Renovating a garden comes with many tough decisions and challenges, but one of the trickiest is choosing which type of paving to go with.

There are so many options out there, and so many factors to consider, and when you consider the costs that are involved, it’s important to get it right.

To try and make things a little bit easier, here’s a quick guide for choosing paving for your garden.

Make sure it fits

The first thing to be sure of is that your paving fits in with the general style and aesthetic of your house.

Is your house an old, traditional home? Or perhaps something a bit more modern and contemporary?

If it’s a more traditional home, you might want to opt for brick paving in the same stone as the house, or something that complements it.

On the other hand, if your house is a bit more modern, the clean and sharp lines of slate or granite might suit your look a bit more.

Of course, you might wish to turn thins on their head and mix up the old and the new!

More modern paving can still work well with a traditional home and vice versa, but you need to really think it through and make sure it works (especially important if you’re thinking of selling any time in the future).

Colour

When considering the colour of your paving, make sure you consider whether the paving is going to be located in an area of the garden which is going to be covered by shade for much of the day, or basked in sunlight.

Lighter stones are great for helping to brighten up dark and gloomy spaces, although if you do choose to do this, bear in mind it’ll be harder to keep clean.

Also, bear in mind how the colours are going to complement your house and any other buildings such as a garage.

However, be wary of certain types of stone as we spoke to Newcastle-based building and paving experts CM Projects who said: “The colour of some stones such as Indian Sandstone can vary a lot, so we definitely recommend seeing your paving in person before making a choice, instead of just purchasing straight from a catalogue.”

Budget

Stone paving can sometimes be fairly expensive, which will be a bit factor in your decision making.

Make sure that as well as the cost of the paving itself you consider how much it’s going to cost to have it laid.

For example, with a stone such as Yorkstone, the thickness of each stone can vary quite a lot, meaning it’s much more time-consuming for your landscaper.

Heavier stones are also obviously much harder to lay, which will add to your costs.

Where will the paving be laid?

It’s important to consider whether your paving is going to be laid in an area where people are going to be walking over it regularly.

For example, very smooth surfaces can be dangerously slippery to walk on when wet.

Instead of stone slabs, you might wish to opt for loose stone such as gravel or chippings.

This can be easier to walk on, although if you were perhaps using the paving for garden furniture, a smoother slab might be more suitable, so it really does depend on what you’ll be using the area for.

For more tips on choosing your paving stones, check out this article by Kate Gould for the Guardian.