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This is done very fast for demonstration.........you take your time and do it right.

First I made a selection of the area I wanted  to preserve using the Pen Tool.

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With the selection active, I added a layer mask to the layer by hitting the "add layer mask" icon located at the bottom of the layers panel.

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The I create a new layer below that layer.

I used the color picker to select the foreground color by sampling from the original image.

The I use the Gradient tool, set to Foreground to transparent, to add in the new BG color.

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Here's my layers panel.

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