Expensive looking patio for less

[Serendipper]

I have an area at the bottom of my garden that's 6.5m across and 3m width. I'm looking to create a patio area. I want to keep the price down as much as possible but all the square concrete slabs look really cheap to me. Any ideas of ways to lay them (or alternative slabs) to save on price. I haven't bought any pavers yet and the labour is being done professionally and free by a friend as a skills swap.

If it's a sunny spot you can get away with laying slabs on sand and planting the gaps with things like creeping thyme that will fill the gaps and spill over the edges. We did this with cheap concrete slabs poured to look like stone ( but unconvincing as so cheap) and 3 years on you don't notice them. I'll see if I can find a picture

This is the end I've let bigger plants grow but you can see the slabs are lost.

You could lay them diagonally, with gaps filled with cobble stones. Thus giving an interesting random appearance.

We created a large gravel patio and then put a few Indian sandstone slabs to put our furniture on. It cost a lot less than covering the full area with stone.

Thanks for all the suggestions, I don't want to use gravel ideally as I'm worried about it being spread all over outside. But maybe the cobble idea is a sturdier version!

There are "gravel grids " in various qualties ,and not all black .These should stop the gravel spreading .

www.ebay.co.uk/bhp/gravel-grid

or I think you can put some sort of edging barrier around the gravel .

Composite decking?