Welcome to another edition of Tour Tuesday. Today we are visiting my dear friend Kelly’s home in Southern California. I met Kelly back during our NYC days before we had kids. She is one of the kindest, most genuine, talented people I know. I know her as a friend and a mom…but you may also recognize her from her “Baywatch” or “California Dreams” days where she is billed as Kelly Packard.

Kelly and Darin have created a beautiful, warm, comfortable home for them and their four children. Today we are visiting the kitchen, outdoor living/dining room and poolside cabana. Say “hi” to Kelly and come on inside!

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Me: “Hi Kelly! Thanks for letting us visit your gorgeous home today! Ok, so tell me how did this house become your home?”

Kelly: “The home was built in 2004. I grew up in this very valley where I live now. When I was young, we would drive down our canyon and I would say to my mom, “why can’t we live here?” It was a dream of mine and even when I first met my husband I told him someday we would live down our canyon. I am living my dream. I never thought we would be able to pull it off. Thanks to my husband and his real estate obsession, he found our house when it was at a price we could afford and that was five years ago.”

“This neighborhood is so special because we have different zoning and can have animals that I otherwise couldn’t have and it is quiet and small so everyone looks out for one another. Not to mention they are all custom built homes and not track homes so that makes me very happy!”

Me: “And as I know, Kelly you are the greatest animal lover on the planet, so zoning like the kind you mentioned is SUPER important! So what is the overall feeling you were going for with your furnishings and decor here?”

Kelly: “Before we moved in, the house had been sitting vacant for a year so it needed a little love. I knew that we would make it our own over time. The first area we chose to address was the kitchen since it is the focal point and gathering place in the house. The main flaw was that there was a gorgeous back yard with four heritage oak trees to view and you couldn’t see them (there was only a bay window over the kitchen sink and the rest of the back wall was a big refrigerator and a small door out to the back) so we decided to change that by moving the refrigerator and putting a huge set of French doors. That alone would have made me happy but we decided to spruce up the kitchen just enough to make it more like my style.”

“The outdoor living space took a lot longer to envision. 4 years. We kept looking out back and what we wanted to do as far as an indoor/outdoor living space going out the back was not going to work with the oak trees. It was a friend who said well what about this space over here? Meaning a grassy, unused area on the side of the house rather than the back area off the house. A light bulb went off and it was the perfect solution for us.”

Me: “Did you decorate your home all at once or in little bits over time?”

Kelly: “We pretty much decorated both all at once. The construction of both areas took a while, 4 months for the kitchen and almost a year for the outdoor space, Once I got the go ahead to decorate I put everything up that I had collected for weeks/months prior.”

Me: “Do you have any further plans/changes for your interior? What is on your reasonable wish list?”

Kelly: “I am going to be re doing our playroom and upstairs bedrooms here in the next month. We also re did our master bath and it is awesome!! In a couple years we will do an addition to the front of the house taking our formal living space and making it a casita. I am excited for that but we have to save some money up for that renovation.”

Me: “What are your favorite things about this home?”

Kelly: “My favorite thing about the kitchen is the butcher block counter top for the island and the back splash.  The back splash is brick remnants from a stone yard and it was only $95.  They were grateful I took it off their hands.  ? The island was beaten up just right that I can do ANYTHING to it and it won’t get messed up. I LOVE it!”

So beautiful, right?! Kelly’s kitchen is my all time favorite kitchen. The last time I was there I rolled around on her sons hoverboard and used that big island to keep my balance. So maybe her kitchen island saved my life a little bit? Anyway, THANK YOU Kelly for letting us visit your beautiful home!

*Would you like to appear in a Tour Tuesday of your very own? Contact me at trulaaluu at yahoo dot com; let’s collaborate!