I realize, of course, that it will need sand etc... I am just talking about the design piece. :)

It looks like your stone is below grade. Is that an illusion?
I would like the lay out better if some of stone were not on an angle.

If there are pieces left over, find places for them. It looks a bit sparse, particularly at the far end. Put small pieces in there also. While they may not be good for walking on, they will help visually balance bare areas.

Aside from that, just start doing it. Take your time laying the pieces. Some are cranky, and just don't want to lay right, but patience can bring them in line. If you really don't like the results, pull it up and try again. This isn't set in concrete, and can be redone over and over. It is possible that you will decide it doesn't work with the spaces between the stones, but then at least you have learned something.

Thank you two for good thoughts about how to go about this.... I'm just missing the design chip. I hope others chime in as well......
roksee

How wide is the path area? Depending on various issues, you may or may not have significant amounts of plant material encroaching on the path area.

If you were to lose, say, 4" on each side to leaning geraniums, pointy New Zealand flax, Shastas in serious need of dividing, or wandering sedum, will the path be wide enough?

yes missing, I am going to be mindful about that...I might even use containers instead of planting in the ground. The path, in most places is about 3.5 wide.
I think my problem is that I wanted to make the path more interesting ... but don't have the skill or time to really do that. Several months ago, in my 'cluless' post, I got such fabulous ideas... I guess I got carried away.

just weighing in ... it looks a bit sparse to me, also. I would like it better if it was actually a walk of a uniform width filled solid with stone ... rather than just stepping stones strung in a single file. I find the stepping stones too impractical for actual walking. I would rather see a good portion of usable walk and then if that's all the stone you have and don't want to get more, change the path material for the rest of the walk to bark mulch or something.

Hi all.... as usual... good food for thought. I am not nearly finished and want to fill in the empty space. I just have to figure out with what.... Unfortunately I can't buy material so it will have to be more of the same or bricks... I was hoping that I could use all of the old bricks I dug up from the property.... but I'm having trouble seeing a design in my head.... any ideas?

Hi all.... as usual... good food for thought. I am not nearly finished and want to fill in the empty space. I just have to figure out with what.... Unfortunately I can't buy material so it will have to be more of the same or bricks... I was hoping that I could use all of the old bricks I dug up from the property.... but I'm having trouble seeing a design in my head.... any ideas?

Depending on exactly what you have in the way of materials, here are some possibilities which occur to me (a gardener, not a landscaping pro):

1) Use the brick to make a border along both sides. Then place the largest stones fairly regularly along the path, and fill in with the smaller pieces. (If you have a huge number of bricks, you can set them vertically along each side of the path: that's especially useful if you don't want to purchase commercial metal or plastic edging.)

2) Same as 1), but add lines of brick across the path to break up the path into rectangles. Depending on the sizes of your stones, these cross-wise bricks might be at irregular distances.

If I were doing this, I'd take a census of the bricks and calculate how much space they would fill. Then I'd do the same with each of the other materials. (You'd have to estimate the square footage of the stone.) That would give me a better idea of whether I'd have enough bricks to make an edging, whether I'd have enough bricks to divide the path into rectangles, etc. And -- for me at least -- the final result would look better if the last 20% of the path didn't suddenly use a completely different mixture of materials from those found in the first 80%.

Have you tried to get more bricks/stone/etc. from Craigslist? If you're lucky, you may find materials free for the hauling: bricks, pavers, chunks of wood. Gravel for the underlayment? If someone's cut down a tree and you know someone with a chainsaw, consider cutting the branches into "stepping stone" slices.

Is there a place nearby which sells stone for kitchen counters? Call and ask if they will let you take scraps for free (some will, some won't).

If something's being built -- or torn down -- nearby, ask if you can have unwanted bricks, pavers, gravel.

When you're working with multiple different materials (flagstone, pebbles, bricks of different colors or shapes, pavers, whatever), it's best to have something unifying about the design. Symmetry isn't necessary, but you need a unifying factor. That unifying factor might be a brick border, or large stones every so often the whole length of the path, or diamond-shapes every so often, or filling in the small areas with flat tan river pebbles, or using many different materials in only one or two colors.

Fill in small, odd-shaped spaces between larger pieces with unexpected additions: pieces of colored glass, pieces of children's toys, the bottom of a colored plastic drinking glass, colored glass marbles, old checkers -- anything small and hard will work. Colors are good. Cute is good. Interesting is good. Unique is good. Find these at yard sales, in your junk drawer, anywhere.

Look on the Internet for inspiration. For Google Images searches, include "path" and add a word like "garden" or "yard" or "house" (so you don't get results with paths across a field or through the Sequoias). Then you might add a word like "miscellaneous," "stone," "different," "scrap," etc. Don't forget to look at Pinterest.

Have fun!

missing: i think all your suggestions are excellent, especially your advice on a unifying factor! i have seen wonderful paths successfully made with whatever strange mixture of materials the builder could find around, using these guidelines. even if roksee thinks she/he has no talent, but follows your advice and her/his own personal sense of what looks good, i think there will eventually be a very pleasing path. min

this is just great!! thanks for all info.
roksee

dear Missing... Your last post is about the best post I've ever seen for
'ideas' .... I appreciate the time you put into that.
Roksee