Red berm that's very interesting for i appreciate the chemistry behind it but one must remember that olivine being a non-living thing will only absorb only so much CO2 then it's done. An analogy : A sponge (per its size) can only soak up so much water. Tree's & plants thru photosynthesis get rid of CO2 by converting CO2 back to oxygen. But even that process is not perfect, for after a tree dies and falls it starts to decay releasing CO2 back to our atmosphere w/out further producing oxygen (e.g. burning wood for heat produces CO2 & CO...oxygen is not perserved in this case for oxygen is needed to burn the wood. Ideally: Plants surrounding the fireplace shall convert the CO2 back to oxygen as fast as the fireplace converts the oxygen to CO2

Charcoal would look great! Make that water and greenery pop a bit more.

I believe the look you're after was a traditional flooring in French country gardens and suggest a similar effect could be acheived using the same method as for exposed aggregate paths and driveways ie the stones are mixed into concrete and spread out to create the floor (including drainage) that you need and then, before the concrete is properly dry the surface is rubbed with a stiff broom to expose the top of the stones and then sealed..Depending on how wide and thick you need the area of flooring a concretor could do this for you, or in a small area with solid existing concrete floor you could try sticking the stones down very closely together with a suitable tile glue, add a thick cement grout (to help hold the stones in place) and brush to reveal more of the stones to suit and seal.. check out "exposed aggregate paths" for specifics

We went with Monument and I am delighted. I was worried about it making the house hotter, but not at all as we added some extra insulation while the roof was lifted. We look over our roof to Mt Dandenong and it really feels like we are floating above the rooftops now (previously had a lighter color). I have also noticed there is far less glare being darker. Pic below is not my best shots ... but you get the idea. Forgot to add we also have a flat cliplock roof and used a combination of Monument and Dune on the house.