When designer, artist, and OLD BRAND NEW founder Dabito and his husband embarked on a ground-up new build in a New Orleans historic district, they devoted themselves to the challenge of preserving the storied spirit of the neighborhood while creating something completely new.

What emerged is a deeply personal whole-home project that balances architectural reverence with fearless color, sustainability with soul, and maximalist instinct with thoughtful restraint. It’s an example of how, in the hands of a visionary designer like Dabito, a new build can both honor history and become a timeless icon in its own right.

Dabito’s relationship with New Orleans began the way many great love stories do: impulsively. “Moving here was the ultimate spontaneous Aries move,” he says. “Back in 2014, on only my third date with my now-husband, I decided to take a quick detour to New Orleans to see if this relationship would work before I moved back to LA.”

The detour turned into a revelation. “I live for a wild ride, and I immediately fell for the city’s carefree soul, the deep-rooted traditions, and the kaleidoscope of vibrant homes,” he explains. That sense of belonging—cultural, social, emotional—would become foundational to both their neighborhood search and the home they eventually built.

In a city celebrated for its historic architecture, choosing to build new can feel almost rebellious. For this couple, it wasn’t part of the original plan. “Building from scratch wasn’t even on my radar,” Dabito admits, “but my husband has a habit of spotting empty lots like they’re hidden treasure. He planted the seed, and after we missed out on an earlier opportunity, we knew we had to jump on this one.”

Beyond the allure of creative freedom, the decision to build was grounded in pragmatism and values. “Sustainability was huge for us,” he says. “We wanted a home that was actually energy-efficient—something most 100-year-old historic homes (bless their hearts) just aren’t.” As a result, the couple ended up with a newly built home that looks just as Dabito hoped it would: “like it had been gossiping on the block for centuries.”

The designer says he approached the project the way he’d approach any meaningful renovation: by studying what already works. After calling Los Angeles home for so long, he spent a lot of time researching homes in the NOLA neighborhood: Creole cottages, Greek Revivals, and Italianate villas, originally falling in love with the Eastlake style’s gingerbread spindles and intricate millwork.

One of the most transformative shifts from the cross-country move came in scale. “Coming from LA, where an eight-foot ceiling is the standard, working with 12-foot ceilings felt like the ultimate design luxury.” That generosity of proportion, and the endless possibilities (and choices) presented by a completely new construction, combined to become the designer’s ideal blank canvas—one that invited color, art, and drama that would perfectly encapsulate Dabito’s original vision.

Designing for oneself can be both liberating and brutal—sometimes simultaneously. Dabito says he’s grateful for the chance to learn so much along the way, and even though being your own client and collaborating with your spouse can come with just as many challenges as joys, he wouldn’t trade the experience for anything. In fact, he says he’d do it all over again in a heartbeat.

“The running joke during this project was that my husband was ‘the client’ and I was just the designer trying to keep him happy,” he says. But the creative freedom of designing his own home was a definitive upside. “Since I’m the one living here, I could dream as big (and as weird) as I wanted without having to sell a client on a bold move.”

And unlike a typical client project, there’s no emotional buffer. “Design paralysis is real,” he admits. “When you’re responsible for every light fixture, electrical outlet, and paint swatch simultaneously, your brain starts to melt. It’s a lot of pressure to put on yourself when you know you’re the one who has to live with a wrong choice.”

But in spite of the uncertainties, he says that some things were always clearly noted as must-haves. “For me, a home needs soul, which you only get by mixing in vintage pieces and antiques to give the space some age. Color is non-negotiable, obviously,” he adds. “And art is what finally makes the walls stop looking like a construction project and start looking like a home.”

Dabito says that the object of his obsession for this project was color—especially paint colors. The countless hours of decision-making and down-to-the-wire change orders were largely owed to the fact that choosing colors before walls existed pushed Dabito beyond his usual process. “Usually, I like to live in a space before I dress it,” he says. “So picking colors for a house that didn’t have walls yet was way out of my comfort zone.”

The obsession paid off, though. If color tells the story of this house, each room in Dabito’s NOLA dreamhouse reads like a distinct chapter—bold, intentional, and deeply considered, even if the link to traditional Mardi Gras colors was a happy accident. “We’ve got yellow, green, and purple in the mix. I basically accidentally painted a Mardi Gras parade!” he says. “It wasn't intentional, but in this city, it feels exactly right.”

He refers to the exterior as “the ultimate showdown: Me vs. ‘the client.’ He wanted green; I wanted a house that looked like a ray of sunshine. In New Orleans, you can get away with a vibrant yellow like Brittlebush SW 6684 (135-C6), so I eventually won out.” Stone Fruit SW 9699 (Designer Color Collection) shutters and Classical White SW 2829 (Historic) trim complete the cheerful facade. “But hey, it’s just paint—I’ve already told him we can go green in a few years.”

Dabito’s first and favorite pick, Borscht SW 7578 (276-C2) for the kitchen and wet bar, was a day-one decision that never wavered. Olivetone SW 9670 (Designer Color Collection) delivers drama in the powder room’s compact footprint. Creamy SW 7012 (261-C3) provides a warm neutral envelope, punctuated by Expressive Plum SW 6271 (229-C6) on the living room built-ins, and Aristocrat Peach SW 0027 (Historic)—“like living in a glowy sunset”—creates a soft and soothing moment of respite in the primary suite.

“The 2025 Colormix Forecast was my roadmap,” he says. “It helped me bridge the gap between bold and cohesive. I lived for the Wellspring palette,” he says. “Knowing those colors were curated by experts made the whole process feel like I had a design assistant helping me.”

For a project this color-forward, paint wasn’t just a finishing touch—it was a foundational design tool. And it was an element he entrusted to our Trendsight Team and his dedicated Account Executive, Ashlynn Bourque. “Sherwin-Williams was my absolute sanity-saver,” he says. “I leaned heavily into the historic collections because they are essentially fool-proof.”

Technical guidance mattered just as much. “Ashlynn was incredibly knowledgeable. She recommended Emerald Rain Refresh for the exterior to handle the New Orleans humidity and rain, which is a technical detail I might have overlooked.”

In the end, this New Orleans new build manages to both stand out and fit right in. It understands its neighborhood, honors its influences, and makes space for joy, color, and evolution. And perhaps most importantly, it might just inspire other homeowners and designers to do the same. “It shows clients that they can be brave with color and scale. I want my work to spark curiosity and empower people to stop playing it safe in their own homes.”

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All images courtesy of Dabito. Top image: Left — Aristocrat Peach SW 0027 (Historic) in Satin (walls) and Semi-Gloss (trim). Center — Creamy SW 7012 (261-C3) in Satin (walls) and Semi-Gloss (trim); Borscht SW 7578 (276-C2) in Semi-Gloss (cabinets). Right — Creamy SW 7012 (261-C3) in Satin (walls) and Semi-Gloss (trim).