When deciding to add a patio to your landscape design, most people have not really decided what material to use.

And you know what? That’s fine.

You can come up with the design first, and then interchange materials, according to likes and costs, and then make your decision.

This is easiest to do with a simple patio at ground level.

It gets a bit more intricate if the patio is raised (more like a terrace). In this case, steps and sidewalls are involved. Thus more materials must be coordinated.

If designing a patio at ground level, the materials chosen should blend well with your house and any other hardscape features nearby.

There may be a few different paving materials that will work. For example, a white clapboard home would look fine with bluestone, brick or pavers.

However, let’s assume it is a terrace. Not only must materials be selected for the terrace floor itself, but also the sidewalls and any necessary steps leading off the patio.

If brick is chosen for the terrace, the sidewalls can also be brick. Yet the steps can be either brick or bluestone. Perhaps the steps will be comprised of bluestone treads and brick risers. Or bluestone treads and stone risers.

If you change the material to concrete pavers, the same decisions must be made, but with different materials.

All these different choices affect the cost of your project. Ideally you would select two different options…Perhaps one that you love and the other that would be fine. Price them both and see how they fit into your budget.

The point is that you can decide later.