Back Yard Makeover

Okay, so here's the back yard makeover.  I don't have any before pictures so it will be hard to show the changes, but just imagine overgrown uwanamus bushes, out of control rose bushes, horrendous light fixtures, ugly/dirty doors--it was just a mess.  We've slowly but surely eradicated (the uwanumus), pruned, re-planted, painted, installed and sewed our way to a much more inviting patio area.  Like I mentioned in my last post, some of these changes have been seen by many of you because it's been such a long work in progress, but I'm showing the whole package now.  

You can just barely see the fountain on the left.  Notice that I hadn't figured out that the pot wasn't sealed properly when I filled it up with water.  The umbrella has a wooden frame and makes me think of Bali or something--I love it.  I got it on sale at Pier 1 and strung it with lights (darn, should have plugged them in for the photo).  The table was a total steal at an end of summer clearance and we were able to buy chairs that matched ones that Matt already had.  I rescued the hammock from the dumpster last summer (thanks Cathy) and made a new pad and pillow with outdoor fabric.  It's pretty darn comfy and relaxing.  The outdoor rug is  from The Backyard.  (I actually won another rug in a raffle RIGHT after I bought this one--just my luck.  Plus you can barely see it hanging from the hammock, but I won a cute turquoise wind chime and an outdoor candle too.)  Here's a better shot of the hammock and rug.

And since I'm calling this post the back yard makeover, I'll throw in a picture of the awning I made last summer for our swing-set.  It had an old ripped up one when we moved in, so I found some outdoor fabric that was a perfect match to the colors on the swings.  The neighbor's cat loves to hang out underneath it...to our dismay.