High Style, High Tech and SteamTherapy at BlogTour NOLA

If you've been following along on the SteamTherapy Blog, you know that Mr. Steam loves being a sponsor of BlogTour. After all, what better way is there to get to know bloggers so passionate about design that they embarq on multi-day, design show focused trips where they literally eat, drink, breathe, experience, capture and intensely live design.  BlogTour isn't for the faint of heart! We've noticed after 4 BlogTours that each trip builds off of the spirit of the previous BlogTour - even more inspiring, insightful, and just plain fun than the last.

The most recent trip, BlogTour NOLA was no different. As BlogTour organizer Modenus explains:

"BlogTour NOLA will, as do all our tours, share design inspiration and trends but it will also go deeper as we learn about the continued effort to rebuild many parts of the city and hear stories of how people have coped with the emotional and physical devastation in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. The mere fact that this is still a topic today, eight years later, made it clear that BlogTour needed to share the latest with its readers."

The latest crop of talented design bloggers spent their first full day in New Orleans taking in a tour of the historic Garden District followed by a visit to a few of the most highly respected antique shops in town. See blogger Kelly Morisseau's NOLA by Day and Antiques to catch a glimpse of the gorgeous architecture and antiques the group explored, and Tamara Stephenson's BlogTour NOLA visual summary; you'll love the glimpses she shares of NOLA's complex, historic city with a story to tell... 

Design blogger Gloria Graham shared photos and anecdotes of the BlogTour visit to the Lower Ninth Ward of New Orleans, where green, storm-resistant houses are beginning to appear, but much rebuilding remains to be done. The new homes are being built by an organization called Make It Right, which plans to build homes for 150 families from the community. Leslie Fine shares another perspective in Beyond the Beignets: What’s Really Going on in NOLA, as does Cynthia Bogart in The Shout Out Today is Different!

(By the way, we love Linda Merrill's New Orleans memories, Toma Haines' Blog Tour New Orleans: Day One and Day Two and Cynthia Bogart's glimpse of New Orleans' Garden District!)

The BlogTour NOLA trip included time at the 2013 Kitchen & Bath Industry Show (KBIS), and the KBIS Design Studios powered by QueX. The Design Studios allowed eight highly-regarded interior designers to share their vision and experience through the QueX Experiential Showroom, a new, cutting edge presentation platform that allows designers to interact with clients in a revolutionary new way. The designers worked through a project live on the show floor featuring baths, kitchens, outdoor living and loft living spaces, interacting with products on multi touch display screens, and connecting with experts such as our own Martha Orellana answering questions about steam showers via video connectivity

To read about all of the other beignet and boutique filled adventures included in BlogTour NOLA, check out this post by BlogTour creator Modenus, which provides a great synopsis of the entire trip.

2013 BlogTour NOLA participants included:

• Gloria Graham of Kitchens for Living. On Twitter @Kitchens4living.
• Arne Salvesen of Useful Spaces. On Twitter @ArneSalvesen.
• Toma Haines of The Antiques Diva. On Twitter @TheAntiquesDiva.
• Cynthia Bogart of The Daily Basics. On Twitter @thedailybasics.
• Jennifer Mehditash of Dec-a-Porter. On Twitter @decaporter.
• Patricia Davis Brown of Dig This Design. On Twitter @patriciadavisbr.
• Kelly Morisseau of Kitchen Sync. On Twitter @Kitchen_Sync.
• Carmen Natschke of The Decorating Diva. On Twitter @DecoratingDiva.
• Leslie Fine of Leslie's Blog. On Twitter @lesliefineint.
• Rebecca Reynolds of KitchenINK. On Twitter @RRKitchenDesign.
• Tamara Stephenson of Nest by Tamara. On Twitter @nestnestnest.
• Linda Merrill of Surroundings. On Twitter @Surroundings.
• Barbara Elza Hirsch of Chez Elza. On Twitter @elzabdesign.
• Erica Islas of EMI Interior Design. On Twitter @EMIIntDesign.

Read more about each and everyone of them at Modenus: BlogTour NOLA - Meet the Bloggers.

Special thanks to Kelly Morisseau for writing Spotlight on: Mr. Steam, Cynthia Bogart for Getting Steamy in New Orleans, Gloria Graham for Feel Good with Mr. Steam and Erica Islas for Hitting New Orleans Today!

Have you read any BlogTour NOLA coverage? What new design insights have you discovered? Which BlogTour has been your favorite to read about so far?