Brothers Take New Orleans: Living Room Transformations from Drew and Jonathan Scott

For their first battle of the spaces, Jonathan and Drew Scott take on one of the most important rooms in their New Orleans abodes. Click through to see before and after photos. 

Before the brothers could dive into their spaces, they first had to reconfigure the layout of the two houses from their traditional shotgun style, split lengthwise, to a more functional front to back split. Jonathan and Drew flipped to see who would get each side, and Drew won the back of the home.

After demo'ing his side of the home down to the studs, Drew was left with a statement-making quad-sided fireplace that was in desperate need of repair. Can he pull off a New Orleans miracle? 

So fresh and so clean! Drew's transformed living room includes custom wood detailing on the walls to emulate the look of high-end New Orleans homes, a neutral gray color palette and a freshly repaired and white-washed fireplace. 

The mantle on Drew's restored fireplace is a reclaimed post that was being thrown out from a home renovation down the block. 

Drew adds a pop of color in the living room with this blue vase.

Character pieces fill in the rustic shelving next to the home's entrance.

The blue sofa adds a pop of personality to the room's neutral color palette, and fun details like the trumpet -- found in a dumpster! -- are dripping of New Orleans character. 

The rustic beam complements the room's neutral color palette and creates an open floor plan into the home's kitchen space. 

Drew chose wide plank engineered hardwood flooring for a more upscale feel in his new living room. 

Drew's front door is also a reclaimed piece that helped keep him under budget for this challenge. 

After a coin toss, Jonathan won the front side of the reconfigured New Orleans shotgun house. With a functioning brick fireplace and a room down to the studs, the potential was endless. 

Jonathan and Drew both worked with locals to ensure their designs and craftsmanship satisfied code and stayed true to New Orleans' style. 

There was a very special surprise hidden in the large door casing of Jonathan's living room. Can you guess what it was? 

Jonathan was able to find antique doors that were big enough to restore and reconfigure for his new pocket door entryway from the living room to the kitchen. 

Painting the trim and the custom built-in bookcases surrounding the fireplace was a risk Jonathan was willing to take to go all out on style in his new living room. 

After repurposing a perfectly-sized mantle found at an antique store, Jonathan was able to keep part of the original brick fireplace explosed for an old world, new world look. 

Character pieces added to the built-in bookcase create layers. 

Jonathan Scott adds a pop of color in the living room with a collecton of purple, pink, and bird pattern pillows.

This brass bar cart complements Jonathan's stylish and classic living room design.

Barely pictured: The new tin ceiling tiles Jonathan painted to look antiqued and draw the eye upward in his new living room. 

After filming NCIS: New Orleans in the city for years, actor Scott Bakula volunteers to judge how Drew and Jonathan's New Orleans-inspired designs. Who's going to win?