<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">The Bargas family’s home offers a sophisticated comfort that’s warm and welcoming. The light neutral colors of the distressed furniture, cotton twill slip-covered seating and walls make the 3,000 square foot, four-bedroom house seem even more spacious.</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">The Bargases have lived in the home near the Lake Charles Country Club for almost two years.</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">They bought the house because of its location.</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">“This is a great street with kids and some great people,” Rachel Bargas said.</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">Rosie Shetler, a neighbor, has seen most of the houses built in what is one of the area’s oldest neighborhoods. Her house was the second. The Bargas house was the first and was the home of Holley Heard. Heard was a lineman and placekicker for LSU in the late 1940s and joined the real estate industry profession after college.</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">Shetler, for a time, reported on the neighborhood comings and goings including the building of new houses as the Lake Charles Country Club’s newsletter writer. Both her daughters live in the neighborhood.</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">“I’ve watched every house go up but three,” she said. “We watched St. Andrews, Turnberry and Kingspoint (area subdivisions) built.”</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">The Bargases have two children and since the move, Casey Bargas has taken up golf and acquired a golf cart.</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">Rachel Bargas also said in addition to the neighborhood, the layout of the house sold them.</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">The home was built in 1974. The last owner, Eric Sheely, totally remodeled the house.</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">“We tore it down to the studs,” he said. “The only flooring we left was the brick paver flooring in the kitchen.”</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">Other flooring includes Tigerwood, an engineered wood flooring with a warm glow and style perfect for a house of any period. In a home of mostly light neutrals, the darker flooring helps anchor the look.</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">“All we had to do before we moved in was paint,” Bargas said.</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">She chose a warm, light cream color that looks different at different times of the day.</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">The couple moved from Birmingham to Lake Charles. She is from the New Orleans area. He is from Baton Rouge.</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">“Birmingham was great, but we just wanted to get back to south Louisiana,” she said.</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">It is the first home purchased by the Bargases. They wanted to use local talent for decorating help and buy furnishings locally.</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">“We had rented up until this move,” Bargas said. “I still had my college couch.”</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">“She had a couch and a lamp,” said Courtney Chance, decorating consultant and owner of The Little Pearl. “That was it.”</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">Chance enjoyed the opportunity to start fresh rather than work around existing pieces.</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">For the decision-making process, Chance chose items for consideration. She sent photos of those items to the Barguses and never gave them more than three choices at a time.</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">“I want my clients’ decisions to be very black and white,” she said. If they love, love, love it, we use it.”</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">Chance said that grays and neutrals are great for decorating, but not great for making decisions.</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">As for decorating with neutrals, it may not be as easy as it looks. There is a fine line between a look that’s soothing and a look that’s a total snooze.</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">Accessories make the difference. Chance described the light neutrals as the perfect backdrop for displaying the items that personalize the house. Texture, art, metal heirlooms – and wonderful memories — help make the Bargus house a home.</span>