When the New Orleans Home and Garden Show launched in 1957, home trends reflected the burgeoning post-war American middle class with ranch-style homes, Cape Cods, soft pastel palettes and the debut of appliances like vacuum cleaners and toasters. Open floor plans were gaining popularity, too.
The midcentury modern aesthetic, emphasizing functionality and clean lines, gained traction with features like vertical paneling, exposed wooden ceiling beams, and plywood cabinetry.
Sixty-eight years later, the home show continues to bear witness to the times, ever watchful as many of those design trends have returned, only to fade away again.
This year’s show returns to the Caesars Superdome after an interim stint of two years at the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center while the Dome was being renovated. It will focus on a blend of functionality, style and innovative technology.
Interior design trends will center on bringing natural elements into the home, such as earthy neutrals instead of stark whites and cool grays, and the resurgence of maximalism with an embrace of color, abundance, and personal expression. Homeowners are creating spaces that are rich in visual interest and personality through the use of sustainable materials and retro elements.
There also are other abundant resources, from caring for your pet or acquiring one to making your house a home.
A few highlights:
Up, up and away, sort of
Thrill seeker and scaredy cat all at once? This one’s for you. For the first time, two hot air balloons will take riders up for a new way to elevate your experience in the Superdome and Home Show. However, there is no chance of crashing into the Dome’s Skybox: The balloons will be tethered with ropes for the three-minute rides that will take participants about 20 feet in the air. The cost is $35 per person, $25 for each day’s first 100 people. Balloon ride tickets can only be purchased inside the event, near the balloon area.
A portion of the proceeds will go to the nonprofit New Orleans Education League of the Construction Industry to repair low-income elderly homeowner’s properties in the New Orleans area.
Paint perfector
Ready to make a long-term commitment to the exterior color of your house? RhinoShield MidSouth can minister this marriage for you. Its exterior coatings provide a long-lasting, fade-proof solution for homes crafted of wood, brick, stucco, metal and vinyl backed with a 25-year warranty.
RhinoShield, Booth 1012
Doggo dining
Our devotion to animal companions only seems to intensify in uncertain times; their love is something we can always rely on. The Pet’s Table, a new high-quality meal subscription service for pets from HelloFresh, will share the virtues of custom-crafted, home-delivered meals meant to keep your four-legged loved ones happy and healthy.
The Pet’s Table, Booth 913
Plant person
In keeping with the strong trends toward biophilic design, which incorporates elements like plants, sunlight and organic materials into the home to create a connection with nature, Theresa Thomas, “The Crazy Plant Bae,” will conduct a series of gardening seminars with guidance on keeping both indoor and outdoor foliage healthy.
Gardening and Storm Prep Seminar Stage, Booth 134
Air washed
The Ritello Home Purifier uses water to trap dust, dirt, germs and dust mites inside its water basin, 'cause wet dust can’t fly! The device also removes unpleasant odors through deodorizing and aromatherapy.
Ritello, Booth 918
Catch the buzz
Simply Cannabis, a New Orleans-based purveyor of hemp-derived, recreational THC and cannabis products, will be on hand to turn you on to their sodas and gummies, which are lab-tested, legal and registered with the Louisiana Department of Health, so you can chill out in your crib.
Simply Cannabis, Booth 710
Old school meets cutting edge
Love the rich sound of classic vinyl but not the clutter needed to play them — a receiver, a turntable, speakers, wires? High Fidelity’s Stereo Audio System with Turntable allows you to play albums with just a turntable and wireless speakers.
Dynamic Audio & Video, Booth 705
The Bark Park will have information on pet health needs.
Feel the love
The Bark Park will feature adoptable dogs and cats from animal rescue centers and resources for owners, including information on service animals and solutions for pet health needs. There will also be demonstrations and dog meet and greets.
Bark Park, Booth 122
Green thumb
Crazy Plant Bae is a three-generation family-owned business of five plant-crazy women.
