I'm a bit confused, too - is the concrete stoop attached to an outbuilding, garage, shed, the back door of a neighbor's house? The concrete block looks like it might be someone else's garage. User name suggests some real closeness here but not so unusual in older urban neighborhoods. Is that all your property seen in the photos; the different fencing and wall treatments, plus the sidewalk to nowhere is all a bit hard to put together. You might get the most enjoyment and bang for your buck out of making a potager garden. From Wikipedia: "A potager garden is a French method of creating ornamental vegetable or kitchen gardens. Often flowers (edible and non-edible) and herbs are planted with the vegetables to enhance the beauty. The goal is to make the function of providing food aesthetically pleasing. Plants are chosen as much for their functionality as for their color and form. Many are trained to grow upward. A well-designed potager can provide food, cut flowers and herbs for the home with a modest amount of maintenance." Starting in on a potager would give you the best chance of making good use of the space for a modest monetary investment and would also afford you a spot somewhere in the background to start a compost pile - which is always good for organic gardening. There's a Potager Garden Forum here, people post pictures of their creative use of space. All in all, I think that might be a satisfactory solution for your yard - as you got into it, it could be as formal or casual as you want. Vines, creepers, clematis (even annual morning glories, sweet peas or the edible climbing nasturtiums) on the chain link will give you a backdrop.

Oh my! I hate to say this but your lawn guy is better at negotiating and getting out of work than he is at lawn care. Anyone who is unwilling to learn the simple (and I emphasize SIMPLE) elements and methods to his chosen profession should not be coddled. He needs to be cut loose. And if you think he does not understand you now, he will really not understand you when you try to fire him. You need to find someone who can fire him in Spanish so that he understands to never mow your lawn or touch your water again and he will never again be paid by you. Usted no puede trabajar aqu ¿entiende, señor? And he should be nodding his head. When he asks you why, the only answer that will work is to tell him you are going to do all the work yourself (Voy a hacer todo el trabajo yo mismo). If you don't tell him that he will beg and plead and promise to do exactly what you want, but you have already seen that he does not keep his word (about the seeding for example). But if you tell him you are going to do it, he should understand you want to save the money. By letting him go you have bought yourself some time to learn to do it yourself (it is embarrassingly easy) or find someone more in tune with you and your ability to communicate. Here is the combined wisdom of the lawn forum accumulated over the years. There are lots of other things to discuss, but hardly anyone disagrees with these simple principles. Water deeply and infrequently. Deeply means at least an hour in every zone, all at once. Infrequently means monthly during the cool months and no more than weekly during the hottest part of summer. If your grass looks dry before the month/week is up, water longer next time. Deep watering grows deep, drought resistant roots. Infrequent watering allows the top layer of soil to dry completely which kills off many shallow rooted weeds. Not only does this apply in Phoenix, it happens that I learned it from a Phoenix based lawn professional on this very forum many years ago. Mulch mow at the highest setting on your mower. Most grasses are the most dense when mowed tall. However, Bermuda, centipede, and bent grasses are the most dense when mowed at the lowest setting on your mower. Dense grass shades out weeds and uses less water when tall. Dense grass feeds the deep roots you're developing in 1 above. Fertilize regularly. I fertilize 5 times per year using organic fertilizer. Which fertilizer you use is much less important than numbers 1 and 2 above. Now to contradict myself, I would suggest mowing the rye short toward the end of March. Your bermuda needs all the sunlight it can get and tall ryegrass will provide too much shade. Next year see if you can get through the winter without ryegrass. Just because the neighbors do it does not make it right. Believe it or not in Iowa many people burn their grass every year - doesn't make it right. Your lawn guy broke several rules. He mowed too short at one time taking more than 1/3 of the grass down. If your bermuda was tall, it should have been brought down gradually with multiple mowings during the week. He should know how to do that but apparently not. He waters WAAAAAAAAY to frequently. That water schedule is okay for getting new seeds to sprout but as soon as they establish roots, watering needs to be cut back. And I'm going to say that seeding rye over bermuda in the winter is a rule he broke. Sure everyone does it, but it's not good for the bermuda. Oh and weed-b-gone spray is the classic way to get rid of the weeds you have and not hurt the grass. Round-Up must advertise on all the sports channels or something. I hate that stuff.

Olychick, That's a great idea for a pantry, if my kitchen was to stay as is now, I was also thinking of adding a pantry in that section. I was gathering ideas with my husband about a layout plan if we were to tear down the kitchen. If so, we will definitely add more cabinets, with more cabinets then I wouldn't necessarily need a pantry as I would already have more storage space, compared to now. In that section that you mentioned where the pantry could be placed, we thought about connecting the counter top and either adding a lazy susan on bottom cabinets, then connecting the counter top all the way around sort of like an "L"shape extending to a small bar area in that case the stove will most likely stay where it is at now and the refrigerator would be moved far right next to the window where the sink is at. Don't know if that sounds confusing, but I'm designing the layout in Ikea Home Planner to get a better visual. :)

Hallett and co//your deck, Dark Hickory, is GORGEOUS, thanks for posting the picture. It is so helpful to hear from someone with the same product (though different color). Maureen, thanks for another example of a more weathered looking deck. I agree the black railing is elegant and less obtrusive.