Licenses of the Scandinavian design include natural lighting and elements (especially wood); soft, steamed colors; And a general simplicity to create an elegant, comfortable room. This is exactly what Adie Kaplan Mears and her husband Brian Mears wanted for their new home in Freret's neighborhood. The couple, who met in 2013, lived in an existing home on the same property, but needed more space than their family grew (they now have two children: Ayla, 5 and Avi, 1). Adie, who studied architecture at Tulane University (who is now working in the film industry), had specific goals for the redesign of her house. After talking to many contractors, they and Brian found that the perfect solution was to destroy the existing home (with the exception of an existing garage) to make room for a new building.
The Mears turned to Alexander “Alec” Adamick, director of Adamick Architecture to bring their vision to life. “We chose Adamick Architecture because we had several friends and highly recommended them,” says Adie. “I had to fight what I wanted to look the outside of the house and they helped us find great options.”
Since the Mears wanted to keep the existing garage, the Adamick Architecture team proposed a New Orleans Townhouse style for the new home. “Adamick has great ideas for the windows, especially in front of the house, with the bump-out in our office,” says Adie. “I had told you something colorful wooden planks, and I think it's great that you developed the idea to do this not only on the entire veranda, but also on the bump-out. The warm wood makes the entrance look really inviting and it dives against the painted siding. “
According to Adamick, ADie was the driving force behind the architectural aesthetics. “I worked with her to lead the general spatial planning,” he says. “Alex Barthel and Judy La did the outer design. We worked with the customer to ensure that the overall concept would work with your vision. “
The resulting 3000 square meter house has a ground floor with a veranda. a powder room; a pantry; an open kitchen, a living and dining area; And a covered rear veranda. A thoughtful, contemporary staircase leads to a second floor with a scope for the children, a home office, a bathroom, two children's sleeping rooms, a walk -in washroom and a main suite. By placing the play area and the office in front of the house, the bedrooms keep privacy by being off the street. “Ultimately, like many customers, all interior selection, and we worked with her to realize some of these visions (such as the custom staircase and the custom niche in the hall and the main bath),” says Adamick.
For the new home, Adie wanted to be clean and modern design, while she adapts to the aesthetics of the New Orleans Architecture. “One of the most important things for us was natural light,” she says. “The other thing was a high ceiling height. We now have 10-foot ceilings on the lower and top floor. I wanted the room to be light and airy and modern, but not sterile. We also wanted an open floor plan so that we could see our children while cooking and so that we could be part of everything while we talked. “
In fact, one of Adies's favorite rooms is the play room on the upper floor. It is open to the hallway and has a vertical colored-good screen on which the stairs overlooks. “It is really fun to be able to go down the stairs and still see whoever is in the playroom,” she says. “It has a window/storage bank with a view of the Valence Street with many windows and large light.”
Adie also loves the front entry that contains a bank in the stairs with another stained wooden screen such as that in the playroom. “I love how open and inviting it feels,” she says. “Another favorite design feature in the house is the arched niche on the top of the stairs. It's a nice moment. I love to stop and look at the photos in the white oak shelves, and I just take everything. Another special place is our combination of walk-in shower and soaking tub in the master bath. I love the appearance of the room -high tiles and I love to have the waving tub in the shower that almost create a nastroom. We decided not to put a glass on the threshold; It feels the shower and the bathing area as if it were a large room. “
In the meantime, the Mears opted for kitchen cupboards that end with a built -in bench that has found seating for a dining table (which ADIE found on an inspiration photo). “We didn't want a formal dining room and I thought [this solution] Would be perfect for our family and our lifestyle, ”she says.
In addition to the wooden screens and the combination of shower/bathroom, other custom elements, the front steps, the rear veranda (with the same stained wood from the front of the house) and the front window in the home office. “Brian and Adie both work from home, so there is a great office in front of the house on the second floor,” says Adamick. “This office space has a unique front window that is a design element. The staff looked at the traditional architecture in New Orleans to create a mass and then added the mass to create a new form. “
The challenges during the process included work within the budget and at the same time the design goals of Adie. “Adie made some great purchases to find floors that worked in their vision and were in the budget,” says Adamick. “So the customers did a really great job to overcome a budget that was not unlimited, and to get a really nice contemporary design that is often more expensive than traditional constructions.”
When it came to the interiors, Adie took over the reins to increase the rooms that Adamick architecture designed so thoughtfully. She opted for a neutral color scheme (e.g. gray/light taupe cabinets in the kitchen, constructed white oak floors and white walls), with exception in the bathing rooms. “I love say Green, so I knew that I wanted our championship Sage -Green -Wandfliesen,” she says. “It's such a calming color. I took a risk in the children's pool, with mint green tiles with black. I love old vintage bathroom with colored tiles and black pencil forms, but I wanted to do something more modern. “
Adie also opted for Farrow & Ball Mizzle (her favorite green tone), whom she halfway up the walls in Avi's room to suggest a modern waining paper. And in Ayla's room, a colleague from the film industry had a simple pink mural of the sun on a wall.
Overall, Adie says that the new home of the family satisfies many needs that they lacked in the previous home. “Our old house was so small and cramped that we couldn't really escape each other at all,” she says. “Now there are so many different rooms that must be either alone or as a whole family. The high ceilings and the room make it so much easier to breathe. Something that we definitely want to add is a pool in our garden. We have plans to redesign the garden and transform the dandruff into a small modern pool house/Cabana. Stay up to date in a few years. “