Thanks lazygardens! I'll keep that in mind. Unfortunately, the pavers I looked at at HD will be trick around the corners if I try to double-up on them. The angles just aren't narrow enough to make the cut doubled-up. A single-width path would be nice still so I may consider doing that. Not quite sure the best way to handle the mud however. When it rains it becomes a mess out there. The woodchips seemed to have handled this well, but my wife doesn't like woodchips at all. What other options would we have to making the ground out there a little more absorbent and not so muddy during the wet season?

Hi, I am at work so I can't view the photos now, but will later. We used the Cambridge pavers in onyx/natural (which looks grey). I believe it was the Renaisance Collection, but will check. They have the more "old stone" look to them, which we wanted. We did a random pattern and it gets alot of compliments. The only problem is we have them also in the driveway and a few times, we had to clean oil stains up left from a leaky car. We are presently re-doing our backyard. It was overrun with large trees overgrown bushes that were half dead from the past owners overcrowding. We are using bluestone back there because my husband wanted something different, yet I wanted to carry the greyish tone there also. We also had our contractor build a wall with brick on the top and a brick flower box all around the periphery of the yard using Danish color brick. I still have to pick a color for the stucco part of the wall and hoping it all looks good.

I would recommend making the landing generous, at least 4' depth x the width of the opening between the posts, and make the walk generous, at least 4' width. I wouldn't plant any screening plants in front of the porch. There could be low/medium shrubs at the corners and smaller shrubs or perennials at the posts. In front of the open porch, just low groundcover. The picture doesn't show the flanking space left or right. I see at left in another picture but can't tell how close to house it is. Maybe a small tree can go between house and garage.

Kitasei, you are so right! I posted photos where I moved them, as not only do I need a casual flair (a little eclectic play), but I recognize how I can "have it all" by moving them to the more casual side of my property. One of my top priorities is connecting with people. My street is known to be one of the top most-walked, friendly streets in the city. Since I absolutely love connecting, I strike up conversations with those walking by and sometimes they linger. When I had benches (and once tried a patio table, chairs and umbrella), seldom would anyone join me. When I switched them out for my Adirondacks and a little table (above), they started to sit down and chat. There's something to be said for breaking the mold! In this case I have enough room to place them on the far side of my property (above). ...AND I DO like to be as true to architectural character as reasonable. I always want to know if something stands out...out of character! Thank you so much.