A Fire Pit Left Out All Year
I own four fire pits. Four. I said that number out loud to my sister last month and she just looked at me the way she looks at anything she…
Leaving a Fire Pit Alone for Just a Minute
I built my first fire pit out of an old brake drum I pulled off a customer’s truck, welded three legs on it in about twenty minutes because I was…
Wall Sconces in a Bathroom Without Regrets
My mom walked into my bathroom in Baltimore, flicked on the sconce beside the mirror, looked at herself for a solid four seconds, and said, “well, that’s rude.” I asked…
Ottoman Plus Coffee Table: One Too Many?
I was on my knees in the living room with a tape measure and a granola bar my daughter had abandoned halfway through, trying to figure out why every time…
Reclining Sofa Meets Coffee Table
My brother Danny stopped in the doorway of my living room in March, looked at the eighteen inches between my coffee table and my sofa, and said, “Priya, is this…
Fire Pit on the Lawn: The Brown Circle Problem
I own three fire pits. Three. For one Boston backyard that is, and I am not exaggerating for effect here, twenty two feet by fourteen feet. That is not a…
Concrete Fire Pits: Great Look, Hidden Trap
I think about my fire pit more than is probably normal for a grown woman with a real job. Four nights a week, minimum, March through November, I am out…
Bathroom Lights and the Ratings Nobody Reads
I own eleven light fixtures that have, at some point, lived in a bathroom. Eleven. I counted them for this and then sat on my bathroom floor for a genuinely…
Not All Bricks Survive a Fire Pit
Corinne stood in my backyard last Tuesday, hands on hips, looking at the pile of brick I’d hauled home over about six weekends, and said, “Isla. Some of those look…
Patio Heaters Inside: The Reason They Live Outdoors
I nearly gassed myself on my own porch two Novembers ago, and I want to be upfront about that before I tell anyone else what to do with a patio…