diy backyard campfire – fire pit

So you might recall that the new screened deck created a bit of a problem for our old fire pit.

The new deck stairs wrap around and ummmm…….clearly this wasn’t going to work out.  So we had to move it to a new location.  I was at first not super happy about the idea of having to relocate our fire pit area, but of course my dad (who flew in from California and stayed with us for 2 weeks last month) came to the rescue and basically completely blew my mind – once again.

I told him that I wanted to create more of a campfire feel and that I wanted to make it work in the area of the yard that is slightly sloped.  And then he did this.

He really amazes me, and I really love how he just gets it ……like how I can say crazy things like “I want it to feel like I’m camping in the woods somewhere, but cleaner and not as rustic”  and most people would squint their eyes and turn their head and be like “uh, wait, what?”  but my dad just gets it.

I thought about using gravel, but it’s way more expensive and I actually liked the look of the playground bark instead.  Plus, the leaves, that are a constant battle this time of year, just sort of blend in. The bottom of the fire pit is lined with gravel though.

To keep the bark from bleeding into the grass area, my dad added this stone border (Lowe’s).

He only added it to the back side where the chairs are because the benches he built help to keep the bark from spreading out on that side.

So the benches are a really basic construction – 2 posts were cemented in the ground – then 2 boards screwed in on each side to create a platform for the top 2 seat boards  – and it’s all weather treated wood.  I did the hard part – I painted them to match the playhouse/swing set my dad built this past spring.   Clearly, I’m the big time diy’er over here – painting is hard work folks.

The benches really add to the whole campfire feeling, and they make me want to sit around singing kumbaya while roasting marshmallows.

I’m so thankful for my dad!  We’ve had a lot of fun working on projects together this year.  I wish he lived closer – but he’s probably glad he only has to deal with my crazy ideas a couple of times a year.  😉

What’s your favorite campfire song?  Did you ever go away to camp when you were a kid?  Our new backyard set up brings back fond memories for me, and I hope my kids will have great memories of nights around this fire pit when they’re grown.