I thought I posted on this earlier today. Maybe that was when my DH removed the toilet from the master bath and walked past me with it. I got distracted. Patio is really looking good. I love your concrete. We replaced deck with pavers and I can't tell you how much happier we are. Please keep posting shots as you get things done, it looks really pretty. Red

Linda, that's lovely! The addition of the black in the mirror frame, etc. adds so much. Small suggestion: when posting Befores and After pics, start of with something like "This is a Before of the fireplace area:", and then add that photo. Add more info on the next pic before you add it. This just makes it easier to look at things if the viewers are not familiar with the room. And, I don't think that it's possible to add more pics more than a few hours (or even less, I'm not sure) after you've first started a thread.

Dee - yes, the ash had EAB problems - we had it treated twice in the last few years but it was clear that it was likely to die at some point in the not-too-distant future. We had it taken down in March - which turned out to be good timing as there was a nasty wind/storm in May that took down a lot of trees in the neighbourhood, and likely would have resulted in some or all of the ash tree ending up on - or through - the roof! The ash trees on the properties on either side of us had been gone for quite a few years (one was removed and the other fell down) so we have long since been resigned to its loss. We will undoubtedly miss its shade for cooling the house in the heat of the summer and some plants might suffer but I think the majority will benefit. Re ’exposed to the neighbourhood’ - that’s an odd issue here. If you look closely at some of the pictures of our backyard, you can see that most of the fences are ’see through’ chainlink. The houses were originally built in the 1960s. Quite a few of the originals have been torn down and replaced with new, much bigger houses - the people there now are more concerned with ’privacy’ and have replaced the old chainlink with wood 6’ fences. When we bought here in 1999 the neighbours, particularly the ones next to us on the north side, were worried abour what us folks from ’the big city’ were going to do here :-) They’re quite happy with us now and our gardens merge along the chainlink fence! All the lots here are ~1/4 acre and a lot of the trees are big 60-year-old ones that provide quite a lot of privacy. It’s a very friendly and social neighbourhood where ’exposed to the neighbourhood’ has not been a big concern. We all hope that as the original owners die or move on, that characteristic of the neighbourhood can be preserved!

Really nice space, love your outdoor dining table and the prominence of the green accents, it's definitely a comfortable, simple, and wonderful match, it also makes the whole space rich in layers! And I have to say that great choice of curtains, the color of outdoor curtains, it's a versatile classic one! Great job!