Views on what hard landscaping material to go for in new build garden

Hello! We have a new build garden, which we want to have mainly turfed, with some beds, pots and an 'L' shaped 2 areas of hard landscaping. One is the width of the garden from the patio doors, with a larger bit for seating. The other is a 3 metre strip down side of garden for lounging (that's where we get the afternoon sun).

What we are currently deciding on is whether to go for all patio paving (we think porcelain paving for low maintenance purposes), or a mix of patio (nearest the house) and then have composite decking for the strip down the side of the garden.

What would look best, any ideas? Would a combination of patio and decking look nice and contrasting? Would it make the garden look more spacious (the garden is small/medium at about 100 metre squared.) Or would having all the hard landscaping the same be better?

Whatever we choose we will go for all porcelain patio white/light grey, or patio and composite decking in light grey. So not going for contrasting colours but contrasting textures I guess. Pricing for both materials looks to be about the same.

Thanks for reading.

 

Pictures would be helpful so that we can see the area - a pic may also prompt other pointers in terms of how the garden could be developed .

I'd avoid non porous hard landscaping - if you have clay soil for example - there is a danger that the water will pool unless you have accounted for drain off.

In terms of hard landscaping I tend to favour gravel - it is cheap - easy to lay - can take account of uneven surfaces - is porous - acts as a mulch for existing plants - you can plant in it after it has been laid. 10mm gravel is the size to go for - it doesn't get lodged in shoes/tyres etc and is small enough to choke out weeds - so it doesn't need weed membrane. Gravel is also good for detering unwanted visitors - you can't walk down a gravel path without making a noise - and you can't slip on it when it gets icy.

Tiles/slabs - if you change your mind in the future - it will be more expensive and time consuming than simply removing gravel.

 

I think a combination of decking and hard paving only works if it is at different levels.
That is decking going down, onto hard paving.