I've got a pretty typical 50s brick ranch. The backyard slopes towards the house on one side so we need to re-grade. In doing so I'd like to extend the patio to the end of the house, lose the awful retaining wall with all of the 90 degree turns and build a new retaining wall to curve off from the corner of the house. Here are some of my worries and thoughts:

1) when we dig out to the end of the house, the brick is going to have 60 years of dirt stains so I'm guessing we'll need to paint or cover it. Thoughts?


2) on that same topic, I thought about doing that modern style wood planking down the back of the house here. Maybe just cut out for the window and and hinges for that white solid door. Or...maybe just paint all of that brick a dark charcoal color.

3) I'll have to re- pour the slab and sidewalk. I hate plane old concrete. I thought about wood tiles or stamped concrete with a slate pattern and then stained ?? The slab would need to slant away from the house so I'd need to figure out how that works with wood tiles if I went that route.

4) the wall. I like the stacked slate look or rock if some kind. I'm worried about how it looks at the point where the brick house meets the rock wall. Hopefully the paint or wood could help that transition.

I'm having a really hard time getting a cohesive plan together. I like the idea of a modern oasis but it's a 50's ranch so I don't want to get too far out. Thoughts?