It is all relative to the entire property, the house and the yard. Is this a part of the pedestrian circulation or a seating area? Are there utilities adjacent, is it in the front yard and viewed by neighbors, or part of your private space. Is it viewed from the dining/living rooms or just from the bedrooms. Will it be used by tricycles or just feet (no golf shoes please). In my experience, (don't you hate it when someone starts off a sentence in which he offers advice with that phrase), the mondo grass is too large for any pedestrian pavement. There are a large variety of more prostrate plants you can walk on at your garden center, I expect. Some can be walked on daily, and others less often. Some are evergreen, some have attractive flowers, some are into more gray or smoky colors than just green. You can mix them up, just as you do with groundcovers in your plant beds. Enjoy!

Hi Aletla, If your apartment is part of a strata make sure that you get their permission before painting anything (best ask then fall foul of them as many courtyards are deemed as common property for exclusive use meaning that the Strata has the last word). If you get permission, I'd be tempted to lean towards a mid gray the same colour as the exterior building so that you're able to blur the lines between vertical and horizontal areas and make the area look bigger. You could think about putting in modular decking that will change the look of your courtyard that can be pulled up and that can be stained to any colour you pick. You would have to ask your strata but if you let them know it's modular and can be pulled up when you leave they should be OK with that as long as it cant be seen easily from outside the property boundaries. Regarding putting up shade - strata will not have any problem if you invest in a large outdoor umbrella as long as you make sure that it doesn't become a hazard during high winds/storms - you wont have to ask them. You can put up outdoor awnings but you'll need to get permission, supply all the engineering specs and your Strata may have restrictions regarding colour and style and may require you to: provide a structural engineers report on the impact, indemnify the building and put the awning on your insurance (a lot of work) and if necessary pay for a change of by-law. If you decide that you cant/don't want to change the colour of your outdoor flooring and as beige and grays are really popular, you could always tie the two together more with outdoor cushions for your seating that feature both of the colours. If you can get a high pressure hose and remove dirt and flaking paint to see exactly what the condition of the tiles are, you could ask your strata to pay for their reconditioning (if you offer to paint them and give them the colour and say you're happy to pay for that then they'll probably say "OK" to avoid costs to the strata as they're responsible for the external parts of your building - remember you only own the airspace of your apartment).

Dear Creatively Challenged , I can recommend Dulux Colour Consultants, I gave up after about 5 sample pots . At the time it cost me $150 and if I used dulux paints I could claim a full refund . That was 12 years ago . I didn’t realise at the time just how good they were , the colours are still in fashion but it’s ready for another paint job for sure. It was such a relief to have someone in who is trained and fully understands colours and fashion and what goes with what . I finally stopped stressing about it and got the job done ✅

I checked the pavers that were left over from the same batch...low and behold 2 out of the 13 pavers also had the same white streaks on them. These are unused pavers. I'm now leaning towards the manufacturing stage and the retailer I have convinced of the same. He is sending someone out on Monday to see if some sort of chemical will clean them. I fear the worse but let's see how it goes on a couple of them. I agree with you all entirely, the streaks and scratches should have been seen before laying and not used. Luck is what I need for Monday, failing that, block your ears as I ask the pool renovator to pull up the defective pavers and lay new ones.... Renovating tests your body, mind and spirit sometimes lol