Separating ggplot using rectangles in the background

Question

Here is an image of my plot so far. At the end of the post I provide the code to reproduce it.

For the time being i use horizontal lines to separate the four groups of lines (defined by variable de in the dataframe). But I would like to use colored rectangles in the background of each group. See the following image to get an idea.

I tried geom_rect and geom_tile with no success. Could anybody help me?

mdfr<-structure(list(name = structure(c(13L, 13L, 13L, 14L, 14L, 14L, 
1L, 1L, 1L, 10L, 10L, 10L, 7L, 7L, 7L, 2L, 2L, 2L, 15L, 15L, 
15L, 8L, 8L, 8L, 11L, 11L, 11L, 16L, 16L, 16L, 4L, 4L, 4L, 12L, 
12L, 12L, 9L, 9L, 9L, 17L, 17L, 17L, 5L, 5L, 5L, 6L, 6L, 6L, 
3L, 3L, 3L, 13L, 13L, 13L, 14L, 14L, 14L, 1L, 1L, 1L, 10L, 10L, 
10L, 7L, 7L, 7L, 2L, 2L, 2L, 15L, 15L, 15L, 8L, 8L, 8L, 11L, 
11L, 11L, 16L, 16L, 16L, 4L, 4L, 4L, 12L, 12L, 12L, 9L, 9L, 9L, 
17L, 17L, 17L, 5L, 5L, 5L, 6L, 6L, 6L, 3L, 3L, 3L, 13L, 13L, 
14L, 14L, 1L, 1L, 10L, 10L, 7L, 7L, 2L, 2L, 15L, 15L, 8L, 8L, 
11L, 11L, 16L, 16L, 4L, 4L, 12L, 12L, 9L, 9L, 17L, 17L, 5L, 5L, 
6L, 6L, 3L, 3L), .Label = c("10012/06", "541/13", "700-1/15", 
"700/13", "737/13", "751/15", "512/12", "579/13", "715/14", "458/07", 
"635/13", "705/13, \n705-1/15", "10004/07", "10005/07", "563/09", 
"698/16", "717/14"), class = "factor"), Contr.finish = structure(c(1L, 
2L, 3L, 1L, 2L, 3L, 1L, 2L, 3L, 1L, 2L, 3L, 1L, 2L, 3L, 1L, 2L, 
3L, 1L, 2L, 3L, 1L, 2L, 3L, 1L, 2L, 3L, 1L, 2L, 3L, 1L, 2L, 3L, 
1L, 2L, 3L, 1L, 2L, 3L, 1L, 2L, 3L, 1L, 2L, 3L, 1L, 2L, 3L, 1L, 
2L, 3L, 1L, 2L, 3L, 1L, 2L, 3L, 1L, 2L, 3L, 1L, 2L, 3L, 1L, 2L, 
3L, 1L, 2L, 3L, 1L, 2L, 3L, 1L, 2L, 3L, 1L, 2L, 3L, 1L, 2L, 3L, 
1L, 2L, 3L, 1L, 2L, 3L, 1L, 2L, 3L, 1L, 2L, 3L, 1L, 2L, 3L, 1L, 
2L, 3L, 1L, 2L, 3L, 4L, 4L, 4L, 4L, 4L, 4L, 4L, 4L, 4L, 4L, 4L, 
4L, 4L, 4L, 4L, 4L, 4L, 4L, 4L, 4L, 4L, 4L, 4L, 4L, 4L, 4L, 4L, 
4L, 4L, 4L, 4L, 4L, 4L, 4L), .Label = c("Initial", "Current", 
"Forecast", "Cost"), class = "factor"), variable = structure(c(1L, 
1L, 1L, 1L, 1L, 1L, 1L, 1L, 1L, 1L, 1L, 1L, 1L, 1L, 1L, 1L, 1L, 
1L, 1L, 1L, 1L, 1L, 1L, 1L, 1L, 1L, 1L, 1L, 1L, 1L, 1L, 1L, 1L, 
1L, 1L, 1L, 1L, 1L, 1L, 1L, 1L, 1L, 1L, 1L, 1L, 1L, 1L, 1L, 1L, 
1L, 1L, 2L, 2L, 2L, 2L, 2L, 2L, 2L, 2L, 2L, 2L, 2L, 2L, 2L, 2L, 
2L, 2L, 2L, 2L, 2L, 2L, 2L, 2L, 2L, 2L, 2L, 2L, 2L, 2L, 2L, 2L, 
2L, 2L, 2L, 2L, 2L, 2L, 2L, 2L, 2L, 2L, 2L, 2L, 2L, 2L, 2L, 2L, 
2L, 2L, 2L, 2L, 2L, 1L, 2L, 1L, 2L, 1L, 2L, 1L, 2L, 1L, 2L, 1L, 
2L, 1L, 2L, 1L, 2L, 1L, 2L, 1L, 2L, 1L, 2L, 1L, 2L, 1L, 2L, 1L, 
2L, 1L, 2L, 1L, 2L, 1L, 2L), .Label = c("start_date", "end_date"
), class = "factor"), value = c("2007-05-30", "2009-03-30", "2016-06-29", 
"2007-09-05", "2010-03-05", "2017-09-30", "2006-09-26", "2008-09-26", 
"2015-08-31", "2007-11-20", "2011-11-20", "2014-03-20", "2012-01-31", 
"2014-07-31", "2016-03-20", "2013-06-21", "2016-06-21", "2016-06-21", 
"2009-04-15", "2011-04-15", "2017-12-31", "2013-06-21", "2016-06-21", 
"2016-06-21", "2013-12-18", "2016-08-18", "2017-08-18", "2016-04-14", 
"2018-02-14", "2018-02-14", "2013-06-03", "2014-10-03", "2016-05-10", 
"2013-08-07", "2015-02-07", "2016-06-30", "2014-09-11", "2016-09-11", 
"2016-09-11", "2014-09-26", "2016-09-26", "2016-09-26", "2013-03-20", 
"2016-03-20", "2016-03-20", "2015-10-09", "2016-08-09", "2016-08-09", 
