Picture a warm evening on a new bluestone patio, with blue-gray stone under your chairs and the garden or the pool in view. A patio is the floor of an outdoor room. From the back door of your home in Hot Springs Village, you look out on a natural stone patio, with each piece of bluestone laid in the pattern you chose. When we set the stone right, the finished patio looks like it grew out of the ground.
At Village Precision Pros, we lay every piece of bluestone ourselves. You make two early choices for your patio. One is the finish on the face of the stone, and the other is the pattern we lay it in. Start with one of these five bluestone patio ideas:
- A dining patio off the kitchen in rectangular bluestone with an even thermal finish
- A quiet sitting area in natural cleft bluestone around a stone fire pit
- A bluestone pool deck with urns, like the one on our portfolio page
- A garden courtyard in random-rectangle paving with grass growing in the joints
- A bluestone patio at the back door that leads out to a flagstone walkway
Bluestone colors and finishes
Bluestone comes in colors from blue-gray to earth tones. Blue-gray stone looks crisp and formal on a dining area off the kitchen or on a pool deck. The earth tones are softer, and they blend into the planting beds around a garden patio.
Check the colors of your house and roof before you choose. Blue-gray stone stands out sharp beside white or gray siding and dark trim. The earth tones bring out the warmth of brick and natural wood. At the free on-site visit, we talk through the color with you while we stand beside your house.
The finish on the face of each piece changes the feel of the patio as much as the color does. A thermal finish gives bluestone an even surface, and we lay it where you want straight, clean lines. A natural cleft finish leaves the subtle ridges of the stone’s own layers, and every piece keeps the texture of the rock.
We lay blue-gray stone with a thermal finish under a dining table, because the even face keeps the table and chairs steady. Earth tones with a natural cleft finish fit a garden patio or a quiet corner by a fire pit, where you want the texture of the rock underfoot. We build fire pits as part of our outdoor living work, and we can set one inside your bluestone patio.
Patterns for a bluestone patio
Bluestone comes as patterned rectangular pieces or as irregular flagging. Rectangular pieces fit together in straight lines, and the patio feels like an indoor room carried outside. Irregular flagging has natural shapes, and we use it to curve a relaxed patio out into the yard.
A garden courtyard in random-rectangle paving has clean shapes with green between them, because grass grows in the joints between the stones. We can lay patterned rectangular bluestone the same way where your patio meets a lawn or a garden path. Natural cleft bluestone pairs well with a flagstone walkway, because both stones keep the texture of the rock.
You also choose the joints between the stones. On a dining patio, we set the stones with tight joints, because chairs slide more easily across a smooth floor.
On a sloped lot, we can step a bluestone patio down in two levels with stone steps between them. Set the dining table on the upper level near the kitchen and the fire pit on the lower one. We can lay thermal bluestone on the dining level and natural cleft around the fire pit, and each level gets the finish that fits its use.
Size comes before pattern, because the pattern has to fit the space you have. Our guide on how to size a patio helps you plan the footprint before we come out to measure it. A dining patio off the kitchen needs room for a table and chairs. A larger bluestone patio has room for a dining table at one end and a sitting area at the other.
A bluestone pool deck
Bluestone resists slipping where feet are wet and bare, and we lay it around pools for that reason. You can see a bluestone deck with urns on our portfolio page. Urns beside a pool deck add height and a formal touch, and they look right on thermal bluestone laid in straight lines.
We can carry the same bluestone from the pool deck onto the patio and the steps nearby. Plan the deck and the patio at the same time, and we can lay one stone in one pattern from the back door to the pool.
Around a rectangular pool, we lay thermal bluestone in rectangular pieces that line up with its straight sides. We lay irregular flagging around a curved pool, because its free shapes follow the curve.
Give the deck enough width for lounge chairs and a clear path around the water. We measure that space at the free on-site visit, along with the patio beside it. You can browse more patios and pool decks in natural stone on our portfolio page before we come out.
Tumbled gold travertine for a warm pool deck
We set tumbled gold travertine too, and its warm gold color brightens a pool deck on a sunny day. Around the water, we lay travertine in a French pattern. We also lay travertine patios away from the pool, and we can build a seat wall beside one for guests to sit on.
Choose travertine for warm gold underfoot, and choose bluestone for blue-gray stone or the softer earth tones. You can also use both stones in one yard. A bluestone patio by the house can lead out to a travertine deck around the pool, and guests can see where the patio ends and the pool deck begins.
Flagstone for a freeform patio
Flagstone has uneven natural edges, and we lay it for a freeform patio. We laid one flagstone patio right outside a set of glass doors, and the doorway now opens onto an outdoor room. You see a patio like that from inside every day, and its stone color should go with your floors indoors.
Flagstone patios and walkways are part of our hardscape work. Our page of flagstone patio ideas has more ways to use this stone around your home.
We can build a seat wall or stone steps beside any of these patios. Guests sit on the wall, and the steps join the patio to a deck or a lower yard.
How we build a bluestone patio
We set our bluestone over a proper base, and we build the surface to drain the moment it rains. A bluestone patio needs a slight slope away from the house, because rain has to drain toward the yard.
We build bluestone patios from Hot Springs out across Garland County, and we handle POA approval and permits as part of the job. Our hardscape and stone masonry service page lists the patios and walkways we build. For stone in the rest of your yard, read our guide to natural stone hardscapes.
Bluestone patio questions
Is bluestone good for a patio?
Yes. Bluestone is a classic natural stone, and a thermal finish gives it an even surface for a table and chairs. The stone also resists slipping, and that helps where feet are wet around a pool. Call our crew, and we will plan the patio with you at the free on-site visit.
What is the difference between thermal and natural cleft bluestone?
The difference is the face of the stone. Thermal bluestone is flat and even on top, and natural cleft keeps the ridges of the rock’s own layers. Tell our crew where the patio goes, and we will suggest the finish for that spot.
Does bluestone work around a pool?
Yes. Bluestone resists slipping around the water, and we lay bluestone decks around pools. Ask our crew to measure your pool deck on the same visit as your patio.
What pattern suits a bluestone patio?
For a formal patio or a pool deck, we lay rectangular pieces in straight lines. For a freeform patio, we lay irregular flagging with natural shapes. Our crew measures your space and helps you pick the pattern.
Plan your bluestone patio with our crew
At Village Precision Pros, our family-owned crew of ten has finished more than 2,000 projects across Central Arkansas. We are licensed and insured. Readers of the Hot Springs Village Voice voted us first place for Landscaping in the Readers’ Choice Awards in 2025 and 2026.
The first on-site visit and the estimate are free. At that visit we measure the space, and we talk with you about the finish and the pattern for your bluestone patio. If you have a photo of a patio you like, show it to us at that first visit.
Call us at (501) 340-0711, Monday to Friday from 7:30 to 4:30. Tell us where you want the patio and how you plan to use it. You can also ask for your free on-site visit on our contact page.
