Dainaadele, that is a fabulous picture. Hmm, I may be able to use that - am just considering a redo of my hellstrip. MTO, I don't find it unwelcoming at all.... curious as to why you see it that way. Too personal a space? Carterfickling, I won't mock your mock-up skills as I have none of my own, but I think you are under-reaching in terms of making an actual improvement. Not that a little wall and a walkway wouldn't be an improvement, but you did come to the "landscape design" forum :-) Plus you've left yourself with a lawn plus beds... still have to haul the lawnmower to the front. If this is not a problem, and you are happy with this idea, then there is nothing wrong with it. Interesting, though, I hadn't caught the slope from front to back, was noticing it from side to side and was wondering if you'd put a walkway branch to the driveway, but given the distance there is likely no point. Regarding step vs. no step on the walkway, obviously even fridges can be delivered up steps and you have steps so you won't get wheelchairs in there anyway... maybe worth thinking through the winter situation with snow in terms of deciding. Without the answers to the questions I first posted I can't go much further, but if you aren't familiar with a lot of garden design options, go shopping! I solve a lot of my uncertainties in yard design by shopping. If you have a local landscape supply yard, go and wander around - it's free, and see what materials appeal to you, for either bed edging or walkway design. Not that there's anything wrong with concrete for a front walkway, given the mail delivery and snow clearing requirements. Also check out some nurseries, see what kinds of plants appeal to you. Do you feel the urge to plant lots of different things, or would several of the same type, as in a more formal layout, say a boxwood edge, be pleasing to you? What kind of maintenance tasks might you enjoy - lawn mowing vs. shrub trimming, weeding, etc. KarinL

Thank you all, for your continued kind words. Campanula, yes, exactly. Setting the garden (and home) within the larger context is always the tricky thing, right? Like, on one hand you want to have your way over the landscape, to tame it and mold it into more of what you like. But on the other hand, the cues really need to come from what's already around you otherwise it's either going to be a ton or work to fight nature, and/or it won't even look right when you're done. So the rock theme really plays well here. GreenHearted, that's a great question. I have done the foundation differently on different stone projects here. I'm not an expert on this, but none of my walls have fallen down yet! (With the older ones being over 10 years old.) You are quite right, a dry-stacked wall is an inherently flexible structure and is very forgiving of expansion and contraction of the ground. On this wall, I dug/scraped down to the subsoil layer, which is a very compacted, concrete-like substance. I didn't put down gravel or anything, mostly because the very idea of that pushed the project into the realm of unrealistic for my diy self. Stonework does have a tendency to slowly sink into the ground. Rocks that used to be standing above grade are now below the level of the grass. I'm not sure how much a gravel foundation would help that. One of my walls has a gravel foundation and it hasn't behaved any differently than the others as far as I can tell. Not sure if that answer helps or not! :)

So cute! Love the "surprise" of the different fabric. When I came to the pic of the back of the chair, I literally said out loud, "Ooh!" Nice job.

Rosie - Thanks! Purchase and upkeep of cars can drain the bank pretty fast. Four acres of wooded trees!...now that sounds wonderful! I would love to have a place with that much land & trees. I don't know what upholstery shops charge these days. I know that I could not ever do upholstery as a profession. I work way too slow. Also, I'm able to forgive myself if some part of my work is not perfect. If I did it for someone else, I'd stress about every little imperfection. The fabric cost alone is all that I'm willing to invest in my old furniture. None of my furniture is high end. The only piece that is really well made is my grandma's chair (the goose neck arm chair) which I will begin working on in about a week. I once kept track of how many total hours I spent on one of my sofas...68 hours (over a 2 month span). Knowing all the work I've put in to these pieces, I would not complain about the high prices the pros charge.