Consider that before paver companies got so creative, it began with a simple brick shape and only a couple of colors. The colors are usually not pure, but mottled as part of the manufacturing process. (Cannot tell from the mfg. literature if this is the case here.) There are innumerable attractive, time-tested patterns that can be constructed with the standard brick shape: basketweave, herringbone, running bond, modified basketweave, stacked bond & probably more. I doubt that anyone who installed paving from these simple options was unhappy with the result. Personally, I prefer these 'old school' options. They always looks nice and stand the test of time, while many of the new color ranges and patterns that have been developed since, look unpleasant from the day they are installed! The one's with sharply contrasting colors in the mix look blotchy and garish to me. The one's with high texture can be difficult to walk on, if ever someone would show up in heels for the patio party. Barefooters might not care for them either. The 'Miami' model, with its uniformly wavy edge and perfectly rounded corners, looks like a fakey facsimile to me. I don't care much for the one they call 'Cobblestone.' 'Old Canada' seems OK in the picture, if the color is not too wild. But you cannot go wrong with the 4" x 8" brick. Another one I've found to look very good is the 4" x 4" square in running bond configuration.

An important fact to keep in mind with paving is that light colors reflect the sun and can be absolutely blinding. It's almost always the case that darker is better. I would stick with grey, charcoal or red. I would also forget about white cement. It's for those who love a purer color, but generally, this is not an improvement outdoors. Usually, white cement costs more, too.

Whatever you do, you can only get so far in narrowing choices via online or print materials. When you get it honed down to two or three possibilities, you must go to the paver yard and get samples. It is the only way to know if you're going to be satisfied with the end result. Get a half dozen of each sample so that you can mock up enough to give an idea of the result. Look at it on site from a distance in order to get the best feel for how it will look with its surroundings.

Why pavers? At our last house we had all of the flatwork redone in a sand finish and although we didn't have a pool we LOVED it. It's very slip resistant and we were told it's a popular pool-side finish.

Benjesbride, describe "sand finish" -- what it is and what does it looks like?

The texture is kind of like fine grit sandpaper, maybe. This link has sand finish photos from the contractor we hired. I live in Portland, Oregon so that might explain how most of his examples are wet and not around pools :-)

http://gwcdecorativeconcrete.com/sand-finish-concrete-gallery/

We had toddlers at that house who loved to play in water and run around our patio in the summer and no one ever slipped and fell. Seems like a good choice for a pool. The mall near us has all the exterior flat work in a sand finish, but maybe it's uncommon in other areas.

Here's a close up photo from Houzz. Our project was done in a medium-dark gray color.

SAND FINISH CONCRETE · More Info

It is quite a handsome finish. Thanks for sharing pics and link.