Maybe you already have a home in Louisiana and you’re just looking to spruce up the place, or maybe you’re moving here and want to figure out how to blend in with the locals. Or maybe you’re just curious how we live down in America's boot. It could be anything, really. We don’t know your life.

Regardless of whatever brought you here, we hope the following guide is helpful.

There are four main styles of interior design here in Louisiana, but there's endless variation between them. Feel free to mix-and-match as needed, especially if you're going for a true Cajun aesthetic. But more on that in a minute.

DISCLAIMER: This is, by no means, an exhaustive list. Every part of Louisiana has its own unique style. For instance, you might see a lot of Fluer-de-lis in New Orleans, and they like to put frogs on things over in Rayne. These are just four of the most common styles you can find most anywhere in the state.

So don't yell at us.


 

THE LSU HOME

 

Mike Soileau
Mike Soileau
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There’s nothing we love more here in Louisiana than our state university. (Not counting beer and crawfish and gumbo and drive-thru daiquiris and, and, and…ok, whatever. We still love LSU a lot, though.)

We like to show that love in lots of ways, from paying extra for an LSU-themed vanity license plate to decorating our homes in all Tigers everything. In other parts of the country (except maybe for Prince’s house), purple decor might seem out of place, but not here in LSU Land. Want a purple sofa in your living room and gold drapes on the windows? No problem! Ain’t nobody gonna judge you, sha.

Just be sure to accessorize the rest of the room accordingly. Maybe get a stuffed Tiger mascot and put it in an LSU doghouse next to the TV - just make sure it’s got an LSU collar on, though. Nobody really looks at clocks anymore, but hanging up an LSU wall clock somewhere in the room is pretty essential. If you really want to get fancy, stick some LSU throw pillows on that purple sofa, keep your beer in an LSU koozie, and make sure the words ‘Geaux Tigers’ are displayed in at least 37 different places. Go ahead and stick an LSU helmet somewhere people can’t help but notice it, too. Just for good measure.


 

THE SAINTS HOME

 

New Orleans Saints Fans Watch NFC Championship Game
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This one’s a lot like the LSU home, but with black and gold instead of purple and gold. (We really like our gold around here.)

The key difference between a Saints home and an LSU one is that you’ll need to only buy things that have a Fluer-de-lis on them, and make sure ‘Who dat?’ features prominently in your decor. The rest of the decorating can pretty much go the same way as LSU, but with Saints stuff replacing all the Tigers.

You’ll also need your TV permanently tuned to the latest game, or a recording of the previous game, or at least a show that’s talking about the current season. Or the upcoming one. It doesn’t really matter, just so long as it’s always on something about the Saints at all times, at every moment of every day.


 

THE 'EVERY SOUTHERN WOMAN IS A QUEEN' HOME

 

Tina Disher
Tina Disher
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This particular style of decorating usually comes in pink first, while all the other colors need to take a number and get in line. Maintaining a delicate balance between being just a little bit gaudy and drowning in a criminal overabundance of tulle, this type of home has one and only one message to send: It's a woman's world. There rest of us are just tourists.

This style isn't for everyone, of course, and requires a strong, independent woman who isn't afraid to tell you exactly what's on her mind at all times. Even if your don't want to hear it. Especially if you don't want to hear it.

Walking into a home decorated this way, expect to hear common phrases such as, "Bless your heart" accompanied by approximately 27,000 instances of the words "sha baby" appearing at the end of every other sentence.

Don't mistake this type of decor for anything elsewhere in the country. Southern women are unique and special - especially Louisiana women - and woe be unto you, if you ever forget that.


 

THE CAJUN PRIDE HOME

 

Creole Cotton Designs
Creole Cotton Designs
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This house is all about crawfish, gators, and gumbo, and not necessarily in that order. Of course, the average suburban home is just trying to give off the impression of being a true Cajun house on the bayou, but there’s really no way to achieve that without a lot of driftwood, at least one metric ton of Spanish moss, and importing as many mosquitos as possible directly into your living room.

But for people who just want to show their Cajun pride, there are a lot of options available. For starters, make sure everything looks as ‘rustic’ as possible - this means buying some of those wooden signs people make that look handmade (because they are), and aren’t factory-perfect. Use a lot of natural wood and - now this is important - make sure to incorporate as much rusty metal into your decor as possible. Throwing in a little taxidermy here and there wouldn't hurt, either. (Or stick some sparkly bits on a stuffed fish and call it Blingidermy, if you're into that sort of thing. We don't judge.)

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After that, achieving the “Cajun effect” is simply a matter of taking everything you love about Louisiana, mixing it all up, then vomiting it all over your house. The idea is to give everything a haphazard, thrown-together look that somehow works despite how much it shouldn’t. Because that's Louisiana.

Put a few LSU things up in one room, a few Saints things in another, then just start throwing crawfish and gators and Mardi Gras beads all over the place until everything starts coming together. Let cool, then add Fluer-de-lis to taste.

To really sell the experience, remember to openly display onions, bell peppers, and celery in your kitchen, and keep a pot on the stove with flour and butter available at all times. The impression you want to give off is that you’re always just about to make a roux at any given moment. (Pro tip: keeping a crawfish boiler over in the corner wouldn’t hurt.)

Mike Soileau
Mike Soileau
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The true secret to pulling of Cajun decor is to successfully blend together a whole bunch of disconnected things that have no business going together, but somehow manage to add up to more than the sum of their parts that end up seeming perfectly natural in the end. Turn your home into a melting pot, then sit back and watch it all come together.

That’s just how we do it here in Louisiana.


 

There you have it! All you need to know about decorating your Louisiana home. Now go out there and buy some curtains or something.

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