They Call It Home Part 2

Well, Amanda and Preston continue to plan, prepare and work on their home's interior and

exterior with little Wyatt by their side.

It is a daunting task filled with love, hope and all of the possibilities of what the future might bring.

Here is part 2 of their story...

If you missed last week They Call It Home Part 1 here it is.



A huge red dump truck pulled up in our driveway early one March morning.

Wyatt was thrilled, I was nervous.

The largest amount of pea gravel and river rock was just dumped into two mini mountains on our

driveway for our backyard project.

There were many times throughout this project that I wondered about my sanity.

In an attempt to save money Preston was going to get rid of the muddy mess in our backyard.

Rather than sod the yard he was extending our covered backyard patio into a pea gravel patio.

It was my job to obtain the supplies we needed.

Wyatt and I went to a gravel and rock supplier and I picked out the pea gravel,

and the amount that we would need for the project.

But now, I feel as though I measured wrong this was SO, SO much gravel.



We really are NOT handy people, we have never owned a home before and goodness we

don't even own a lawnmower!

My fears were correct, I did measure wrong on the amount of pea gravel!

But good news we were able to use that gravel in other parts of our muddy yard.

Every single project we embarked upon was so much more work than any of the online DIY

instructions made them out to be, and we made at least one mistake ( probably more) along the way.

But somehow, one scoop at a time, we fixed our muddy backyard and slowly made it beautiful.

By now you may be asking why, why, why this house ( I know I have too, many times!)





Our neighborhood is River Park, a beautiful and established neighborhood located in East

Sacramento, tucked up next to the American River with a beautiful paved bike trail extending 30

miles up the way to Folsom.

River Park also has the very best elementary school in Sacramento and within walking distance

from our home.

One hundred year old trees, which line the streets, create a variegated forest of greens and a cool

natural canopy over the winding sidewalks.





We love the charm of the neighborhood and 1950's homes which are decked out in brick and wood.

Stained glass windows enhanced with plantation shutters, and inside these cozy homes you will

find abundant wainscoting and original hardwood floors.

Each home is a unique and charming mid-century treasure.

Our home is a fixer - upper, way below market price, in fact nearly 100,000.

The only way we are going to get her up to speed is through hard work.




Street lanterns cast a warm and cozy glow nestled along the winding paths and over sized

purple Hydrangeas, colorful Azaleas and Japanese maples are in nearly every yard.

We are within minutes of biking to coffee shops, yoga studios, and some of the yummiest food

we have ever tasted.

How could we not love this place...





We started our renovations with the exterior of the home, first up was to get rid of weathered and

worn reddish paint and chipped lime green doors.

Throughout the process of refurbishing our home we were always subtly reminded of Joey.

The first day the painter was out to repaint our home, he mentioned that the entire exterior of the

home had been hand painted just about twenty years ago.

At first I felt as though I was erasing Joey's work, but then I realized we were doing exactly what he

had so lovingly done to his home, made it his own.





Next we had to deal with the front side of the yard.

When we purchased the home there was an old rotting fence propped up against the unfinished

stucco wall of our neighbor.  A completely exposed, DIY sprinkler system was poking out from the

dirt, a raised garden bed, which had seen much better days, was awkwardly placed in the middle of it

all, and to top it off there was absolutely not one blade of grass.




In every way we could, we attempted to save money by doing things ourselves.

Preston and our neighbor tore down the old fence along the wall and taught themselves how

to stucco the wall-a very long process-but when it was completed it changed the entire exterior

of the house.





Preston cut down an overgrown and unsightly Holly tree, planted a Japanese Maple and installed

a new sprinkler system

Wyatt, Preston and I installed lush blue grass/fescue sod ourselves and the change was

amazing and dramatic!





On each side of our door are two beautiful raised brick flowerbeds.

Left unattended to for so long they were overgrown with weeds and vines.

We cleaned them out and planted foxtail ferns, maiden hair ferns, Impatients and vines.



Each night I practically collapsed into bed, it was exhausting work.

But we could see the work was paying off and other people noticed too.

Neighbors would walk by and remark on the transformation and how wonderful the home looked.

Our next door neighbor, who had known Joey so well brought us fresh apples, baked bread and

sparkling water for snacks while we labored away.












































We would wake up early on weekend mornings to find fresh brewed hot coffee and muffins

waiting for us on our doorstep.

The community was thankful we were bringing the house back to life.

The people who knew Joey were happy that his home had finally found a family to love it.





But the work was not complete.

Next we moved inside.


Please join me next week to see exactly what the Patton's did to the inside of their 1950's home!



xoxox