Designer Karyl Pierce Paxton's Home

After Hurricane Katrina, former interior designer (she is a lighting and product designer now) Karyl Pierce Paxton renovated her Queen Anne cottage in New Orleans completely. French and eclectic, she used a soft palette throughout the house and decorated it with African and New Guinean pieces and her collection of Catholic works of art and religious icons.<p><img id="fb_image" src="http://www.housebeautiful.com/cm/housebeautiful/images/o5/4-frenchlasts-exterior-0108-xlg.jpg" style="top: -55px; left: 44px; width: 470px; height: 600px;" /></p><p>The Queen Anne cottage has cut-out wooden trim, turned columns, a quirky horizontal balustrade, and fish-scale shingles on the second floor.</p><p><img id="fb_image" src="http://www.housebeautiful.com/cm/housebeautiful/images/Vh/7-frenchlasts-patio-0108-xlg.jpg" style="top: -55px; left: 44px; width: 469px; height: 599px;" /></p><p>Paxton transformed a diminutive backyard into a brick courtyard.</p><p><img id="fb_image" src="http://www.housebeautiful.com/cm/housebeautiful/images/Il/1-frenchlasts-diningroom-0108-xlg.jpg" style="top: -55px; left: 44px; width: 470px; height: 600px;" /></p><p>In her dining room, a French neoclassical-style dining table, circa 1800, wears its original paint. Louis XVI-style chairs and orange embroidered Indian silk curtains complete the look.<br /></p><p><img id="fb_image" src="http://www.housebeautiful.com/cm/housebeautiful/images/TQ/2-frenchlasts-diningroom-0108-xlg.jpg" style="top: -55px; left: 44px; width: 469px; height: 599px;" /></p><p>An Italian console holds a silver tea set from Paxton's grandmother, sculptures from New Guinea and Africa and lamps she designed herself. Behind them is a dramatic painting by David Harouni. an artist who fled from Iran and moved to New Orleans.</p><p><img id="fb_image" src="http://www.housebeautiful.com/cm/housebeautiful/images/xc/3-frenchlasts-livingroom-0108-xlg.jpg" style="top: -55px; left: 44px; width: 469px; height: 599px;" /></p><p>In the front parlor, a circa 1800 French mirror reflects a Rococo-style chandelier.<br /></p><p><img id="fb_image" src="http://www.housebeautiful.com/cm/housebeautiful/images/eN/6-frenchlasts-livingroom-0108-xlg.jpg" style="top: -5px; left: -6px; width: 468px; height: 366px;" /></p><p>In the second parlor, a pair of Louis XVI fauteuils with their faded needlepoint seats and backs made from antique Aubusson tapestries.</p><img id="fb_image" src="http://www.housebeautiful.com/cm/housebeautiful/images/hA/12-frenchlasts-parlor-0108-xlg.jpg" style="top: -55px; left: 44px; width: 470px; height: 600px;" /><p>French parlor suite. The twig and leaves floor lamp was made by Paul Gruer. He hand-sculpted each individual part in clay, fired it, and painted it.</p><p><img id="fb_image" src="http://www.housebeautiful.com/cm/housebeautiful/images/dY/8-frenchlasts-table-0108-xlg.jpg" style="top: -55px; left: 44px; width: 472px; height: 603px;" /></p><p>A crusty Empire mirror from a flea market leans on a demi-lune table.<br /></p><p><img id="fb_image" src="http://www.housebeautiful.com/cm/housebeautiful/images/5A/9-frenchlasts-hall-0108-xlg.jpg" style="top: -55px; left: 44px; width: 498px; height: 636px;" /></p><p>The side hall distinguishes this type of New Orleans house.<br /></p><p><img id="fb_image" src="http://www.housebeautiful.com/cm/housebeautiful/images/yt/10-frenchlasts-desk-0108-xlg.jpg" style="top: -55px; left: 44px; width: 497px; height: 635px;" /></p><p>An Italian painted desk makes the side hall into a usable room rather than a pass-through space.<br /></p><p><img id="fb_image" src="http://www.housebeautiful.com/cm/housebeautiful/images/Pf/11-frenchlasts-kitchen-0108-xlg.jpg" style="top: -55px; left: 44px; width: 498px; height: 636px;" /></p><p>A 19th-century Louisiana wood table takes center stage in a kitchen painted Benjamin Moore's Cloud White. Even in the kitchen there is a touch of drama with full length draperies.<br /></p><p><img id="fb_image" src="http://www.housebeautiful.com/cm/housebeautiful/images/a4/13-frenchlasts-guestroom-0108-xlg.jpg" style="top: -55px; left: 44px; width: 497px; height: 635px;" /></p><p>Paxton decorated her ultra-feminine guest room to feel like a bed-and-breakfast in the south of France. To keep a rustic feeling, Paxton used salvaged cypress floorboards from a barn and left quarter-inch gaps between boards.<br /></p><p><img id="fb_image" src="http://www.housebeautiful.com/cm/housebeautiful/images/9S/14-frenchlasts-bath-0108-xlg.jpg" style="top: -55px; left: 44px; width: 498px; height: 636px;" /></p><p>Double French doors in the master bathroom open to the courtyard, screened by a ten-foot cedar fence. The sink base is an 18th-century French buffet.</p><p><img id="fb_image" src="http://www.housebeautiful.com/cm/housebeautiful/images/NR/5-frenchlasts-patio-0108-xlg.jpg" style="top: -55px; left: 44px; width: 499px; height: 637px;" /></p><p>The master bathroom's French doors open onto a tiny courtyard. Paxton added the wraparound back porch in typical Victorian style.<br /></p><p><img id="fb_image" src="http://www.housebeautiful.com/cm/housebeautiful/images/hC/15-frenchlasts-masterbedroom-0108-xlg.jpg" style="top: -55px; left: 44px; width: 500px; height: 639px;" /></p><p>The master bedroom's walls are Benjamin Moore's Pittsfield Buff. A drawing by Mario Villa hangs between sconces made especially for that spot by Paul Gruer.</p><p>Photography by Kerri McCaffetty.</p><p>All images and information from <a href="http://www.housebeautiful.com/">here</a>.<br /></p>

Designer Karyl Pierce Paxton's Home

After Hurricane Katrina, former interior designer (she is a lighting and product designer now) Karyl Pierce Paxton renovated her Queen Anne...

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