Our Patio Design Ideas for a Stunning Home Exterior

Planning a new patio? From size to shape to the all-important choice of paver, every choice you make alters the aesthetic of your outdoor space.

Luckily, at RF Paving, we’ve been supplying homeowners and installers with high-quality paving materials since 2000, so we know a thing or two about what makes a fantastic paved area. With our expert advice, we’ll help you create a patio that doesn’t just feel like a key component of your garden, but also an extension of your overall home.

Why Add a Patio to Your Garden? 

A patio creates a space in your garden for al-fresco dining, sitting, relaxing, or hosting outdoor gatherings and is the perfect way to achieve modern indoor-outdoor living. In summertime, it can even serve as a second living room!

On top of that, adding a patio means less lawn space to mow and maintain. While grassy gardens are wonderful, having a patio as well gives you an outdoor spot that won’t get muddy after rain and requires far less upkeep. 

How to Choose a Patio Paving Material

One of the biggest decisions you’ll make when creating your patio is the paving material. With an abundance of natural stone colours and porcelain patterns, it can seem like an overload of options. To help you narrow it down, we’ll offer some inspiration for stylish and striking ways to use each paving material. 

Porcelain Patio Design Ideas

Porcelain is incredibly popular thanks to a premium modern appearance paired with exceptional durability and weather resistance.

One of our favourite porcelain patio design styles is the indoor-outdoor option. This is where the pattern and colour of your porcelain patio tiles match those of your indoor porcelain floor tiles. This gives the impression of your interior extending seamlessly into your outdoor space for a luxurious, cohesive aesthetic. 

Porcelain also offers a tremendous variety in colour and patterning. We even have a range of porcelain patio pavers that mimic the appearance of natural wood. 

A faux-wood patio is a perfect way to enjoy the appearance of wooden surfaces in the garden without the upkeep of decking, making it a perfect ‘best of both worlds’ patio design. 

Our dedicated porcelain guide can offer more inspiration and advice around this patio paving type. 

Natural Stone Patio Design Ideas

At RF, we’re proud to source much of our natural stone paving from India. As India has a rich and varied geology, this means that the stone pavers come in a wide range of beautiful colours.

Sandstone, in particular, is famous for its variation in colour and patterning. For a classic, sophisticated patio style, explore darker sandstone hues like Kandla Grey. Or, for a light, bright sunspot, discover Lalitpur Yellow or Mint Fossil. 

You could even explore sandstone types with even greater shade variation, like Modak or Raveena sandstone, in order to create a mixed-colour patio design. 

Or, if the rich colours of sandstone don’t tempt you, explore a limestone patio design instead. Our Egyptian limestone has natural fossil patterning and veining to give your patio unique character, while our Indian Kota Black limestone has a strikingly dark colouring. 

We have a sandstone guide and a limestone guide to help you choose which is best for your patio. 

Small Patio Design Ideas

Don’t let limited space stop you from creating a patio to be proud of. By choosing large format tiles in light colours, you can create an illusion of space thanks to the reflection of light and lack of grout lines.

Coordinating your indoor tiles to your patio also opens up the space beautifully. Now it’s not a small patio – it’s a huge room that spreads seamlessly from the inside to the exterior. 

Rectangular Patio Design Ideas

A rectangular patio is the classic, popular choice of shape, but classic doesn’t have to mean boring. Create visual interest by using mixed-size pavers, like the ones found in our project packs. You could even get really creative and assemble pavers of different shapes, too, for a mosaic effect. 

Another way to make your patio stand out is with a contrasting border. Choose setts or edgings in a lighter or darker shade than your main pavers and lay them along the outline of your patio for a bold look. 

Round Patio Design Ideas

A round patio is perfect if your primary goal is to create an outdoor social space, as it offers ideal placement for a circular outdoor dining table or for seating. Try positioning it in the centre of your garden as a statement feature. Or, if you want a more secluded, intimate feel, try a shaded corner. 

If you’re not sure about a fully circular patio, try a semicircle. This allows one side of the patio to line up with the exterior wall of your home while still achieving the wonderful rounded look with the other edge. This is a fantastic choice if you want to achieve the indoor-outdoor living effect, as it gives the appearance of paving radiating from the home. 

You can also incorporate circle paving into a traditional square patio. Our stone circle kits come with ‘squaring off’ pieces, allowing you to use them as a centre focus for a larger patio space. 

Cobble Patio Design Ideas

Rather than using large format pavers for your patio, you could explore cobbles instead. This opens up a whole new wealth of patio design ideas for you.

Create a rustic, antique look by using tumbled cobbles for your patio. These have been rotated in a drum to weather them slightly, creating a quaint, aged appearance that pairs brilliantly with older homes and cottage style gardens. 

Cobble setts can also be laid in an array of interesting formations. One popular choice is the herringbone pattern, in which setts are laid diagonally in interlocking Vs, creating a zigzag appearance.

Our small format paving guide can offer further inspiration for your cobbled patio, driveway or path. 

Budget Patio Design Ideas

A stylish patio doesn’t need to cost much. Why not create a patio space using colourful natural stone aggregates? Or you could explore concrete paving options to recreate some of the laying styles explored above.

Read our guide to paving on a budget for more cost-cutting patio design ideas. 

Whichever patio design you choose, you’ll always find the best paving products to bring your vision to life with RF. Contact us today to discuss how we can support you in making the best choices for your patio.