M Residence

New Orleans has always had its own interior design grammar — a city that blends European elegance, Caribbean warmth, and deep Southern character in a way that resists imposition from outside. The M Residence brief asked us to bring a tropical, natural-material sensibility to a New Orleans home without losing the city's essential character.

The result is a residence that feels entirely at home in the Garden District while incorporating the Indonesian craft tradition that defines Azula Designs' work. The kitchen island — a custom-designed centrepiece in warm timber — bridges the cooking zone and the living room in an open-plan arrangement that works for both everyday family life and New Orleans-style entertaining.

Staircase hanging lights are the project's most dramatic moment: a custom pendant installation that cascades down the stairwell, providing a focal point visible from both the entrance hall and the living room below. The effect is theatrical without being excessive — exactly the register New Orleans architecture demands.

The home office is designed as a serious working environment that doesn't sacrifice residential warmth: custom shelving, considered lighting, and materials that are consistent with the wider house palette.

A tropical garden — planted and styled to bring the Indonesian natural aesthetic into the New Orleans climate — completes the project and makes the connection between indoors and outdoors explicit in a way that feels natural to both the city's culture and Azula Designs' Balinese roots.