I remember how difficult it is to get started when you have a bare, flat yard. I kept staring out the windows, trying to imagine what I could plant where. It helps if you have someone stand outside while you look out the windows. Have your helper walk around from place to place, waving his/her arms, and maybe even holding a broom up overhead. Try to imagine your helper is a bush or a tree. When your helper gets to a spot that looks good from the inside, make a note of the position, or have your helper plant a garden stake (much easier to move than a tree!) Then go stand outside, or across the street, and see if that really is a good place for a tree. Use pots of annuals which you can move around until you find a space placement that suits you. THEN dig a bed. You can always set out empty boxes, or laundry baskets or even chairs to find spots for a shrub. Anything of a similar size that's easily movable will do. Here are some general principals I've found helpful. If the front is your main entrance, plant things that you will be happy to see when you come home. Start planting close to the walk and steps. This will encourage you to expand. Take it slow. I read once that you should live in a house though one set of seasons before you do any major changes. I translated that into planting annuals at first...which will have to be redone anyway. Fall is really the best time to plant trees and shrubs, as then they will get lots of rain. And, they will be cheaper at the 'year end' sales. Plant evergreens and long season perennials in the front as you and the neighbors will be looking at this area every day. Don't be afraid to take out something you don't like. Try to transplant it, or give it away. If it lives, fine, but you don't have to put up with something you don't like. Bare ground will make you feel better than a plant that irriates you. Don't plant acid loving plants close to the foundation of the house or near the cement path or sidewalk. They won't thrive. I figured this out after losing a row of azaleas, one by one. You can buy spray paint that is specially made to be sprayed holding the can upside down, so you can mark the edges of the beds. Just make sure that it isn't 'clear' paint. (Yes, it does come that way - a friend did this!) Or take a container of flour out and use that to mark plant placement or bed edges if you want a very temporary marking. The front yard is your house's public face and a place to show off your gardening skills. Rather than screening off the street, plant so that people driving or walking by will have something pleasant to look at and your visitors will find inviting. And for safety reasons, you don't want to 'hide' your house. Burglars go for entrances that are screened off from the view of the neighbors. Re paths: Make sure you leave good access to the utility boxes. Make sure you can get a lawnmower and wheelbarrow everywhere they'll need to go. You won't want low branching trees too near paths, either. If you don't have a pleasant view out the windows, one small patch of bright color will draw your eye away from the eyesore. Try a few pots of color, just set out on the ground, and see how they draw your attention. You do want to 'hide' the foundation of the house with taller, more solid shrubs. This will help transition the house into the lot, and help it look 'planted' rather than just 'plopped' onto the lot. Place lower plants further away from the house, along the path and sidewalk. You don't have to have ANY lawn in the front, but you don't have to take it all out at once, either. Have fun! Daphne in Tacoma

You mention poured concrete COVERED with pavers. It is usually one or the other. Why one covered with the other? Trying to make it cost twice as much? Any of the materials you mention can be done well. It's a matter of picking what fits in the budget and working out the design details on it. In your initial question you're mentioning that the "steps" are the expensive part. But in the drawing, the patio and steps are integrated. Steps cannot be identified separately. Not sure what you're trying to find out with this post.

Hopefully this will give you some food for thought. Your goals are: 1. I don't want anything super big or that puts me out on display in the middle of my yard. Privacy is a concern. 2. make a connection between the deck steps and the basement areaway. That could be a simple as a pathway. But if you fill the space with toddler toys, fire pit, and the chairs around it, you need the space to be even bigger 3. The actual patio space will be used for some of my toddler's toys, Will this be a toy box? or storage for tricycles etc? 4. possibly the grill (it's currently on the deck), and for Since the grill will be used often in the late afternoon, and you have the west sun heating things up, the deck must be a really hot spot to grill currently. Could you locate the grill in a shadier part of the yard? 5. either a propane or wood fire pit with chairs around it, the fire pit will not be built in. You should have the fire pit at least 10-15 ft away from the house. And you 'll need some substantial space around it for chairs. You don't want to be too close to it. You said you don't want anything super big but you'll be surprised how much space you need outdoors to feel comfortable next to a fire pit. Here's something to think about. Gray is the paving, dark green is planting beds (some of which will have tall shrub and trees) and the pale green is grass. This plan will give you a good size patio for your fire pit, and you can even put the grill there if that area is shady at grill-times. The play area is nice and close to the house for supervision. The large area of paving is perfect for tricycle play, and the 2 areas of grass can still be used for things like ball games since there are no planting beds separating them. The view of the patio and fire pit draws the eye to the back of your property, making it seem larger and an inviting destination. If you put in your 5 ft planting beds along the property line that will define them adequately, with no need for the rail fence. Big shrubs along the property line will give you privacy. Hydrangeas are one example of a shrub that grows well and blooms in shade, and comes in every height from a foot to 15 feet. The large pannicle hydrangeas such as Limelight fill a lot of space, cutting down on the costs of planting such large beds, since you only need a few. Because the paving hooks up all the areas you want to use, the backyard is usable even when the grass is wet or muddy in early spring. The paving could be done in stages as the budget allows. I think a simple paving would look best with such a large area - no need for borders or stamping. The shape is what gives it interest. Areas between houses and beside your morning room and deck are hard to grow grass because of the shade, and this plan will, I think, keep the grass in the sunny areas where it will grow well even when it gets hard use as a play area. Grass in shady areas is much more fragile. Hope you can use some of these ideas!

The "raised planter(s)" not making sense to me. Their top elevation would need to be higher than top steps (which ideally would be just below threshold, and that would be against the siding. Not good. Why are raised planters in the equation? This will two patio doors, side-by-side, separated by no more than 4'? I would not put any planter in between, but a continuous landing spanning both sets of doors. If you want plants in between, a large, low planter can go there. A somewhat wider view photo would help. (Adding pics from phone is same if you're using web browser, not app. BTW, last time I tried the app, it was full of glitches.)