I have an old brick house and put in a concrete brick walkway (is that an oxymoron?). It is not that great looking. It's better than what I had. First thing I would say is do not let these contractors and guys who are pushing to sell their product lines push you. I know you want to get the project finished and sometimes these guys can be so impatient. But if you don't like what they are suggesting, if you don't feel good about it, stop right now. Step back. If they can't accomodate you, find someone else. I just had my couch recovered and I must have looked at 50 fabric books. I felt very guilty about going back so many times to the upholstery studio. But it was not a cheap item and I expect to live with it for many years. I finally found the right fabric, and I can't believe how perfect it is compared to all the other options I was considering. I knew it was right the minute I saw it, and have no regrets, which is a good thing since I'll be living with the results for a long time. When it's right it's right, and if it's not right, it's never going to get right. Better to be a little b!tchy now than live for years with something you hate. I had a red brick house and was worried about matching for my pathway and patio. I also had to consider cost, I couldn't afford mottled pavers or the varied size ones. I thought red would just be too much red in my yard. I chose grey. If I had to do it again I would pick a sandstone color, to match the mortar between my bricks. My neighbors have a fence that color and it looks good against their house. BUT, if I really could do it over again I would either pick much larger pavers in some type of other style than the ubiquitous stuff MacLandscapers use. I think those cement pavers look OK on a wood sided or vinyl sided house, but not with brick. You need flagstone, crushed gravel whatever that mats down, wood, trex, even well designed poured concrete. There must be more options but I'm no expert. I was on the coolest crushed gravel path the other day, lined with treated lumber.

We had aggregate at a prior home. It looked good until it began to break down after about ten years. Also, the wood expansion joints between sections rotted. At our present home we have a bluestone chip driveway, bluestone slab front stoop and blue/grey paver blocks for terrace and patio (side and rear). Roof is blue/grey slate look asphalt. (If you have children who will be riding bikes or rollerskating, you'll prefer smooth concrete.)

You patio area looks lovely. Now it's time for the fun stuff - the plants! You will get the most benefit from adding some structural shrubs. Just adding perennials won't give you any winter interest since they dieback in the winter and can be insignificant. Some low maintenance shrubs like Viburnums, Lilacs, Hydrangeas will work just fine and have a nice bloom in the spring/summer. Planting in odd numbers always works well and also planting in masses. I agree with Yaardvark by adding a nice ornamental tree to the right of the patio and tying the planting bed to the patio so it all connects. Once you pick all your main structural plantings (don't forget to include some evergreens to guarentee some greenery in the winter), you can add some perennials for a nice accent. For shade you can go with hosta, astilbe, ferns and japanese forest grass, to name a few! Also, when looking at the area from the secondary backdoor (not leading directly out to the patio) and your patio connection, you can easily just add a nice curving path of steppers to make that connection. That can be more cost effective and still give the same feel. Good luck!

Determine the level they are supposed to be at and then lift and level the ones that are higher or lower than your level mark. It sounds like a big deal but it's really not. Get a load of sand or 1/4 minus (road crush) delivered (probably a yard would do it, maybe 2) and a hand tamper to compact it. It won't take more than a weekend, if that. Oops, I realize I'm assuming they are not cemented it. That's a bigger deal, but still doable.