Designer Blair Price approaches her work with an eye to history. For Price, each project offers an opportunity to draw stories from the city’s historic homes and reflect them in designs that often hint at her own family lineage, which includes Creole roots on the maternal side tracing back to an early nineteenth century French Quarter lacemaker. “I feel like I’m always pulling from some memory of a rice bed and chenille bedspreads,” said Price. “All these little tidbits from Creole – it feels like home when I’m bringing them into a space.”
Price found her design instincts early, leafing through her mother’s ever-present stack of shelter magazines or visiting her father at work in the French Quarter at Hurwitz Mintz Furniture (with a requisite beignet stop). She experimented with art and printmaking then studied graphic design at Loyola, where she immersed herself in textiles and patterns. “I used to do linoleum block prints on contact paper and faux tile our dorm bathroom,” recalled Price. “I have never really been able to sit still with it.”
That energy led her to an associate degree in interior design, followed by experience with Julie Neill Designs and Ethan Allen, where she served as an interior design consultant, helping clients create custom pieces and gaining valuable skills in the process. “I started thinking, ‘Wow, it would be really cool to be able to do this completely on my own and incorporate that quirky vintage chair and all these different accessories that weren’t in the catalog,’” said Price. When the store closed in 2019, she decided to start her business.
Price finds inspiration through travels ranging from Havana to Europe, seeking out textiles, architecture, and antiques and ferrying home flea market finds in her hard-sided suitcase. She weaves these treasures into eclectic interiors that meld past and present – and, whether through a vibrant red kitchen or eye-catching wallpaper – tell their own tales.
“Working within these houses that are so ancient and have so many stories, it’s all about pulling out their best features,” said Price. “Just knowing how people used to use those spaces inspires me to play off that.”
Contact: blairprice.com
