rmkitchen,

Your yard, walk patio and everything looks FABULOUS! Looks like it should be on the cover of Fine Gardening Magazine or something! What are your steps on the hill made of? Also, what is the mounded looking shrub on the left side of the stairs? Truly beautiful! You must be so proud. I would like to know more about how you achieved this look....

AMAC

Wow -- you are v. kind! Thank you. If you could see the backyard of our current house you wouldn't believe we're the same people! (We didn't have children when we did that backyard, which makes a huge difference.)

The steps came with the house. They're just aggregate poured into wood forms -- up close nothing pretty but I think the gentle curve (seen from a distance) is the pretty part.

The green mounds (they're individual plants, grown to meet each other) to which I think you're referring are Bearskin Fescue (festuca scoparia). They were wildly happy there and exploded in size! I loved them and miss them.

Here's a closer photo:

If you're talking about the pale green bushes to the immediate left of the stair that's variegated pittosporum -- love them! The area to the right of the stairs we kept open and installed a bird bath for the quail -- that's where we fed them. (Our house was called Quail Run.) When we had plants there the feeding quail destroyed them, so we chose to just let the birds eat in peace.

Tucked behind the variegated wheelers are some butterfly irises, white roses, hen and chicks and lambs' ears, and then anchoring it all are Japanese maples.

Thank you again for your really kind words -- I appreciate it so much. I love to garden!

Thanks so much for your opinion rmkitchen. I'm glad you're enjoying your RH patio furniture. I agree with the previous poster that your patio area is beautiful.

You had mentioned pricing and that leaves me questioning something: the prices I got from RH are not appreciably different from Summer Classics, and probably about $2000 less than Brown Jordan--and we're talking about lots of pieces (a table, two arms, four sides; a sofa, two lounges, coffee and side tables). I think I need to look at the paperwork again to figure out if I'm actually comparing apples to apples.

Thanks again!

My DIL got (on sale) the metal gliders several years ago at the end of the season and they have carried her through several years. I think the powder coat furniture is from southern patterns with a RH "tag/label" but not sure. However, that is what I was told. Southern Patterns is great furniture. I have some that is about 25 years old that is still good. I just paint it from time to time.

Hmm. What I can remember (so take this with a grain of salt as it's been eight years) is that our simple set (table and chairs), inc. delivery and set-up (they assembled the table -- I tried to get out of that because I knew we could assemble it ourselves but they just said it's a provided service) and tax, was ~$800. From the local outdoor furniture / christmas showroom place a comparable Brown Jordan set, inc. all the above, was a little over $2,000. I still start to choke remembering it! That $800 felt like a stretch to us then, so can you imagine how the $2,000 felt? Yikes.

I still love that set. Yes, it looks exactly the same, but what is still my favorite feature is how comfortable the chairs are. The edge of the seats, where it would hit the back of your thighs, is rounded down, so no edges (sharp or dull) ever catch you. I also like that I don't have to have cushions -- I do have some throw pillows I put on the chairs when I remember (which means the throw pillows are almost indoors).

Obviously everyone's priorities are different, but for what our priorities were / remain, our RH set met every one. I'll be interested in hearing the price breakdown -- so far this year, RH has been v. loose with their promos -- are you planning on taking advantage of one? That can make a difference! There was someone on the Kitchens forum who used the $100 back for every $400 spent: she had something like $800 of purchases to make, so she split them into two purchases and was really excited about it. (I don't blame her.) Just a thought ....

FYI- I got my backyard furniture at Crate & Barrel but purchased the covers at Restoration Hardware since I (mistakenly) assumed they would be higher quality without seeing them in person. They tear pretty easily, though they are great to look at in winter (I got them in a spring green color). So if you do buy the furniture (and some of it looks pretty nice!) I'd shop around for better covers.

Six $400 RH dining table chairs haven’t lasted 7 years. The seat support has given out so they are extremely uncomfortable. Your butt sinks down so all if your weight is on your hamstrings. Will be looking to have them repaired which will be costly. Woukd never buy chairs there.

It is overpriced and ugly. I just received a 300+ page catalog delivered in my mailbox. No wonder their prices are so extraordinarily high!