"2015-11-10", "2016-05-10", "2016-05-10", "2009-03-30", "2016-06-29", 
"2016-06-29", "2010-03-05", "2017-09-30", "2017-09-30", "2008-09-26", 
"2015-08-31", "2016-08-31", "2011-11-20", "2014-03-20", "2015-12-31", 
"2014-07-31", "2016-03-20", "2016-12-20", "2016-06-21", "2016-06-21", 
"2016-12-30", "2011-04-15", "2017-12-31", "2017-12-31", "2016-06-21", 
"2016-06-21", "2018-03-31", "2016-08-18", "2017-08-18", "2018-02-28", 
"2018-02-14", "2018-02-14", "2018-02-14", "2014-10-03", "2016-05-10", 
"2016-05-10", "2015-02-07", "2016-06-30", "2016-06-30", "2016-09-11", 
"2016-09-11", "2017-07-28", "2016-09-26", "2016-09-26", "2016-09-26", 
"2016-03-20", "2016-03-20", "2018-10-19", "2016-08-09", "2016-08-09", 
"2016-08-09", "2016-05-10", "2016-05-10", "2016-05-10", "2007-05-30", 
"2013-09-24", "2007-09-05", "2010-10-21", "2006-09-26", "2016-08-02", 
"2007-11-20", "2015-10-19", "2012-01-31", "2015-11-23", "2013-06-21", 
"2015-06-09", "2009-04-15", "2014-05-06", "2013-06-21", "2015-03-28", 
"2013-12-18", "2015-05-24", "2016-04-14", "2016-04-14", "2013-06-03", 
"2016-01-07", "2013-08-07", "2015-12-08", "2014-09-11", "2015-07-24", 
"2014-09-26", "2015-06-18", "2013-03-20", "2017-02-22", "2015-10-09", 
"2015-10-09", "2015-11-10", "2016-01-06"), bar = c(5, 5, 5, 5, 
5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 
5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 
5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 
5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 
5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 2.5, 2.5, 2.5, 2.5, 
2.5, 2.5, 2.5, 2.5, 2.5, 2.5, 2.5, 2.5, 2.5, 2.5, 2.5, 2.5, 2.5, 
2.5, 2.5, 2.5, 2.5, 2.5, 2.5, 2.5, 2.5, 2.5, 2.5, 2.5, 2.5, 2.5, 
2.5, 2.5, 2.5, 2.5), de = structure(c(4L, 4L, 4L, 4L, 4L, 4L, 
1L, 1L, 1L, 3L, 3L, 3L, 2L, 2L, 2L, 1L, 1L, 1L, 4L, 4L, 4L, 2L, 
2L, 2L, 3L, 3L, 3L, 4L, 4L, 4L, 1L, 1L, 1L, 3L, 3L, 3L, 2L, 2L, 
2L, 4L, 4L, 4L, 1L, 1L, 1L, 1L, 1L, 1L, 1L, 1L, 1L, 4L, 4L, 4L, 
4L, 4L, 4L, 1L, 1L, 1L, 3L, 3L, 3L, 2L, 2L, 2L, 1L, 1L, 1L, 4L, 
4L, 4L, 2L, 2L, 2L, 3L, 3L, 3L, 4L, 4L, 4L, 1L, 1L, 1L, 3L, 3L, 
3L, 2L, 2L, 2L, 4L, 4L, 4L, 1L, 1L, 1L, 1L, 1L, 1L, 1L, 1L, 1L, 
4L, 4L, 4L, 4L, 1L, 1L, 3L, 3L, 2L, 2L, 1L, 1L, 4L, 4L, 2L, 2L, 
3L, 3L, 4L, 4L, 1L, 1L, 3L, 3L, 2L, 2L, 4L, 4L, 1L, 1L, 1L, 1L, 
1L, 1L), .Label = c("de1", "de2", "de3", "de4"), class = "factor")), row.names = c("1", 
"2", "3", "4", "5", "6", "7", "8", "9", "10", "11", "12", "13", 
"14", "15", "16", "17", "18", "19", "20", "21", "22", "23", "24", 
"25", "26", "27", "28", "29", "30", "31", "32", "33", "34", "35", 
"36", "37", "38", "39", "40", "41", "42", "43", "44", "45", "46", 
"47", "48", "49", "50", "51", "52", "53", "54", "55", "56", "57", 
"58", "59", "60", "61", "62", "63", "64", "65", "66", "67", "68", 
"69", "70", "71", "72", "73", "74", "75", "76", "77", "78", "79", 
"80", "81", "82", "83", "84", "85", "86", "87", "88", "89", "90", 
"91", "92", "93", "94", "95", "96", "97", "98", "99", "100", 
"101", "102", "110", "410", "710", "103", "131", "161", "191", 
"221", "251", "281", "311", "341", "371", "401", "431", "461", 
"491", "521", "551", "581", "611", "641", "671", "701", "731", 
"761", "791", "821", "851", "881", "911", "941", "971", "1001"
), .Names = c("name", "Contr.finish", "variable", "value", "bar", 
"de"), class = "data.frame")

