About 10 years ago we removed grass along the back of our house and put in a gravel "patio" (size was about 30'L x 7'D.) We did this because it was a royal pain to mow around the back steps, Bilco doors, AC unit etc. in that area. BTW the gravel is 3/4-1" river jack stone...somewhat smooth, not jagged, but still a little bumpy to walk on.

It was never large enough to entertain on, so we always had to drag the chaise, table and chairs around the yard as needed for parties or to get out of the way for mowing.

DH and I decided this year we really needed a larger area for many reasons, and especially because DS wants to host a graduation/going off to college party before September. Since I mentioned college and September, you can tell that both cost and time are a factor.

After planning the different areas we wanted (cooking, eating and pond/sitting), we determined that we would expand the length another 10' to encompass the area behind the garage and come out another 6', so the overall area is now 40'L x 13'. We've already killed the grass and marked off the area.

The gravel has collected weeds, and the original border (wood landscape border) broke down and attracted termites. But other than the weeds it's not too bad. Yes, it's a little uneven to walk on, and forget going barefoot, but on the plus side we any food mess or stains can be raked up or washed off.

The easiest option is to put in a better border (low enough to make a mowing strip), pull the weeds and vacuum or blow off the debris, then fill with more gravel and level.

Another option we thought of (and had seen done as stepping stones)is to dig out various size shallow depressions free-form shaped like stones and fill with concrete. I guess we would need to level out the existing gravel to fill in the entire area before digging the depressions.

Because of the large size, putting in a poured concrete patio would be cost-prohibitive, and when we priced out getting bricks or pavers it seemed to be almost as much.

Any ideas how we can do this "on the cheap" and still have it look OK if not great.