Outdoor living trends offer the opportunity to blend old memories with our new lifestyle. We might not have enough time to plan a camping trip but we remember fondly, camping as a child. Firepits are the new campfire, when we buy or build one in our backyard.
When we add a firepit to our backyard, we're making a commitment to ourselves or maybe our children, that we're going to make time to relax and enjoy the outdoors. There are many ways to add an outdoor fire to your home's outdoor landscape and it's important to pick the right one for your family so let's explore your options.
What You Want? You'll Use?
Outdoor living trends start with a patio or deck. Soon you're ready to add more features and you have many choices in the type of “fire feature” you add to your backyard. Before making a large investment, you might want to learn how often you'll use a firepit? Who will you spend time with sitting around the fire? How much time will you spend relaxing around the fire? and more uses like making popcorn, so let's explore.
Firepits, Firetables & Chimineas
The importance of finding what fits your lifestyle is experimenting to learn what you like, before you make a major investment. Firepits and other temporary (they're not all portable) fire features let you learn what you like and don't like at home which is very different from what looks nice at the store or online.
Here are points to consider when selecting your fire feature.
- How easy will it be to start the fire? We're spoiled by switches that turn on our indoor fireplaces, so you'll want to consider whether you want a wood, charcoal, propane or natural gas (get more info here).
- What other functions do you expect your fire feature to provide? If you want to grill, you probably want to use charcoal. If you hope to gain some heat from your fire, the chiminea focuses heat in one direction.
- How protected is the outdoor space where you plan to use your fire feature? A wood fire will generate smoke which can dampen your enjoyment unless it's directed away from you. Chimineas and fireplaces have a chimney to direct smoke away or you can use gas to avoid dealing with smoke altogether.
- Picking the right materials and style is key to years of enjoyment. Your home's style and exterior materials will influence what you pick. You also want to consider how much maintenance each fire feature requires, so that upkeep doesn't affect your ability to spend time outdoors. Don't you love the firebowl shown below, from RestorationHardware.com?
Outdoor Fireplaces and Custom Firepits
When you're ready to step up your outdoor living space investment, you know it's because you're spending more time outdoors. Now it makes sense to expand your search to include permanent fire features. Firepits are fun because you can place them in fun places like the one below, that also showcases the great views from your patio. Firepits can be raised or sunk into the patio floor which creates lots of options when you've got multiple levels of outdoor space.
Fireplaces can be built against your home if the surrounding living space gives you the room for seating to enjoy the fire, or you might expand your patio to define your outdoor room with a fireplace wall. The choices are endless so start dreaming but be sure to match your investment with how much you'll really use your outdoor fire feature.
Shared photos of your outdoor fire feature and we'll post them here.
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