dfr<-structure(list(name = structure(c(2L, 4L, 3L, 1L), .Label = c("10004/07", 
"10012/06", "458/07", "512/12"), class = "factor"), text = c("Region 1", 
"Region 2", "Region 3", "Region 4"), name0 = c(0, 6.5, 9.5, 12.5
)), .Names = c("name", "text", "name0"), row.names = c(NA, -4L
), class = "data.frame")

library(ggplot2)
library(scales)
library(ggthemes)

ggplot(mdfr, aes(as.POSIXct(as.Date(value, "%Y-%m-%d")), name, colour = Contr.finish)) +
    geom_line(aes(size=bar)) +

    guides(colour = guide_legend(override.aes = list(size=5)), size="none", fill="none") +
    geom_line(size=2.0) +
    xlab("") + ylab("") +
    theme_stata()  +
    geom_hline(data=dfr, aes(yintercept = name0), color = "#4d4d4d", size=0.8) + # 

    scale_fill_brewer(palette="Dark2") +
    scale_x_datetime(breaks = date_breaks("1 year"),labels = abbreviate) +

    scale_colour_manual(values=c("Initial" = "#67bf5c", "Current" = "#1f77b4",
                                "Forecast" = "#ff9e4a", "Cost" = "#c10534")) +

    theme(legend.position = "bottom", 
          axis.text.y=element_text(angle=0)
          )

Answer 1

You can use geom_rect() and there set xmin= and xmax= to minimal and maximal values of your dates or some other values outside the limits. For the ymin= and ymax= used name values converted to numeric (they have to factors in your dataframe) and then -0.5 and +0.5 (as for each discrete value there is place of 1 around it). Added expand=c(0,0) to scale_x_datetime() to remove white areas.

+ geom_rect(aes(xmin=min(as.POSIXct(as.Date(value, "%Y-%m-%d"))),
                xmax=max(as.POSIXct(as.Date(value, "%Y-%m-%d"))),
                ymin=as.numeric(name)-0.5,ymax=as.numeric(name)+0.5,
                fill=de),alpha=0.05,linetype=0)