5 Fantastic Patio Flooring Ideas

Patios are a perfect addition to a home, particularly in the summer when evenings are long and barbeques or other social gatherings are plentiful. The trick to delighting your guests (or yourself, for that matter) is to have a patio that is both functional and aesthetic, a place where you’d enjoy spending a few minutes or a few hours. And it all begins with what’s underfoot. Here are some inspiring DIY (or not) patio flooring ideas to help you create the outdoor space of your dreams:

Flagstone.

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If you don’t have a patio at the moment, or if you’d like to extend your patio space into part of your yard, this might be a great option for you. The large flagstones provide a flat enough surface for a table and/or other patio furniture while serving as a nice aesthetic transition from house to yard. I personally love the little peep of grass growing between the flagstone pieces as a transitional style. Looks so inviting!

Concrete.

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An inexpensive, and equally impressive, alternative to flagstone is to create your own concrete square blocks and lay them in a geometric grid to create your patio floor. This is a fantastic method for a number of reasons, not the least of which is that the size of your concrete blocks is totally customizable for your space, and you can lay them as close together or far apart as you like. I love how these particular squares are large enough to provide a stable surface, but they still “read” almost as stones. Bonus: While doing your concrete work, you could even stain the blocks to be almost any shade you want!

Brick.

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Right next to a beautifully modern home with white painted brick and siding, a speckled red brick patio is a lovely touch. It adds both a sense of history and a subtle pop of color, with the patchwork feel of the brick. (I’m sure there is a name for this.) A benefit of using brick as the patio ground is that you can then use leftover brick on other touches throughout your yard – a small bench or a planter, for example – to coordinate and spread the material around for balance. I think this patio space is super cozy.

Pallet.

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The ultimate in upcycling, this pallet-floor patio is a DIY project that cost the homeowner a mere $36! Of course, lots of elbow grease was involved, but the pallets provide a sturdy surface that both looks great and can be custom-fit to your space. What’s more, the pallets can be laid on top of virtually any existing surface, which makes installation a bit easier.

Paint.

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Say you’ve already got an existing patio. A boring, old concrete drab-slab that seems to suck the life and charm out of your backyard. No worries! Paint it in some fun design or pattern. A harlequin diamond pattern is always a good choice, although you really could do anything. There are certain tips and tricks to painting concrete the right way, of course, and you’ll need to touch up the wear and tear on the paint over time, but this is such an inexpensive idea with huge impact. I absolutely love the chunky grey diamonds here!

Picture sources: 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5.