For interior designer Jeanne Barousse, her chosen profession runs in her family. Barousse was influenced early on by her mother’s cousin, who was an interior designer in north Louisiana.
That led to Barousse obtaining an interior design degree from LSU in the early 1980s, and then spending more than three decades dedicated to the design work with which she grew up.
Working mostly on residential design projects, Barousse and her team have developed a design philosophy that sticks to a path familiar to many following a family legacy.
“We enjoy working with the things that clients have and have collected over the years,” she says. “We like to help them cull things out to bring out an edited version of their personality in each home.”
The design projects that bring Barousse the most joy are weekend homes, where she says clients tend to be more creative with their choices and more focused on relaxing in the finished home.
“It’s a time to get creative mixing old finds and new finds, old art and new art,” she says. “It’s critically important in a weekend home that everything be very comfortable and that all the seating is well scaled and comfortable to sit on; that you’ve got a table next to a chair to put your drink on and an ottoman to rest your feet on.”
A favorite project in Poplarville, Mississippi, was designed to maximize the client’s relaxation while incorporating lofty spaces, a mix of eclectic pieces and new round iron light fixtures.
“We used lots of natural linen with lots of organic design on the linen,” she says.
The completed effect is as warm and welcoming a space as a family looking to relax a weekend away on the banks of the Wolf River could hope.
In a getaway home, Barousse likes to design bedrooms that can be used as cozy areas to escape everything with a good book.
“In bedrooms, I like to make sure that we have adequate lighting for reading, and that we have lights that can be dimmed to give you varying levels of light,” she says. “Also, a comfortable chair and an ottoman are always great features to have in a bedroom.”
Jeanne Barousse Designs
2727 Prytania St., 504-897-5428
JeanneBarousseDesigns.com
Instagram @JeanneBarousseDesigns
Facebook @JeanneBarousseHome
