Backyard Fire Pit

We’ve been working away at outdoor projects this Summer. Our fire pit is just one of the three outdoor projects we have had on the go over the last three weeks. Today I’m sharing our backyard lakefront fire pit area. I’ve shared some of the progress throughout my Instagram stories as well as a first look over on Instagram. Keep reading because I’m sharing all of the details here, including the simple steps to create a DIY flower pot!

I fully admit, originally this was a project for my husband, Adam. He’s been wanting to put in a fire pit since we moved in. And now this is our third summer in our home, and like most projects, I wish we got to this one sooner! Once we started planning, I really got into the details envisioning string lights, flowers, greenery then I couldn’t help but think of all the fun evenings we would have here with our family and friends.

I’m very happy to be partnering with Kent Building Supplies on this project. They carry a great selection of pavers from Shaw Brick and all of the supplies to landscape the area and create our flower pots for our string lights.

We never really used our old fire pit – pictured below.

With our new fire pit, I think it is safe to say that we have used it more as a family in the last couple weeks than we used our old one in the last three years! Talk about a good investment and a great way to spend time with family and disconnect from work and technology. As the boys get older I can see us spending even more time out here and the great thing is that we can use it throughout all of the seasons. I’m especially looking forward to skating on the lake in the winter and having a fire to warm up and a little snack! Everything tastes better over fire right??

Our area down by the lake was quite rocky with exposed roots and it is even wet in some areas so we spoke with the team at Kent Building Supplies who helped guide our decision based on our situation. We decided on Shaw Brick’s Nova Slate Patio Stone in 50mm thickness. Shaw Brick is the manufacturer and distributor based here in Atlantic Canada and they make high quality clay brick, concrete block and natural stone products for landscaping. It was great to have the knowledge from the team at Kent on the patio stone thickness recommendation since the Nova Pavers are also available in 80mm thickness for projects like driveways. This is important to consider based on your climate, we live in Nova Scotia which brings many freezes and thaws.

As for the fire pit itself, we chose the Nantucket Fire Pit which looks amazing with the Nova Slate Patio Stone. We wanted our fire pit large enough to seat our family and friends. We decided on a 16 foot circular fire pit so the stones were cut and laid according to our design. Once the fire pit was installed, we did some landscaping and picked up everything from Kent’s Lawn and Garden Centre. Including landscaping fabric, bonemeal, soil, mulch, flowers and boxwoods. We had all of the major supplies delivered from Kent Building Supplies which was a lifesaver.

I really like how the mulch outline keeps the fire pit area feeling finished and also defines the space. It’s also a great transition into the more natural wooded area by the lake. The few shrubs we planted in the path make the fire pit feel very inviting.

Lastly I discovered this DIY cafe light planter on @wendyathome and on Jenna Sue Design Co blog and naturally I wanted to make some for our fire pit since some of our trees are very spread out and it would help with placement of the string lights.

DIY STRING LIGHT PLANTER

Here’s what you will need:

Planters I recommend finding ones that are wide at the base to help prevent tipping;)

Spray Paint (optional)

Concrete Mix (one bag per planter)

4x4x8 wood posts – these ones were lovely and didn’t require a stain!

String lights

Nails or hooks to secure lights

Flowers

Potting Mix

Drill for drainage holes

Level

This is what we did to create ours – I also saved the step by step process on my Instagram story highlights under “outdoor projects”

We found these big planters and spray painted them all black with this spray paint. Just a tip would be to find planters that have a wide base so they are less likely to blow over!

When we were ready to add the posts, we measured to make sure the post placement was centred, then we added the concrete mix + water. We used a level to make sure they were setting straight and also stayed centred. We checked on them after about an hour and didn’t require any adjustments.

After the concrete was set, we drilled drainage holes above the concrete. This allows for proper drainage for your flowers. We then added soil and some pretty colourful flowers from Kent’s Lawn and Garden Centre.

Aside from waiting for the concrete to set these planters didn’t take long to make. Maybe 30 minutes and we made 4. (We only used two but we have another project we are saving them for!)

Just a little tip – These are very heavy so if you can – try to have the placement perfect as you are making them so you don’t have to move them around much.

Then we added our string lights! And set up the Adirondack Chairs. Lastly, we styled the space with a few other touches. It looks and feels like an entirely new space!

Already, we’ve had so much enjoyment out of this space. I LOVE how the string lights add some ambiance and also extra lighting down here by the lake. The entire fire pit area looks incredible and I’m very happy with the design and products we used. A big thank you to Kent for partnering with us on this project.

All after photos were shot by our friend Rob Decoeli Photography.

If you have any questions, or if I missed anything please let me know!

xo Amy