One of the best ways to make your outdoor living spaces more interesting and unique is to use paving stones with different textures. Like colors, textures can be used to create visual interest and define spaces. Here are three innovative ways to mix the textures of paving stones in Orange Lake, NY.
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Explore Your Options
What textures are available in Unilock paving stones? Unilock offers natural textures that mimic the look and feel of flagstone; antiqued or tumbled finishes reminiscent of ancient roads and walls; brushed, washed and smooth textures for a modern look; and historic well-worn textures such as brick and cobblestone. When two or more are used in combination, the results are stunning!
Driveway Borders
For a more traditional yet interesting look, use textured pavers such as Thornbury paving stones as your main field (for a richly textured flagstone look) and add a border of polished, well-worn Courtstone cobblestones. This approach is highly functional in that Thornbury paving stones feature a larger joint spacing, which allows the driveway to be water-permeable. Plus, the contrasting band of Courtstone cobbles provides a visual guide to the driveway’s edge.
For a bolder look, switch these two materials. The result will be a driveway made with Courtstone for a rich old-world look; medium-size Thornbury paving stones laid horizontally to the direction of travel add a substantial border that also offers a textural contrast.
Patio and Walkway Accents and Borders
Enhance the look of a paver walkway or patio by using contrasting accents and borders. For example, use tumbled Brussels Block pavers as the field paver and add accents or borders using the much smoother Copthorne pavers.
Another winning textural combination can be found in the Unilock Promenade Plank paver options, which allows you to mix textures (two types of smooth, plus brushed and washed) while staying in the same color family. This paving stone is suitable for both pedestrian and vehicular applications. This contemporary paver offers endless design possibilities!
Inserts
What better way to define a space than to create an outdoor “area rug”? You can do this using pavers of different colors, but the real wow factor happens when you mix textures. You can use the Series paving stones in Peppered Granite as the main field of a sleek modern patio, and create a textured contrast with Mattoni paving stones in Dark Charcoal to define a sitting area. And Series paving stones feature a uniquely pebbled texture and richness of color—a perfect contrast to the distressed surface of Mattoni pavers.
For a sophisticated, ultra modern statement for a small space, go black-on-black using the charcoal color choices of these two paving stones. The textural difference will still be noticeable, and dramatic.
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Tips for Mixing Textures
When using texture, you can create a more subtle look using matching or similar colors, or go for bold and really play up the textural differences by using contrasting colors.
Textural differences can also be enhanced or made more subtle by carefully choosing the right color jointing compound.
Finally, smaller pavers (with more joint lines) create a visually textured hardscape, even if the surface is smooth. You can contrast these small pavers with large-format pavers to create the illusion of different textures.
Generally, you may view simple as best. One or two contrasting textures and/or colors may be all you need to create a visually interesting outdoor space.
The title image features a Promenade Plank paver driveway.
