new walkway, risers and treads

by stephanie
(NJ)

Please help! My husband and I want to redo our walkway and porch platform to our house but can't decide what materials and colors to choose.

Our home is a colonial built in the 1930's. It has a stone front that extends 3/4 the way up the front of the home. The stone is probably a limestone variety and has a lot of pink/reds in it. The rest of the house has Hardie Plank siding on it. The color is Timber Bark (which is a gray brown).

Current porch is concrete with inlaid flagstone platform and a limestone cap on the step. Foundation in front of the house is brick (although you don't see much of the brick) and rest of the house is concrete.

We need to add a new step (the rise is too high) and we thought about adding blue stone treads on the steps and platform (threshold is too high). We also want to replace our walkway.

We love blue stone, but here are our questions regarding colors and materials:

Should the new walkway compliment or contrast the stone colors on our home? We do not like the reds/pinks in the stone and have tried very hard to downplay these colors. Currently our front door is painted brown but plan on replacing it with a black door or dark wooden door.

Same applies to risers and sides walls of porch. Should risers and side walls match each other? Should we try to match these elements with the foundation or stone on our home or new walkway?

Blue stone may be too expensive. Do you recommend a paver like Unilock that looks like blue stone.


Hi! I think blending materials with the existing ones on the house is always a good approach. You like the bluestone and it is a beautiful material. The picture shows your house having a lot of grays and browns which are the colors in bluestone. For it to be all gray, you have to request blue bluestone. Using the bluestone treads with a concrete riser to match the porch works or have the riser out of the bluestone as well. It sounds like the bluestone blends well with the stone in your house without picking up on the red and pinks that you don't like. The concrete pavers that resemble bluestone are great. I have often used Navasone's paver. You can get it in squares or random rectangles. They will be at least 2/3's of the cost of real stone with a very similar look. I also think you are correct in wanting to have the walk out of stone which brings this house material into the landscape.
I hope this information helps you!

Nancy