Altadena Beauty

Here it is, my first friend feature! My feature person is a girl who went to Citrus College, joined the dance team, and later married a cop. Sound familiar??? But I swear it's not me, it's my amazingly beautiful friend Kin-Ming. We met while on the dance team at Citrus together in 1996. (We are the two on the left) (And here she is in her beautiful kitchen)

I have always dreamed of owning a small Spanish style house in Southern California with fun details like arches, wood floors, curved windows, and a fireplace. It would have a cute little backyard with a place to dine and a little water feature, and maybe a fruit tree or two. I also love to decorate in blues and greens, and I LOVE white kitchens. One day while looking through Kin-Mings pictures (after we had reconnected on facebook) I saw she had an album with pictures of her house. I was amazed to see that her house was my dream house. It had everything I had always wanted, and she has decorating tastes that are so similar to my own. I feel in love with her 1926, 1050 sq ft, Spanish style home in Altadena, California. I will warn you now that there are a lot of pictures in this post, but I wanted you all to see the little charmer for yourself. Kin-Ming and her husband made such smart choices when doing the remodel on their home. They kept things like the original curved window in the living room, and the arch in the living/dining room. (Two of Kin-Mings favorite parts of the house.) But when they did total re-do's on the kitchen and bath they mimicked that original arch, and made smart choices to stay with the period of the home while giving it all the modern conveniences of today. They were true to the house when they put down new wood floors instead of choosing tile or carpet, and they picked beautiful wall colors when they painted the whole inside of their house. Everything is beautiful without distracting from the gorgeous bones of the house. Even the landscaping (which Kin-Ming's husband did himself) just makes the house a complete package and looks like it belongs with the neighborhood. So well planned. I just love pretty much everything about this house, and thought you guys would too. Congratulations to Kin-Ming and her husband on creating such an amazing place to call home, and thanks for letting me spotlight all your hard work! (Isn't it so charming?) (Such a warm welcome, and the "S" is one of my favorite little touches.) (I love the fireplace)

(I love a kitchen with a desk)

(Sigh!...Even a Sun Porch!)

(What a beautiful place for a warm So. Cal. evening)

JUST GORGEOUS!!!