For over 40 years, this family has spread plant joy from its show in the historic Treme neighborhood.
Crazy Plant Bae, Booth 138
Behind the door
Does your front door announce something more akin to “haunted house” than “elegant home” or even “kickin’ crib?” If it’s time to upgrade the first impression of your house, Doors of Elegance represents an extensive collection of beveled glass doors, wrought iron doors, elegant French doors and carved solid wood doors.
Doors for Elegance, Booth 514
ForeverLawn blends in well with natural landscaping.
No mo' mowng
Forget droughts, freezes, mowing and all the mess and stress by using ForeverLawn Gulf South’s natural-looking synthetic grass. It works for residential and commercial properties and comes in more than 20 varieties.
ForeverLawn, Booth 101
New life for old wood
Using modern innovation, the Olde Mill handcrafts architectural beams, mantels, engineered flooring, cabinets, floating shelves, door headers, posts and custom wood products from reclaimed wood. The company sources structural timbers from salvaged antique longleaf pine, white oak and cypress, then re-mills them into hardwood sheets that are laminated onto sturdy engineered wood. The result is a product that prevents warping and twisting.
The Olde Mill, Booth 1047
An ounce of prevention
A series of seminars will be offered on fortified roofing, wind mitigation, ways to lower insurance costs and other ways to prepare your home for the unexpected, which seems to be all anyone can expect these days.
Gardening and Storm Prep Seminar Stage, Booth 134
Recycled glass bottles turned into sand are stored at different size grains at Glass Half Full in New Orleans.
Glass Half Full
Two college co-eds were killing a bottle of wine when the idea for Glass Half Full struck. Since then, they have recycled over 8 million pounds of glass. The glass is collected from residences, commercial partners and special events and processed into sand, which is used in coastal restoration projects, for flood mitigation and into other glass products for home and garden.
Glass Half Full, Booth 1015
Kim and Hung Nguyen built Josh.AI into their new Slidell home.
AI that learns your routines around the house
Like it or not, not only is artificial intelligence here to stay, but chances are it will also move in with you. According to Statista Research Department, by 2028, over 103 million homes will be considered "smart homes" using some form of home automation.
This goes beyond telling Alexa to “turn off the lights” or “set a timer.”
The Home Show will feature Josh.AI, the newest advanced home technology, at the Pemba (Professional Engineering Masters of Better Automation) Booth. This home automation system uses AI technology that, among other things, adapts to the user's voice and behavior.
The shades for the windows in the home of Kim and Hung Nguyen are controlled by saying 'Josh, window shades up.' That function could also be incorporated into a single command designed to complete multiple function.
For example, suppose your routine is to go into the kitchen first thing in the morning, turn on a specific light, raise a shade and flick on the coffee maker. In that case, Josh will begin to pick up on those behaviors and eventually do those tasks for you the minute you walk into the kitchen in the morning.
Josh anticipates your routine without you having to say anything. It is intuitive. It figures you out and gives you what you want before you even ask for it.
When Kim and Hung Nguyen built their dream home, they went all in with Josh AI.
“He went crazy,” Kim Nguyen said of her husband. “He automated everything. I tried to stop him, but then I just said, ‘You do you.'”
The Nguyens are electrical contractors. Hung Nguyen studied home automation years ago, so he had long desired an automated home.
Josh has advanced language processing, so one need only to speak naturally when asking Josh to do something. Users can have code words for multiple tasks — like saying, “Good night, Josh,” and it will accomplish however many tasks you wish to happen before you go to bed — turn on/off lights, double check doors, play music in the bedroom, whatever you’ve programmed that command to do. Users can program Josh to accept voice commands, touch controls and commands through an app or text.
“I love it,” Kim Nguyen said. “Josh ain’t cheap, but I absolutely love it. We both work a lot, constantly, so when we are home, Josh anticipates and does everything for us. We can relax. No more ‘Josh, turn on the lights’ because Josh knows when to do it. If I say ‘bubble bath,’ Josh sets the lighting I like for a bubble bath.”
