Celebrating Mardi Gras, an annual festival which serves as a last hurrah before Lent begins, is all in the family. My husband grew up in New Orleans, the epicenter of Mardi Gras festivities, and he was eager to pass along the tradition with our family.
When we can’t make it in person, we host Mardi Gras-themed dinners, but nothing can replace being at the parades with thousands of other people (many in costumes), collecting beaded necklaces and other treats thrown from the floats, and admiring the decorated houses along each parade route.
There are more than 70 parades during Mardi Gras, thrown by different social organizations or “krewes”, and we took our own crew to three this year: Hermes, Iris, and Tucks. Each krewe has its own fascinating history: the Krewe of Iris, for example, is the oldest and largest female Carnival organization and its members don white gloves and masks for their parade, while the Krewe of Hermes was founded during the Great Depression and became one of the first groups to revive their festivities after Hurricane Katrina.
The parades offer a tour of New Orleans architecture, winding their way through Italianate mansions, Greek-Revival style homes, Creole cottages, double gallery houses, and more.
The impressive iron balconies, stately columns, and unexpected color combinations never fail to remind me how different cultures and traditions can come together to create new, inspiring styles.
New Orleanians are serious about design, but they are very playful when it comes to their Mardi Gras decorations, offering opportunities for passersby to revel in bold colors (including the signature Mardi Gras purple, gold, and green), next level whimsical creatures, and oversized florals.
For a city that has seen its fair share of challenges over the years, Mardi Gras provides an opportunity year after year to celebrate the unique history of New Orleans and its varied influences. That’s a sentiment we carry through our approach to the design process as well: we firmly believe that your home should tell the story of you and your family and celebrate your traditions and interests.
From incorporating family heirlooms into a collection to sprinkling treasures that you picked up during travels throughout your space to incorporating design details that make a big impact, we love helping make your home feel like a reflection of you, your values, and your path to the present.
Cover photo by Laura Steffan
