The Black Outdoor Storage Box That Survived the Kids and the Dog
Half of us think a black storage box in the garden is a design decision. The other half think it’s just the bin you’re too embarrassed to leave the football…
Chimineas on a Deck: Put Something Fireproof Under It
I logged it, obviously, because that is the kind of person I am: fourteen googles for “can you put a chiminea on a deck” between September and January, four of…
Gazebo Fire Pit Debate: Does a Roof Change Everything?
My friend Dana sent me a photo at eleven at night of her brand new ten by twelve gazebo with a fire pit table already glowing away underneath it, captioned…
Fire Pits in a Neighborhood: The Rules Nobody Reads
My neighbor Dale texted me a photo of my own backyard, taken from his kitchen window, no caption, just the picture, at 9:47 on a Tuesday night. Smoke was drifting…
Concrete Under a Fire Pit: The Marks It Leaves
I have scorched concrete under my patio table right now. Actual permanent black moon shaped shadow, about eighteen inches across, exactly where the base of my fire pit sat for…
Fire Pits on the Beach: Sand Is Not a Free Pass
I was standing on a beach in South County a few Octobers back, at the point in the evening where the sky goes that particular shade of purple that makes…
Sandstone Fire Pits: Pretty and Layered
I built my first fire pit out of raw sandstone slabs I bought from a landscape yard on the east side of Indianapolis, and I want to be upfront that…
City Backyard, Fire Pit: Squeezing One In
My mom stood in my backyard with a tape measure hanging out of her coat pocket, looked at the eight feet between my back door and the fence, then looked…
Indoor Fire Pits: Love the Idea, Not the Reality
I have typed “can you have a fire pit indoors” into a search bar four separate times over the past two years, always in November, always on the first night…
Artificial Grass and Fire Pits: A Meltdown Waiting?
Okay so I currently own four fire pits. FOUR. One of those little tabletop propane ones that looks like a marshmallow toaster, one cheap steel bowl thing from a big…