Second Floor and The Yard

Hello everyone! It's been a few weeks since we have moved into the house, and I have finally found a bit of time to sit down and write. There have been a ton of things going on, and I have a lot of exciting pictures to share of projects we've already started. But first let's finish our pictorial home tour with photos from the second floor and the back yard. These photos were all either taken by the sellers or taken by me during our many walk throughs of the home during the buying process. So in case you didn't get enough eye numbing wallpaper and decor from my first post, I can delight you once again with intense matchy-matchy phenomena.

The gorgeous dusty pink carpet glides up the stairs to the hall landing and built in hutch area. We are still vibing on all that black stripe wallpaper folks. And the hutch was not forgotten when they went on the wallpaper rampage of doom. No nook or cranny was spared.

And now the Master bedroom with sitting area and bath. I think this room was the pinnacle of the decor shenannies, completely decked out with floral wallpaper that matched the curtains, that matched all the light switch covers, that matched the lamp shades, that matched the bed spread and shams!! Can we say dedication? Can we say thank you Sears catalog for the complete offering of amenities? Can we run screaming from this room now? Yes please.....

Just down the hall from the somewhat normal by comparison hall bath is a second bedroom that will send you soaring into the atmosphere.....on the Challenger....I cannot make these things up! What beautiful home stuck hard in the mid 80's wouldn't be complete without a full wall mural? Of a space ship?! Sadly, if my husband and I had been blessed with even one Y chromosomed child, this would probably have been a welcome sight. But with this room already being designated for 2 girl baby toddlers who love love love princesses and stuffies and tea parties.....it is just as doomed, ironically, as the ship it depicts. :(

Normalish bathroom! Outdated, but pretty normal.

The third bedroom was actually the least exciting in the house. No crazy wallpaper, or adornments. Just a bright paint color. A sigh of relief came to my lips upon entering it, knowing that at least one room in the house would not need to be put through a UFC cage match to attain aesthetic normalcy. Did I mention the entire hall is covered in our favorite wallpaper? No good deed here...no good deed...

Lets take a quick look at one of the main reasons we bought this precious jewel, the back yard! If you live or have lived in southern California, in a subdivision of some sort, you will understand why we absolutely fell in love with this area of the home. When you enter this back yard, it's like retreating to a park. Private, with mature trees cooling all corners. Relaxing breezes blowing through. It takes you away from the fact you're in a crowded neighborhood with neighbors at arms length. We were told there were several mature fruit trees on the property as well, including lemon, apple, cherry, plum, pineapple guava, and pomegranate. Being that my husband and I both enjoy gardening and plants very much, we skipped other houses with pools for the chance to have our mini nature preserve in the suburbs. Pictures don't do its qualities justice.

Okay, that completes the tour! Are you ready? Because we are already underway with projects big and small. We will have both indoor and outdoor transformations to share with you, as well as the occasional funny story or blurb about our lives here in California. Stick around a while! :)

Introductions

Hello there! Welcome to our journey. My husband and I are in the final stages of purchasing our first home in Southern California. We knew we wanted a home that needed TLC but had good bones, and after a bit of searching, we found one that had great bones but may not have been visually for the faint of heart or those who seize easily due to pattern overload. If you grew up in the 80s, or ever wanted to be sent back in time to the 80's, the following pictures will shock and amaze you!

From the outside it looks pretty nice! Obviously in the pastel range paint wise, but after living most of our adult lives in New Orleans, the color actually didn't phase us a bit.

And the cute little front porch already has tons of potential. The mature trees add privacy and aside from the overwhelming metal security door (project!) it was nothing but charming.

Okay, here's where the fun starts. Just inside the front door, THIS wallpaper appears. It covers the inside of the window sill and the light swtich cover in addition to most of the entry walls. Roses, pink, on a black and white striped background. The first words that came to my mind I won't type here, but the next word that came to my mind was THOROUGH. I will say that all the images I will show here include thorough swaths of wallpapering.

Onward if you dare to the living room and dining combo, complete with balloon valances, strange brick columned fireplace and pink, DUSTY PINK, carpeting....wait, don't leave! We are gonna fix all of it, I promise!

The dining room area also has MOAR of that amazing wallpaper we saw in the entry! YAY!

I have to admit, the first time we viewed the house in person I was so overwhelmed with the obviously changeable wall and floor coverings that I told my husband no way. Even though I saw these pictures online and thought, I can look past it! I can envision it clensed and even renovated. But the power of the paper compelled me to run, brain screaming, from the house initially. Fate brought us back around to it though, and if you are still with me now, I will show you a bit more of the downstairs. 

The kitchen is no disappointment on this tour back in time through 80's house love. The tile counters, the cherry stained cabinets with gold look pulls, and that box lighting! I know you're jelly of my teeny gally kitchen, dripping with mid 80's splendor and dainty floral wallpaper. Lets list some pros though: a wall of windows overlooking a great backyard, and newer appliances to soften the blow. 

Right off the kitchen we have the current sitting room (will be my dining room) in a neato Native 

American motif, complete with faux fireplace and wallpaper boarder! MOAR Yay! -_- But! Chair rail! Nuetral paint! sigh....

The bottom floor is rounded out with a 3/4 bath and a bedroom. Sort of a mini inlaw suite, but with some of the uglier wallpaper in the house, a worn grey with tiny orange flower accents....thankfully the bedroom is pretty normal, aside from the sorta yuck blue carpet.

There you have it. The first floor! We have a lot of fun plans for the house. Some short term and bigger long term plans over the course of the next 3-5 years. I like to think of this as a flip in slow motion, lol. I suppose that any first home could be considered that if you know you'll be moving on to another house eventually. I hope you follow our journey through the adventures of pulling this emaculately cared for and preserved 80's home into the now through diy projects and interior design.