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Fire pits—already in high demand—are even more popular as people look for ways to upgrade their outdoor spaces in preparation for a mostly stay-at-home summer.
There’s nothing quite as cozy and welcoming as a cheerfully roaring fire. Add some comfy chairs, music, snacks, and beverages, and you’ve got the makings for a perfect outdoor evening.
Because fire pits are such a hot item (pun intended!), the vast selection can be daunting. And that’s where the experts at Complete Home Concepts come in. Their Vice President, Jenny Haughenberry, offers a checklist of things to consider so that you can buy a fire pit that’s a perfect fit for your yard and your lifestyle.
Plan Before You Go: Your Fire Pit Checklist
How do you envision using a fire pit? And how often will you use it? Here’s a helpful tip from Haughenberry: the closer your fire pit is to your home, the more you’ll use it. Makes sense, right?
If you’re interested in a fire pit as a more ambient feature of your overall backyard, it makes sense to place it further from your house and consider an eye-catching design, such as a long, horizontal fire pit.
Prefer to have a fire pit that invites gathering? Consider placing it closer to your home and in a round or L-shape that makes it easy to pull up a chair.
What’s your outdoor space like? Taking stock of your yard, including size and terrain, will help you narrow your options. Haughenberry also recommends thinking of your fire pit not just as a functional feature, but an integral part of the design of your outdoor space. She suggests using a fire pit as a way to divide your patio, deck, or yard, for example.
“If you can imagine it, it can be built,” she says. “Fire pits are built to fit any space.”
Are you interested in multiple fire pits? Haughenberry says more customers are opting for more than one fire pit to creatively divide their outdoor space.
“We’ve worked with customers that have three different fire pits, and they use them to bookend the patio,” she says.
With outdoor spaces getting so much use, it’s increasingly common to think about your space as another room in your home. In an open living area, you might create a comfy spot with a large couch, perfect for TV watching. In another corner, perhaps you want a cozy reading nook, complete with soft lighting and a chair you can sink into.
Don’t hesitate to apply the same decorating principles to your outdoor space. You could use different sizes and shapes of fire pits to serve as the focal point for multiple outdoor vignettes: a smaller, cozier “corner,” for example, combined with a larger fire pit that allows more people to gather. This is also an ideal approach if you have a multi-level outdoor space—creating a more intimate set-up on an upper level deck, while a larger fire pit is the focal point of a ground-level patio.
What’s your budget? With such a range of fire pit designs and details, there’s a fire pit to fit every budget. Yet that can also pose a challenge: with so many options, it’s easy to get carried away by the possibilities! Knowing your budget will keep your fire pit dreams from going up in smoke and ensure you get a functional and eye-catching fire feature.
Do you want any add-ons to increase your fire pit’s functionality and lifespan? Sure, you could go to a big-box store and purchase a “disposable” fire pit that’s created to last for a limited amount of time. One of the many benefits of designing and installing a permanent fire pit is that you can easily add features to increase its lifespan. Haughenberry says a fire-pit cover protects your investment, especially if you opt for a remote-start gas fire pit.
“They have switches that aren’t conductive to moisture, so we offer stainless steel covers that help protect the entire fire pit,” she says.
And if you’re in a particularly windy location, Haughenberry says that Complete Home Concepts offers a glass enclosure add-on that shields fires from the wind, which means you’ll get more use from the fire pit.
Once you’ve answered these questions, you’ll have a good idea of the type of fire pit that’s best for your home. The next step is to stop into Complete Home Concepts’ gallery, where you can explore your options. The gallery recently returned to regular hours: Monday, Wednesday – Saturday 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., Tuesday 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.; closed Sunday. Visit http://CompleteHomeConcepts.com for store location and more information on fire pits, including safety tips.