The Glass Patio Table We Keep Talking About
The glass patio table comes up in the office more than any other single object we own between us, which is strange for something that just sits outside and holds…
Do You Actually Need a Cantilever Patio Umbrella?
Look back through what this account has said about cantilever parasols over the years and you can watch the opinion move, slowly, like a shadow following the sun it’s meant…
Outdoor Cushions Living Outdoors: Is the Label Telling the Truth?
Outdoor cushions have a reputation, and it’s not a good one. Everyone I know treats the word “outdoor” on a cushion tag the way you’d treat a stranger’s promise to…
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…
Fire Pit Under an Awning: Heat Goes Straight Up
My sister Marnie walked onto my back porch two winters ago, took one look at the little steel fire bowl I’d hauled up from the yard sale on Wheaton Street,…
A Pergola Over a Fire Pit: Pretty and Pushing Your Luck
I bought a solid roof pergola for my patio in April, before I’d even ordered the fire pit, because I saw a photo of one online and decided the two…
An Open Fire Pit in the Backyard: Who Decides?
Okay so backyard fire pits have this reputation of being the easiest, most “just go outside and do it” purchase in the whole outdoor category. You see one on someone’s…
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…
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…