Of course, a single material can be used just as creatively. Bricks laid in interesting ways, with header courses and changes in pattern that make them look like throw rugs or runners, is a perfect example. Tiny round river cobbles or broken pieces of tile mortared mosaic-style is another.

Sometimes it’s a matter of mixing paving materials with plants, allowing a few plants to spill casually from their beds into an adjacent path, or placing them in the path intentionally. A grid of square stepping stones placed like a checkerboard in the lawn is always an eye-catcher. And filling the cracks between small, randomly laid pieces of irregular flagstone works well to soften paths or terraces. You can even remove occasional stones, cobbles, or bricks from existing paving to create small planting pockets for succulents and other tough plants.

We have more options for paving today than ever before. Stoneyards are filled with irregular flagstones, uniformly cut stones, boulders, cobbles, and river rocks. Brickyards stock an ever-expanding assortment of both new and old bricks, plus thin brick pavers in myriad colors. Pea gravel and decomposed granite can be found to match almost any color scheme. And precast pavers can be laid with ease to create intricate patterns.

Even ordinary concrete can be brushed, etched, sanded, stained, and combined with aggregate. Mortar can be used as the base for one-of-a-kind mosaics made with pieces of tile, pebbles, or other materials. Of course, it’s the inventive way any material is used that gives paving that extra spark.