uptown at 1022 Lowerline Street

Chris' framing studio, located behind the boutique:

Brian & Emily's Art-Filled New Orleans Home

Brian and Emily’s New Orleans shotgun will have you smiling before you even take a step inside. The exterior color combination of red, purple, and bright blue is as bold and fun as the city they call home. The couple’s vast collection of folk art covers the interior walls like a modern day version of the storied Parisian salons. “We like to pile it on thick,” Emily says with a laugh.

The couple has amassed their collection from a variety of sources such as festivals, art markets, local galleries, and street vendors in the French Quarter. “I really love New Orleans and I came here because it just seemed so rich and vivid… The art I’ve gravitated towards is like this place,” Emily explains. Although they don’t buy art with investment in mind–“We buy it because we love it,” Emily says–they have a knack for finding artists before they hit it big.

Their artworks are grouped in themes: the music room is decorated with a hand-painted guitar, a bust of Elvis atop a piano inherited from Brian’s grandmother, and depictions of musicians like Lucinda Williams and David Bowie. The kitchen is a celebration of Southern cuisine–think alligator po-boy and hot-boiled crab–and includes whimsical paintings of cats eating food. The bathroom is a display of "Oriental" art inherited from Emily’s grandmother and the den is filled with hand-carved masks from all over the world.

Several distinct pieces of mid-century modern furniture–six tall-back chairs, two glass tables, and a three-piece wooden cube coffee table–make a strong visual statement in the home. The vintage pieces were designed by Adrian Pearsall and inherited from Emily’s grandmother, whose Texas ranch house maintained an early-1960s style until the time of her death.

The overall vibe of the house is lighthearted and inviting. Emily and Brian, who both work in academia, love to open their home to their friends for holiday celebrations, dinner parties, and watching Saints games. “Our style is informal,” says Brian, “because we run in informal circles around here.”

When they are not entertaining, Emily and Brian love to sit on the front porch and take in the verdant streetscape that lured them to the Irish Channel ten years ago. While gushing over all of the wonderful aspects of the neighborhood–the walkability, the varied architecture, the great people-watching–Emily sums it up with this: “The first house [we lived in] didn’t seem like a forever house, but this seems like a forever house… We hope to never leave.”

You can see a full tour of Emily & Brian's home and read more about their art collection at Apartment Therapy.

Photos and text by Jacqueline Marque

Tiffany's Charming New Orleans Sanctuary

When Tiffany Napper was house hunting in New Orleans five years ago, she couldn't get her mind off the first place she saw. The little white shotgun, located near the Mississippi River, was previously owned by a 93-year-old woman who had been born in the house and lived there until she died. It had drop ceilings, faux wood paneling, and dirty wall-to-wall carpeting. The narrow 1,400-square-foot structure also boasted a dark galley kitchen, one tiny bathroom, and four small bedrooms sandwiched together without a hallway...

“My real estate agent thought I was joking,” Tiffany says, after she asked to go back to the house for a another look. “When I first walked in, I saw the potential and couldn’t let go of that idea,” she explains. Tiffany returned to the house with a video camera, then went straight to a nearby coffee shop to get to work. She sketched plans to reconfigure the cluttered building into the airy two-bedroom, two-bathroom space she now calls home.

It’s not surprising that Tiffany was up for the challenge of a major renovation. She has been witnessing the transformation of spaces since she was a child. Her parents owned a flooring business for years and tackled many ambitious projects, and their creative spirit rubbed off on her. “I’ve always had a really strong vision when it comes to design and aesthetics,” she explains. Unexpected elements, like the hardwood flooring on the kitchen ceiling and the sliding pocket doors that open to the guest room, are a testament to this.

A key part of Tiffany’s redesign is the large combination office and living space at the very front of the house. A striking brick fireplace, once hidden in a closet, serves as the centerpiece. One side of the bright and spacious room has a sleek row of white built-in cabinets and the other has two cozy seating areas, an art wall, and a hanging swing chair.

The casual and inspiring atmosphere became the launchpad for Tiffany’s two businesses: Bats on Strings, a public relations and marketing firm for musicians and creative artists, and a handbag line called Flying Fox. The little white shotgun that was once desperately in need of new life became a place where fresh ideas are born. Tiffany ran the businesses out of her home for three years before moving the operations to a rented office space, which has her unmistakable visual stamp all over it. “Now, for the first time since I renovated, my home is just my home. It’s my sanctuary, and it feels really great,“ she says with a smile.

You can view Tiffany's full Apartment Therapy house tour and read more about her style HERE.

Photos and text by Jacqueline Marque