15+ Fire Pits To Inspire Your Sizzling Summer

A fantastic fire pit is essential to summertime outdoor living, right? Whether your fire pit is a custom design to suit the style of your home, or something temporary to get you through a weekend of festivities, inspiration is abundant. I think there’s a misnomer that entertainment features in a backyard need to be expensive, labor-intensive, and permanent. With creative upcycling, and the accessibility of common stones, you can build an easy and attractive fire pit in your backyard on the cheap. And you’ll wonder why you didn’t install it sooner, yes you will. You’ll enjoy it all summer long.

Time for some great backyard fire pit inspiration:

Let’s start here.

Is that an old cast iron oven? The kind you might find removed from an old home due to renovation? The same kind that you might make use of if you want some authentically baked wood fire pizza? I love the idea of upcycling an old iron appliance like this, because those are built to last indefinitely, and reasonably easy to find secondhand. Place it on a cement block on your patio, and surround it with stacked stones for an unexpected, but completely natural design. A dab of mortar between each stones will keep everything locked in place.

If you already have a metal fire pit, I love this idea of loosely stacking flat stones around the base to present it as a permanent fixture in your yard.

I’ve always enjoyed making cement planters, so this rectangular cement fire pit is a real eye-catcher too. I would expect that logs would burn well in it, but in this model, the modern surround contains a gas insert. Side note: That seating! It’s cement too. Pretty, pretty.

This square cement planter is equally as appealing! With the right form and planning, this would be a reasonably easy DIY for any backyard, regardless if you decided to run a gas line to it for ease of use. If you’re going to put it on your raised deck, be sure the structure is secure enough to hold its weight.

In my town, there are clear guidelines dictating how large the wood burning area can be, so I really like the idea of installing an inset metal basin that’s smaller than the overall pit to meet those codes. When you have a large backyard and lots of friends to entertain, it’s easy for a fire pit to feel too small, but building up a surrounding that’s large enough to not feel dinky on a large patio, and comfortably tall enough for me to set my cocoa and coffee or beer and wine is a sure win. Bonus points for filling in the extra space with beautiful pebble stones, which transform the fire pit into a totally zen retreat.

Interested in adding personal touches to your hardscape and fire pit? While it’s not always easy to find “that perfect accent” for an already built structure, if you were to find a decorative piece like this scrolling metalwork, take note. It could be the perfect inspiration for capping the fire pit for which you’ve been dreaming.

With the prevalence of brick used in fireplaces, I have wondered why more people don’t use common bricks for their backyard fire pit too; this example demonstrates how beautiful weathered brick can look when installed as a backyard fire feature.

Whether you’re overlooking a snowy forest of birch or just wishing for the temps to dip into the 60′s for a comfy night’s sleep (no AC over here, people), you’ll be in good company with a backyard fire pit area with lots of seating.

Large, round fire pits are a great addition to an outdoor kitchen and dining area. Finish up dinner, and queue up the s’mores!

I gravitate a lot towards simple stone fire pit surrounds in real life, which is probably why the next two designs appeal to me. Large stones are easy to access (just contact your local landscapers or quarry), inset them into position (they’re heavy, so they’re not moving easily), and enjoy having a visually appealing feature that’s also wide enough to serve as extra fireside seating, and a tabletop surface for s’more supplies.

Large stones would work well for a beachfront fire pit, too. Tropical setting aside, I could see any waterfront homeowner creating a tranquil, simple fire pit for easy entertaining and fire containment.

Ahh, a backyard many of us can relate to. I’ve always loved fieldstone and cobblestone, so naturally I’d gravitate towards a design that features the large, smooth rocks in a beautiful form.

If your home has stone accents, carry the theme through your backyard’s design. I like how the fire pit at this home perfectly correlates with the stonework on the façade.

Similarly, the decision to extend simple flagstone patio and create a coordinating stone fire pit makes this cottage charming as can be. (And that pergola, wow, it’s going to be luscious when the vines growing up the trellises create a mature canopy!)

Finally, if you’re short on space, I like this idea as a solution that marries the concept of a backyard fireplace with a half-circle fire pit to create a small, cozy retreat in any backyard.