Patricia Smith founded Pemba in 1997. She specializes in the design and programming of lighting and automation. She worked with the Nguyens on the system for their home.
“For the Nguyen residence, they were building their forever home and wanted a way to control everything easily,” she said. “They didn’t want to learn a lot of systems, and they wanted current technology. They implemented Josh.AI so that Josh could respond to their voices in all rooms without needing to hold a remote or phone.
"Kim tells me she just loves when Josh opens and closes her bedroom shades just because she asks. She loves that Josh appears to learn what lights she needs when she returns from the grocery with her hands loaded with bags. She loves that Josh can lower her shades but leave them open just enough for her orchids. We installed the Josh.AI mini microphones in each room so they do not need to lift a finger to talk to Josh.”
Control panels for the Josh.AI system show notes to help Kim and Hung Nguyen learn to use it.
Josh also can interface with other systems such as smart TVs, or existing programmed lighting systems. If you upgrade to Josh.AI, it will intuitively take over and combine the tasks from the other smart devices you have in place.
Only the system’s processor is hardwired in the home. Otherwise, it works with all smart devices via Wi-Fi or ethernet.
Josh is also “cognizant” of homeowners’ privacy.
“It does not listen and record constantly,” Smith said. “Users must activate it by saying ‘OK Josh’ or pressing a remote or phone app button. Users can also choose not to record or save interactions. Also, unlike many AI systems, Josh.AI does not sell user data. It has a built-in Open AI’s ChatGBT. This means that when you talk with Josh, you can also ask questions such as ‘what is the distance to the moon' or 'what are some casserole suggestions to bring to a pot-luck dinner?’ All while enjoying your privacy.
“The future I see for Josh.AI is to function as a home concierge. Current capabilities include analyzing camera feeds and providing descriptions like ‘A man with a red shirt, shorts and a white hat is at the door.’ Future updates may allow Josh.AI to take actions based on camera analysis.”
Pemba, Booth 410
Cutting the clutter that controls sound
Jamie Gannon founded Dynamic Audio Video in 2001 during the infancy of smart home automation. This year, his rapidly growing company’s presence at the home show will focus on hidden, or discreet, technology.
Sonance "Invisible" Speakers allow homeowners to hide speakers and subwoofers completely within a wall or ceiling while maintaining the pure sound of the speaker. The technology merges high-fidelity audio into architecture and interior design, transforming the acoustics of any space while respecting its original aesthetic. Invisible speakers start at about $800 a pair, plus installation.
Lutron lighting control and motorized shades allow homeowners to control all lights and shades in their homes from a single keypad instead of the wall clutter of multiple traditional light switches. The technology can be controlled through a mobile app, so the lights are on to welcome you no matter when you show up.
“A typical customer interested in one of these services tends to focus on aesthetics and convenience,” Gannon said. “They have carefully worked with interior designers and architects and do not want to disturb the home's overall feel; they would rather have their technology disappear.”
A basic lighting control system starts around $1,500, and motorized shading has an average of about $1,200 each.
“In this field, we have job security because technology is always evolving and progressing,“ Gannon said. “Since most technology systems are app based, and not hardware based like in the earlier years, systems are easily upgradable. The hardware stays the same, but as technology grows, the manufacturers may offer improvements to functionality ... by releasing a simple software upgrade.
Dynamic Audio & Video, Booth 705
New Orleans Home & Garden Show
What: The 68th annual show presents the latest in home and garden trends, technology, building and more.
Where: Caesars Superdome
When: Noon to 7 p.m. March 28; 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. March 29; 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. March 30
Tickets: Advance tickets available online, $8. $15 at the door, with children under 12 free. Military, veterans, first responders half-price at the door only.
Parking: Garage 6, 1500 Sugar Bowl Drive
More info: neworleanshomeshows.com
