This weekend, the New Orleans Home and Garden Show includes a Container Village, where former shipping containers of multiple sizes are on display, retrofitted for daily use. Local designers, including myself, were asked to design and stage shipping containers for this weekend's event to show that these containers can actually be lived in! We teamed up with The Benjamin Collectibles Collectibles (http://thebenjamincollection.com for the buildout of this fun, exciting project! Check out how we transformed this shipping container from drab to fab in the photos below!

Don't believe me that these containers are really livable? Read this article to see how one young, Uptown New Orleans couple bought two freight containers and turned them into a modern, efficient and eco-friendly home! http://www.nola.com/homegarden/index.ssf/2015/03/an_uptown_couple_converts_a_fo.html

The home's open layout is roomy enough for a sofa, five chairs, a kitchen island, two bicycles, a standing fan, bookshelves for 400 books and a 10-foot desk -- all in 720 square feet. "That's not an uncommon dimension in New Orleans," said Rodewald-Bates, the homeowner. "If you've lived in a shotgun, the halls are narrow," he said, striding through his home's hall from kitchen to bedroom. " Day-to-day wise, you don't realize it's a container." Container architecture is an environmentally friendly design trend that re-uses steel intermodal containers as a structural building element. The low expense and wide availability of shipping containers -- as well as their sturdy, rectangular shape and weather resistance -- make them easy and efficient to use for new home construction!

Come visit me at the New Orleans Home & Garden Show this weekend to check out my booth and learn more about eco-friendly design! Friday 3/13/15 12:00-8:00, Saturday 3/14/15 10:00-8:00, and Sunday 3/15/15 10:00-6:00.