On the Lower Garden District strip of Magazine Street lies a store that (on any day of the week) feels a lot like lounging at home on a Sunday. It might not look exactly like your home, but it definitely feels like the way you wish your home would on any given Sunday – peaceful and clean. At least, that’s the idea behind the carefully curated home furnishings store, Sunday Shop.
The shop is relaxing, open, and bright. The long, narrow layout of the storefront is reminiscent of a New Orleans shotgun, with thoughtfully arranged, beautiful furnishings placed as they would be in a shotgun home – starting with the living room pieces and products in the front and bathroom accessories toward the end. The space is inviting enough to entice you to make yourself comfortable with a glass of wine. But, since doing so in a retail store on a busy strip of Magazine might be frowned upon, the furnishings and arrangements, as functional as they may be, are all for sale.
Sunday Shop anchors Logan Killen Interiors, an interior design firm led by Katie Logan Leblanc and Jensen Killen. The retail shop, which rests on the first floor of their headquarters, is a physical manifestation of their ideas and capabilities. Upon walking in, you’ll want to buy everything as it’s positioned, complete with the hotel-worthy bed with the sea of throw pillows as it is displayed in their showroom.
The two Louisiana natives introduce a new holistic experience and products that are unique to New Orleans retail that differs from the current offerings on Magazine Street, which has typically included antiques, French style interiors, and chains like West Elm. Their aesthetic can best be described as boho chic meets mid-century modern, marrying the minimalistic, contemporary angles of mid-century modern pieces with bohemian accents to make it feel more cozy and homey.
The living room at the front of the store is displayed with contemporary furniture and floor to ceiling shelves showcasing their collection of hand-picked throws, books, décor, and candles. Like a classic shotgun, the living room area overlooks the “kitchen” as simulated by the white tiled wall and built-in shelves. Their beautifully-scented kitchen soaps and sponges look as if they would mostly serve as decorative pieces rather than functional, but prove to be both.
Even the feather dusters are reminiscent of textures one would see on a couture gown rather than hanging in a laundry room. Shelves of delicate glassware and copper pepper grinders are displayed meticulously to complete the look. A large marble table acts like a kitchen island in the continuous home layout of the store, but also serves as a functional workspace for the designers and their clients.
A large floor-to-ceiling mirror in the middle of the store mimics a shotgun’s fireplace and divides the kitchen goods from the bedroom display, which includes a bed showcasing the store’s selection of bedding. In the back of the store is a collection of luxurious bathroom soaps, scents and towels displayed less like a retail store and more like a bathroom one would dream of.
While the design duo want their clients to feel at home, the furnishings, tables, and decor work beyond being purely functional and are constantly being changed out as pieces are sold. Leblanc and Killen try to keep the store feeling open and inviting, and make the home decorating experience as stress-free as possible for their clients. Because of that, it’s nearly impossible to leave the store without a new living room set or, at the very least, the most beautiful feather duster that you’ve ever seen.
