I once moved to a house where in the backyard were a pool and a sort of retro fire pit, very 70s. The yard was beautiful but I thought the pit would have to go. There was no rush since it would entail a jackhammer and some strong guys to get rid of it. I got busy with the other aspects of the house and never got around to doing anything about it. I’m so glad I gave it an unexpected reprieve. It became the coolest hangout spot, especially as my children grew. Everyone loves to sit around a campfire right? Teenagers love a place to ‘hang’ and this turned into that place and it was in my own yard … I could pop over, see if anyone wanted a coke and make sure all was ‘safe.’

In my next house I wanted to add one but never got around to it. After recently adding my new garden I decided to give it a go and try to recreate what we had in the old house but in my usual bargain hunting fashion, I didn’t want to spend the $1500 my friend did to have one built. I saw an ad for a copper bowl fire pit on sale from Frontgate.com. I ordered it and when it arrived I took it to a wrought iron shop, had a hole drilled in the bottom and had a gas line run to the spot I wanted it to be. I used bender board to make the footprint, added four 2’x2’ pavers, river rock and gravel to make ‚a pad‛ for the pit and added chairs around it. I purchased and installed a gas ring for inside the pit and covered it with small and large lava rocks – they really conduct the heat. I then made a half circle with privets to make a hedge around the seating area. I have now added another ‘room’ to my back yard and a great social hangout.