I agree that adding photos will help immensely. Also, what do you want to do with your patio, and what direction does it face? For example, if you want to eat supper out there and it is west facing, you will want some shade to make it useable. How you plan to use it will influence other factors such as size, materials, etc. In the meantime, here is a link with lots of photos of designer patios. Look at them less as a blueprint than with an eye toward what appeals to you: Do you like a simple symmetrical shape or irregular? What materials do you like? Do you like them raised or level with the ground? Will you be planting around it and if so, generally what types of plantings appeal to you? Do you like structures such as walls or trellises, or do you want it more open? What do you need room for: a couple of chairs, a large dining table, a fire pit of some kind, etc? Are you planning yours as a DIY and if so, how much experience do you have, and how much work do you want to take on? For instance, what looks flat may not in fact actually be flat and so may require some evaluation and leveling as well as being sure that precipitation will move away from the house and not toward it. A zone or general area where you live will help also, since some choices will depend on whether or not you need to worry about freezing temperatures, snow removal, huge amounts of rain, etc. Here is a link that might be useful: [Houzz patios[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/patio-ideas-phbr0-bp~t_725)

What kind of problem do you have to solve? Do you lack privacy? Do you need shade? Is this deck on the north/south/east/west side of your house? Can you see the kids on their gym equipment? Do you have outdoor grilling equipment? Do you eat at the table? If you want a low budget fix, do one which can be moved when you decide to put more money into it. I got some huge plastic tubs like nurseries put trees in. Or a few whiskey barrels with a liner to allow planting. To keep them from becoming too too heavy, break up some styrofoam packaging materials (or those peanuts) to take up space before you go broke buying potting soil. Then get some cut bamboo fronds (or straight tree limbs or skinny wood or maybe short rebar) and build a teepee shape in the pots. I planted quick growth climbing annuals, or perennials in the ones I did. Morning glories are great, moonflower vines too. But after seeing what they do with vines in Italy, I like the star jasmine which blooms once a year. But your climate may dictate something different. Kiwi vines are not as quick growing, but with male/female plants you would eventually have fruits, and they survive very cold climates. If you put two or three of these tubs just outside the paved patio area, you'd not intrude on the usable space. Even planting petunias, nasturtiums, or other flowering plants which spill over the edge of the tubs, man alive, it could look great. I do think that you could build just the posts for one side of a pergola this year, perhaps 3 posts, with cross bars between connecting them at the top and at counter height, with maybe lattice below the counter height. Hanging baskets from the top bars and putting a narrow counter or wide top rail where you might place food to serve. It would be a way to get privacy along that one side, or maybe provide some shade. Then as funds allow, you might choose to complete the pergola, or increase the size of the patio before you go that far. Whatever you do at each step could give you much enjoyment because it will all look better with each step. If you put in the posts, I'd go for 6x6 posts now, just in case you do want to go the pergola route later.

And without you defining what it is exactly you want to achieve other than the proposed hardscaping, we are clueless as how to help you. We can't read your mind.........:-)

Morning. Nice, thank you. That visual helps. Much appreciated