Clickable link to the OP's photos:
https://picasaweb.google.com/yangcooper/House?authkey=Gv1sRgCNnsiI6K7p_UYg

Lot of concrete there! I don't know if you can use it on old concrete but my son expanded his front steps greatly to 8 ft long & 4 ft. wide & somehow made a rounded edge on them. H e had to wait awhile to put the finish on but it was called a "stain" & it is really beautiful, looks like a walkway in Italy, marbled old world looking with deeper looking "veins" for an aged look. Everyone looks them. I asked him where he got the idea & he said he had seen directions for using the "stain" on the Internet & just did that. I'm sure it comes in colors. His is a vanilla/gold Venice look. Not sure what you would look for but try "concrete stains" & see what comes up, he watched a video & then just did it. He did his patio also. You have some darkening on some of the cement so might be wise to power wash or clean it before doing anything to it. You would want a color to bring out colors of the flagstone. Hope you can find it. I can ask him what it is called & if it can be used on old cement/concrete.

What sunnyca might be referring to is an acid stain for concrete - quite commonly used and should be fairly available where you are. I'm not sure how the wear factor is (i.e. how visible any damage is if it gets chipped/damaged). I would think that this would give you a better finish than a paint that would sit on the surface.

If you want to maintain the same area of paving that you currently have, you could try replacing portions of the concrete with flagstone and retaining the rest - just to break up the expanse.

- Audric

You could remove areas in the concrete. For example by removing an area surrounding the cabana posts, you could break the area up with beautiful vines. I don't know if you would be interested in additional shade, but you could cut out another area and place a tree (similiar to what you might see in a downtown street lined block). You could also had planter boxes. You might want a mini focal point instead of just a big empty area. Unless you have children that need a place to run around, I would be hesitate and slow removing a very low maintainance backyard.

I do not know if this will help you but because I could not tear up 1650 sq ft of concrete because it is a balcony and a big part of the house below is below that concrete. LOL

I decided to cover it with slate. Ordered from California the shipping was more than the stone but it was reasonable price,

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All, thanks for the good ideas! Time for me to start thinking and designing.

Eric