I can't tell you how thrilled I was to see my friend Donna Maselli's gorgeous house featured in Country Living Magazine last July.

Donna, who worked for many years as a lawyer, decided a few years ago to leave that profession and pursue her dream of becoming an interior designer. It was a good decision!!

Donna's personal design philosophy, one which I wholeheartedly share, is that a neutral backdrop and a decided lack of clutter should serve as a  foil for beautiful furnishings and art.

Donna used only whites and neutral paint colors throughout the house and pickled the floors. Her "beautiful pieces" come in the form of such things as the many lovely antique pieces  she's collected, such as the walnut dining table, Italian chandelier, and the set of painted French  dining chairs she got from Karla Katz with the mismatched linen remnants on the back.

This George Marks painting hung over an 18th-century cherry buffet shows Donna's deft way with letting great art and antique pieces speak for themselves. Don't you love her easygoing composition of a frond of ginger in a confit pot  which echoes the curves of an Italian buffet lamp?

With only 2500 square feet of living space, Donna decided to enlarge her kitchen by enclosing a porch. I think it works perfectly. I love the way she carved out a cozy yet sophisticated eating nook with a built-in window-seat and scrubbed pine table. The damask pillows are just like little pieces of candy for your eye.

The entry really sets the tone for the house. White walls, neutral curtains, a clear glass Fifi Laughlin lamp, gilded wall sconces and a French console all take a bow to the pop of color provided by the kilim rug.

Donna's bedroom, a study in neutral serenity, with its crisp white linens and cashmere throw, carries the overall concept with the primitive piece  displayed on the antique bedside table topped with white marble.

Her dressing room follows suit. It is a picture of all-white femininity and chic.

Donna's daughter's bedroom is also a symphony of peaceful, dreamy whites.

 

One of the things I love most  about Donna's house is that it was built in the 1890's, and like so many of our beautiful New Orleans homes, it has been transformed into something fresh and modern which reflects the  love  and talents of its owner.

I say "Bravo" to Donna and to the many New Orleanians who have dedicated themselves to treasuring all the good things New Orleans has to offer, not the least of which is our amazing historic architecture.

Today was a great day to be in New Orleans!

It was a day to raise a toast to our city.

Mardi Gras in the Who Dat Nation!!

Today was the culmination of a long and intense season of celebration in a city that has made celebrating an art form.  We've been double-dipping lately, reveling in our historic, first-ever, long-awaited, and prayed for Superbowl championship running  concurrently with Mardi Gras.

We showed the world how proud we are of our team, and how much pride in our city our Superbowl Saints have brought us, and that we are championship partyers! We showed that we really know how to  stage a parade, with many Mardi Gras krewes lending floats to the Superbowl parade, and having team members throw beads in true New Orleans tradition.

 

We've been combining our love of our Saints with our love of Mardi Gras, with Drew Brees reigning as Bacchus.

But mostly, we've been feeling good about living in New Orleans.

Our city, which was under water not too long ago, is now on top of the world.

Mardi Gras is truly a day to have fun, and since the weather cooperated, that is exactly what we did!

We celebrated life in a unique place.

A place that is a feast for the eyes.

With many traditions.

A city which is optimistically looking at its future.

Which lately, many have been very proud and happy to call home.

Happy Mardi Gras!!!!

All photos are from flickr or nola.com

I can't begin to tell you how thrilled I am to be included in the latest issue of Art Galleries and Artists of the South.

The lighting I design has always been an outgrowth of my fine arts background.

Form, line, composition, rhythm, color and pattern, as well as classical proportions form the basis of my work.

My finishes come from years of working with paints and other media to create beautiful pieces which I see as jewelry for the rooms they inhabit.

 

The interior shot which is included  in the article comes from an absolutely gorgeous New Orleans home owned by Tom, a good friend and client. The house is located in the Garden District and I think he told me it was built around 1830. I had created several pieces for the more informal rooms in his house and now he was ready to get some pieces for his living and dining rooms.

The two rooms line up along the right hand side of the house and are separated by a cased opening, so the two chandeliers needed to relate to each other as well as to the grand proportions of the rooms.

 

Each would hang from an ornate plaster medallion which was original to the house.

We decided to place a custom sized "Sheldon" chandelier in the living room because the Tom wanted something open and airy, gilded and with crystals. He especially liked the beaded fronds which are featured on the central band.

As soon as it was hung, we knew it was perfect for the room!

Next, it was time to hang the one in the dining room. Working closely with Tom, I created a piece that would be a good partner for the one in the living room. It is also gilded with crystals, but more ornate and festive.

We made sure to hang it at just the right height for the table as well as for the mirror we wanted to reflect it.

It has twelve lights which hang in pairs from six places around the band. There are leaves on each arm as well as spokes which radiate out from the center which form a relationship with the medallion above.

 

The mirror placed over the mantel reflects both the living and dining room chandeliers, doubling the effect of each.

 

I love the spare and uncluttered look of these rooms which create the perfect backdrop for these two over the top chandeliers. Since these pictures were shot, the addition of some great pieces of art has made these rooms complete.

As everyone knows, the city of New Orleans is in the deepest throes of the Saints going to the Superbowl! There is nowhere that this is more true than at Julie Neill Designs! We can barely contain ourselves, wearing our black and gold garb, sporting our Who Dat t-shirts, and talking about nothing else. This morning we took time before going to the studio to have a "WhoDat" breakfast at Slim Goodies, a wonderful diner down the street from our shop, which has been painted with the
Black and Gold and emblazoned with "Go Saints"  painted on their front window.

Caught up as we are in the Saints excitement, we couldn't help but coming up with a couple of chandeliers dedicated to our team! We're gonna light their way to winning the Superbowl!

The first one we made was all New Orleans, and all out! It has a crown of fleur de lis, and a heaping of Saints beads with the black and  gold fleur de lis as well as some pearls and crystal  strands thrown in.

We created it in true Who Dat style, with nothing held back and an exuberant appreciation for the black and gold, it's all -out New Orleans fun.

Mary and Jennifer, the two biggest Who Dats in our group are so proud of their handiwork! Aren't they the cutest Saints fans?

Of course we had to hang it in the window of the shop...Because we're lighting up the way to a big win for our Saints!!

So many of our neighbors have put out the Black and Gold in support of our team.

Here's what jewelry designer Mignon Faget's shop looks like these days.

Peggy Stafford had this gorgeous tile mural made to decorate the front of her fabulous Stafford Tile and Stone.

Katy Beh flies the flags of the Who Dat nation at her jewelry shop.

 

Even Our Lady of Good Counsel church can't help but display its team "spirit"!

Julie Ponze, our Sales Director has made dressing "Who Dat" a fashion statement.

I'm "wearing" the next chandelier we came up with. It's black crystal with gilded fleur de lis and gold crystals and some Saints fleur de lis thrown in for fun.

It seems that all we can do in New Orleans this week is eat,

(there's Mary with a "Saints in the Superbowl" cake.

drink and party till it's all over.

This photo from nola.com shows that Who Dat's know how to party New Orleans Style.

We will be closed on Monday as a recovery day because partying will be epic! I hear many businesses will do the same.

There will be a day of rest in the Who Dat Nation because New Orleanians will be celebrating all night long, and we're so proud of our team!

 

No city loves their football team more than we do!

Geaux Saints!